Residential Meditation Retreat
The Buddhist path includes practices to cultivate four powerful and transformative qualities—kindness, compassion, joy, and balance. These qualities are innate human capacities, and can also be developed into more reliable dwelling places for the heart. Known as the Brahma Viharas, or “sublime homes,” these states can serve as powerful supports for wellbeing, wholeness, concentration and the maturing of insight practice.
In this silent meditation retreat, we will explore techniques for developing each of the four sublime states, as well as ways to release the obstacles that often get in the way of living with more ease, happiness and peace. Our time together will include silent and guided sitting meditation, walking meditation, Dharma talks, instructions, Q&A and small group meetings with the teachers.
This retreat is appropriate for both beginning and more experienced meditators.
Proof of full vaccination is required to attend this retreat.
Questions?
This event is being run by the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. For any questions related to registration or scholarships, please email Spirit Rock at srmc@spiritrock.org. For questions related to the content of this program or event, feel free to get in touch with us here instead. Please be sure to include the date and title of the event in your email!
Additional Information from Spirit Rock
Scholarship offerings: In returning to the land, we will also be returning to our pre-pandemic scholarship options and policies. All scholarship rates require a minimum fee ($50/night). Scholarships are limited to TWO per calendar year for on-land retreats. And, while we are not able to offer “no one turned away”-type of scholarships for in-person retreats, they are still available for online offerings.
Room Occupancy Update – Starting in March 2022:** As of March 27th, we will return to double occupancy rooms. Most of our rooms are single occupancy (only 16 of 80 rooms are double occupancy). We will also return to offering a “guaranteed single room” rate and they will be limited. This rate guarantees you a single room while helping to support scholarships and all we do here at Spirit Rock. Single rooms are not exclusive to the top end of the sliding scale; everyone has a chance of being assigned a single room.
**Subject to change depending upon COVID-19 situation.
IMPORTANT – Details on our current COVID Safety Protocols for In-person Retreats.
Cancellation Policy
To offer participants greater flexibility as we make our way out of the pandemic, we’ve changed our cancellation policy for residential retreats:
$100 fee* when you cancel two or more weeks before the retreat (*fees reduced to half for scholarship participants)
No refunds when you cancel less than two weeks prior to the retreat (applies to all participants)
About the Teachers
Oren Jay Sofer
Oren Jay Sofer teaches workshops and retreats on meditation and communication nationally. A member of the Spirit Rock Teachers Council, he holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University, is a Somatic Experiencing for healing of trauma, and is a certified trainer of Nonviolent Communication. Oren is also the author of Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.
Keri Pederson
Keri began meditating in 1998 and began formal retreat practice in the tradition of S. N. Goenka. She has since sat numerous retreats with lay and monastic teachers in the U.S., Thailand, and India, and draws inspiration most deeply from the nuns and monks (current and former) in the Thai Forest tradition of Ajahn Chah. Keri completed the Spirit Rock/IMS retreat teacher training in 2016, and teaches primarily at Seattle Insight and at centers around the Pacific Northwest. She also works in elder-care and is the mother of a young son.
bruni dávila
bruni dávila has practiced Vipassana and Zen since 1995. A student of Andrea Fella and Gil Fronsdal, she practices and teaches at the Insight Meditation Center in Redwood City, CA, and also teaches Dharma in Spanish in the wider Bay Area. She is currently a participant in the 2017-2021 IMS Teacher Training Program.
Ghylian Bell
Ghylian Bell has been the founder and director of The Urban Yoga Foundation (UYF) since 2007. She began practicing yoga and mindfulness in 1994 to help bring balance and peace in her life. Ghylian studied the Hatha Ashtanga Tradition with Eddie Stern at Yoga Shala. At that time, as a stressed out single mother of one, she began to teach herself and use these mindful based teachings to pass on to her daughter creating a bond that would last for years. Ghylian’s has completed Alan Finger’s ISHTA certification program, The Integrative Science of Hatha Tantra and Ayurveda and is also certified in whole food nutrition. Her passion for teaching comes from sharing yoga and mindfulness skills that provide urban students of color with the tools and discipline that would support the realization of their dreams and improve the quality of their lives.