Silent Retreats
*Although the Michigan Centre is not offering these at the moment, we may in the future, so have kept this page on our website ~ and ~ in the meantime, we would love to connect you with another Centre that is!
Please go to our Contact us page for options to get in touch. In Joyous Anticipation of speaking with you and to being of service!
Silent Retreats ~ Accomodations
For a retreat we provide your bedding, towel, wash cloth, and all meals. You’ll want to bring your toiletries and comfortable clothing with outdoor clothes suitable to the time of year. There is a wooded township park with rustic walking trails next door. Some people have a favorite pillow, etc, so feel free to bring things like that if you wish to. If there is something that you wonder whether to bring or not that I haven’t mentioned, please feel free to ask.
We have 2 suites plus 2 guest rooms with bathrooms nearby so we could have up to 4 people come on the retreat. (The resident staff will also be on retreat, and are on call throughout the weekend in case anyone needs anything at all.)
This is your time...
The weekend can be a time for you to spend as you feel to, following your intuition about what is right for you in each moment. There will be times when we will be gathering for Pure Meditation and meals, but again we’d encourage you to follow your intuition if you feel to do something else.
You could arrive some time Friday afternoon or evening to get settled in, dinner will be at 6 pm (and you could talk with other retreatants if you wish to). After dinner we will have an Orientation in which we give suggestions of how to make the most of a silent retreat for those who’ve never been on one before, and to go over a few details for the weekend.
The whole Centre goes into the silence after Pure Meditation that evening. The meditation times morning and evening each day are for all to join us, coming and going as you feel to ~ so you don’t have to stay for a certain length of time. Everyone of all faiths, meditation practices and traditions is welcome. We will lead the Preparation for Meditation Exercises – a short series of limbering exercises – before the evening Pure Meditation to help give our body what it needs before we ask it to sit still.
Dining Information
Quiet Time
There will be yogurt, butter, crackers, fruit and teas available for you to help yourself to anytime from the early morning until after evening Pure Meditation Saturday and Sunday. A delicious, home-cooked, vegetarian lunch and dinner will be served on Saturday and Sunday at 1pm and 5:30 pm. The food for the weekend is easy to digest and gives the body a chance to rest, too. If you don’t feel to eat at the time a meal is being served, you can take a plate for later or ask us to put something aside for you.
We also stop for Quiet Time (even though we are in the Silence) from 12:45 to 1 pm just before lunch.
We are in the silence until just before dinner on Sunday, when we have a final gathering and give tips for making a graceful transition back into things after being in the silence for the weekend.
