Winter Solstice Retreat: Embracing the Dark, Inviting the Light (220Z22) - Online
Oren Jay Sofer, SEP, Carol Cano, MA, devon hase, nico hase, Matthew Brensilver, PhD and Cara Lai, MA
December 17 - 23, 2022
Registration open until 11:59pm (Pacific Time) on Friday, December 16, 2022. A waiting list will be created if the retreat fills early.
Insight Meditation Winter Solstice Retreat: Embracing the Dark, Inviting the Light
Open to: Everyone
Description:
This retreat will support centering ourselves at the time of the holidays and the New Year, through quieting our minds, grounding in our bodies, opening up our hearts, and using inquiry to help give clarity to our practice. There will be a special emphasis on opening to the darkness, including to our difficulties and challenges, as well as to the coming light—to our beauty, joy, wisdom, and love. The retreat will include full meditation instructions, sitting and walking meditation, daily lovingkindness practice, Qigong practice, evening talks, practice check ins, and a Winter Solstice ceremony.
Online Retreat:
The online retreat will be offered via Zoom and will include: meditation instructions, Dharma talks, and opportunities to ask questions during Q&A with on-land teachers, broadcasted live from Spirit Rock’s Upper Meditation Hall. There will also be practice meetings and 1:1 interviews with Cara Lai and Matthew Brensilver on Zoom, as well as online affinity groups. Please note: the on-land teachers will not offer practice meetings to online practitioners.
Online retreat includes:
- Zoom hall for all teaching sessions
- Practice meetings with the online teacher
- Opportunity to ask questions during Q&A with the on-land teachers
- Online affinity groups (optional)
Questions about at-home/online retreats? Please visit Home Retreat Guidelines.
About the Teachers
Oren Jay Sofer, SEP
Oren Jay Sofer teaches meditation and communication internationally. He holds a degree in comparative religion from Columbia University, is a Certified Trainer of Nonviolent Communication, and a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner for the healing of trauma. Oren is also the author of several books, including the best-seller "Say What You Mean: A Mindful Approach to Nonviolent […]
Learn more about Oren Jay Sofer, SEP
Carol Cano, MA
Carol Cano, MA, has a master’s in Psychology and began her practice over 30 years ago at Wat Kow Tahm in Thailand and has actively engaged in building communities and teaching Dharma internationally. She is a graduate of the 2017-2020 Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Teacher Training program and a teacher at Spirit Rock often. She is […]
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devon hase
devon hase loves long retreats. Cumulatively, she’s spent four years in silent practice in the Insight and Vajrayana traditions. 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 and now teaches at the Insight Meditation […]
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nico hase
nico hase lived in a monastery for six years before earning a PhD in counseling psychology and becoming an Insight Meditation teacher full time. He currently mentors mindfulness teachers, teaches online and in-person retreats, and speaks with students in one-on-one sessions. He and his beloved life partner devon are the authors of How Not to […]
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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 […]
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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, MA