My Silent Meditation Retreat Experiences at Ananda and Spirit Rock
If you are curious about silent meditation retreat or not sure if it’s right for you, here are my experiences and hope they can help you make a confident decision. I have been to 2 silent meditation retreats in Northern California. The first one is Ananda meditation retreat, and the second one is at Spirit Rock.
Ananda Meditation Retreat
Surrounded by 72 acres of beautiful meditation gardens and wild forest in Northern California’s Sierra Foothills, the Ananda Meditation Retreat is an ideal setting for a rejuvenating, inner experience. The staff there are long-time devotees of Paramhansa Yogananda, author of the spiritual classic, Autobiography of a Yogi, and the lifelong students of the Self-realization teachings of Raja Yoga.
I went there for a 4-day supported silent retreat in September 2021. Due to COVID, there were only 2 of us so it felt very personal/customized. It's a 4-hour drive from San Francisco.
Sample Schedule (from the website)
THURSDAY:
3-4 pm- Check-in
5 pm– Guided Meditation Gathering
6:00 pm– Dinner served
6:45 pm– Brief Gathering to enter Silence
Evening– Guided Reading or other suggested or self-chosen activity
FRIDAY & SATURDAY:
Early morning– Yoga, Meditation & Breakfast on your own
10 am– Meditation class or suggested activity. (Or spend time in quiet reflection with your own activity.)
Noon– Group Gathering and Guided Meditation
12:30 pm– Lunch served
Afternoon– Check-in appointment or Suggested Nature Activity, Walking Meditation, or time for Personal Reflection, Reading, Hiking, Meditation or other self-chosen activity.
5 pm– Group Gathering and Meditation
6 pm- Dinner served
Friday evening– Silent Sunset Walk, Guided Reading – or your own self-chosen activity
Saturday Evening– Outdoor Campfire Q & A Session (and take-home self- guided Journaling questions in preparation for Closing Circle)
SUNDAY:
Early morning– Yoga, Meditation & Breakfast on your own
10 am– Gather for Closing Circle (Silence ends) and Goodbyes
11 am– Check out of the cabin – (or book an additional night beforehand and extend your retreat time another day!)
As you can see, the schedule is pretty laid-back and you will have quite a bit of free time to do your own thing and enjoy the nature which I really like about the program. At the same time, they will teach you meditation techniques which I find are very useful. You will get a book about all the energizing exercises and meditation techniques. The accommodation is quite comfortable and cute. They have shared rooms, private rooms, cabins with kitchen for different needs. Vegetarian lunch and dinner are served but you need to take care of breakfast by yourself which I don’t mind. The location is quite remote so cellphone reception is very bad - you are not supposed to use your phone anyway. They have a library with many books to read which I highly recommend.
I like it there so much for a few reasons. First of all, the staff are very supportive and friendly. Food and accommodation are great and you have different choices too. Because I’m a yogi and that’s how I get into my spiritual path, I can resonate deeply with their teachings. And the first one is always special ;)
Spirit Rock
You probably heard about spirit rock already as it’s very famous as well as its founder Jack Kornfield.
Set among 411 acres of serene oak woodlands in the secluded hills of West Marin County, California, Spirit Rock Meditation Center is a refuge from everyday life where it's truly possible to quiet the mind, soften the heart and see life in a new way. The teachings of the Buddha (Dharma) and the practices of Insight Meditation (Vipassana) and loving-kindness meditation (metta) are at the heart of all the programs they offer at Spirit Rock.
I went there in March 2022 for 4 days. There were nearly 100 people in that retreat which was WAY MORE than I expected. You could hand in your cellphone when you arrived - a lot of people were doing so! The schedule at spirit rock is much more intense. You will wake up at 6am for sitting and walking meditations and have breakfast at 7am. After that, you will have more sitting and walking meditations in the morning and in the afternoon/evening. Besides that, you also have working meditation (work in the kitchen or housekeeping). The schedule is very FULL from 6am to 9pm. Vegetarian breakfast/lunch/dinner were served everyday. They had Vegan options too. Accommodation wise, they have shared rooms and single rooms (no kitchen). The teachers are all very experienced and students of Jack Kornfield, authors of many books, taught in many retreats.
Spirit rock is wonderful but personally I prefer Ananda for a few reasons. First, the schedule at Spirit Rock was too full for me, I didn’t have much time to reflect and do my own thing. There are good hiking trails around the area I didn’t get a chance to go. Second, there were TOO MANY people. I feel the size needs to be much smaller to have enough personal space. But overall, I liked it because the food was amazing and the teachers were fantastic!
Summary
Silent meditation retreat is definitely life-changing especially for those who are busy with technologies and work commitments. We don’t have many opportunities in daily life to stay away from family/friends/technologies to connect to ourselves and be silent with our thoughts. I recommend it to anyone who wants to learn meditation and listen to your inner voice. I often came out of a silent retreat with peace, calm, and clarity.
If you like a full schedule and more buddhism teaching, I would recommend spirit rock. If you are like me, come from yogic path and want a more flexible schedule, I would recommend Ananda. Either one would benefit you if you can be open-minded and present during the retreat.
