Overthinking is not a lack of intelligence. It is identification with thought. Five days at Omega Institute, Rhinebeck. Direct experience, not more self-improvement. Apply for a place.
October 11–16, 2026 · Omega Institute · Rhinebeck, NY · Eastern Time
Tuition from $450 · Stay from $1,075
-
Two-time graduate of Eckhart Tolle’s School of Awakening
-
Author of five books on practical presence
-
Featured on 50+ podcasts, including Mindvalley
-
Invited to teach at world-renowned centers including Omega, Kripalu, and Menla
What people say after a retreat with Cirak
My first retreat with Cirak was really, really magical. The workshops, the meditations, the food, the hospitality. And the people I met.
I was trying many things, yet I was not able to put them practically. This retreat gave me much-needed structure, a daily practice.
Feeling accepted was really powerful. Cirak’s mindfulness teachings will help me a lot in daily life.
Cirak’s teachings are thought-changing. He gives you a new perspective and shows you how to live without the old beliefs running you.
This was my first-ever retreat. We became a family. All the workshops, meditations. I’m really grateful for this experience.
Cirak’s talks help you understand meditation in simple terms. It takes away the complications so you can focus on the practice.
Hear Cirak, then decide
What you leave with
Quiet the mental noise
See the pattern that keeps the mind spinning. Step out of it without fighting thought or forcing calm.
Decide without the loop
Tell compulsive thinking from a more direct knowing, so choices come from clarity rather than anxiety.
Stay present under pressure
When emotion rises, there is space to respond instead of react.
Leave with a practice
Vipassana-informed awareness, Qi Gong, Conscious Release Method. Beginners welcome. Not more ideas.
Five days at Omega
Arrive Sunday. Four teaching days. Leave Friday after lunch. The timetable repeats so the work can go further.
-
Sun Oct 11
Arrive
Check-in 4–7pm. Rooms are typically ready from 5pm. Leave bags, walk the grounds. The workshop begins Monday at 7am.
-
Mon Oct 12 – Thu Oct 15
Four teaching days
The clock stays the same. What changes is the work inside it: awareness in the morning, embodied practice in the afternoon, inquiry at night.
-
Fri Oct 16
Depart
Qi Gong, breakfast, a last morning workshop, then lunch and leave. All times Eastern.
A typical teaching day
Monday to Thursday follow this clock. The four teaching blocks are different work. Meals and rest sit between them.
-
7–8am
Qi Gong
Awaken the body’s energy through movement, breath, and grounded presence. Nervous system first, before the mind starts managing the day.
-
Morning
Breakfast
Eat in silence or in conversation. Let the body settle before the first workshop.
-
9am–12pm
Morning workshop
Practical tools for embodied awareness and emotional integration. See identification with thought as it arises, and return to presence in real time. Vipassana-informed sitting, inquiry, and applied Q&A.
-
Midday
Lunch and rest
A meal, time on the grounds, and a quiet stretch before the afternoon.
-
2:30–5pm
Afternoon practice
Experiential work: Conscious Release Method, somatic integration, and silent periods. Designed to release stored tension and restore coherence, not add more ideas.
-
Early evening
Dinner
Eat together. Let the afternoon land before the last gathering.
-
Evening
Fireside
Open inquiry. How this lives in decisions, work, and relationships. Intimate conversation, not another lecture.
The grounds
1 / 6
Meet Cirak
- Two-time graduate of Eckhart Tolle’s School of Awakening, and six years volunteering alongside him
- Taught user experience at UCLA
- Worked with Google, Nike, Adobe, Disney, and Mercedes
- Author of End of Illusion, Be You, and The Five Levels of Awareness
- Featured on 50+ podcasts, including Mindvalley
- Invited to teach at world-renowned centers including Omega, Kripalu, and Menla
- Menla is Tibet House, founded at the request of the Dalai Lama
- Retreats in Bali, India, Europe, and the United States
Omega invited Cirak to teach
Omega Institute is a nonprofit educational campus on more than 250 acres in New York’s Hudson Valley. Since 1977 it has hosted workshops, retreats, and training in person and online. Omega invited Cirak to teach Overcoming Overthinking here, over five days.
You apply here so Cirak’s team can see if this week is a good fit. If it is, they write to you about next steps. Tuition from $450. Stay from $1,075.
Questions before you apply
It includes meditation. The focus is practical integration into daily life: decisions, communication, work, relationships.
Apply for a place
This is an application, not a ticket purchase. Cirak’s team reads your responses to see if this week is a good fit. If it is, they write to you about next steps.