Discover a Deeper Way of Living
Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center offers a retreat for almost everyone. Our schedule carries a generous offering of Insight Meditation Retreats, retreats that invite participants to consciously explore their experience of wild nature, and retreats that are designed for specific populations. On our schedule you will find retreats for educators, people of color, women, men, and mental health professionals, to name a few. We are here to help you find a retreat that is right for you.
“I am so much more aware of the path I want to be on and the power of the sacred in my life.”
– Cristina Mormorunni
Covid-19 Updates: Retreats, Online Sangha, and Events
Open Dates
Letter to the community June 4th During the past week, I have been stirred with emotions of grief and anger. In the midst of this, it’s important for me to make this commitment: I will re-call your names: George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Sean Reed, Tony McDade, and Manuel Ellis. I will re-call the names of black transpeople, women, and men whose names we don’t yet know, who have been brutalized and killed by police and white vigilantes. I will stand with your families and communities in our commitment to work to end systemic racism in our country, and white supremacy…
Compassion and Dispassion in Times of Volatility
With Michele McDonald and Jesse Maceo Vega-Frey
August 15, 2020
On-Line
Michele and Jesse have graciously offered to hold this half day retreat as a fundraiser for Vallecitos. We are deeply grateful for their commitment to the practice and to supporting Vallecitos. All are welcome! We live in a time of heightened personal and social intensity in regard to the vicissitudes of life: of gain/loss, pleasure/pain, praise/blame, status/disgrace[…]
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Waking up to Wisdom through the Foundations of Mindfulness
With Dave Smith and Cheryl Slean
August 19 - 26, 2020
During this 7-day Insight meditation retreat, we will learn to develop a greater sense of presence and ease through the revolutionary practices of the Dharma. Focusing on the practices of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness and Metta (Lovingkindness), we’ll discover emotional balance and begin to free ourselves into the heart of wisdom and compassion. […]
The Wisdom of No Technology: Beyond our screens, the natural world and our deepest nature await.
With Dyanna Taylor and Don Usner
August 26 - September 1, 2020
While trying to give the best to our work and personal lives, we often find ourselves facing a tangle of unrelenting demands compounded by the distraction of technological devices that hijack our attention. This retreat offers a pause—breathing space—and a chance to turn away from our computers, cameras, and not-so-smart phones, […]
At Home in Our Lives: A Meditation Retreat for People Who Identify as Men
With Brian Lesage, Vinny Ferraro and Yong Oh
September 1 - 6, 2020
Join us for this precious opportunity to wake up in a way that is transformative for ourselves, our communities and our world. It is indeed rare to be in a small group of men dedicated to exploring our cultural inheritance. What can we let go of? What will we pass on? Can we remember our birthright of living with an undefended heart? […]
Awake in the Wild: Meditation in Nature Retreat
With Mark Coleman and Susie Harrington
September 12 - 19, 2020
On this retreat we will meditate outdoors all day in the natural beauty and mystery here at Vallecitos. Whether it is during sunset meditations, listening to the soothing sounds of the river, or sitting graced in the stillness of the aspen trees, we will open to the profound serenity and wisdom of nature. This silent retreat is grounded in the practice of Mindfulness […]
Sacred Mountain Sangha Dharmapala Training
With Thanissara and Kittisaro
September 20 - 26, 2020
**This is a closed retreat, available only for program participants.** We live in profoundly disruptive times where radical personal and collective solutions, rooted in transformation of consciousness, are needed to safely navigate perilous terrains, avoid a collapse of cohesive society, and mitigate the impact of ecocide. This Buddhist based two-year program of seven week-long module […]
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) 5-day Training
With Kristy Arbon and Megan Prager
September 27 - October 2, 2020
Mindful Self-Compassion (MSC) is an empirically-supported program designed to cultivate the skill of self-compassion. Based on pioneering research by Kristin Neff, PhD, and integrated with the clinical perspective of Chris Germer, PhD, MSC teaches core principles and practices that enable participants to respond to difficult emotions with kindness and understanding […]
Drinking from the Inner River: A Meditation Retreat for People Who Identify as Women
With Erin Treat and Anne Cushman
October 3 - 7, 2020
Nourish your wild spirit and reconnect with your own deepest nature in an embodied meditation retreat specifically designed to honor the unique needs and treasures of a woman’s journey. In the company of rushing rivers, clear ponds, abundant wildlife, and ancient ponderosa pines, we’ll reunite with our bodies, our hearts, and our own innate wholeness, compassion, and intuitive wisdom […]