Art of Living
Meditation & Mindfulness
Must Be 18+
Spiritual
Calm & Clear Mind
Get HappyNow being offered on the West Coast!
Join our expert staff in a destination Stepping Into Silence Retreat at the Expanding Light Retreat, located in Nevada City, California, approximately 90 minutes from Sacramento and the Bay area. Find transportation and direction information here.
Create Big Shifts in Your Life
Our Silent Retreats can help you drop limiting beliefs, regrets and worries, and tap into a bigger vision for yourself. Whether you are just beginning your meditation journey, or hoping to go deeper into the practice, these few days make the rest of your year more alive, productive, and full of energy. When you emerge, you feel recharged and refreshed, ready to take on all your responsibilities with greater focus and joy. You’ll return to your life more grounded, more centered, more wise—filled with a joy that is unshaken by outer circumstances.
- Reduced stress
- Greater sense of happiness and enthusiasm
- Higher focus and improved life-work balance
- Better and longer deep sleep
- Connect more deeply and easily with others
A Profound Spiritual Immersion
Have you noticed the amount of noise surrounding you every day? Phones, television, news, conversations, traffic, and office machines, to name some of the things responsible for all the sound pollution. Add to that all the internal noise—stress from work, personal relationships, responsibilities, that stream of consciousness in your head thinking about an interaction you had in a meeting ten minutes ago, a disagreement with your partner ten days ago, a bad financial decision you made ten years ago! You try to silence all this noise only to find your monkey mind—the “fun friend” that has you spinning out of control when you’re just trying to quiet your thoughts—gets louder.
Our signature Silent Retreats integrates our renowned Happiness Retreat and several days of silent contemplation with unique guided meditations, yoga, and advanced breathing techniques.
A Structured Retreat
While other retreats may leave you to your own devices to find some silence amidst a quiet atmosphere, many people find quieting their own minds is the bigger challenge. These Art of Living programs provide optimal conditions for sinking deep within and breaking free from mental chatter. Your experience is carefully guided and crafted to give you a relaxing, supportive, and transformative atmosphere for your inner journey. It’s no wonder that many course participants refer to it as the ideal retreat for body, mind, and spirit.
You’ll not only gain valuable tools and practices that bring more resiliency, better communication, and more ease into your life, you’ll receive the support you need to continue your journey—access to our meditation app, monthly reconnection live streams, and membership to our exclusive Facebook group.
Research
Independent research has shown Sudarshan Kriya (SKY), the key technique of the program, significantly
- Reduces levels of stress
- Supports the immune system
- Relieves anxiety and depression
- Clears stress at the physical, mental, and emotional levels, relaxing the nervous system to reduce insomnia and enable quality sleep
- Increases levels of antioxidant enzymes which protect us from many diseases and rapid aging. [6, 23, 27]
Recently, a group of Yale researchers published a study evaluating classroom wellness training programs incorporating breathing and emotional intelligence strategies. In the study, published in the July 15, 2020, Frontiers of Psychiatry, the Art of Living’s SKY Campus Happiness most beneficial, reporting improvements in six areas of well-being: depression, stress, mental health, mindfulness, positive affect, and social connectedness. Read the YaleNews article here.
Features
Must be age 18 or over.
- Daily Yoga & Meditation
- Wisdom Tools & Techniques
- Learning Sudarshan Kriya (SKY) and its benefits
- Contemplative Silence
- Mindful Guided Meditations
- Experience the 7-Levels of Your Existence
- Monthly Reunions and Reconnects
- Access to AOL Meditation App
- Membership to Our Exclusive Facebook Group
For those who have not taken the Happiness Program, an Art of Living Course, YESPlus, or SKY Breath meditation workshop and would like to learn the tools and techniques to begin a meditation practice and experience the power of silence—gentle, light, and easy.
You’ll spend the first full day of the program learning breathing techniques and other tools to manage and calm the mind, which includes talking processes. You’ll enter into silence after dinner on day two. You’ll have ample opportunities for questions during designated talking periods.
