Feel the space around your body, starting with the back and moving outward, then feeling the space around you, and above and below. Let that ability to feel expand out in all directions. Sense into the space, expanding around your body. Now listen to sounds as far out as you can hear, while also noticing your body in this expanded way. Breathe and soften. Don’t try too hard. Now if you want to, open your eyes and expand your field of vision. So that our body is expanded, our listening is expanded, and our vision is expanded. Rest here in this wide open, spacious awareness like the sky. Vast, expansive, boundless.
Diana Winston
Residential Retreat Teacher
Diana Winston is the Director of UCLA Mindful, the mindfulness education center of UCLA Health. She has taught meditation retreats at Spirit Rock since 2004 has been a pioneer in the field of mindfulness where she has taught and helped seed the establishment of mindfulness into variety of settings including in healthcare, universities, businesses, non-profits, and schools in the US and internationally. She created the evidence-based Mindful Awareness Practices Program (MAPs), is the founding director of UCLA’s Training in Mindfulness Facilitation and is a founding board member of the International Mindfulness Teachers Association.
She is the author of “The Little Book of Being: Practices and Guidance for Uncovering your Natural Awareness”, “Wide Awake: A Buddhist Guide for Teens”, “Glimpses of Being: A Training Course in Expanding Mindful Awareness”, and co-author (with Susan L. Smalley, PhD) of “Fully Present: The Science, Art, and Practice of Mindfulness”. Diana’s meditations have a worldwide reach and are available on the UCLA Mindful, 10 Percent Happier, and Waking Up Apps.
She has practiced vipassana meditation since 1989, including a year as a Buddhist nun in Burma, and each day she tries to be a mindful mom.
Diana Winston's Upcoming Programs
Family | On-Land
July 30 - August 3, 2025 | Wednesday - Sunday | 4 nights
The Family Retreat
Applications Open. Find joy in a retreat for the whole family and take time together to rest, reconnect, play, and enjoy! This four-night residential retreat for adults and children ages 7-15 years old will combine meditation and Dharma teachings, games, arts and crafts, nature time, and more. Kids and teens will have organized time each day to be with peers, fully supervised by our mindful leaders, and adults will also have time to practice, relax, and receive Dharma from the teachers.
Retreat | On-Land
September 11 - September 14, 2025 | Thursday - Sunday | 3 nights
Insight Meditation for the Curious: Essentials Retreat for New and Experienced Meditators
Registration Open. This retreat will teach the essentials of mindfulness and Insight Meditation (vipassanā). We will explore ways to calm our minds and hearts, work with difficult thoughts and emotions, build attention, and cultivate kindness and compassion. This retreat will combine stillness/sitting and movement/walking meditations, lectures, and opportunities to meet with a teacher. This is an excellent opportunity for those new to retreat practice, and also ideal for experienced practitioners who wish to attend a shorter retreat.
Dharma Library
Can't join us live online or on the land? Study and practice at your convenience with Diana Winston through our new library of recordings, articles, and self-paced online courses.