Meeting Anger with Compassion

What if the emotion you've been taught to suppress could become your greatest teacher? This weekend retreat invites you to meet anger not as an enemy, but as a messenger—a powerful energy that, when met with wisdom and compassion, reveals profound insight and joy. At Ratna Ling Retreat Center in Cazadero, California, teacher Gretchen Donovan guides participants through embodied Buddhist practice and accessible yoga to transform how we relate to anger and all inner obstacles that keep us bound.

Over this immersive weekend beginning Friday, October 2, 2026, you'll explore the space between reactivity and response. Rather than pushing anger away or acting it out, you'll learn to meet it with curiosity and care. Through seated meditation, gentle yoga, and subtle energy work, your nervous system will settle enough to see clearly—to recognize anger not as a personal failing, but as raw wisdom waiting to be reclaimed. Two sessions of Feeding Your Demons, the transformative five-step practice developed by Lama Tsultrim Allione, form the heartbeat of this retreat, offering a direct path to befriend what we've learned to fear.

What to Expect

Expect a held, contemplative atmosphere that honors both the challenge and the gentleness of this inner work. Each day weaves meditation, accessible yoga postures, and energetic practices designed to calm your nervous system and clarify perception. The Feeding Your Demons sessions are the core teaching—a skillful inquiry practice where you personify anger or ego-fixation as a "demon" (in the Buddhist sense: anything obstructing freedom) and meet it with awareness, dialogue, and ultimately, compassion. You'll leave with concrete tools to work with anger in daily life and a felt sense that this emotion, when met wisely, becomes a resource for liberation rather than a source of suffering.

About the Artist

Gretchen Donovan brings two decades of experience across multiple yoga lineages, complemented by serious training in Vajrayana Buddhism. Her teaching bridges the accessible, embodied wisdom of yoga with the subtle, inquiry-based practices of Buddhist philosophy. She creates space for participants to meet themselves with kindness, even—and especially—in the places that feel most stuck or defended.

Venue & Logistics

Ratna Ling Retreat Center, nestled in the coastal redwoods of Cazadero, California, provides a serene, supportive environment for deep practice. The retreat runs Friday through Sunday. Wear comfortable layers suitable for both meditation and gentle movement. The center welcomes practitioners of all levels and experience.