Classes and Events

Essential Dharma:  An Eight Week Summer Retreat Series

This summer, Insight Meditation Society Online is offering an eight-week series of half-day online retreats moving through the foundational teachings of the dharma—the Four Noble Truths, the Eightfold Path, the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, and related themes. Each Sunday session offers a complete experience on its own, while the series as a whole traces a continuous arc through classical Buddhist teaching.

The eight sessions are:

• July 12 — Introduction to Insight with Anthony “T” Maes & Kate Siber
• July 19 — The Four Noble Truths with Aishah Shahidah Simmons & Jean Leonard
• July 26 — Mindfulness of the Body with Isabel Adon
• August 2 — Feeling Tone and Mind States with Gina LaRoche & Ramona Lisa Ortiz-Smith
• August 9 — Practicing with Dhammas with Adam Stonebraker & Margrit Pittman Polletta
• August 16 — Ethics and Intention with Ronya Banks & Brett Bethke
• August 23 — Meditation and Wisdom with Wynn Fricke & Peace Twesigye
• August 30 — Integration and the Ongoing Path with Fernmarie Rodriguez & Mario Castillo

Sessions may be taken individually or as a full series.

For those who feel called to the full arc, enrolling in the bundle costs $80 less than registering session by session—a small encouragement to commit to the whole path.  If you feel drawn to spend this summer grounded in the foundational teachings, we warmly invite you to join us online.

Register for the Full Series or Individual Sessions

Full series enrollment options:  $160 Scholarship | $320 Sustainer | $520 Benefactor

Individual sessions:  $25 Scholarship | $50 Sustainer | $75 Benefactor

No-fee enrollment is available for those who request a fee-waiver at imsonline@dharma.org, no questions asked.

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Cultivating the Flexible Resilient Heart for Difficult Times
A 4-week virtual Class

Class Details:

Summer session
June 29 – July 20, 2026 
Mondays 6:00-7:30 pm MST
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offered  Online via Zoom

Course Description:

This 4-week online class will offer a chance to build resilience through the heart practices of kindness, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity.  We will co-create a nourishing community, and explore how these four heart qualities harmonize to support us in meeting the world.  Each class session will include a guided meditation, wisdom from both psychology and Buddhist practice, group sharing, and practical daily life applications to carry home with you.  This series is suitable for both beginners as well as those with an established practice.

Investment:  $200
This is a suggested payment.  If you cannot afford this suggested rate, pay what you can. If you can pay more, I welcome your generosity, as it will help support me, and those who are struggling at this time.

To register:

Download and complete the Participant Information Form & Informed Consent (one document) and e-mail it to jeanleonardphd@gmail.com

Payment can be made via Paypal or Zelle: send money to jeanleonardphd@gmail.com. Thank you.

Your space in the class is not reserved until I receive both your application (Participant Information Form and Informed Consent Form) and payment. Refunds are not available once the class has begun.

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• Tuesday August 17 – Sunday August 22, 2027
  
• At Rocky Mountain EcoDharma Retreat Center | Ward, CO
  
• Registration will open January 2027
  

Retreat Description:

Hold the date – details forthcoming

not scheduled in 2024
Likely offered online via Zoom

Come see if MBSR is right for you.

RSVP for MBSR Intro

Strengthening Your Practice Class for MBSR and MSC graduates 

Program Description:  

This class builds on the teachings and practices from the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Foundations course and the Mindful Self-Compassion class and is designed to support you in deepening and strengthening your mindfulness and compassion practice. Are you seeking more capacity to navigate challenges and stressors? Are you wishing for more vitality and joy in your life? Do you feel your practice has grown stale or is faltering without the support of a structured class or community? If so, then this class might be for you. Come refresh your practice, bringing the curiosity of beginner’s mind as we dive deeper into some familiar practices from the MBSR Foundations and/or MSC classes, and explore new practices focused on more fully meeting difficulty and opening to delight. The more we practice, the more we learn about the habits of our own mind and heart, opening up possibilities for skillful action that can help us surf the waves of life with more ease and compassion.

Not offered in 2023

Investment for SYP class:  $560 (includes 27 hours of classroom time, and all support materials including a program manual, book, and guided meditations) 

SYP flyer

Request Info/Register for SYP grad class

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction 8-week Foundations Classes 

TBD – 2024

Likely offered online via Zoom

Investment for Foundations Classes: $560

MBSR flyer

Request Info/Register for MBSR Foundation Classes

MSC Free Introductory Session (RSVP requested)


——– Offered online via Zoom

RSVP for MSC Intro

MSC CLASSES
In person 8-week classes on hold for now

Request Info/Register for MSC Classes