What Becomes of the Broken Hearted:
A New Year’s Eve Meditation Retreat
with
Mikey Noechel and Matty Finn
December 29, 2026 – January 2, 2027
William J. Kelley Retreat Center
Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
The heart can break in one of two directions. It can break closed, hardening around the pain until our wounds become walls between us and the rest of the world; or it can break free, tearing down those walls and making room for connection, compassion, and a life larger than the pain we have endured. This retreat is an invitation to let your heart break wide open!
There’s an unknown value in a broken heart. We usually can’t see it while we’re still standing in the wreckage, but it becomes clearer when we look back and recognize that the experiences that caused us the most pain also set some of the best parts of our lives in motion.
Pain can bring us to the place where our old ways of living can no longer carry us. From there, suffering can deepen into misery, or it can become the mud from which something new begins to grow. As Thich Nhat Hanh taught, no mud, no lotus.
ABOUT THE PRACTICE
During the retreat, we will learn to reclaim our suffering for good through the practices of mindfulness and compassion meditation. Mindfulness will help us recognize the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, loosen the grip of limiting identities, and see the beliefs and crappy personal narratives that have kept us trapped. Compassion meditation will teach us how to meet the wounded places within ourselves with tenderness, courage, and care.
Wisdom and compassion are the two wings that carry the broken heart toward freedom. Wisdom cuts through the stories, beliefs, and identities we have built around our pain. Compassion reaches into the wounded places with the tenderness and courage they need to open. When these two wings move together, the wound becomes an opening, and the heart discovers a life larger than what happened to it.
WHAT TO EXPECT
The retreat will be held in noble silence, creating a supportive environment for deep and sustained practice. The daily schedule will center on alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation. The teachers will offer meditation instructions, Dharma talks, and group interviews to provide guidance and support throughout the retreat.
IS THIS RETREAT RIGHT FOR ME?
Suitable for both beginners and experienced practitioners, this retreat offers a welcoming environment to deepen your meditation practice. You do not need to arrive knowing how to meditate or having attended a silent retreat before. Clear instructions will be offered throughout the retreat, along with a structured schedule and regular opportunities to ask questions and receive support from the teachers. Retreat practice can be challenging, and you will not be navigating those challenges alone. The retreat will be led by two teachers who have been authorized to teach in the Theravada Buddhist lineage within the Insight Meditation tradition. Together, they will create a grounded and supportive environment where you can deepen your practice at your own pace.
TEACHER DANA AND REGISTRATION
Your registration fee pays for four nights of accommodations, eleven nourishing meals and the cost of hosting this event. When planning your budget, consider including a contribution of dana (generosity) for the teachers at the conclusion of the retreat. The teachers are supported entirely through dana, the Buddhist practice of generosity.
As a general guideline, it is customary to offer dana equal to approximately half the cost of registration. This amount is simply a guide. Please give according to your means. If you are unable to offer dana, we still want you to attend. If you have the ability to give more, your generosity helps support the teachers and makes room for those who have less to give. You will have an opportunity to offer dana directly to the teachers at the conclusion of the retreat.
William J. Kelley Retreat Center, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi
Residential Retreat • December 29, 2026 – January 2, 2027
Scholarship Rate and Payment Plans are Available.