BCIMS: Letting Go and Opening to Possibilities
With Adrianne Ross and Rachel Lewis
December 28, 2026 - January 2, 2027
Hosted by: BC Insight Meditation Society
Letting Go and Opening to Possibilities
Coming on retreat at the end of the year is a beautiful opportunity to release some of the difficulties and burdens we’ve been carrying these past months. As we practice mindfully and kindly sitting, walking, and resting with what is, there’s a natural unfolding and releasing so that we can see more clearly. As we let go a little, we can find there’s more space, ease, and a sense of possibility in our lives.
Our schedule will include practice instructions at the beginning of each day and alternating sitting and walking periods. There will be practice discussion groups and time for questions and answers each day. We may also include affinity sits as a support to members of marginalized communities–email rachel@bcims.org if you have questions about these sits. On New Year’s Eve, which falls on the last night of this retreat, there will be the option of an extended practice period with periods of sitting, walking and chanting through to midnight. This practice period offers the opportunity to set intentions for the new year from a place of clarity
This silent retreat is suitable for both people new to practice and those with experience and is a wonderful way to end one year and begin the next.
Teachers
Adrianne Ross is a retired family physician who has been involved in meditation and healing since 1976. She has been practicing Buddhist meditation since 1984 and began teaching in 1995. She is influenced by both Thai and Burmese streams of the Theravadan tradition, as well as Tibetan (Mahamudra and Dzogchen) practices. She teaches classes, weekend and residential retreats in Canada and the US. She has been involved in teaching and mentoring students in the Dedicated Practitioner and Advanced Practitioner Programs through Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. She co-founded BCIMS with the late Joanne Broatch over 20 years ago.
Learn more about Adrianne Ross
Rachel Lewis began practicing insight meditation in 2003, while completing her physics PhD at Yale. Since 2011, she has taught dharma and meditation classes and retreats in British Columbia and beyond. She completed the IMS/IRC 4-year teacher training in 2021, and is a guiding teacher of the British Columbia Insight Meditation Society. Her dharma teaching interests include the power of music, humour, and creativity to increase our capacity for learning, as well as the way that practice supports and is supported by social justice work. See her other events at http://rachelmeditates.ca/
Learn more about Rachel Lewis