Retreat Recommendations

Hello, fellow meditators. I wanted to do a retreat some time in the next few months at IMS, but I've never been there before. These are some of the retreats I was considering:

www.dharma.org/ims/retreat_detail.php?id=253

www.dharma.org/ims/retreat_detail.php?id=258

www.dharma.org/ims/retreat_detail.php?id=263

www.dharma.org/ims/retreat_detail.php?id=265

www.dharma.org/ims/retreat_detail.php?id=266

Have any of you worked with any of these teachers or done one of these retreats? Do you have any advice for picking a first retreat?

Thanks a bunch!

I think any of these retreats would be a wonderful experience. I've worked with Rebecca Bradshaw and Christina Feldman. Michele McDonald is Rebecca Bradshaw's teacher; it would be great to see the two of them together. None of these teachers will take the kind of approach that you'll find on this forum, but that's okay--they teach the four foundations of mindfulness, but you won't find them talking about the progress of insight maps or path attainments. I personally made a big drama over the fact that the forum here encourages people to talk about maps and the IMS teachers don't; now I just plain don't care any more. The experience at IMS is wonderful, it's a lovely place, the food is terrific, and the surroundings conducive to getting some serious work done. Treasure your time there and enjoy yourself.

Steve Armstrong is great. His talks, which you can find at Dharmaseed.org, are filled with very useful information. Be warned, however, there are hundreds of hours of his talks at this site.
www.dharmaseed.org/teacher/170/?page=1