Retreats & Sabbaticals (In-Person)

Apps support practice; multi-day in-person retreats are where most contemplative practitioners say the deeper work happens. The landscape varies by tradition: silent Buddhist retreats (IMS, Spirit Rock, Goenka), Christian retreat houses (Jesuit, Cistercian, Camaldolese, Taizé), Jewish (IJS, Isabella Freedman), Sufi / Hindu / yoga ashrams. Costs span donation-only to luxury-resort pricing. Honest framing: intensive retreats can have psychological risks; pre-screening matters; not every retreat suits every person.

Sister sections: Vipassana / Goenka, Buddhist Traditions & Apps, Christian Apps, Christian Liturgy, Jewish Apps & Sefaria, Hindu, Vedic & Yoga, Sangha & Community, Yoga & Mobility, Meditation Apps.

Buddhist (Western Insight / Theravada)

• ★ ★ Insight Meditation Society (IMS) — paid; Barre, MA; founded by Joseph Goldstein, Sharon Salzberg, Jack Kornfield (with others); 7-day to 3-month retreats; the gold-standard Western Insight retreat center.
  • https://www.dharma.org/
• ★ ★ Spirit Rock Meditation Center — paid; Woodacre, CA; the West Coast Insight tradition counterpart to IMS; weekend to month-long retreats; dana-supported teacher fees.
  • https://www.spiritrock.org/
• Insight Retreat Center (IRC) — donation-supported; California; built on the dana model.
• Forest Refuge (IMS) — paid + scholarships; long-term self-retreat.
• Cloud Mountain (WA) — paid; smaller West Coast Insight center.
• Bhavana Society (WV, Bhante Gunaratana) — donation-supported.
• Abhayagiri Monastery (CA) — free + dana; Thai Forest tradition.

Buddhist (Plum Village / Thich Nhat Hanh)

• ★ ★ Plum Village monasteries — paid (sliding scale + scholarships); France (main), Mississippi (Magnolia Grove), New York (Blue Cliff), Thailand, Germany; 5-day to 21-day retreats; family-friendly.
  • https://plumvillage.org/

Buddhist (Vipassana / Goenka)

• ★ ★ Goenka 10-day — donation-only; ~250 centres globally; see Vipassana / Goenka.

Buddhist (Zen / Tibetan / other)

• Zen Mountain Monastery (NY) — paid; Mountains and Rivers Order.
• San Francisco Zen Center (Tassajara, Green Gulch, City Center) — paid; Suzuki Roshi lineage; Tassajara summer guest season.
• Upaya Zen Center (Santa Fe) — paid; Joan Halifax.
• Zen Center of Los Angeles — paid.
• Tergar (Mingyur Rinpoche) — paid + free intro; Tibetan Kagyu / Nyingma.
• Garrison Institute (NY) — paid; cross-tradition contemplative venue.

Christian retreat houses

• ★ Jesuit Retreat Houses (US: Eastern Point, Manresa, El Retiro, Loyola Mary, Spiritual Exercises Center; etc.) — paid (often sliding scale); silent Ignatian retreats (3-day weekends to the 30-day Spiritual Exercises).
• ★ Cistercian / Trappist monasteries (Mepkin Abbey SC, Gethsemani KY, New Melleray IA, etc.) — paid (often donation-suggested); silent retreats; some open to laypeople for personal retreat.
• New Camaldoli Hermitage (Big Sur, CA) — paid; Camaldolese Benedictine; silent.
• ★ Taizé (Burgundy, France) — completely free / donation-supported for under-30s; week-long ecumenical-monastic stays; one of the few totally free Christian retreat options of significant scale; see Sangha & Community.
  • https://www.taize.fr/
• Iona Community (Scotland) — paid; ecumenical; week-long stays.
• Bose Monastic Community (Italy) — paid; ecumenical-Catholic.
• Holy Cross Monastery (Anglican, NY) — paid + scholarships.
• L'Arche communities — for people with intellectual disabilities + assistants; paid + donation; Catholic-rooted ecumenical.

Eastern Orthodox

• Mount Athos (Greece) — donation; men-only (centuries-long tradition); requires diamonitirion (visa-equivalent).
• St Anthony's Monastery (AZ) — donation; Greek Orthodox.
• St Tikhon's, Holy Cross Hermitage — donation.

Jewish

• ★ Institute for Jewish Spirituality (IJS) — paid + scholarships; cross-denominational; meditation, mussar, hashpa'ah retreats.
  • https://www.jewishspirituality.org/
• Isabella Freedman Jewish Retreat Center (Hazon, CT) — paid; sustainability + Jewish-spirituality; Elat Chayyim heritage.
• Yeshivat Hadar / Pardes summer programs — paid; intensive learning retreats (Israel + US).
• Romemu Yeshiva — paid; renewal-flavored learning.

