Staying Resourced in Relationship: A Heart Practices Retreat for Young Adults

Our relationships—with partners, friends, family, community, and ourselves—are where we most vividly experience both suffering and freedom. They are also where many of us feel the most stretched, confused, or depleted. This retreat is an invitation to reconnect with the inner resources that allow us to meet the joys and difficulties of relationship with more steadiness, honesty, and care.

Together, we’ll explore the four heart practices of the Buddhist tradition—loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity—not as abstract ideals, but as living capacities we can cultivate and rely on in our actual lives. These qualities help us stay open without burning out, connected without losing ourselves, and present even when things are messy or uncertain.

Our sitting and walking meditation schedule will move through each of these practices in sequence over the course of the retreat. Along the way, we’ll explore how they support core relational capacities such as deep listening, vulnerability, and staying present with both autonomy and connection. There will be time for quiet reflection, guided practice, and carefully held relational exercises that bring these teachings into lived experience.

This retreat is especially designed for young adults navigating the intensity and complexity of relationships, identity, work, and purpose in this stage of life. You don’t need prior retreat experience—just a willingness to practice, reflect, and meet yourself and others with honesty and care.

Program Format:
Dharma talks, guided meditation, silent meditation, relational practices, as well as walking and mindful movement.

Schedule:

6:30 Wake-up Bell 

7:00-7:30 Group Sitting Practice

7:30-8:00 Breakfast

9:00-Noon Morning Session 

Noon-12:30 Lunch

2:00-5:00 Afternoon Session 

5:00-5:30 Dinner

7:00-9:00 Evening Session

A Note on the Cancellation Policy

This retreat is freely offered in the spirit of generosity through the support of Dharma Gates. To support participant commitment and attendance, there is a $50 registration deposit, which can be refunded upon completion of the full program.

Noble Silence

During this retreat we will be practicing in Noble Silence as well as practicing in period of wise speech. When the whole group enters into Noble Silence we offer each other and ourselves the gift of being with our experience as it is.  This practice supports the mind in settling. Noble Silence includes no unnecessary talking, including social courtesy like saying “good morning” or “excuse me”, no reading or writing unless a teacher specifically encourages you to do so, and no tech use. We will have periods where we will also intentionally be practicing wise speech, in structured and unstructured ways.  You will be invited to give up using your phone for the week, and can either hand it in to the retreat managers or keep your phone in your room turned off. Upon being accepted to this retreat, you will receive emergency phone numbers that we ask you to share with your loved ones so that you will not need to be monitoring your own messages. A retreat manager will be present throughout the entirety of the retreat to support the group. If at any point during the retreat you are feeling ill, are injured, or are in distress please speak with the retreat manager.

Lodging & Camping Details

This retreat will be a mix of indoor lodging and outdoor camping. We have approximately 15 indoor beds available, and depending on registration numbers, up to 15 participants may be camping on the land.

Camping is an intentional and supported part of the retreat experience, and we’ll do our best to ensure everyone is comfortable and well-resourced.

To help us plan thoughtfully and make good use of our collective resources, please indicate the following in the registration form:

1. Whether you are open and willing to camp

2. Whether you are able to bring your own camping gear (tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, etc.)

3. Whether you are able to bring extra gear that could be shared with someone who may not have their own