Love and Rest [Online]
With Beth Sternlieb and Matthew Brensilver
September 16 - 21, 2025
This online retreat is open to both beginning and experienced practitioners.
Registration for this retreat closes on September 15, 2025 at 11:59pm Pacific Time.
We often long for love, both giving and receiving, but the busyness of life and the agitation of our minds do not create the conditions for love to arise. In dharma practice, we find love naturally arises when we rest deeply. When we let go of the dissatisfaction of endless grasping, we experience loving awareness itself. As we do this, we discover what’s been waiting there all along, a softening of the heart, a truly satisfying love.
The daily rhythm of a retreat usually involves alternating periods of stationary (usually sitting) and movement meditation, nature walks, meals and tea, as well as practice meetings, dharma talks and rest periods. The first session usually begins before breakfast. Each morning the teachers offer continuing meditation instructions for the day. The whole retreat is a succession of mindfulness training, breathing practices, deep awareness of the body and environment, meditations on the nature of feelings, and awareness of mind from the Buddhist Insight Meditation tradition.


HEAR MORE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM AND TEACHERS
I am in awe of the profound energy of love emanating from Beth & Matthew.
This retreat was phenomenal. The teachers were amazing and wonderfully generous in sharing their profound knowledge in a loving, accessible and entertaining way.
GENEROSITY
Retreat Cost & Fees:
Registration fees for this retreat support the cost of developing and offering BBRC programs, which include lodging, meals, and staff compensation.Teacher compensation is not included in your registration fees, as is the tradition of these retreats (see below). We price fees to make programs as financially accessible as possible.
Is cost a barrier? Nobody is turned away at Big Bear Retreat Center due to finances. We ask that financial assistance be prioritized for those who self-identify as BIPOC, hold marginalized identities, or are in financial need. For more information, please contact us at guestservices@bigbearretreatcenter.org.
Dana (Generosity) for Teachers (not included in registration fees):
The spirit of generosity is a foundational component to the Buddhist path. It supports the development of lovingkindness and compassion, deepens awareness of our interconnectedness and encourages non-attachment.
As part of this tradition, many meditation teachers (including the teachers of this retreat) offer their teachings without set fees or compensation. BBRC reimburses teachers’ travel costs and provides teachers with meals and accommodations while teaching, but teachers receive no direct compensation from the retreat center. As a practice of generosity from the heart, participants are invited to offer “teacher dana” (donations-generosity) to the teachers at the end of the retreat. When we all take part in the offering and receiving of dana, we join a large circle of generosity.
Visit this page to learn more about the practice of Dana and Generosity, in general and at Big Bear Retreat Center.
An Online Hybrid Interactive Retreat
This retreat will be an interactive online retreat with the in-person participants and teachers. The meditation hall will be livestreamed and online participants will join the retreat via Zoom.
Online retreats offer the unique opportunity to deepen your practice in a “real world” setting, where meditation practice and regular life intersect more than in a typical residential retreat. This can be supportive for integrating the practice into daily life.
Please plan to be present for the entire retreat and all the sessions. Presence is important for your personal practice and continuity, as well as the community container of retreat. Please plan to have your video on during the sessions.
At registration you will receive a link with a landing page for the online retreat. This includes the Zoom and schedule information, along with any other helpful tips before, during, and after your retreat. This link will be emailed to you again 24 hours before your retreat. The retreat recording will be available within 48 hours of the retreat.
See more of our online offerings on our SoundCloud, Dharmaseed & YouTube channel.
What retreat participants have to say about our online programs
“Big Bear created an online retreat experience that was inclusive, supportive, and responsive. I felt held and cared about throughout the hybrid retreat, as an online participant.” – Bernadine
“This was a spectacular experience and one that could be appreciated by novice and experienced mediators and everyone in between. Doing it at home has helped me envision how to live more mindfully throughout my day.” – Deb
“LOVED this hybrid retreat. So much care and attention was clearly paid to how to help integrate the onsite with the online cohorts.”
Schedule for Online Retreatants
Below is a general sample schedule to support in planning ahead. All times PST and subject to change.
Opening Day
2:00 pm Zoom room opens (optional for testing connection)
4:30 pm Online Welcome Session (all please attend)
7:00 pm Retreat Opening
Full Days of Retreat
6:30 am Wake Up
7:00 am – 9:45 pm Full day of retreat, please plan attend (meals at 7:30a, 12:30p, 5:30p)
*throughout day expect periods of seated and walking meditations in addition to teacher guided sessions and talks
Closing Day
6:30 am Wake Up
7:00 am Sitting
8:00 am Breakfast
9:30 am Closing Program
11:30 am Retreat ends
Teachers & Facilitators
Beth has been involved with InsightLA from the start and seeing our community grow from an idea into a reality has awakened in her a deeper appreciation for what an unexpected transformation mindfulness and commitment can bring into our lives. As a member of InsightLA’s teacher council, she explores ways of bringing mindfulness and metta practice to our community in creative and innovative ways. While as director of the Buddhist studies program, she shares her interest in how ancient wisdom can support us through our everyday life struggles. She also teaches MBSR, where she is excited to observe how each…
Learn more about Beth Sternlieb
Matthew Brensilver, PhD, offers retreats at Spirit Rock Meditation Center and the Insight Retreat Center. For more than a decade, he taught for Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. He continues to teach at UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center about the intersections between mindfulness and mental health. He spent years doing research on addiction treatment at the UCLA Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine and continues to be interested in the unfolding dialogue between dharma and science.
Learn more about Matthew Brensilver