Sample Retreat Schedule

Silent retreats designed to reconnect you with presence and nature

Four-Day Retreat

Callachuchi Hermitage periodically opens its doors for four day silent retreats. The retreats begin on Monday afternoons with an orientation to the Hermitage and the retreat experience. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings participants are provided with optional guided instruction in practices assisting presence. A considerable amount of the retreat time is simply left open for each participant to find their own way in engaging their life without the stimulus of electronica, work, schedules, and the other societal activities of their lives. To being a bit of a hermit yourself. Here we have a chance to shed our daily life busyness, and immerse with each moment; with little disturbing our awareness of our immediate existence and environment. Optional morning instruction with the Hermitage founder incorporates breathing exercises, grounding techniques, and methods to discover and dwell within our center and source. Scheduled vegetarian meals are available daily. The Hermitage grounds are open for participants usage; including a pool, beach access to the ocean, yoga/exercise room, meditation hall, and walking areas. Each participant has private sleeping quarters with shared bathroom facilities. The Hermitage accepts up to five participants for each retreat. The retreats are completed with lunch on Friday.

Please Note

No electronics or reading materials are allowed during the four day retreat. This includes phones, cameras, computers, radios, tablets, tvs, tape recorders and the like; as well as books, magazines, kindles, and the like. In a silent retreat, we ask each participant to respect the space and privacy of other participants. Occasionally conversation is necessary, but the intent is that the retreat's primary emphasis is on awareness and listening to both your internal and external worlds. Having several days of this practice allows you to clear out your mind/body and discover a deeper relationship within yourself and the world around you.

Rates, Payment and Other Details

Four Day Retreat Cost

200 USD/11,500 php

(After the costs of food and facility use, the remaining funds from participants are donated to the Rice for Bata, a fund started ten years ago providing food and educational resources to children in the Tag-ibo village area.)

Retreat Cost Covers: Lodging, meals, use of facilities and instruction.

Check In: Monday before 3 p.m.

Payment: Please pay in full for the retreat when checking in on Monday. Cash only. Since the space is reserved for you for the whole period until Friday, there are no refunds.

Electronics & Reading materials: Any electronica or reading materials brought to the retreat will be picked up and placed in a safe for the period of the retreat and returned on Friday.

Smoking, Alcohol, Etc: There is no smoking, alcohol, or other drug use allowed during the four day retreat.

Soko Paul Karsten, the founder and resident at Callachuchi Hermitage has fifty years of experience researching, practicing and teaching about the embodied experience and awareness of what has been called source, emptiness, qi, and true self, among many names. For the last twenty years he has focused his study and instruction on the foundation of practices for grounding and centering in order to be more present and intentional in each moment of our existence. He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to play in recognizing the simplicity of what is needed to clear and clarify our mind and body so we can participate more fully with the relationships right in front of us.

In opening up the Hermitage for these retreats he has this to say:

"We practice together in these retreats. All of us share foregoing activities that distract us from being present with the moment. I volunteer for this effort because I have found funding itself is a distraction from being truly receptive and participatory. Whether you have experience or not with this research and practice into the core of yourself, there is more to explore. The simplicity of grounding and centering with embodied breathing is a natural method to deeper connection."

For solo retreats, contact us for availability.