Self-Directed Retreats

Open Dates
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Make time for yourself and your practice in a supportive and peaceful contemplative environment. Entering into a self-directed or long-term retreat allows you to design a program that best meets your needs and schedule. This could be an intensive silent meditation retreat, or it could be a more gentle meditation […]

Five Mindfulness Trainings Recitation ~ Zoom Online

Open Dates
ZOOM (account needed)
Join Sister Clear Grace and Sister Clear Suchness as they perform a Recitation Ceremony once a month to be in accord with the practice of the Five Mindfulness trainings. Topic: Five Mindfulness Trainings Recitation Time: Every First Sunday 10:00 AM Eastern Time (US and Canada) The Five Mindfulness Trainings are one of the most concrete ways to practice mindfulness. They are nonsectarian, and their nature is universal. They are true practices of compassion and understanding. All spiritual traditions have their equivalent to the Five Mindfulness Trainings. The first training is to protect life, to decrease violence in oneself, in the family…

Final Friday Fun Night

January 29, 2021
On Zoom
Final Friday Fun Night was started at Heartwood Refuge, as a way for the local sangha, Embracing Simplicity Sangha, to get together, get to know each other better and build a beloved community. When COVID shut us down that was all put on hold. But one of the blessings the pandemic brought us is the ability to use technology to reach a much larger sangha. So please know you are all invited to join us via zoom for our first of hopefully many Cyber Final Friday Fun Nights. Please register for the Jan 29, 2021 session which will start at…

20th Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards Ceremony ~ Zoom Online

March 8, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
*Registration link to follow soon! Celebrate International Women's Day 2021! Join Heartwood in hosting the virtual celebration of the 20th Outstanding Women in Buddhism Awards Ceremony in honor of the United Nations' International Women's Day. USA, Taiwan, Thailand and more! Have fun, meet friends, celebrate women's accomplishments! In partnership with the International Women's Meditation Center Foundation, www.iwmcf.net Time Zones: New York: March 8, 2021 09.00  9am California: March 8, 2021 06.00   6am Germany: March 8, 2021 15.00 3pm Thailand: March 8, 2021 21.00 9pm Taiwan: March 8, 2021 22.00 10pm Malaysia: March 8, 2021 22.00 10pm Sri Lanka: March 8,…

Practicing the Dharma in the World Today ~ Zoom Retreat ~ Scholarship Eligible

with Robert Brumet

April 7 - 12, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
My first dharma teacher said to me, “If you want a small enlightenment, then stay here in the temple. If you want a big enlightenment, then go back to the city.” Cultivating wisdom and compassion is challenging under any circumstances, but this is especially true in our world today. And yet, the dharma is needed in this world more now than any other time in human history. The world is burning and humans are deeply divided; we are being called to live consciously and compassionately in a world that is largely unconscious and uncaring. The consequences could hardly be greater--yet…

Metabolizing Emotion: The Art of Being in Touch With Yourself ~ Zoom Retreat

with Nick Kranz

April 15 - 18, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Instructions drawn from the practice of Social Meditation, which Nick developed, will aid the practitioner in taking the benefits of meditation off the cushion and into their daily life. Whether we are alone or in small circles, interacting on Zoom or in person, and even if we're by ourselves, having instructions on how to bring the natural dignity of our embodiment, the healthfulness of being in touch with emotions as they manifest in our body, and the vision in which courage and tenderness are inseparable become ways in which we can metabolize emotion, find sustainable resilience, and communicate in a way…

Wild Heart Spring Retreat

with Andrew Chapman, LMSW and Rev. Mikey Noechel, MS

May 24 - 31, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
The Buddha taught that the seeds of awakening are deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of every human being. However, it is only through the intentional cultivation of these seeds—generosity, ethical living, and mindfulness—and the uprooting of greed, hatred, and delusion that we can begin to harvest the fruits of our awakened heart. […]

The Heart’s True Refuge: Finding Freedom in Compassionate Presence ~ Zoom Online

with Lisa Ernst

June 23 - 27, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
True refuge is turning toward our experience and finding freedom even amidst the uncertainties of life. This retreat will provide time to give our hearts and minds a reset during these challenging and uncertain times. Through the refuges of wisdom, compassion and community, we will cultivate a quality of kind awareness that embraces our joys and sorrows with equanimity and insight. Through mindfulness, lovingkindness and insight practices, we will begin to dissolve the illusion of separation and taste the joy of interconnectedness with all things. This retreat is appropriate for all levels of experience. It will include periods of sitting…

Practicing With Karma ~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with John Orr

July 14 - 18, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
Practicing With Karma There may be many questions regarding the meaning of karma and how to work with it in our practice. What is karma? How does it work? Does karma mean predestination or fate? If there is no self, whose karma is it? How does karma get transferred from one lifetime to the next?  Karma is nether punishment or reward, but just the natural results of seeds we have planted, consciously or unconsciously. Some of these seeds or actions through what we say or do are wholesome and others unwholesome.  The Buddha said; Abandon the unwholesome. If it were…

The Liberating Teachings of the Buddha ~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Annie Nugent

August 12 - 15, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
The purpose of the Buddha’s teachings is to show us how to be truly happy  by using the tools of mindfulness and clear understanding to reveal the unskillful tendencies  of mind that keep us bound to suffering. Joy arises for us when we realize, through our direct experience,  that it  is possible for transformation to come about. This silent  retreat is an invitation to explore the depth of the teachings  in this formal setting as wisdom and compassion is cultivated, allowing these qualities to come to the fore  in the  midst of the fullness and vibrancy of daily life.

Awakening the Wild Heart – Insight Meditation Retreat~ Scholarship Eligible

with Andrew Chapman, LMSW and Rev. Mikey Noechel, MS

September 3 - 6, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
The Buddha taught that the seeds of awakening are deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of every human being. However, it is only through the intentional cultivation of these seeds—generosity, ethical living, and mindfulness—and the uprooting of greed, hatred, and delusion that we can begin to harvest the fruits of our awakened heart. […]

Come Back to Your Senses ~ Retreat Scholarship Eligible

with Nick Kranz

October 8 - 10, 2021
Heartwood Refuge and Retreat Center
In this retreat, we will learn techniques for bringing our meditation practice to our sense perceptions, allowing ourselves to be more present, more of the time, and thus to enjoy and appreciate our lives more fully. In difficult times it's easy for us to be overwhelmed by our thinking processes.  In this retreat we will learn how to stop trying to escape or change the thoughts and feelings that arise in our experience, and instead to see them from a different perspective, one that brings equity to our other senses, and helps us return to feeling like we are part…