Teachers
Art of Living Faculty
Art of Living faculty are teachers from all over the world who integrate their passion for teaching with a dedication to service of others. Inspired by their own personal experiences of transformation and joy, our teachers blend ancient, timeless wisdom with contemporary approaches to well-being to bring you a heart-based approach rooted in the authentic, effective techniques of Ayurveda, meditation, and breathwork—the very best of health and wellness.
Program Schedule
Day 1
7:30–9:30 pm The Secret of the Breath
Day 2
7:30–8:30 am Morning Yoga
10:00 am–12:30 pm The Rhythms of Life
3:00–5:00 pm Deepening Our Experience
7:30–8:30 pm Practices to Calm the Chatter in the Mind
Day 3
7:30–8:30 am Daily Dive Group Practice
10:00 am–12:30 pm Step Into the Silent Zone
3:00–5:00 pm Soaking in the Silence
7:30–8:30 pm Wisdom to Deepen Your Silence and Q&A
Day 4
7:30–8:30 am Daily Dive Group Practice
10:00 am–12:30 pm Guided Meditations
3:00–5:00 pm Experiencing the Deeper Self
7:30–8:30 pm Understanding the Modes/Tendencies of the Mind and Q&A
Day 5
7:30–8:30 am Daily Dive Group Practice
10:00 am–1:00 pm Gradual move out of silence and returning home instructions.
Rooms & Pricing
Each guest room includes air conditioning, heating, carpeting, towels, and bedding. Fresh linens and towels are available weekly—no daily maid service. A limited number of queen-sized beds are available. Wi-Fi is available. (We also have centrally located guest computers.) Limited handicap accessibility.
Private Deluxe Room
$1,975 per person
Each room has a private entrance, a private bathroom, a desk, a ceiling fan, and a hairdryer.
Shared Standard Room
$1,535 per person
Rooms have twin beds, bedside table, and a wardrobe. Shared hallway bathrooms.
Location
14618 Tyler Foote Road
Nevada City, California 95959
800-346-5350
Find transportation and direction information here.
The Expanding Light Retreat is situated within the 700 beautiful acres of Ananda Village, just outside Nevada City, California.
Reviews
On-Campus Program FAQs
For room reservations, Ayurveda Wellness Retreats, and Art of Living Retreat Center (AOLRC) signature retreats, we have the following cancellation policy:
- Refunds are available (less a $50 processing fee) up to 15 days before your program or stay.
- Nonrefundable credit toward a future AOLRC program or stay (less a $50 processing fee) is available if you give notice between 14 and one day(s) before your program or stay. Credit may be applied to any AOLRC program or stay for one year following date of issue.
- No credit or refund is available if you cancel on the arrival day, if you do not show up, or if you leave an event early for any reason. No refund will be available if you attend a program and are dissatisfied with its presentation or content.
AOLRC reserves the right to cancel a program at any time. If AOLRC cancels a program, you will receive a full refund. Some programs may have special cancellation policies; see individual workshop descriptions. For all other retreats, please be sure to check the registration page specific to that retreat.
Unless otherwise indicated, our programs are open to participants 18 years of age and older.
To encourage a healthy environment we ask that guests not consume alcohol or meat in our public spaces, however, guests may enjoy these items in their rooms.
Our property is always smoke-free.
Yes, we ask that guests with food allergies simply inform us so we can communicate those needs to our chef. Typically, we label potential allergens such as gluten, dairy, and nuts.
We do have lodging and event venues that are ADA-compliant. Due to the topography of our mountain campus, some are easier to access than others, so please speak to Guest Services (800.392.6870) prior to registering to ensure we can best accommodate your needs. We also have shuttles that run frequently throughout the campus.
We are committed to the safety of our guests and staff. Our mountaintop location and the surrounding areas are spacious, remote, safe, and secure.
- It is safe to leave your windows open—and necessary for proper airflow!
- Nature surrounds our campus, and it’s common to see rabbits, deer, gophers, wild turkeys, and other small animals. Please give them space, and they’ll do the same for you. We’ve never had a safety incident with animals on campus.
You can help!
- If you come across an animal on campus or a trail, give it space, and please do not attempt to pet or feed it.
- There’s no need to bring valuables to the retreat center; leaving them at home is best.
