Silent Retreat

Deepen your mindfulness practice with our silent retreats.

On a regular basis, we open our doors to the community with the opportunity to spend an extended period of silence together. Participants are guided through a series of mindful movement and sitting meditations with an opportunity to reflect upon and share the experience with a fellow participant at the end.

While spending hours in silence may seem daunting to some, these retreats are often a welcome respite and a great way to foster stillness in the rush of everyday life. Offered as a scheduled component of the Centre’s MBCT and MBSR programs, our silent retreats also serve as an excellent way to maintain your mindfulness practice once the program structure is removed.

Many regular participants attest to the retreats’ restorative effects and the ways in which the experience enhances personal insight and self-knowledge.

Registration
To benefit our charitable initiatives, we ask that you please contribute what you can for the silent retreat to help us deliver affordable mental health therapies to those in need.

Who Should Attend
Mindfulness program participants, past participants, faculty, staff, and members of the community with an existing mindfulness practice. We do not recommend the silent retreat for beginners. The Centre asks that all Silent Retreat registrants:

  • have completed a minimum of 10 hours of mindfulness practice
  • identify a local emergency contact (e.g. 911) in case of difficulties arising
  • inform the Centre if a significant history of mental illness might affect your participation

Timing:
4-hour online silent retreat
6-hour in-person silent retreat
Click here for the 4-day retreat

What a gift I give to myself every time I attend a silent retreat. I step out of our fast-paced world, and look within. Showing up to the mat is an act of self-love, and I feel incredibly grateful to understand how transformational regular practice can be. I enrich my daily practice with monthly silent retreats, and this routine has grounded my life in a peacefulness I never knew could exist.

Julia Stead

MBCT and Silent Retreat Participant

Understanding the 5-7 Day Silent Retreat Certificate Prerequisite

As a prerequisite to taking the MBCT Intensive Training & Retreat, participation in a total of 5-7 day silent retreat is expected. We recommend looking at retreat centres for more options.

Please note that a 7-day silent retreat is ideal while a 5-day silent retreat is sufficient; If you are unable to participate in a 5-7 day silent retreat, The Centre will accept the completion of a 3-day silent retreat as well as a 2-day silent retreat; In exceptional circumstances, we may also accept a 3-day silent retreat combined with the completion of two 1-day silent retreats – please obtain explicit approval from The Centre before pursuing this last option.

Upcoming Courses

Silent Retreat in Downtown Toronto 25-204-01

Start: Sunday, April 14, 2024
Facilitator(s): Jeremy Finkelstein RP

Silent Retreat in Downtown Toronto 25-204-02

Start: Saturday, May 18, 2024
Facilitator(s): Jeremy Finkelstein RP