BCIMS New Year's Retreat with Adrianne Ross and Rachel Lewis [Dec28beth]

An 5-night Silent Residential Insight Meditation Retreat with Adrianne Ross and Rachel Lewis at the Bethlehem Retreat Centre, Dec 28-Jan 2.
About this Event


Retreat Description - BCIMS New Year's Retreat
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 [email protected] 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.

Start Time: Check in is between 3pm-5pm. We will then gather for dinner, followed by an evening welcome and sit.

End Time: The retreat ends at 11am on Jan 2.

General Info

Please read all of the information about the retreat carefully before registering:

Registration: This retreat will go on sale August 28 at 10am PT. We anticipate tickets will sell out very quickly. We recommend you register as soon as possible once the tickets go on sale. Please note that the deadline for financial assistance is August 14 - see Supported Ticket section below for more details.

Retreat Fees: A range of registration fees are available for Private Rooms, Shared Rooms, and Commuter Spots. Please choose the highest rate you can comfortably offer:

Private Room Benefactor Ticket $1,650 CAD: The benefactor rate covers the actual cost of the program and also provides funds to subsidize the reduced fees paid by others who have more challenging financial circumstances. A donation tax receipt will be provided for the difference between the Sustaining rate and the Benefactor rate. If you would like to make a smaller donation to support financial assistance for others, please purchase a Sustaining Ticket and offer a donation of any amount to BCIMS via our page.
Private Room Sustaining Ticket $1,300 CAD: The sustaining rate represents the actual cost to BCIMS to operate our programs.
Shared Room Sustaining Ticket $950 CAD: For folks interested in attending the retreat with a shared room spot. There will be an opportunity in the Order Form to indicate if you have any room sharing preferences and/or if there is someone attending the retreat you wish to share a room with.
Commuter Spot Sustaining Ticket $650 CAD: For folks interested in joining the retreat as a commuter. You will need to arrange your own off-site accommodations. Your meals are included.
Supported Tickets: There are limited supported tickets available for up to 50% of the Sustaining rates (you may apply for financial assistance of up to $650 for Private Room, $475 for Shared Room, and $325 for Commuter tickets). To apply for a supported ticket please use this . There is general financial assistance for people with financial challenges, and also support available from our DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) fund. We encourage folks who identify as BIPOC (black, Indigenous, and/or people of colour), 2SLGBTQIA+, have a visible or invisible disability, or are from other underrepresented and systemically marginalized communities, to apply for this fund. The deadline for applications for all supported tickets is August 14, 2026.

Please note that your registration fee goes toward retreat costs and BC Insight Meditation Society organizational expenses which allow us to continue offering retreats such as this one. Financial support for the teacher is offered separately.

Teacher Dana: In the Buddhist tradition, teachings are given freely because they are considered priceless; in the Buddhist tradition we also practice dana, or generosity, by making monetary offerings to the teachers. Dana is not payment for goods or services rendered; it is given from the heart. Your generosity is a gift that supports not just the teachers, but also the Sangha, the larger Dharma community, and your own practice. More info on Dana will be shared with registrants.

BCIMS Cancellation Policy:

30 days or more before the start of retreat: refund offered, less a $150 cancellation fee.

Between 30 days to 10 days before start of retreat: 50% refund offered.

Within 10 days of the start of retreat: no refund guaranteed.

Please note, our BCIMS Cancellation Policy applies to all ticket holders, including those with discounted tickets.

Accessibility Needs: There will be an opportunity on the Registration Order Form to specify any special needs or accommodations, including any needs or requests on washrooms, dietary, and access needs.

We may not be able to meet everyone’s preferences but we will do our best to accommodate needs and make the retreat as safe and accessible as possible. We encourage you to please reflect on the difference between needs and preferences for your stay as you fill out the Form, as this allows us to more easefully accommodate all retreatants.

Ridesharing: The information collected during registration regarding ridesharing will be distributed by email to all interested retreatants about four weeks prior to the retreat. Each individual is then responsible for directly making any ridesharing arrangement.

COVID-19: It is anticipated that small gatherings will be allowed by the BC Provincial Health Authority at this time. All health guidelines in place at the time of the retreat for small gatherings will be followed and communicated to attendees.

Masks are optional in shared indoor spaces, except if symptoms of cough/runny nose/cold symptoms arise. If this occurs, the retreatant will be asked to mask while in indoor spaces and to take a covid test. If the test is positive, the retreatant will be asked to leave the retreat. If the test is negative but symptoms persist, the retreatant may still be asked to leave the retreat on the discretion of the teachers and retreat managers.

About the Venue: Please visit the for more info.

About the Teachers:

Adrianne Ross, a retired family physician, has been involved in meditation and healing since 1976. She has been practising 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) practice. 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.

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/

With heartfelt gratitude, BCIMS acknowledges we are based in what is now known as Vancouver, BC, the beautiful, traditional, and unceded lands of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples, who live on and have stewarded this land for thousands of years.