Community Events for 2021
Metta for the Body:
An Immersion in Insight and Love
Thursday, April 15 - Sunday, April 18, 2021
with Erin Selover
On Zoom
In your investigation of the world, never allow the mind to desert the body. Examine its nature, see the elements that comprise it. When its true nature is seen fully and lucidly by the heart, the wonders of the world will become clear.
– Ajahn Mun
Over a year into this global pandemic, many of our bodies are carrying more tension than ever. This process of collecting tension can cause chronic pain, emotional imbalance and contribute towards relational distress, or it can lead to compassion and insight. Buddhist teachings point directly to the body as a vehicle of liberating wisdom.
This retreat will focus on lovingkindness for the physical body and meditation on the elements as a path to well-being, liberating wisdom and love for self, others and world.
Register through Spirit Rock here.
All are welcome! No one will be turned away for lack of funds as space allows. For more information, please email Registration@spiritrock.org.
*Important Note: You will have ~90 days from the original program date to view the program.
Love, Courage and Resilience:
Cultivating Kindness, Compassion and Joy
in times of collective uncertainty and uprising
with Erin Selover & John Martin
2021 Brahmavihara (Divine Abodes) Retreats,
Wednesday, September 1st (8:15 a.m.)—Sunday, September 5 (10:30 a.m.)
Registration will open in Summer of 2021
Sign up for my newsletter to receive an notice when registration begins
As we continue to live into this moment of social uprising and the pandemic what practices can support our capacity to walk with an open, loving and peaceful heart while also creatively and courageously responding to these times?
In classical texts the Buddha taught Metta, lovingkindness, to monastics afraid of tree spirits who were harassing them during their winter retreat. As we reflect on this moment, one interpretation could be that we are on a collective retreat and being called to let go of individual, interpersonal and structural patterns based in fear to live more imaginative, beautiful and just lives. What Charlies Eisenstien termed, “The more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.”
On this retreat, we will practice cultivating the beautiful heart qualities of Metta (goodwill/loving kindness), compassion, supportive joy and equanimity to awaken inner-resilience and a spacious balanced heart. This further awakens a tenderness that allows us to increasingly discern suffering from non-suffering and gain courage to speak and act with wisdom.
Moreover, through continued practice of the Brahmaviharas over the course of the retreat we will point to the gradual awakening process that paradoxically realizes a peace and contentment that transcends the outer conditions of the world. We are meant to live in the world with an open and loving heart, able to hold all of the joys and sorrows of life in balance.
In this online retreat, we will have the opportunity to bring these qualities forth into our daily lives. The schedule for this online retreat will include a morning meditation instruction and short talk (8:15–9:15 a.m.) an afternoon guided sit and talk (4:30—5:45 p.m.). There will also be small group practice meetings and scheduled online sits through the day to support the practice. Some may choose to sit many hours, others may only attend the periods for instructions, small group practice meetings and talks.
Practice Schedule
8:15 - 9:15 Guided practice
11:00 - 11:45 Optional sit
2:00 - 2:45 Optional sit
4:30 - 5:45 Guided practice & Dharma Talk
7:30 - 8:15 Optional sit
Practice Discussion Group Times
1:00 - 1:45
2:00 - 2:45
Retreat Registration
Registration will open in Summer 2021
At the time of registration we are requesting a retreat administration fee of $25, with no one turned away for lack of funds.
Dana (donations) for the teachers can be offered during – or at the end of – the retreat.
If you have any questions you can email the Retreat Manager, Kerry Nelson, at kerry(at)selfretreat.org.
Dana
This retreat is offered freely, at no cost to anyone who participates. The support for the teachers will be provided by donations participants offer at the end of our retreat. Generosity is what allows the teachers to continue to share the Buddha’s teachings, and will allow the teachings to be carried forward into the future.
Erin Selover is on the Teachers Council at Spirit Rock, a Somatic-Based Psychotherapist and Spiritual Strategist and Rites of Passage Guide. She has been practicing and teaching meditation for over 15 years. To learn more about Erin go to erinselover.com
John Martin is the Co-Chair for the Spirit Rock Guiding Teachers Committee, and on the Teachers Council. His teachings emphasize the aliveness of practice in everyday life, and the importance of cultivating the brahmaviharas in daily life. He leads a weekly sangha and an advanced practitioner study group and co-leads an LGBTQI sangha.
A Beltane Ritual of Becoming:
Celebrating the Sheela-na-gig
Create your Beltane Ritual with Support
Saturday, May 1, 9am - 10:30am, PST (Orienting + Intention Setting + Meditation)
Sunday, May 2, 4:30pm - 7pm, PST (Returning + Meditation + Sharing Insights)
Sessions are not recorded
Beltane is about reverence for all of life and celebration of the creation that grows from the union of the opposites. The Shella-na-gig is carved naked women squatting with knees apart, displaying her vulva, in the symbol of a vesica piscis, vessel of the fish, known for the potent power of creation emerging from the dark womb.
In this ritual we will intend to align with the power of the Sheela-na-gig as the veils between worlds open during Beltane. A time to consciously align with the instinctive and wild forces within and without for the benefit of all of life. Balancing the potency of the life force on the physical, spiritual and mystical levels in joyous celebration of the sacredness and power of unrestrained love, sexual pleasure and deep connection of the heart.
