Virtual Daylong Retreat

Gathering in Presence

Opening to what is

with Darananda

Sunday, April 12th, 2026 
10 AM - 4 PM EST
with periods of meditation, dialogue, exploration, and reflection
Midday meal break and short breaks offered throughout the day

Join us in this collective gathering where we will sink into deep rest and restoration while opening to the lively intelligence of direct experience. Remembering how to simply be in a world of doing, efforting, and managing.

 
We sit together in shared presence – stable, embodied, whole – and allow experience to unfold naturally and organically. This is a meditative practice that is without effort; it doesn't need to be learned through the discursive mind.

Rather than employing a meditation technique or mental strategy, we notice how to rest and release that which is in the way of directly experiencing our true nature, which is always already present.

This day is a form of live inquiry grounded in immediate experience. There will be periods of guided exploration, silence with pointing-out instructions, and shared dialogue. These modes all work work together: the silence allows experience to surface; the dialogue allows seeing to become precise.

Participants will be invited to speak from what is directly noticed or encountered and engage with Darananda for precise pointing. She will respond to individual experiences and perceptions as they unfold and help participants to clarify and refine their understanding, and deepen their practice.

The day will be anchored by periods of sitting and periods of dialogue. There will be breaks to allow for the gentle transition of states between the two. The day will begin with shorter, more guided meditations, and will gradually, move into longer periods of both still and dynamic silence.

Participants will encounter an approach to being, both for daily life "off the cushion" and for orientation to dedicated periods of practice. This approach is buoyed by an atmosphere of embodied Wholeness, Reality, Non-Duality, Awareness (whichever word you prefer) that is palpable and directly accessible through the bodymind.

• No practices or techniques will be taught - instead we experience a way of being and an environment that supports our recognition of Wholeness
• There is nothing to achieve or "do right" - only deepening our intimacy with ourselves
• We trust the unfolding itself to show us the way - no rigidity required

This is a space for clear seeing and clear feeling, meeting reality as it is, together. Stillness, spaciousness, and aliveness weave together, each revealing the other, each an inseparable dimension of pure being directly known by simply resting into embodied experience. 

What you can expect to receive

While each person’s experience is unique, you can expect this daylong to support you in:

• Softening out of constant doing and contact a more effortless, natural way of being
• Letting the nervous system downshift from subtle vigilance into deeper rest and safety
• Sensing yourself as more whole and less fragmented, even in the midst of everyday life
• Recognizing simple, reliable ways to rest in awareness without techniques or effort
• Bringing gentle clarity to confusing or stuck places by meeting them in shared presence
• Feeling accompanied in your exploration, without needing to perform, impress, or “get it right”
• Tasting how stillness, spaciousness, and aliveness can coexist in ordinary experience
• Touching into a sense of the sacred or divine that is intimate, embodied, and not separate from ordinary experience

You may notice, in the days after we meet, that:

• Ordinary activities feel a bit less driven and more spacious
• It’s easier to pause and rest in direct experience, even for a moment
• Old spiritual efforting softens, and a quieter trust in what is becomes more available

 "When the attention comes to rest as pure awareness simply aware, one can sense a subtle pull to surrender to the absolute. Simultaneously one can surrender deeply into the experience of the body by consciously feeling the aliveness of its sensations. This surrender is a non-doing. It is a total and complete acceptance and allowing of what is and abiding as pure being." – Louise Kay

What this space is

• A gentle, guided settling into non‑doing and non‑efforting

• Simple pointers for relaxing into direct experience, without complex techniques

• Room for the body and breath to reorganize, and for sensation to arise and resolve

• Support in meeting whatever appears with clarity, kindness, and curiosity

• A way to be with others in quiet, non‑performative presence

What this space is not

• Therapy or energy work (though healing benefits may naturally occur)
• A meditation method, technique, or mental strategy to master
• A place to prove anything, fix yourself, or “get somewhere”

This time together is more about being in an environment than learning a technique. We let the body and attention settle through simple contact rather than effort. We will 'bring the mind along' and address any questions and curiosities, while allowing experience to be front and center. We learn how to be with life as it already is, with a little more support than we usually have on our own.

This daylong is especially for you if:

• You’re tired of efforting (in general) or effortful spiritual practice (in particular) and are drawn to a more natural unfolding
• You sense non‑duality or wholeness intuitively, but struggle to live from it in daily life
• You long for quiet, sincere spaces that aren’t performative, fix‑oriented, or technique‑heavy
• You’re comfortable with contemplative time in silence, even if your mind is busy
• You feel called to sit with others in honest inquiry and presence

How to prepare

• Choose a quiet, private space where you can sit comfortably for periods of time
• Have what you need for the day nearby (water, tea, journal, blanket, cushion or chair)
• Plan your midday meal so you don’t need to multitask or rush during the break
• Arrive a few minutes early to settle your space and test your audio/video
• You’re welcome exactly as you are; no special experience or preparation is required
• More preparation information is included when you register! 

Details

• Date: Sunday, April 12th, 2026
• Time: 10AM – 4PM Eastern (with a midday meal break and breaks throughout)
• Location: Live video gathering via your dara.energy account
• Format: Guided meditations, dialogue, exploration, and reflection in shared presence

Sliding scale: $50 – $350
Offer what you can along the scale for this daylong retreat.

No one is turned away for lack of funds.

To make other arrangements or to pay via Venmo or PayPal, contact Dara at [email protected].

"...the interaction is a feedback loop. It is a processional loop with no end points, where I am an arising field which is co-emergent with you as an arising field. 

Thus the gesture of compassion flowing towards you is not something being transferred to you, rather it is a movement in our undivided energy. In shifting your energy my energy is also shifted, and we arise as this endless co-emergent movement.

An image that is very famous in connection with this idea is that of Indra’s net, an infinite net of jewels each facet of which is like a mirror. Each of these millions of jewels is connected to the others and is moving, so that each facet is reflecting all the other facets with their infinite reflections. Each person can be seen as being like a mirror that contains the images and reflections of each other person. We experience ourselves, the world, and others, through the movement of these reflections." – James Low