New Year's Insight Meditation Retreat

This New Year's Insight Meditation Retreat is an eight-night silent meditation retreat in the vipassanā tradition, held at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California. It is led by Eugene Cash, devon hase, Tuere Sala and Dawn Scott, with Hakim Tafari teaching movement. It is meant for established practitioners who want to move through the turn of the year in sustained, traditional Insight Meditation practice, with a focus on loving awareness and meeting each moment as fresh and new. All are welcome.

What to Expect

The retreat alternates sitting and movement in silence, with meetings with teachers along the way. Each day includes meditation instruction, Dharma talks and movement practice. Silence is held throughout, except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups and other practice meetings.

Arrival is between 2:30 and 4:30 PM on the first day, followed by an opening orientation as everyone settles into practice. The middle days follow the daily rhythm of instruction, talks, movement, individual teacher meetings and small-group sessions. On New Year's Eve there is a late evening sitting and a simple ceremony to mark the turning of the year. The final day brings closing practice sessions and a closing circle, and departure is at 11:00 AM.

Your Teachers

Eugene Cash is the founding teacher of San Francisco Insight and a senior teacher on the Spirit Rock teacher council. His teaching draws on Theravada, Zen and Tibetan practice, and he is also a Diamond Approach teacher. He is passionate about practicing 24/7 and about supporting awareness, investigation and realization in daily life.

devon hase has practiced intensively in the Insight and Vajrayana traditions since discovering meditation in 2000, and has spent a cumulative four years in silent practice. She spent a decade bringing mindfulness to high school and college classrooms, and now teaches at the Insight Meditation Society, Spirit Rock and other centers around the world. Her friendly, conversational approach emphasizes relational practice and the natural world. She co-authored How Not to Be a Hot Mess: A Buddhist Survival Guide for Modern Life.

Tuere Sala is a Guiding Teacher at Seattle Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock. She has practiced Vipassana for over 30 years and has taught since 2010, helping others establish and maintain a daily practice.

Dawn Scott has practiced Insight Meditation since 2008. She is a graduate of the Insight Meditation Society's teacher training program and a core teacher of Spirit Rock's Liberation, Emptiness, and Awareness Practices (LEAP) Program. She has a deep love of long retreat practice and the Buddha's liberative teachings.

Hakim Tafari teaches the movement practice. Originally from the U.K. and now living in Los Angeles, he is a runner, a meditator and a student of the martial arts, especially Tai Chi Quan, which he has studied and taught for over 20 years.

The Setting

The retreat takes place at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, with sittings in the Upper Meditation Hall. Accommodation is residential for all eight nights, and breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided. Most of the center's 80 rooms are single occupancy, and sixteen are doubles. A limited number of guaranteed single rooms come with the highest sliding-scale rate, and the other single rooms are first prioritized for people with serious medical needs.

A commuter option exists for those who cannot stay overnight. Commuters attend the full retreat and meals, and have a shared resting area on campus during the day. It opens once the retreat is full with a waitlist, though people with particular circumstances, such as sole caregivers, may ask about it sooner.

Before You Go

This is an intermediate to advanced retreat. Spirit Rock suggests that people new to meditation begin with a few daylong programs and then shorter retreats of four or five nights before attempting eight nights of silence. Commuters must have completed at least one weeklong silent residential Insight retreat in person, since online retreats do not count toward this.

The retreat is offered in English. Fees are set on a sliding scale to keep the teachings accessible, and need-based scholarships are available. Payment plans are also offered. Registration does not include teacher dāna, which is a voluntary offering to the teachers and to Spirit Rock at the end of the retreat. Transportation and personal incidentals are not included.

Because participants live closely together, anyone who is unwell is asked to stay home. Masks are not required but are welcome.