Silent Retreat
Deepen your mindfulness practice with our silent retreats.
We open our doors on a regular basis 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
Upcoming In-Person Silent Retreat
Understanding the 5-7 Day Silent Retreat Certificate Prerequisite
As a prerequisite for the MBCT & MBSR Facilitator training certification, participation in a total of 5-7 days of silent retreat is expected. These can be either in-person or online, so long as there is live facilitation and extended period of silence.
If you are unable to participate in a full 5-7 day silent retreat, The Centre will accept a combination of a 3-day retreat as well as a 2-day silent retreat; we may also accept a 3-day silent retreat combined with the completion of two 1-day silent retreats – please obtain approval from The Centre before pursuing this last option, contact education@mindfulnessstudies.com with the details.
This requirement can be completed at any point in your training pathway and does not have to be completed prior to submitting your application / attending the teacher training courses. So long as the full 5-7 days are completed by the time you request the final certificate.