leading silent retreats
worldwide since 1986
Silent Stay Retreats
“Step out of the busyness of daily life into the sanctuary of your heart.”
— Bruce Davis PhD, author of The Magical Child Within You
Silent Stay retreats are precious days free from our daily story. Each meditation session offers structure and guidance on heart-centered silence that inspire exploration within. We share teachings and our accumulated experiences from Eastern philosphy, Western mysticism and modern psychology. Our spacious daily program inspires personal reflection, journaling, non-judgement and acceptance of self. Healing happens on its own as we experience our wholeness.
Love is letting go of fear. Practicing this, retrains our mind and heart
to come into balance and harmony with everyone and everything.
Simply softening into the gentle heart heals the mind and renews trust in life.
In the gentle container of the silent retreat we can let go of all effort. Effortless being is the heart of our awareness. Practicing stillness reveals the gentleness in the silence that is full of presence. With our awareness untethered it becomes free to feel how much is given in a moment. We begin to sense our inner-being expanding and being met by a universe of kindness.
Surrounded by kind people on the same journey, into the silence and stillness, is a balm for the soul. The retreats are non-denominational and welcome all. No experience necessary. Teachers are available for additional guidance.
Nestled at the foot of the Santa Ynez mountains, take a silent walk. Pacifica Graduate Institute is set on 35 acres of meandering paths or sky gaze on the lawns amidst expansive gardens with views of the ocean.
Once you make friends with the silence it continues to teach long after the retreat is over.
Join us on retreat. Join us in the silence.
Upcoming Retreats
In the quiet, we can let go and rest in our heart — our ground of being.
The silence and stillness allows us to explore our inner landscape.
Retreat pricing is all inclusive:
Private rooms, all meals and retreat
Pricing starts at $1050.
Location:
Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara
801 Ladera Lane, Montecito, California
Elements of a Silent Stay Retreat
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, which was originally a 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 Yoga
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
Each Full 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
Departure Day
*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, letting go, listening to silence, practice softening your nervous system, period of non-judgement. Non-doing is the ancient Daoist practice of wu wei.
Your Heart Team
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.
Bruce Davis, Ph.D.
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.
Ruth Davis, CHT
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.
Nicole Becker, Yoga Therapist
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.
The Silence
Fear of silence ?
In a silent retreat, we find... yes, silence. Our mind imagines this will be empty and that we will not know where to go or what to do. However, when we are taught how to engage with silence, everything changes. We realize we are turning our awareness towards trusting ourselves. There is no greater gift.
We learn that we do not need to reach for anything to occupy the mind. We begin to sense we are not lacking anything; rather, everything is present. Curiosity arises. There is a realization of a presence around us, a presence that is alive in nature, the air, the animals, and fellow humans. When we slow down enough not to move away from silence but to notice it, we begin to listen, not with our ears but with the heart.
At first we realize that the silence is the antidote to our busy mind. Our mind can rest. We don’t have to try so hard. We can just be.
Then we realize, wait, “I can take this home and use what I have learned.” So we begin to include meditation, contemplation, or silent walks into our daily routine. Silence becomes our friend and preventative medicine for a busy mind. We begin to internalize the beauty of silence.
The next thing we become aware of is that the silence is always present and is constant. It is a constant presence of peace, gentleness, it is everywhere around us, and more importantly, in us. We have moved from aloneness to connection to the all.
Eventually, we come to understand that the silence is teaching. It teaches the meaning of life and how to regulate emotions and the activity of the mind. It teaches us that we are enough just as we are. We do not need to prove or improve ourselves. We simply are, and silence meets us with complete acceptance. Freedom is acceptance of our humanness. Freedom is the condition of our soul.
On a silent retreat, we have the opportunity to let go of what we are carrying, all the burdens of life, and be carried by something greater. We go into the silence for ourselves but soon realize that we are doing this for everyone and everything around us. We are refining our energy and that, in turn, supports everyone and everything.
Join us on retreat, join us in the silence.