Waking Up to What Matters — Mindfulness, Courage & Compassionate Action

There are moments in life when the world asks more of us: more steadiness, more tenderness, more courage to stay open when everything feels uncertain. Waking Up to What Matters — Mindfulness, Courage & Compassionate Action is a spiritual retreat devoted to that remembering, held at Blue Spirit Costa Rica in Nosara, Guanacaste.

This is not a week of stepping away from the world. It is a week of listening more closely to what the world is asking of us, and to what our own lives are quietly asking us to remember. Led by Jon Kabat-Zinn, Roshi Joan Halifax, Frank Ostaseski and a gathering of faculty who bring contemplative practice into medicine, climate work, and social change, the retreat explores how mindfulness and compassionate action meet the fullness of being human: grief and beauty, longing and love, separateness and deep interconnection.

If you are seeking a place to slow down, soften the armor of urgency, and return to what is real as lived experience rather than idea, this retreat offers that invitation, held by the land, ocean, and community of Blue Spirit.

What to Expect

The week begins on a Saturday and runs through the following Saturday, a seven-night stay. Through meditation, inquiry, dialogue, writing, and shared reflection, participants are invited to pause, open, and listen inwardly. The structure is an inquiry rather than an escape: what are the world and your own life asking of you?

- Scheduled teachings and workshops with the full faculty
- Meditation, inquiry, writing, and group dialogue
- Afro Flow Yoga with Leslie Salmon Jones and Jeff W. Jones
- Time in nature, on the beach, and in community

The intention is to carry that knowing home with you.

About the Lineup

Jon Kabat-Zinn, PhD is Professor of Medicine Emeritus at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and founder of the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program, now offered in over 700 hospitals worldwide. He is the author of 15 books translated into over 45 languages, and his work has brought mindfulness into medicine, education, and institutions across the globe for more than four decades.

Roshi Joan Halifax, PhD is a Buddhist teacher, Zen priest, anthropologist, and founder of Upaya Zen Center in Santa Fe. Her work has centered on contemplative practice and the care of the dying for more than three decades, and through her Project on Being With Dying she has trained hundreds of healthcare professionals in compassionate presence.

Frank Ostaseski is a Buddhist teacher and respected voice in end-of-life care, and co-founder of the Zen Hospice Project, the first Buddhist hospice in America. He is the author of The Five Invitations.

Christiana Figueres is a Costa Rican diplomat and chief architect of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Former Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, she co-authored The Future We Choose and co-hosts the Outrage and Optimism podcast.

Leslie Salmon Jones co-founded Afro Flow Yoga® and is a professional dancer, certified holistic personal trainer, wellness coach, and yoga instructor. She teaches alongside co-founder Jeff W. Jones, a multi-instrumentalist, recording artist, musical director, and composer.

Wendy Dainin Lau, MD is an Emergency Medicine physician and Zen priest ordained by Roshi Joan Halifax. She teaches meditation and mindfulness to physicians navigating high-stress environments.

Caroline Welch, JD is an author, attorney, and CEO and co-founder of the Mindsight Institute with Dr. Dan Siegel. She is the author of The Gift of Presence.

Stephan Rechtschaffen, MD is the founder of Blue Spirit Costa Rica, the Nosara Longevity Center, and the Omega Institute, and a bestselling author and integrative physician.

Venue & Logistics

Blue Spirit sits on Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula, a recognized longevity Blue Zone, with private access to Playa Guiones, a three-mile beach protected as a turtle nesting refuge. The retreat rate includes a seven-night stay in a single or double room, program tuition, and three daily buffet meals of gourmet vegetarian cuisine, with fish served three evenings a week, eggs at breakfast, and vegan and gluten-free options always available. Amenities include an infinity pool, meditation spaces, yoga halls, walking trails, and Wi-Fi in most areas of the property. Massage and bodywork are available during your stay.