Preparing for Retreats
Particularly if you have not previously attended one of our retreats you should read this page to inform you of various matters. Even if you have attended other retreats elsewhere there are several points specific to our events which will differ from those held elsewhere or by other organisations.
This page also answers several Frequently Asked Questions about our retreats and their arrangements.
Before Booking a Retreat
Be sure to understand the nature of our retreats. These are not countryside holidays, they are serious and intensive meditation events. Most retreats are silent events with no conversation permissible at any time. Most of the day is scheduled with continuous activities, comprising mostly meditation but also other activities such as work periods and some chanting. There is usually very little or no free time, but some retreats include scheduled outdoor walk periods and rest periods.
Consult the sample Daily Schedule and the Retreat Descriptions before making a booking.
Please only book if you intend to attend. Late cancellation or no-show incurs a penalty of 100% of the retreat fee.
Before Attending a Retreat
Please read and act on the information that we send to you when we receive your booking. Please be sure to bring with you the items that we list as essential. This may vary a little between different venues, but for example you will often need to bring a sleeping bag or duvet as most venues do not provide bedding.
Prepare for early rising
Prepare yourself for retreat by so far as possible arriving rested. The schedule is quite intensive and we rise early, usually around 5am, retiring at 10pm, and so it may help to avoid 'jet-lag' if you adjust your sleeping time for a few days at home before the retreat.
Prepare to be offline for the duration of the retreat
Set your affairs in order before arriving at the retreat centre. The literal meaning of retreat is to retreat from the world, to temporarily set aside the concerns of everyday life so as to be able to concentrate on your meditation practice. Therefore it is unhelpful and inappropriate to expect to manage your affairs whilst you are on retreat. Furthermore it is impractical since there are no communication facilities for you at the retreat centre and there is no signal for mobile phones. Therefore be sure to advise your family and employer not to expect any contact at all during your time on retreat.
Emergency contact arrangements
Having said that, we do have a system whereby emergency messages may be passed to you if essential and we will advise the details of that on booking.
Travelling to Retreat
A common concern is in arranging travel to the retreat centre, and in particular in arranging lifts for those who do not have their own transport. We do try to make available to those needing lifts the contact details of other retreatants who have offered to provide lifts to those travelling from their direction. But we cannot guarantee to arrange lifts and you should not assume that lifts will be available. There may be nobody travelling from your area, and those that are from your area may not be offering lifts.
If travelling by public transport you will also need to plan your return journey. Usually (though not guaranteed) it is possible to get a lift from the retreat centre either to a railway station or at least to place from where you can phone for a taxi.
We do not provide full details of location and travel on this page because retreat centres may not be open to casual visitors. Full details are provided on confirmation of booking.
For most retreats we ask you to arrive between 6pm and 7pm. We do not serve a meal on the first evening, so we advise that you plan to eat whilst travelling or alternatively bring sandwiches to eat on arrival.
After Retreat
Most retreats finish after breakfast and you can leave by about 10:30 a.m. Western Zen Retreats usually end after lunch, so you leave about 2.30 pm. The details of the retreat end-time are including in your booking confirmation email so check there for the end-time of your specific retreat.
It is recommended that you try to plan for a quiet couple of days after returning home from retreat. We realise that this isn't always possible since there may be limits on how much leave you can take from work, and there may be family and other engagements which it is difficult to defer. But if it is possible to arrange some quiet time you will find that you appreciate it.
Having spent several days in a silent retreat you may find 're-entry' to everyday life quite noisy and maybe even overwhelming. Furthermore retreatants commonly experience that the intensive meditation practice establishes an awareness which doesn't 'switch off' the moment the retreats ends, and given space to reflect further insights may occur in days subsequent to the retreat.
