Letting go can bring us to a place where we feel the groundlessness of our being, and this can be terrifying. But from this practice, we can move beyond the fear and see that these feelings are really the precursor to freedom. From this practice, we can know what it feels like to let go.
Carol Cano
Residential Retreat Teacher
Carol Cano, M.A., began her practice over 30 years ago at Wat Kow Tahm in Thailand and has actively engaged in building communities and teaching Dharma internationally. She is a graduate of the 2017-2020 Spirit Rock Meditation Center's Teacher Training program and a teacher at Spirit Rock often. She is a core teacher and a former board member of East Bay Meditation Center. Carol co-founded Philippine Insight Meditation Community in the Philippines. Her unique teachings are deeply grounded in Basque, Native American and Buddhist influences that braid the Dharma along indigenous wisdom and Earth-based practices. Her psychology background gives her a unique view into the human condition, which helps her hold community in a compassionate and confident manner. Carol reminds us to keep grounded in our hearts as we uphold spiritual ideals and encourages us to remain balanced within the demands of modern life.
Carol Cano's Upcoming Programs
Retreat | On-Land
June 21 - June 26, 2025 | Saturday - Thursday | 5 nights
Mindfulness for Everyone
12 CE Credits. Registration Open. Mindfulness offers us tools to develop our capacity to pay attention, regulate emotions, and cultivate states of lovingkindness, compassion, and even-mindedness. In this retreat we will practice mindfulness through sitting and walking meditation, as well as through lectures and the opportunity to meet with teachers who will guide our practice. While rooted in the Buddhist practice of mindfulness, this retreat will also focus on the practical applications of mindfulness and the range of ways to practice it.
Retreat | On-Land
August 17 - August 21, 2025 | Sunday - Thursday | 4 nights
Five Spiritual Powers: Cultivating Resilience, Balance, and Love
Registration Open. The Buddha’s teaching on the five spiritual powers (confidence, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom) offers a path to cultivate these capacities of the heart and transform habits that no longer serve us. Grounded in these teachings, together we will learn powerful and sustainable ways to restore our humanity and bring freedom to all beings. This retreat offers silent meditation, opportunities for movement meditation, Dharma talks, and time to be in nature and honor the natural rhythms of your own practice.
Retreat | On-Land
September 11 - September 14, 2025 | Thursday - Sunday | 3 nights
Insight Meditation for the Curious: Essentials Retreat for New and Experienced Meditators
Registration Open. This retreat will teach the essentials of mindfulness and Insight Meditation (vipassanā). We will explore ways to calm our minds and hearts, work with difficult thoughts and emotions, build attention, and cultivate kindness and compassion. This retreat will combine stillness/sitting and movement/walking meditations, lectures, and opportunities to meet with a teacher. This is an excellent opportunity for those new to retreat practice, and also ideal for experienced practitioners who wish to attend a shorter retreat.
Retreat | On-Land
November 8 - November 14, 2025 | Saturday - Friday | 6 nights
Grief as a Change Agent of Transformation and Resiliency
Registration Open. Grief is not sequestered to the life loss of loved ones. It traverses beyond physical death and seeps into disappointments in relationships, the loss of dreams, ancestral anguish, and unnamed disappearances. Understanding the personal nature of grief and the tenderness of being with a broken heart, we will create a container that honors all individuals moving through their sorrow. We will practice silent meditation indoors and in nature and there will be Dharma talks, meetings with teachers, and embodiment practices.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Carol Cano through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.