Join us for a heart-centered New Year’s retreat — a nourishing weekend of reflection, connection, and renewal as we transition into a new cycle of life. In the darkest part of winter, we gather to celebrate the bright gifts of our lives, honor our precious community, and reignite the forces of our deepest aspirations for the year ahead.
The turning of the New Year is a powerful threshold. Together, we’ll slow down and reflect on the quality and meaning of our lives, release what no longer serves, and invite clarity, intention, and inspiration for the year to come. This retreat will be both contemplative and celebratory: a space to turn inward, and a space to uplift one another with joy, movement, and conscious play.
Our time will be gently structured around practices that support whole-being renewal, including:
❄ Loving-kindness and mindfulness practices (singing, silent meditation, walking meditation)
❄ Dharma teachings on transition, aspiration, and conscious renewal
❄ Reflective and creative practices including written, artistic, and expressive year-end reflection and visioning for the year ahead
❄ Relatefulness practices for mindful connection in conversation
❄ Somatic and expressive movement to awaken vitality, presence, and ease
❄ Celebratory practices of music, play, and embodied joy to welcome the New Year wholeheartedly
❄ Sangha sharing circles to deepen in community
❄ Wholesome seasonal meals (vegetarian with vegan options) to nourish body and spirit
No prior experience is needed — only a willingness to arrive as you are.
NOTE: This is a non-residential commuter retreat in nature (participants return home each night).
Retreat Teachers:
The retreat will be led by David Viafora, James Dial and Anna Morozova..
David is an ordained member of the Order of Interbeing, and has been practicing meditation in the Plum Village Zen tradition for over 20 years. He has organized and led mindfulness retreats around the world, throughout Europe, in Oceania, and North America. David teaches mindfulness courses and retreats for physicians, educators, families, young adults, children, and teens, among others, while also working as a licensed clinical social worker and therapist. He is finishing a book on the art of mindful community building called, Thriving Together: 9 Principles for Building True Community (Parallax, Fall 2024).
James is a facilitator dedicated to cultivating mindfulness in connection. As a certified Relatefulness Facilitator and Coach, he has hundreds of hours helping individuals and groups bring more awareness into their relationships. He has been practicing regularly in Mindfulness and Buddhist spaces for 7 years, grounding his work in lived experience. He also has multiple years of experience developing the interpersonal leadership skills of blue-collar employees. These skills and experiences enable him to support others in their awakening while also becoming more embodied, ethical, relational, and vertically developed.
Anna is a movement facilitator, choreographer, and expressive arts practitioner with advanced professional training in Somatic Psychology: Body-Mind Centering®. She has been practicing mindfulness and meditation for many years, integrating Kashmir Shaivism and Zen Buddhism with a grounded, scientific perspective. Anna offers sessions that invite participants to connect more deeply with their bodies, release blocks held by trauma, and discover joy, ease, and freedom of expression through movement, visual arts, and creative play. She sees her work as a bridge between mindfulness practice and embodied movement, supporting both self-awareness and compassionate connection with others.
Finances (Commuter Retreat — No Housing Provided):
Our retreat fee is based on programming, which includes all retreat activities and meals. Here are the sliding scale rates:
Supporter ($395): Helps cover the costs of others in need
Self-sustaining ($295): Covers your own participation
Scholarship ($195): Reduced rate for those needing financial support
Scholarships:
We are dedicated to making this retreat accessible to all.
Our scholarship system is founded on trust, generosity, and respect for each person’s financial reality.
• You do not need to explain your financial situation.
• We ask that you take only what you need so we can continue supporting others in the future.
• If you request a scholarship, please do so with a sincere commitment to participating fully in the retreat.
• We trust you, and our community operates on a foundation of mutual generosity.
We have discount codes to cover up to 90% of the retreat. Pick Self-sustaining rate and apply promo code at the checkout.
To receive a scholarship discount code, please email us at Connect@GreatwoodsZen.org.
Cancellation Policy:
We understand that life circumstances can change, and we do our best to balance flexibility with the needs of our community.
Within 48 hours of registering (for registrations made Dec 9–Dec 30):
Full refund minus a $25 administrative fee.
Before December 22:
75% refund.
December 22–December 30:
50% refund.
After December 30:
Dana:
Participants are also invited to offer ‘dana’, a Sanskrit word for ‘generosity.’ The retreat has been priced to be as financially accessible for people as possible. The funds primarily go to food costs, organizing costs, renting the facility, and administrative labor costs. Dana is a financial offering towards the retreat teachers, for their time, energy, care for the retreat, and skillfulness in transmitting practices that help people heal, strengthen, and transform.
Retreat Details:
The retreat includes programming for Friday evening, all day Saturday, and Sunday half day (see sample schedule below).
Meals* provided:
Friday: Dinner
Saturday: Lunch and dinner
Sunday: Lunch
*vegetarian meals with vegan options available
Participants are welcome to share any additional dietary needs with the staff and may bring food that will make their stay more comfortable. A refrigerator will also be available for storing personal food or necessary medicine.
Arrival day/departure day
Please register only if you are able to arrive on the first day and attend the activities for the entire retreat. Our intention with retreats is to build and hold the collective energy and for that reason we all benefit by having people arrive at the start of the retreat and leave at the end.
No Multiple Reservations
Please do separate reservations for each registrant.
Basic Practices
During our retreat you will get a chance to practice mindfulness in a variety of ways. Although there is no need to have any experience with meditation to join this retreat, it is helpful to be aware of the basic practices. You can find them in the ‘About’ section of this website.
Sample Retreat Schedule:
(the schedule can change prior to and during the retreat, however this will give you an general idea of what to expect):
Friday
5.30pm - Arrival
6:00pm - Dinner (silent for first 15 minutes)
7:00pm - Short Somatic Session
7:30pm - Orientation, Intros, and Opening meditation
9pm - Noble Silence
Saturday
10:00am - Walking Meditation
11:30am - Relatefulness Practice
12:30pm - Lunch (silent for first 15 minutes)
Rest and Free time
2:30pm - Somatic Movement Practice
3:30pm - Dharma Sharing
5pm - Free time
6pm - Dinner (silent for first 15 minutes)
Sunday
10am - Somatic Movement Practice
10:30am - Relatefulness Practice
11:15am - Closing Dharma Sharing
1pm - Lunch (silent for first 15 minutes)
2.30pm - Closing Clean Up & goodbyes
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Registration
Registration must be completed in advance. Last day to register: December 30.
If you would like to register for this retreat, click the following button to get to our registration page.
Questions? Contact us at Connect@GreatwoodsZen.org
Flyer:
Feel free to click to following image and download our flyer so you can share it with your friends or family.