This retreat is designed to support you entering into sacred space the weekend of Beltane by humbling intending to align with Sheela-na-gig, Saturday May 1 - Sunday, May 2nd. We will meet for 1.5 hours Saturday morning on video to orient to the holiday, set intentions and practice earth based meditation together. You will be encouraged to create your own rituals, practices and celebrations throughout the weekend based on your own lineages, interests and intuition. Moreover, it could be any one or combination of solo time, co-creating ritual with friends or lovers, ritual with your family or simply holding
To register please complete the Registration Form and you will be sent retreat information that includes a zoom link from our retreat manager, Corrie Bennett. Please contact Corrie at with questions.
The retreat is offered completely on gift and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Suggested offering between $33 - $103. Please do not let finances be a barrier to receiving this offering.
Offerings can be made through Venmo @erinselover or paypal.me/ErinSelover
2021 Samhain Ritual
Celebrating the Celtic New Year + Honoring Ancestors
Create your Samhain Ritual with Support
October 31st, 9am - 10:30am, PST (Orienting + Intention Setting + Meditation)
November 1, 4:30pm - 7pm, PST (Returning + Meditation + Sharing Insights + Sunset)
Samhain is the Celtic New Year. A time to literally create your own broom (or buy one on etsy) and sweep away the dust of the past 13 moons. It’s also an invitation to enter deep time and honor our ancestors through ritual, ceremony and celebration. Particularly if you have lost a loved one or a particular aspect of yourself this year (who hasn't), it can be a time to mark a cycle of closure. With the support of those that have gone before, it is time to take stock, make repairs, relish in the space of letting go and begin to call in the qualities of your becoming.
This retreat is designed to support you entering into sacred space the weekend of Samhain, October 31st - November 1st. We will meet for 1.5 hours Saturday morning on video to orient to the holiday, set intentions and practice earth based meditation together. You will be encouraged to create your own rituals, practices and celebrations throughout the weekend based on your own lineages, interests and intuition. Moreover, it could be any one or combination of making get out the vote calls, solo time, co-creating ritual with friends, ritual with your family or simply holding Samhain in your consciousness as an intention to integrate earth based ritual in your life. If you are called to participate, join us! We will return Sunday evening on video to welcome each other back, practice, share insights and watch the sunset together from our different locations. Marking together the beginning of a new year.
To register email and you will be sent retreat information and a zoom link.
The retreat is offered completely on gift and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Suggested offering between $33 - $103. Please do not let finances be a barrier to receiving this offering.
Offerings can be made through Venmo @erinselover or paypal.me/ErinSelover
Calling Forth the Light
2021 Winter Solstice Retreat
Date to be determined
On Zoom
Winter Solstice marks the moment where the sun is farthest from the earth. In Celtic earth based traditions some would gather on the eve before the solstice to call forth the light. This practice of calling forth builds relationship with the sun, humbly requesting its return to warm the soil, our bodies and nourish all the seeds planted in fall and early winter.
On the eve of the longest night of the year we join in circle and ceremony to court the sun, calling forth the light of the sun within ourselves, each other and our global community. The three hour offering will include casting a circle, meditation, inquiry and shared reflections.
Please come with a candle and journal.
To register email and you will be sent retreat information and a zoom link.
The retreat is offered completely on gift and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Suggested offering between $21 - $54. Please do not let finances be a barrier to receiving this offering.
Offerings can be made through Venmo @erinselover or paypal.me/ErinSelover
2022 Imbolc Ritual: Welcoming the Sun
Celebrating the Celtic Triple Goddess Brigid
February 2, 6-8:30 pm PST
With Erin Selover
On Zoom
Imbolc is the half-way point between the winter solstice and spring equinox. A time where we are invited to begin to welcome the sun and slowly turn outward.
Imbolc is also a time to celebrate the Celtic Goddess Brigid. Bridgid is a Triple Goddesses symbolizing the life cycles of women. Imbolc is a time to particularly celebrate the cycle of the maiden, our youthful, vital essence that transcends biological time and is accessible to us at all ages.
In this retreat we will explore the Celtic Myth of the Selkie, The Seal Women through the lens of the Triple Goddess - seeing ourselves through this potent mythic story about the longings, sacrifice and mysteries in life.
For those interested we will continue to look at the story of the Selkie for the three following Tuesday in February. For more information read below.
To register email and you will be sent retreat information and a zoom link.
The retreat is offered completely on gift and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Suggested offering between $21 - $53. Please do not let finances be a barrier to receiving this offering.
Offerings can be made through Venmo @erinselover or paypal.me/ErinSelover
Celebrating Ostara: The Festival of Balance
Aligning with the Energies of the Spring Equinox
Friday March 12, 4:00 - 6:30 pm PST
With Erin Selover
On Zoom
Photo by Arno Smit
Spring Equinox is a time when day and night are equal all over the world. It’s particularly a time of tuning into the quality of balance, to see clearly the possibilities that lie before, however constrained, as the flowers blossom and the days gradually increase in light.
On the Friday evening just before the new moon in Pisces at 2:21 am we will gather to prepare for Spring Equinox the following Saturday, March 20th.
To register email and you will be sent retreat information and a zoom link.
The retreat is offered completely on gift and no one is turned away for lack of funds. Suggested offering between $21 - $53. Please do not let finances be a barrier to receiving this offering.
Offerings can be made through Venmo @erinselover or paypal.me/ErinSelover