Personal Retreats:
Personal retreats are an opportunity for you to engage in deep meditation, following the daily schedule at the Samadhi Center, while optionally participating in the classes and teachings that we offer. Participants are expected to follow the daily schedule as best as possible. All meditation practice is self directed and you. Participants bring and prepare their own meals during the personal retreat period.
Dates Available: We now have dates open between June 15th and August 30th, 2022. We require a minimum of 2 night stay.
Guidelines and Important Information
• If you are coming for a personal meditation retreat we require a minimum booking of 2 nights for your stay.
• Personal retreatants are expected to maintain silence at all times in order to honour the needs of other meditators on the property. Talking is allowed during one-on-one meetings with facilitators, and any scheduled group discussions.
• Personal retreats are for meditation and self inquiry. Retreatants are strongly encouraged to establish and maintain the self-directed daily meditation schedule as much as possible. We have created guidelines to make the personal retreat environment optimal for meditation.
Practice
To gain maximum benefit, personal retreatants are encouraged to focus on meditation and self inquiry practice throughout each day, whether that is in the Zendo, in your cabin or room, or any other silent meditation or self-inquiry practice. Continuous practice on and off the cushion has a cumulative effect and leads to deep rewiring and realization of one’s true nature beyond the thinking and sensing self structure.
The Center is not a place to come if you are simply looking for a relaxing getaway or holiday. The Samadhi Center is a place for people to do the inner development work required to purify themselves of conditioned patterns, to realize their true nature and to work seriously on their path.
Your personal retreat is self-directed. If other participants are sharing the space with you then you will be expected to observe the times designated for cooking and to avoid making noise in the building during sitting periods.
Typical daily schedule:
4:00am-8:00am – The building is in silence for meditation period
8:00am-9:30am – Breakfast (kitchen open)
9:30am-12:30pm – The building is in silence for meditation period
12:30pm-2:00pm – Lunch (kitchen open)
2:00pm-4:30pm – The building is in silence for meditation period
4:30pm-5:30 – Meditation or scheduled Sound Journey
5:30pm-7:00pm – Dinner (kitchen open)
7:00pm-11:00pm – Meditation (in silence) or scheduled Self Inquiry/ Dyads/ Group Inquiry/ Dharma talks
Meals
Participants during personal retreats are responsible for bringing and preparing their own food. Organizing a plan for simple meals before you arrive will help your retreat unfold with less disruption. The kitchen is fully equipped and will provide some basic food supplies such as spices and cooking oils.
To avoid disrupting the meditation practice of other participants, meal prep, eating and clean up are done during designated meal times: 8:00am-9:30am, 12:30pm-2:00pm and 5:30pm-7:00pm.
Keep your meals simple. Since many people will be using the kitchen, elaborate meals are not recommended.
Support and Other Services
Some of the ways we can support your practice include:
• Meditation/ self inquiry consultation with Daniel or Jerome (there is no extra fee for these services). Private one-on-one interviews to discuss your meditation/ self inquiry practice are available upon request. Please indicate on the sign-up form if you would like to book a time.
• Yoga classes with Jerome (daily)
• Breath Work (Elemental Rhythm) with John Cross
• Transpersonal Psychotherapy with Jennifer Rennette
• Ecstatic Dance – we have an amazing local community of people who come for ecstatic dance. We have ongoing evening ecstatic dances which follow the 5 rhythms flow. The times change monthly and will be posted at the Center.
• Self inquiry/ group process – Thursday evenings from 5-8:00PM led by Daniel Schmidt. The self inquiry practice includes dyad work (inquiry with a partner) as well as group inquiry. This is also an opportunity to ask questions about your practice.
• Dharma talks – The times for dharma talks change weekly and will be posted at the Center
• Sound meditation (gongs, singing bowls, sound healing instruments) – half hour sessions (usually from 4:30PM-5:30PM)
Arrival Time
• If you have been to the Center before then you will not need an orientation. You can arrive on any day between the hours of 12:30 and 2:00pm* and settle yourself in. We will let you know your sleeping arrangements by email prior to arrival so you can take your luggage directly to where you will be staying.
• The arrival time falls during the lunch break for those participants who are in retreat. Please do not arrive outside of this window of time, as it can be disruptive for those using the zendo for formal practice.
• If you have not visited the Samadhi Center before, we ask that you try to arrive as close to 12:30 as possible and we will give you a tour of the building and logistical intro talk without interrupting the other participants, as this is the scheduled time for lunch.
Accommodations
Once you complete the application form we will advise you as to whether the dates you are requesting and particular accommodations are available. After your application form is reviewed we may contact you to arrange a brief phone/skype or zoom meeting in order to address any issues and to ensure that the Center can offer you the space and experience you are looking for. Once we’re all good to go, we’ll move on to request and process payment.
Upon approval we will send you a request for payment to hold your requested accommodation.
Personal Retreat Rates:
• Cabin Private $120 per night, per person.
• Cabin Shared with a friend/partner $100 per night, per person.
• Premium Bunkie $150.00 per night, per person.
• Premium Bunkie Shared with a friend/partner $120.00 per night, per person.
• Dorm room in the Center $100 per night, per person.
• Private Room in the Center $120 per night, per person.
• Private Room Shared with a friend/ partner $100 per night per person.
Cancellation Policy
In the event you need to cancel your attendance at a personal retreat you have paid for, as long as it is more than 48 hours in advance of your arrival date we will provide a 100% refund. If you cancel after that we will refund 50% of the booking.
