Visiting Teachers

Skilled and Compassionate Guidance Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center guided meditation retreats are led by the most skilled and capable teachers...

Victoria Cary

Victoria Cary has been practicing Insight Meditation and studying the Dharma since 2006. In 2017 she completed Spirit Rock’s Community Dharma Leader program and went on to become a fully empowered Dharma Teacher. In 2016 she co-founded the San Francisco People of Color Insight Sangha and continues as one of the core teachers. She is a San Francisco Bay Area Native. She left her workplace of 20 years in 2017 to deepen into the Dharma. Since then she has spent time in and out of intensive silent meditation practice, including a 3-month retreat at IMS, 6-week amd 3-month retreats at Panditarama Monastery (in Lumbini, Nepal, birthplace of the Buddha) and a month long retreat at Spirit Rock. Victoria is particularly interested in the integration of the Mindfulness in everyday life. Victoria is (among other things) a bi-racial (black identified), queer, cis-gender woman, nature lover, and vegetarian.

Events with Victoria Cary

Teacher Retreat for Vallecitos Teachers (invite only)
June 23 - 27, 2025

We are proud to be hosting a retreat just for our treasured Vallecitos teachers. During the retreat we will have sessions with an ecologist, an archeologist, and a geologist to further deepen the ways we understand the presence of the more than human life that makes Vallecitos come alive. We hope to resource our practice of Land as Dharma Teacher together, gathering what is known by individual teachers to create a collective of knowledge, experiences, and practices that may serve as a guide for all who teach within the land and steward the land, both now and into the future.…

Maranasati: Contemplating Death / Awakening to Life
June 28 - July 5, 2025

Buddha described Maransati – Mindfulness of Death – as an essential component of the instructions of Satipatthana (mindfulness). He encouraged Maranasati practice to cultivate the qualities needed to live an awakened life: Appreciating the preciousness of human birth/life Insight into impermanence and change Freedom from rigidity and clinging Equanimity with the difficult and changing nature of human existence As a preparation for our own death The land of Vallecitos is a supportive container in which the living reality of the birth and death of everything can be seen, and known. Our retreat will be grounded in the traditional practices of…

Coming Home To Love: A BIPOC Insight Retreat in Nature
July 6 - 13, 2025

When we get still and make space to connect with ourselves, we can remember what supports our well being. Held by the land at Vallecitos, nature and by the Dhamma, we will listen deeply to our own internal knowing and wisdom. On this seven-night silent Insight Meditation BIPOC retreat, our sacred time be will be spent sitting and walking and being on the land; supported by Dhamma talks, practice discussions and chanting. Through deepening in our practice and understanding of the Dhamma we will remember how to rest, love ourselves and be in wise relationship with the way things are.…

25th Anniversary Benefit Retreat: Touching the Earth
August 15 - 19, 2025

In honor of our 25th year we are trying something unique that we’ve never done before! We’re offering this unique practice opportunity to directly support some of Vallecitos’ most essential initiatives. The retreat will blend silence, community and celebration with additional special features, offering participants the opportunity to investigate and explore the power of Vallecitos through silence and in-depth conversation with Erin, Victoria and Brian, all with a fully inclusive registration fee. Join us for this distinctive retreat to commemorate Vallecitos’ past while helping shape our exciting future. We hope to see you there! Most non-profit organizations have fancy galas…

Heart Connection: A LGBTQIA+ Community Metta Retreat in Nature
August 20 - 27, 2025

Join us for a seven-night silent retreat in LGBTQIA+ community on the beautiful land of Vallecitos. This year we will immerse ourselves in the heart practice of lovingkindness, or Metta, supported by the natural world, the Dhamma, and queer community. We will build a continuity of practice together cultivating this friendliness towards ourselves, others, and ultimately towards all beings. In this practice we will reconnect with our belonging and essential goodness as LGBTQIA+ people. We will offer Dhamma talks, still and walking meditation, guided exploration on the land, and chanting. These practices will be offered mostly outdoors, in a container…