Retreats

Discover a Deeper Way of Living Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center offers a retreat for almost everyone. Our schedule carries a...

Date & Time Details: Check-in is from 3:00-5:00 on the first day of the retreat. The retreat will close mid-morning on the last day of the retreat. (Learn more)

PRICE: We offer a sliding scale structure. Scholarships are available, see below. Prices for this retreat range from $735-$1,925 (not including teacher dana and add-on items). (Learn more)

DANA: This is a dana-based retreat. (Learn more)

SHUTTLE SERVICE: Shuttle Service is available for this retreat. (Learn more)

NOBLE SILENCE: This retreat will be held in noble silence. (Learn more)

SCHOLARSHIP: Scholarships are available on a limited basis for Hemera, BIPOC, and Needs Based. (Learn more)

Email us about program

Application for Coming Home to Nature: A BIPOC Community Dhamma Retreat

With Victoria Cary, Louije Kim and René Rivera

June 19 - 26, 2024

A monk, having gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree or to an empty place, sits down with legs crossed, keeps the body erect and mindfulness alert.

This is an instruction of the Buddha that points to a supportive condition for practice. A condition which is easily met in the beautiful mountain wilderness of Vallecitos among the Aspens and the Ponderosa Pines. This retreat container allows for relaxation of the busyness of the mind and supports the conditions to take refuge in our ability to awaken, in the wisdom of the Dhamma, and in our BIPOC community. Nurturing conditions to support relaxation and regulation of our hearts and minds during these times of so much difficulty and challenge.

We gather together to practice the Dhamma and to find the balance of deep rest and a nourishing commitment to meeting ourselves in each moment, just as we are through loving awareness. We will offer Dhamma talks, meditation, guided exploration on the land, heart-centered practices, and chanting, held in a container of silence and nurturing spaciousness. Rooted in a land-based lineage that goes back to the Buddha, we practice outdoors and in deep connection to the natural world.

This retreat is appropriate to all practitioners new and experienced. This is a retreat for self-identified Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC).

 

APPLICATION PROCESS: (Please read until the end.)

Registration for this retreat is by application and lottery.  Together with the lottery we are curating additional variables to encourage greater equity, diversity, inclusion, and access for our many popular retreats. To create an optimal retreat container, some of these factors include affinity group membership, age, gender balance, and experience level.  

Registering for a lottery or completing an application does not ensure a space in the retreat.  Applications received after February 5th are automatically placed on the waitlist and will be notified of availability on a rolling basis. Notifications often move quickly so we recommend checking your email regularly. Please note that you will be asked to complete your registration details and pay your retreat fees within 48 hours of your offer to attend. If you are in need of financial assistance to attend, you will be invited to complete a scholarship application once you have been accepted and completed your registration.

We recognize that this is an imperfect system and we have carefully considered valuable feedback from many of you in designing our registration system for this year.  If you have questions about this new registration process, please contact Jan at refuge@vallecitos.org or by calling 505-469-9017.

 


COVID Safety Measures: Please review our current COVID Safety Measures, which are subject to change.

Teachers

Victoria Cary
Victoria Cary has been practicing Insight Meditation and studying the Dharma since 2006. In 2017 she completed Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader program and went on to become a fully empowered Dharma Teacher. In 2016 she co-founded the San Francisco People of Color Insight Sangha and continues as one of the core teachers. She is a San Francisco Bay Area Native. She left her workplace of 20 years in 2017 to deepen into the Dharma. Since then she has spent time in and out of intensive silent meditation practice, including a 3-month retreat at IMS, 6-week amd 3-month retreats at…
Learn more about Victoria Cary
Louije Kim
Louije Kim, LMFT, is a San Francisco Bay Area based dharma practitioner, teacher, and licensed psychotherapist. They have completed dharma study programs including Spirit Rock’s Dedicated Practitioners and Community Dharma Leader programs, and graduated from Spirit Rock’s four-year Teacher Training in 2020. Louije has taught in various dharma centers locally and across the US. They were a part of the Asian American Buddhist Working Group, a grant-funded project seeking to promote connections between Asian American sanghas. They have been working in community mental health settings for over a decade, providing therapy to communities that are impacted by collective, political, and…
Learn more about Louije Kim
René Rivera
René Rivera is a meditation teacher, restorative justice facilitator, and leader, working and learning in all the spaces in-between race, gender, and other perceived binaries, as a queer, latinx, trans man. René teaches heart-centered, trauma-informed meditation, at the East Bay Meditation Center and other meditation centers. He has co-led the first residential meditation retreats for transgender, nonbinary and gender expansive people. René is a restorative justice facilitator for the Ahimsa Collective, working to heal sexual and gender based violence.
Learn more about René Rivera