Finding Refuge, Finding Home: A Retreat in Nature

This seven-night silent meditation retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, California, draws on the Insight Meditation tradition within Theravada Buddhism. Titled "Finding Refuge, Finding Home," it takes up the Buddha's first instruction on meditation, which was to go sit under a tree, and practices in the company of the natural world. It is intended for people with prior meditation experience and is led by Susie Harrington, Yong Oh and Denise Ackert, with teachers in training Lissa Edmond, Mario Castillo and Kate Siber.

What to Expect

The retreat begins with an arrival day, with check-in in the afternoon, an orientation and time to settle into your accommodations. The full days that follow are given to sitting and walking meditation, teacher-led discourse and instruction, and individual practice with nature as a guide. Meals are taken in noble silence. The retreat is silent except for teacher-led Q&A, small groups and other practice meetings. It ends on the final morning with a last practice and departure by 11:00 AM.

The theme is refuge: a place of nourishment and support where tired bodies and troubled hearts can be replenished. The teachers invite you to tap into the stillness and dynamism of the natural world and to let it teach balance. Integrating stillness and movement is meant to support a life that is active in the world while keeping ease in heart and mind. Practice takes place in the ritually consecrated Upper Meditation Hall and outdoors.

The Teaching Team

Susie Harrington is the guiding teacher of Desert Dharma, serving communities in the Southwest from her home in Moab, Utah. She has practiced in the Insight tradition since 1989, trained with Guy Armstrong, Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein, and completed the SRMC/IMS/IRC Teacher Training in 2016. She often teaches outdoors, using nature as a gateway to true nature, and emphasizes mindfulness in speech, daily life and the body.

Yong Oh is a core teacher at the Durango Dharma Center and at Sacred Mountain Saṅgha. Yong has a particular interest in nature Dharma, devotional expression, and supporting caregivers and communities of color in the Dharma.

Denise Ackert has practiced Insight Meditation since 1986 and has taught at the Salida Sangha since 2012. Her core teachers include John Travis, Brian Lesage, Susie Harrington and Erin Treat. Her background as a yoga teacher, body worker and environmental scientist informs her focus on embodied practice.

Lissa Edmond (Teacher in Training) began a dedicated Dharma practice in 2008 and is a nurse practitioner and facilitator taking part in the Spirit Rock/IMS teacher training. She offers compassionate, embodied and trauma-responsive practices.

Mario Castillo, PhD (Teacher in Training) has practiced in the Theravada tradition for nearly two decades. He completed the East Bay Meditation Center's Commit to Dharma Program and its Spiritual Teacher and Leadership Training, and is active in the four-year Teacher Training Program offered by the Insight Meditation Society and Spirit Rock.

Kate Siber (Teacher in Training) is a dharma leader for the Durango Dharma Center in Southwest Colorado. Wild nature, embodiment and service have been gateways to the Dharma for her, and she loves long retreats. She is also a freelance journalist, an Outside magazine correspondent and a children's book author.

Accommodation and Meals

Residential rooms are on Spirit Rock's upper campus. Many are single occupancy, and only 16 of the 80 rooms are doubles. A limited number of guaranteed single rooms are available, and other single rooms are first prioritized for people with serious medical needs. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and tea and light refreshments are provided.

Retreat commuters attend the full retreat with all meals but arrange their own overnight lodging, with a shared daytime rest area on campus. Commuters must have completed at least one previous weeklong silent residential Insight retreat.

Before You Go

This retreat is for intermediate to advanced practitioners. Newcomers are encouraged to start with daylong programs and then shorter retreats of four or five nights. The retreat is taught in English and is limited to 80 participants.

Seven nights of lodging, all meals and the teaching program are included. Transportation to Spirit Rock is not, nor is teacher dana, which is offered separately at the end of the retreat. Registration is on a sliding scale, with scholarships and payment plans available.