An Undefended Heart: A Big Heart City Retreat (390A26) - Self-Paced@Home/Online
Vinny Ferraro, Matthew Brensilver, PhD and Cara Lai, MA
December 6 - 11, 2026
Registration closes at 3:00pm (Pacific Time) on December 6, 2026. A waiting list will be created if the program fills early. Recordings* will be available for this program.
We’re offering this retreat in two formats over the same dates.
1. On-land Residential Retreat: Learn more here – SOLD OUT
2. Self-Paced @Home/Online (via live broadcast)
Retreat Description:
This retreat is rooted in the transformative power of the heart. Drawing on the wisdom of the heart practices, our focus will be on meeting life with courage, tenderness, and an undefended heart.
Our practice will steady the mind and gently disarm the heart, making room for a wiser, more responsive way of being. Through lovingkindness, mindfulness, and embodied awareness, we explore a big heart that isn’t sentimental or naïve, but strong enough to stay present with the full range of human experience. Joy, grief, beauty, and difficulty are not obstacles here, they’re the curriculum.
Please join us if you’re longing to come home to the heart as a source of wisdom, connection, and freedom.
The self-paced/online retreat is offered as broadcast-only and will include: teacher-led meditation instructions and Dharma talks broadcasted live from Spirit Rock’s Upper Meditation Hall. Recordings of each live broadcast will be posted within 24 hours after a session ends.
Self-Paced @Home Online Retreat Details:
Our Self-Paced @Home Online Retreat includes daily meditation instructions, and Dharma teachings and practices, broadcast live from Spirit Rock and recorded for on-demand access. This retreat will include opportunities to ask questions during separate Q&A sessions with the teachers, and will also include a separate orientation for online practitioners on opening day. Please note: the teachers will not offer group or individual practice meetings to online practitioners.
Included:
- Live broadcast of all teacher-led sessions (Dharma talks, meditations, and other instructions)
- Retreat Homepage – includes live broadcasts, recommended retreat schedule, access to recordings and other resources
- Recordings of all teacher-led sessions
- Opportunity to ask questions during separate Q&A sessions with the teachers
For self-paced/online format: All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org no later than 4:00pm PT on the day prior to the program start.
*Recording Note: You will have unlimited access to view the program recordings. If you would like access to the recordings, you must register by the deadline above. Each day’s recordings will be available within 24 hours after the live session.
Self-Paced/Online Retreat Cancellation Policy:
- $50 fee = on or before 2 days prior to program start (Pacific Time)
- NO refund = less than 2 days prior to program start (applies to ALL participants)
About the Teachers
Vinny Ferraro
Vinny Ferraro has been a practitioner of insight meditation (Vipassanā) since the mid-90s. He is a co-Founder of the Dharma Punx and he’s been the Guiding Teacher of the Big Heart City Sangha in San Francisco for 20 years. He is also a nationally recognized leader in designing and implementing interventions for at-risk adolescents and […]
Learn more about Vinny Ferraro
Matthew Brensilver, PhD
Matthew Brensilver teaches at the Insight Retreat Center, Spirit Rock and Insight Meditation Society. He was previously program director for Mindful Schools and for more than a decade, was a core teacher at Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. Matthew worked as a clinical social worker, serving severely and persistently mentally ill adults. He subsequently […]
Learn more about Matthew Brensilver, PhD
Cara Lai, MA
Cara Lai spent most of her life trying to figure out how to be happy—or at least avoid total misery—which ultimately led to her spending the majority of her adulthood meditating. She's explored the wild beauty of the human experience through many adventures in consciousness, including long retreats, chronic illness, and the profound experiences of […]
Learn more about Cara Lai, MACategories : Hide Times Display, Hybrid, Multi-day, Online, Retreat