Our silent retreats are precious days free from our daily story.
In the quiet, we can let go and rest in our heart — our ground of being.
In the silence and stillness we can explore our inner landscape.
The daily retreat program includes:
Teachings and guidance on heart-centered silence and meditation
A gentle container where you can let go of effort, and practice receiving the peace.
stillness, and gentleness available in the present moment.A spacious daily program with plenty of time for personal reflection and journaling.
Our retreats are non-denominational. No experience necessary.
Set on 35 acres at the Pacifica Graduate Institute, nestled at the foot of the Santa Ynez mountains,
you can take a silent walk along meandering paths or rest amidst the expansive gardens, and enjoy views of the ocean.
Nurturing the heart through simplicity, heart awareness, and silence brings us deeper inside. When you learn you in the depth of your being that you are enough — you are transformed. A retreat continues to teach long after it is over.
Silence & Meditation
Our intention is to listen to the silence — to listen to our heart in the silence, and let them teach us. Here the gentleness of the present moment awaits.
Meditation instruction is provided for those who are new to it. If you are a seasoned meditator you can use your own practices.
We provide spacious time for journaling and personal reflection between sitting and moving meditation sessions.
We have comfortable chairs for meditation, yoga mats and blankets, or bring your own meditation bench or cushion.
Located at the Pacifica Graduate Institute Retreat Center (a former Jesuit monastery dedicated to silent retreats) the land and facilities hold the energy of over a century of contemplation.
Movement & Yoga
The silence can move deeper into the body / heart / mind with intentional movement. We can know silence by experiencing its wisdom (gentleness, calm, peace) within our movement.
Movement is meditation, it is fluid energy that is aliveness itself. When we direct our energy we are interacting with our spirit, our psycho-physical communication.
Gentle heart-centered yoga is offered as an option on the full day(s) of retreat. With this practice you can relieve commons aches and pains, deepen your presence, and learn how to embody the stillness, peace, and kindness we seek.
You are welcome to take walks or runs around the 35-acre property or on Ladera Lane, just outside the retreat center gates.
Lodging & Fabulous Food
Each guest has a private room. The cost shown is all inclusive of the retreat program, lodging and food.
Our professional caterer serves buffet style and can cover all diet types; vegan, vegetarian, gluten free, medical diets, or diets with no restrictions. Three meals provided on each full day.
In addition there is a refreshments hall open day and night stocked with complimentary snacks and beverages, tea, and coffee.
There are refrigerators in the bedroom wings that can be used for personal medicines or snacks. Ask the front desk which is the nearest to your room.
Sample Daily Schedule
Arrival Day
8:30 am - 2:00 pm | Arrival window
3:00 pm | Room check-in
4:00 - 5:00 pm | Opening meditation
5:15 - 6:30 pm | Dinner in Silence
6:30 pm | Silent Sitting*
7:00-7:45 pm | Evening Meditation
7:45 - 8:15 pm | Guided Relaxation
Each Full Day
7:15 - 8:30 am | Breakfast in Silence
8:30 am | Silent Sitting*
9:00 -9:45 am | Morning Meditation
10:00 am | Non-doing Period**
11:00 - 1145 am | Gentle Yoga (optional)
12:00 - 1:15 pm | Lunch in Silence
2:00 - 3:00 | Non-doing Period**
3:00 - 4:00 pm | Heart Awareness Meditation
4:00 - 5:15 pm | Non-doing Period* *
5:15 - 6:30 pm | Dinner in Silence
6:30 - 7:00 pm | Silent Sitting*
7:00 - 7:45 pm | Evening Meditation
Departure Day
7:00 - 8:30 am | Breakfast in Silence
8:30 am | Silent Sitting**
9:00 - 9:45 am | Morning meditation
9:45 - 11:30 am | Program Conclusion
11:30 am | Room check-out
4:00 pm | Campus closes
**Silent Sitting Period in the Sanctuary is a period of reflection, however long you like, before a meditation period. You can also journal or practice Yoga in the Sanctuary.
**A Non-Doing period may include: being present, walking meditation in nature, lay on the lawn - sky gazing, journaling, listening to silence, practice softening your nervous system, period of non-judgement. Non-doing is the ancient Daoist practice of wu wei.
Upcoming Retreats
September 26-28, 2025
Another beautiful retreat completed and filled with deep peace ! Join us for the next one !
Santa Barbara, California | Pacific Graduate Institute
December 5-7, 2025
Registration closes Nov. 29
January 13-15, 2026
Registration closes Jan. 6
March 2026
July 14-16, 2026
Registration closes July 7
September 2026
Your Heart Team
Ruth Davis
At age six, Ruth had a spiritual awakening in her first ballet class. Her heart burst open to the divine and joy filled her body. She experienced love for everyone and everything. Her dance became her devotional practice. Eventually it came to include the energetic studies of Qigong and Inner Yoga.
Bruce Davis, Ph.D.
Bruce has been guiding retreats worldwide since 1983. His retreats are based on his deep connection to silence, simplicity, and heartfulness. He has a gift for guiding people from the busy-ness of the mind & personality to the home of the quiet heart.
Nicole Becker, Yoga Therapist
Nicole weaves three decades of yoga, meditation, and somatic healing into a path of inner habitat restoration. She guides people to rediscover “their Yoga”— through the practice of curiosity, compassion, and connection with self, nature, and essence.
The Silence
The silence is presence Itself. It is vast, open, and free. It is filled with every blessing ever known. It is within everyone and everything. It has been around since before time and is beyond time. Silence is eternity waiting to embrace us.