In this world we’re waking up in, we can’t just close our eyes and follow our breath—we have to find a way to contribute what we love to this world. I love to practice because I feel like that aligns me with what I could call my North Star: what will I contribute? What do I love? We’re usually good at what we love, you know. So, where is my heart needed most? That’s the question that comes to me. In some ways, the Dharma saved my life. But service gave me a life worth living. And that’s what made it beautiful.
Vinny Ferraro
Residential Retreat Teacher
Vinny Ferraro has been a practitioner of insight meditation (Vipassanā) since the mid-90s. He is a co-Founder of the Dharma Punx and he’s been the Guiding Teacher of the Big Heart City Sangha in San Francisco for 20 years. He is also a nationally recognized leader in designing and implementing interventions for at-risk adolescents and is a Senior Trainer for Mindful Schools. In 2001, he began teaching for Challenge Day, a nationally recognized, social & emotional learning program, eventually becoming their Director of Training and leading workshops for over 110,000 youth on four continents.
Vinny is also the former Training Director of the Mind-Body Awareness Project and is the principal author of the MBA’s mindfulness-based curriculum for incarcerated populations. His focus continues to be delivering direct services to folks that have limited access.
He has been trained and empowered by Spirit Rock/IMS and he doesn’t like talking about himself in the 3rd person.
Vinny Ferraro's Upcoming Programs
Training | Online
January 31 - December 12, 2026 | 12 Sessions, plus Graduation in January 2027 | 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
A Year to Live
This yearlong journey, inspired by Stephen Levine’s A Year to Live, is an exploration of forgiveness, gratitude, and letting go. The Buddha encouraged us to reflect on death not out of fear, but as a way to awaken to the fleeting beauty of our lives. By embracing this practice, we come to appreciate the fragility and impermanence of our existence. Through meditation, inquiry, and group discussion, together we’ll discover what death has to teach us about life and vice versa.
Retreat | On-Land
June 27 - June 30, 2026 | Saturday - Tuesday | 3 nights
Wisdom and Love
Spaces Still Available! For generations, practitioners have stepped away from the hum of daily life to slow down, listen deeply, and remember what’s always been here. To be mindful of goodness brings love; to be mindful of pain also brings love. This asymmetry is the miracle of mindfulness. As our attention stabilizes, we begin to sense the poignancy of our wish to be happy. In turn, this love informs how we engage with the world.
Retreat | On-Land
August 4 - August 8, 2026 | Tuesday - Saturday | 4 nights
Young Adult Retreat
For those Young adults ages 18-32 years. Spaces Still Available! Join a kind community to practice mindfulness and compassion. Offer yourself freedom from overstimulation and come home to the experience of being alive. In mindfulness meditation, we rest and look deeply, knowing moment-by-moment what it is like to be human. Some of us are hesitant to look because there is concern about what we’ll find. Our practice shows us that the more deeply we look, the more reason we have to love.
Retreat | On-Land
December 6 - December 11, 2026 | Sunday - Friday | 5 nights
An Undefended Heart: A Big Heart City Retreat
Spaces Still Available! This retreat is rooted in the transformative power of the heart. Drawing on heart wisdom practices, we explore meeting life with courage, tenderness, and an undefended presence. Meditation steadies the mind and softens the heart, supporting a wiser, more responsive way of being. Through lovingkindness, mindfulness, and embodied awareness, we welcome joy and grief, beauty and difficulty as the curriculum. The retreat includes sitting and walking meditation, guided practices, Dharma talks, one small group meeting, and teacher inquiry. All are welcome.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Vinny Ferraro through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.