In this world we’re waking up in, we can’t just close our eyes and follow our breath—we have to find a way to contribute what we love to this world. I love to practice because I feel like that aligns me with what I could call my North Star: what will I contribute? What do I love? We’re usually good at what we love, you know. So, where is my heart needed most? That’s the question that comes to me. In some ways, the Dharma saved my life. But service gave me a life worth living. And that’s what made it beautiful.
Vinny Ferraro
Residential Retreat Teacher
Vinny Ferraro has been a practitioner of insight meditation (Vipassanā) since the mid-90s. He is a co-Founder of the Dharma Punx and he’s been the Guiding Teacher of the Big Heart City Sangha in San Francisco for 20 years. He is also a nationally recognized leader in designing and implementing interventions for at-risk adolescents and is a Senior Trainer for Mindful Schools. In 2001, he began teaching for Challenge Day, a nationally recognized, social & emotional learning program, eventually becoming their Director of Training and leading workshops for over 110,000 youth on four continents.
Vinny is also the former Training Director of the Mind-Body Awareness Project and is the principal author of the MBA’s mindfulness-based curriculum for incarcerated populations. His focus continues to be delivering direct services to folks that have limited access.
He has been trained and empowered by Spirit Rock/IMS and he doesn’t like talking about himself in the 3rd person.
Vinny Ferraro's Upcoming Programs
Training | Online Non-Residential | Dharma Institute
January 25 - December 13, 2025 | 12 Sessions, plus Graduation in January 2026
A Year to Live
Join the Wait List; A few spots may still be available. In this year-long program, based on the book A Year to Live by Stephen Levine, we will focus on waking up and living life more fully through the exploration of death as spiritual practice. The Buddha recommended that we contemplate the inevitability of our death in order to help us awaken to the fragile, fleeting, and precious nature of our lives. All are welcome as we join in community for this year-long practice in forgiveness, gratitude, and letting go.
Retreat | On-Land
August 5 - August 10, 2025 | Tuesday - Sunday | 5 nights
Young Adult Retreat
Registration Opens - February 19. Join a kind community to practice mindfulness and compassion. Give yourself a break from overstimulation and come home to the simple experience of being alive. In mindfulness meditation, we practice resting, looking deeply, knowing moment-by-moment what it’s like to be human. Some of us are hesitant to look because we’re concerned what we’ll find. But our practice shows us that the more deeply we look into experience, the more reason we have to love.
Retreat | On-Land
December 1 - December 7, 2025 | Monday - Sunday | 6 nights
In the Presence of Love: A Mettā & Qigong Retreat
Registration Opens - February 19. This retreat focuses on cultivating lovingkindness (mettā in Pāli), infusing our hearts, minds, and bodies with a strong, caring wisdom. Lovingkindness practices open the heart and connect us intimately with all of life, and Qigong—a practice of aligning breath, movement, and awareness—perfectly complements traditional sitting meditation practice and has a well-established connection to contemplative traditions. On this retreat, lovingkindness practices will be supported by guided instruction as well as Qigong, meditation, and meetings with teachers.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Vinny Ferraro through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.