The Power of Letting Go: Cultivating Well-Being, Joy, and Freedom (JB1D26)

Please only register for one of the two formats: On-Land or Online.

Registration closes at 9:00am (Pacific Time) on March 15, 2026. A waiting list will be created if the program fills early. A recording* will be available following the program. Continuing Education credits? (see details below).

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Description:
Spring is a natural time to reflect on what we are holding on to and what may be ready to be released. Just what does the phrase “let go” mean? Renunciation (nekkhama in Pāli), one of the ten perfections, is often misunderstood as sacrifice—something we should do because it’s “good for us.” In early Buddhist teachings, nekkhama is described not as deprivation, but as a letting go that supports genuine contentment and well-being, rooted in seeing more clearly what leads to suffering and what leads to freedom.

During this daylong program, which includes periods of guided silent sitting and walking meditation, participants will explore how habitual grasping—to thoughts, personal stories, possessions, roles, and a sense of control—shapes inner experience and contributes to stress. Drawing from contemplative teachings and incorporating perspectives from psychology on attachment and habitual mental patterns, our reflections and practices will focus on meeting these patterns with awareness and kindness, loosening unhelpful self-stories, softening the impulse to control, and cultivating generosity. This program is educational in nature and welcomes both new and experienced practitioners.

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Sliding Scale: Our sliding scale options for this program include financial support for our teachers. Please consider paying at the highest rate that you can afford: your generosity supports teachers as well as Spirit Rock and your fellow practitioners who need to pay less.

On-Land Sliding Scale: (JB1D26)**
Benefactor – $310
Sustainer – $235
Basic – $140
Scholarship Rate (BIPOC, M/K) – $70
**Volunteer/Work Exchange opportunities, which include full or partial Scholarships, may be available for the in-person program. For more information, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator at volunteering@spiritrock.org.

Online Sliding Scale: (JB1Z26)***
Benefactor – $175
Sustainer – $95
Basic – $75
Scholarship Rate (BIPOC, M/K) – $45
***Online Program: 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 12:00pm (NOON) PT on the day prior to the program date.

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*Important Notes:

Access to Recording

• Registration includes unlimited access to this program’s recording. You must register by the deadline above. The recording will be available in ~10 days after the program.

On-Land Attendees

• The on-land program will take place in the Community Meditation Center (CMC) in the Great Hall.
• Bring a lunch and a water bottle. Lunch is not provided.
• This is NOT a residential retreat. Overnight accommodations are not provided.

COVID Safety Protocols for non-residential programs: details here.

Cancellation Policy for On-Land: Daylongs, Multiday Programs (1-3 days), Family Programs, CE fees:

• NO REFUNDS.
• Open Credit or Donation to Spirit Rock = cancel 2 or more business days prior to program (Pacific Time)
• No Open Credit = cancel less than 2 business days prior

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Continuing Education (CE) credit available:
This program offers 4 Continuing Education (CE) credits/contact hours for $40, applicable for psychologists and California-licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors, and may be applicable for other licenses. Please review our Continuing Education information page for provider details, and to determine if your association or board will accept credits offered by Spirit Rock.

This program examines how attachment to roles, self-expectations, control, and responsibility can contribute to stress and depletion in caregiving and helping professions. Participants will explore how practices of letting go can support professional sustainability, emotional steadiness, and clearer boundaries, and how these perspectives may be integrated, as appropriate, into work with clients.

Learning Objectives for participating health care professionals:
At the end of the program, you will be better able to:

• Identify ways in which attachment to thoughts, roles, expectations, or a sense of self is associated with increased stress and emotional suffering.
• Describe practices that support simplifying material possessions or patterns of over-busyness, and explain how such simplification is associated with reduced stress and improved well-being.
• Describe reflective practices for letting go of personal stories, and explain how reduced identification with such narratives is associated with greater emotional ease and well-being.
• Describe mindfulness practices for noticing the ways we try to control experience, and explain how relaxing this habit of control can support greater ease, balance, and well-being.

Continuing Education content level: Intermediate

Attendance policy for CE participants:

• Full, live attendance is required. Incomplete attendance nullifies CE eligibility as board regulations prohibit partial credit for partial attendance.
• Certificates are issued only to those who fulfill the complete attendance requirements—without exception—to maintain compliance with our provider licenses and ensure the continuation of future CE programs.
• To ensure your attendance is recorded:
  • Sign in to Zoom with the same email used for registration, before joining the program, to ensure attendance tracking. Zoom can keep you signed into a different account from a previous meeting. Check how you are logged into Zoom before the program begins.
  • Join on time using the Zoom app or a web browser (phone dial-ins are not tracked).
  • Stay logged in and engaged for the duration of the program.
  • Maintain a stable internet connection; participants are responsible for their own connectivity.
• After the program, participants who meet the attendance requirements will be emailed a form to submit their professional information. You will have 1 week to complete and submit this form in order to receive your Certificate of Attendance.

Please note:

• For full Provider information, and additional CE information, including attendance requirements, cancellation, and grievance policies, please visit our Continuing Education information page.
• For those with a different license than listed above, or with a license from a different board or association than listed on our CE info page, please contact your licensing board or association directly to request pre-approval/acceptance of CE credits offered at Spirit Rock. Spirit Rock does not confirm the applicability of credit for those with licenses other than those listed.
• Credit is awarded for instructional time only and does not include extended silent meditation, if offered.
• Continuing Education is sponsored by Mindful CECs.
• Mindful CECs is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Mindful CECs maintains responsibility for this program and its content.
• Mindful CECs is a provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP17985 for 4 contact hours.
• Potential Conflict of Interest Statement: This instructor may have authored publications relevant to the subjects covered in this course. The instructor might reference these publications during the course, and they may receive financial compensation if these publications are purchased.