In short, yes.

Silent retreats are designed to be immersive, and if you leave the space then re-enter it later, the awareness you’ve worked so hard to cultivate can disappear.

Also for the energy of the group as a whole, it’s important that we all live and practice together for the duration of the weekend.

No experience is required! Just an open mind and a willingness to commit to a challenging but rewarding process.

Every retreat is a wildly different journey, so it’s also great if you already have experience with meditation or silent retreats.

At the end of the retreat, you’ll be given many additional resources to help you continue the practice if you should choose to do so.

We will be primarily practicing mindfulness meditation (also know as Vipassana Meditation or Insight Meditation).

The purpose of this meditation is to cultivate a greater awareness of everything in your internal and external environment through careful observation of the present moment.

The meditations will be a mix of guided by the teachers, as well as silent on your own.

There will be several meditations of different types and lengths throughout the retreat. See the schedule for a full breakdown of every session.

We will be practicing a few different forms of light and mindful movement based in yoga, qi gong, and mobility training.

Yes.

Many people are most nervous about the silence during their first retreat, but most people report afterwards that it was actually one of the easiest parts.

The teachers will be speaking on a regular basis to guide you during meditation and movement practices, and keep you on schedule. But everyone else will remain silent.

Of course, in the case of an emergency you are always allowed to contact a teacher quietly.

After the retreat officially closes, we will have time for everyone to share with the group how their experience was.

Yes. We highly recommend that if you make the commitment to attend the retreat, you do so with the intention of sticking to the schedule.

There are two main reasons for this:

The first is that the experience is designed to be immersive and everything on the schedule is carefully planned to give you the best and most effective experience.

The second is that during a silent retreat, participants often become very sensitive to the energy around them, especially the energy of the rest of the group. If one participant is only choosing to attend certain sessions, it can make it difficult for the other participants to focus, and can erode the connection between the entire group.

Fortunately, no.

And we say fortunately because one of the most beautiful things about silent retreats is separating yourself from your normal life for a brief period to dive deep into an understanding of yourself.

The idea is to minimize the distractions that you might experience during your “normal” life, so we will ask that you refrain from using any types of devices or items (including books & journals) that have the potential to bring you away from the present moment.

We ask that everyone notifies all of their important contacts beforehand that they will be unreachable for the entire duration of the retreat.

No.

Mind altering substances have their uses, but a silent retreat is a chance to experience and observe our consciousness in it’s most raw form. And any substance that alters your mind (even slightly) can interfere with this process.

If you are a regular drinker or smoker, we recommend following a program to slowly reduce your intake prior to the retreat, so as to not experience any withdrawal symptoms during your time abstaining in silence.

You are responsible for your own transportation to the town of Ayampe, but we will offer a shuttle from town to the center before the retreat begins. See the schedule for more info on the shuttle.