Feel the space around your body, starting with the back and moving outward, then feeling the space around you, and above and below. Let that ability to feel expand out in all directions. Sense into the space, expanding around your body. Now listen to sounds as far out as you can hear, while also noticing your body in this expanded way. Breathe and soften. Don’t try too hard. Now if you want to, open your eyes and expand your field of vision. So that our body is expanded, our listening is expanded, and our vision is expanded. Rest here in this wide open, spacious awareness like the sky. Vast, expansive, boundless.
Diana Winston
Residential Retreat Teacher
Diana Winston is the Director of UCLA Mindful, the mindfulness education center of UCLA Health. She has taught meditation retreats at Spirit Rock since 2004 has been a pioneer in the field of mindfulness where she has taught and helped seed the establishment of mindfulness into variety of settings including in healthcare, universities, businesses, non-profits, and schools in the US and internationally. She created the evidence-based Mindful Awareness Practices Program (MAPs), is the founding director of UCLA’s Training in Mindfulness Facilitation and is a founding board member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.
She is the author of “The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering your Natural Awareness”, “Wide Awake: A Buddhist Guide for Teens”, “Glimpses of Being: A Training Course in Expanding Mindful Awareness”, and co-author (with Susan L. Smalley, PhD) of “Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness”. Diana’s meditations have a worldwide reach and are available on the UCLA Mindful, 10 Percent Happier, and Waking Up Apps.
She has practiced vipassana meditation since 1989, including a year as a Buddhist nun in Burma, and each day she tries to be a mindful mom.
Diana Winston's Upcoming Programs
Short Program | Online
Saturday, May 30 | 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM
Introduction to Mindfulness: A Day of Practice, Discovery, and Well-Being
4 CE Credits. This immersive daylong offers a clear, accessible introduction to present-moment awareness, nonjudgment, and compassionate attention, grounded in contemplative wisdom and modern science. Through guided sitting, walking, and mindful eating practices, you’ll learn practical tools to support resilience and well-being. Led by Diana Winston, this workshop welcomes beginners and experienced practitioners alike.
Diana Winston
Retreat | On-Land
June 16 - June 21, 2026 | Tuesday - Sunday | 5 nights
Mindfulness for Everyone: Cultivating Attention, Compassion, and Presence
8 CE Credits. Spaces Still Available! 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 stillness and movement 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.
Family | On-Land
July 29 - August 2, 2026 | Wednesday - Sunday | 4 nights
The Family Retreat - Application 2026
Applications Now Open (January 20, 2026). Find joy in a retreat for the whole family and take time together to rest, reconnect, play, and enjoy! This four-night residential retreat for adults and children ages 7-15 years old will combine meditation and Dharma teachings, games, arts and crafts, nature time, and more. Kids and teens will have organized time each day to be with peers, fully supervised by our mindful leaders, and adults will also have time to practice, relax, and receive Dharma from the teachers.
Retreat | On-Land
August 29 - September 2, 2026 | Saturday - Wednesday | 4 nights
Refuge & Respite: A Vipassanā Retreat for Beginners
Spaces Still Available! 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 and movement meditations, lectures, and opportunities to meet with a teacher. This is an excellent opportunity for those new to retreat practice, and also appropriate for experienced practitioners who wish to attend a shorter retreat.
Upcoming Drop-Ins
Drop-in | Online
Monday, March 30 | 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Monday Night Meditation & Talk
For over 35 years, the Monday Night sitting group at Spirit Rock has been a welcoming refuge to gather, hear the teachings of the Buddha, and practice Insight Meditation together as a community. The program includes a 30-40 min guided meditation, a short break, and a Dharma talk.
Diana Winston
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Diana Winston through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.