In-Person and Online: Finding Rest in a Restless World – A Daylong Retreat
with Rashid Hughes and Gaylon Ferguson
Saturday, July 11th, 2026 | 10:00am – 5:00pm ET
In-Person Location: New York Insight at 115 West 29th Street, 12th Floor
Many of us are tired in ways we have not yet been able to name. We have been running for so long that we have forgotten we are running. Unfortunately, the world around us does not remind us to slow down.
And yet, beneath the exhaustion, something in us remains awake and undamaged. Rooted in the effortless awareness teachings of Tibetan Buddhism and the non-dual wisdom of other contemplative traditions, this retreat trusts that what is most essential in us has never been lost — only obscured. Rest is not the opposite of engaged living. It is its root. In this daylong retreat, we will practice the art of welcoming: opening to the reality of our experience, taking care of what arises without turning away. We explore the creative tension between slowing down and showing up, discovering that genuine awareness, tended collectively, makes our action more whole, more sustainable, more alive.
Through meditation, collective inquiry and gentle embodied movement, we learn to rest not as withdrawal but as return, to ourselves and to one another. In this daylong retreat, we will restore not only as individuals but as a community practicing care together.
Guided by Rashid Hughes and Gaylon Ferguson, this day invites you to remember your basic goodness, your innate capacity to find rest and the energy to live a courageously full life, and to carry that knowing back into the world.
Note: This program will be recorded. The recording will be sent to all registrants after the program, so please feel free to sign up even if you cannot join in real time.
In-Person Registration:
Please register below for in-person participation. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level. Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
Bring a Buddy: If you are a member of our Circle of Friends, you’re invited to bring a Dharma buddy to this program for no additional cost. Simply select “1” from the drop-down next to the Bring a Buddy level, and enter your special discount code (provided in your Circle of Friends welcome email) to reduce the price to that of a single, standard registration. This registration will grant attendance for you and your buddy.
Online (Zoom) Registration:
Please register below for online participation via Zoom. If you are able, registering at the “Supporter” level enables others to attend at the “Subsidized” level. Thank you for your generosity! (Please note that the registration price includes a base level of teacher support, and you will have the opportunity to donate more after the program.)
If you are registering via a mobile device such as a phone or tablet, you can scroll right and left and up and down within the below form if it is partially obscured or cut off.
CLICK HERE to open the registration form in a new browser window.
Bring a Buddy: If you are a member of our Circle of Friends, you’re invited to bring a Dharma buddy to this program for no additional cost. Simply select “1” from the drop-down next to the Bring a Buddy level, and enter your special discount code (provided in your Circle of Friends welcome email) to reduce the price to that of a single, standard registration. This registration will grant attendance for you and your buddy.
Volunteering
All of our programs rely on volunteers to support our teachers and staff with various tasks and responsibilities. Volunteering allows you to participate in our programs at no cost. To inquire about volunteering opportunities, please fill out our inquiry form, and we will get back to you as soon as possible.
Teacher(s)
Rashid Hughes
Rashid Hughes (he/him) is a writer, meditation teacher, yoga instructor and a restorative justice facilitator. He is the co-founder of the Heart Refuge Mindfulness Community, a Mindfulness Community in Washington, DC that is dedicated to inspiring Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to live with love and courage. Rashid is an Affiliate Teacher for the Insight Meditation Community of Washington DC and he is also a teacher of the Presence Collective. He holds a Master of Divinity Degree from the Howard University School of Divinity and has two recently published articles in Mindful Magazine “R.E.S.T. – A Guided Practice for the Tired & Weary” and Lions Roar Magazine “When Aggression Masquerades as Compassion.”
Gaylon Ferguson
Gaylon Ferguson, PhD, has led mindfulness meditation retreats since 1976. He has taught at Stanford, the University of Washington, and Naropa University. He is the author of three books: Welcoming Beginner’s Mind: Zen and Tibetan Wisdom on Experiencing Our True Nature; Natural Wakefulness (on the four foundations of mindfulness); and Natural Bravery (on fear and fearlessness). He wrote the foreword to Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us about Race, Resilience, Transformation, and Freedom.