Islamic / Sufi

• Mevlevi (Rumi tradition) — Threshold Society; small retreats.
• Naqshbandi-Haqqani gatherings — community-based.
• Zaytuna College retreats / programs — paid; classical Sunni learning.
• Honest framing: Sufi retreat traditions are typically community-internal and gated by sheikh-relationship; "open Sufi retreats" are mostly Western-Sufi-flavored events not directly comparable to a Goenka 10-day in shape.

Hindu / yoga / Vedic

• Sivananda Ashrams (Bahamas, Quebec, Kerala, etc.) — paid (~$50-100/day full board); Sivananda yoga / Vedanta.
• Isha Yoga Center / Inner Engineering Retreats (Coimbatore, Tennessee) — paid; Sadhguru lineage.
• Art of Living Ashrams — paid; Sri Sri Ravi Shankar lineage.
• Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health (MA) — paid; large secular-Hatha retreat center; some yoga-philosophy programs.
• Esalen (Big Sur, CA) — paid; cross-tradition / human-potential; not strictly Hindu but adjacent.
• Brahma Kumaris retreats — donation-supported.
• Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma) ashrams — donation-supported.

Cross-tradition / mindfulness-secular

• Garrison Institute (NY) — paid; cross-tradition.
• 1440 Multiversity (CA) — paid; secular contemplative.
• Omega Institute (NY) — paid; cross-tradition; large.
• Esalen — paid; see above.
• Hollyhock (Cortes Island, BC) — paid; cross-tradition Canadian retreat center.
• Tabor / Loyola / various Christian retreats are also open to non-religious silent retreatants in many cases.

Aggregators / retreat finders

• ★ Retreat Guru — free + paid listings; the largest cross-tradition retreat search site; filters by tradition / location / dates / budget.
  • https://retreat.guru/
• BookRetreats — free + paid listings; commercial-aggregator-shape; lots of yoga retreats; quality varies.
• Spirituality & Practice — paid + free; cross-tradition course / retreat catalog.
• Tricycle Retreat Calendar — paid mag + free retreat listings; Buddhist.
• Lion's Roar Retreat Calendar — paid + free; Buddhist cross-tradition.

Honest framing

• ★ Intensive retreats can have psychological risks. Cheetah House (Willoughby Britton's project) documents adverse meditation effects. Pre-existing trauma, dissociation, psychosis history, or active major depression / mania warrant clinical consultation before a 10-day silent retreat.
• The "spiritual emergency" / "dark night" experience is real for some retreatants. Reputable centers should screen / be aware; not all do well.
• Costs vary wildly. Goenka is donation-only. IMS / Spirit Rock are paid (~$80-150/day) with scholarships. "Wellness retreat" tier is $300-1000+/day for what is often spa-with-yoga-class.
• Teacher quality matters more than venue luxury. Cheaper, lineage-rooted retreats often deliver more than expensive resort-style ones.
• Re-entry is hard. Plan an extra day before returning to work; communicate with your people.
• First retreat = shorter. Don't go straight to a 10-day if you've never done a weekend.

Cost / license honesty

• Goenka 10-day — donation-only.
• Taizé — free / donation, especially for under-30.
• Plum Village — paid (~$80-130/day sliding scale).
• IMS / Spirit Rock — paid (~$90-150/day) + dana to teacher.
• Jesuit retreat houses — paid (~$80-200/day; sliding scale common).
• Trappist monasteries — donation-suggested (~$50-100/day).
• Yoga / wellness retreats (Kripalu, Esalen, Omega) — paid ($150-500/day).
• Sivananda / Hindu ashrams — paid (~$30-100/day).

Practical guidance

• Pre-screen yourself. If you have a recent psychiatric event, talk to a clinician first.
• Read about the tradition first. A Goenka retreat is not a Plum Village retreat is not a Jesuit silent retreat.
• Pack what they say to pack. Centers tell you what's needed and what's surrendered (phone, books, journal).
• Plan re-entry. Day after retreat: no big decisions, no big meetings.
• Build a daily practice first. Don't enter a 10-day cold; sit 30 minutes a day for at least a few months.

Pick this if…

• First-ever intensive, donation-only: Goenka 10-day.
• Western-Insight Buddhist tradition: IMS or Spirit Rock weekend.
• Thich Nhat Hanh tradition, family-friendly: Plum Village.
• Christian, silent Ignatian: a Jesuit retreat house weekend.
• Christian, monastic stay: Trappist monastery (e.g., Gethsemani KY).
• Ecumenical, cheap, communal: Taizé.
• Jewish, contemplative-cross-denominational: IJS retreat.
• Hindu / yoga / Vedanta: Sivananda Ashrams (cheap) or Isha (paid).
• Browsing options: Retreat Guru.