NOTE: in-person Retreat registration opens at 2:30pm PT. Retreat begins at 6:00pm PT. / 9:00pm et.
Insight Meditation Winter Solstice Retreat:
Embracing the Dark, Inviting the Light
with Oren Jay Sofer, Dawn Scott, devon hase, Heather Sundberg (online)
The winter solstice is an invitation to pause, turn inward, and to meet ourselves where we are. Amidst the busyness of the holiday season, this silent retreat offers a chance to quiet the mind, settle into the body, and open the heart.
Our practice will follow the rhythm of the season itself: leaning into the darkness — meeting our difficulties, sorrows, and uncertainty with honesty and care — while welcoming the light of our innate joy, wisdom, and love. We practice holding both with balance and tenderness.
The retreat includes complete meditation instructions, stillness and movement practice, daily lovingkindness, Dharma talks, individual practice discussions, and a Winter Solstice ceremony.
Dates: Saturday, December 18, 6pm PT – Thursday, December 23, 10:30am PT
Cost: Sliding Scale, plus a donation to the teacher(s) and retreat staff.
Hybrid Retreat: We are happy to offer this retreat with options to join in-person or remotely/online. All sessions will be recorded and available for 3 months to registered participants.
Teacher Support: The teachers on this retreat offer their teachings freely. They do not receive compensation from Spirit Rock program fees and rely on the generosity of students for their livelihood. There will be an opportunity to offer a donation to the teachers at the end of the retreat. Read more about this practice here.
Questions?
This event is being run by the Spirit Rock Meditation Center. For any questions related to registration, scholarships and/or continuing education, please contact them here.
About the Teachers
Oren Jay Sofer
Oren Jay Sofer, a CNVC Certified Nonviolent Communication Trainer, teaches workshops and retreats on meditation and communication internationally. His teaching emphasizes how awareness practice and communication training deepen one another in a synergistic manner. He holds a degree in Comparative Religion from Columbia University and is certified as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for healing trauma. Oren is a husband, a father, and the author of several books including Your Heart Was Made For This, and the best-selling title, Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent Communication.
Dawn Scott
Dawn Scott has been practicing Insight Meditation since 2008. She is a graduate of the Insight Meditation Society’s teacher training program and is a core teacher of Spirit Rock’s Liberation, Emptiness, and Awareness Practices (LEAP) Program. Dawn has a deep love of long retreat practice and the Buddha's liberative teachings.
Devon Hase
devon hase is empowered to teach in the Insight and Vajrayana traditions of western Buddhism. Since discovering meditation in 2000, she has put dharma and community at the center of her life: she spent a decade bringing mindfulness to high school and college classrooms before entering several years of silent, solitary retreat in the mountains of Oregon. She now teaches at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock Meditation Center, and the Forest Refuge, among others. She enjoys supporting practitioners in long and short retreats, and also with personal mentoring, emphasizing relational practice and the natural world. Along with her life partner nico, devon co-authored How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Buddhist Survival Guide for Modern Life. When she’s not traveling and teaching in their van, she’s most likely in wilderness retreat. For more, visit devonandnicohase.com.
Heather Sundberg (Online Only)
Heather Sundberg has taught insight meditation since 1999, and completed the Spirit Rock/IMS Teacher Training. For the last three decades, Heather has studied with senior teachers in the Insight Meditation and Vajrayana traditions, completing 3.5 accumulated years of retreat. Her teaching emphasizes embodiment, heart practice, and emptiness-awareness practices.