Transforming the Judgmental Mind, Cultivating the Wise Heart (388R26) - On Land

Registration opens at 9:00am (Pacific Time) on October 7, 2025, and closes at 11:59pm (Pacific Time) on November 30, 2026. A waiting list will be created if the retreat fills early. Interested in Commuting to the retreat? – learn more below. Continuing Education Credits? (see details below).

In need of a scholarship? – see “Scholarship offerings” information below.

Retreat to be held: in the Community Meditation Center; it is a concurrent retreat with another retreat happening at the same time.

Description

Judgments—often reactive and automatic—are deeply embedded in both our personal lives and the dominant culture. They can distort our perceptions, make relationships with others difficult, and undermine our work in the world. In this retreat, we will explore the nature of such judgments (and their difference from non-reactive discernment) and how to transform them. Together, we will cultivate mindfulness, inquiry, and heart practices such as lovingkindness, forgiveness, and compassion. We will also explore the somatic and social dimensions of judgments. These tools help preserve the intelligence and energy often embedded in judgments, channeling them toward discernment and compassionate action, while transforming their destructive, compulsive aspects—often rooted in unconscious or unexamined limiting beliefs.

This retreat will include sitting and walking meditation, guided practices, talks, discussion, and basic movement practices, all in the context of a small, supportive community.

This retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups, or other practice meetings.

Assistant Teacher: Eve Decker

Financial Details

Sliding Scale fees are for 4 nights including food and lodging. Please consider paying at the highest rate that you can afford: your generosity supports Spirit Rock’s efforts in offering lower sliding scale rates and supporting the large number of scholarship requests.

Registration fees DO NOT include teacher dana. At the end of the retreat, there will be an invitation to offer dana to the teachers and to Spirit Rock.

Supporter Rate w/guaranteed single room – $2440
Benefactor Rate – $1960
Sustainer Rate – $1480
Basic Rate – $980
Scholarship Rate (BIPOC, Mudita/Karuna, or Young Adult [ages 18-26 yrs]) – $380

Important Note for CE participants: Continuing education credit (CE) fees are NOT included in the registration fees. If you are interested in receiving CEs, you must pay for CEs at the time of your registration and prior to the start of the retreat (no retroactive CECs will be given). Please review the detailed CE information below.

Scholarship offerings: Scholarships are limited to those with significant financial need. If you need a scholarship to attend, do not continue registering now as this will disqualify you from a scholarship opportunity in this retreat. We encourage you to complete the Scholarship Interest Form – Click Here. Scholarship allocation dates are included in the form.

Pay in full or Payment plan: You can either pay in full or pay a deposit when you register. Payment plans are available to everyone! If you choose the deposit option, the remaining balance will be automatically charged to your payment card in equal installments on a monthly basis. Full payment is due two weeks prior to the retreat start.

Cancellation Policy (Residential Retreats):*
Standard Cancellation Fees:

• $50: On or before 12 weeks (Sept 7)
• $100: 8-12 weeks before (Sept 8 – Oct 5)
• $175: 4-8 weeks before (Oct 6 – Nov 2)
• $300: 2-4 weeks before (Nov 3 – Nov 16)
• No refunds as of 2 weeks before (Nov 17)

Scholarship and Commuter Rate Cancellation Fees:

• Full refund: On or before 12 weeks (Sept 7)
• $75: 8-12 weeks before (Sept 8 – Oct 5)
• $100: 4-8 weeks before (Oct 6 – Nov 2)
• $200: 2-4 weeks before (Nov 3 – Nov 16)
• No refunds as of 2 weeks before (Nov 17)

*Fees reduced for serious illness or death in family

Retreat Commuter Option

The retreat commuter option will only become available once the retreat is FULL with a waitlist. However, if your personal circumstances preclude you from attending a residential retreat (e.g. staying overnight), please reach out to us as we may be able to offer you a commuter spot sooner and we would be happy to have a conversation with you.

Prerequisite to Attend as a Commuter:
You must have attended at least one weeklong silent residential retreat (5-7 nights) in Insight (vipassanā) meditation PRIOR to attending this retreat.

What is a Retreat Commuter?
A retreat commuter is a practitioner who attends a full residential retreat, including all meals, but they are not provided with overnight accommodations. Instead practitioners stay in their own home or find local accommodations. A communal resting area is provided during the day while on campus for the retreat. The retreat commuter is expected to attend the entire retreat just like residential retreatants. Special reduced rates are listed below for retreat commuters.

If you have questions about being a retreat commuter, please email Registration@spiritrock.org

Commuter Sliding Scale:
Sustainer-Commuter – $740
Basic-Commuter – $500

Current Covid-19 Safety Protocols for residential retreats

Continuing Education (CE) credit available:
This program offers 8.75 CE credits for $87.50 for psychologists, and California-licensed MFTs, LCSWs, LEPs, LPCCs, nurses, and chiropractors. Please review our Continuing Education information page to determine if your association or board will accept credits offered by Spirit Rock.**

Teachings are appropriate for health care professionals as well as the general public. This program is directly applicable to healthcare professionals by providing empirically supported mindfulness- and compassion-based interventions that transform being judgmental of both self and others, and work with interpersonal reactivity. The practices taught, including mindfulness, lovingkindness, compassion, forgiveness, inquiry, and wise speech, can enhance clinicians’ well-being, reduce burnout, and strengthen therapeutic empathy and presence. Indirectly, they equip clinicians with evidence-based tools (e.g., mindfulness of thoughts, loving-kindness meditation, compassion-focused interventions) to help clients manage distress, foster resilience, improve emotional regulation, and develop skills in working with interpersonal differences and conflicts. The content aligns with established mindfulness-based and compassion-focused approaches recognized in psychological science and clinical guidelines.

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

• Describe the psychological mechanisms and social conditioning by which judgmental thinking contributes to cognitive distortions, interpersonal conflict, and emotional distress.
• Compare judgmental reactivity and non-reactive discernment, and explain their clinical relevance for reducing cognitive distortions and reactivity in clients.
• Apply mindfulness-based practices to identify and reduce self-critical cognitions and enhance emotional regulation in clinical settings.
• Describe how to integrate loving-kindness, compassion, and forgiveness practices into healthcare work to help reduce negative self-judgments and enhance emotional regulation.
• Utilize compassion-based interventions, including lovingkindness, compassion, and forgiveness meditation, as adjunctive strategies to address negative self-judgment and shame in clients.
• Describe a forgiveness practice that can be used as a clinically applicable tool to reduce repetitive negative rumination and support individual and relational repair.
• Utilize mindfulness and compassion-based practices in the clinician’s own self-care plan to mitigate professional burnout and enhance therapeutic presence.

Continuing Education content level: Introductory

Schedule: (Full attendance is required. Times are listed in Pacific time.)

• December 1
  • 8:00pm – 8:30pm: Discourse/Dharma Talk
• December 2 – 4
  • 9:00am – 10:00am: Guided meditation with Instructions & Q&A
  • 11:30am – 12:15pm: Guided Practice
  • 7:30pm – 8:30pm: Discourse/Dharma Talk
• December 5
  • CE credits not applicable

**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 credit 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 different than those listed.
• Co-sponsor Mindful CECs is a provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP17985 for 8.75 contact hours.
• Credit is awarded for instructional time only and does not include extended silent meditation, if offered.
• Potential Conflict of Interest Statement: These instructors may have authored publications relevant to the subjects covered in this course. The instructors might reference these publications during the course, and they may receive financial compensation if these publications are purchased.