Retreat Program Overview
Nourish your wild heart in this women’s mindfulness meditation retreat in a beautiful nature preserve in northern California. Unplug from your busy life and your digital devices and connect with the healing energy of the natural world and the intuitive wisdom of your own body.
Off-Grid Retreats is delighted to partner with Anne Cushman to lead this retreat at Whispertree. There is more information about the retreat teacher at the bottom of this webpage. And, just so you know, all of the images on this webpage were taken at Whispertree Retreat Center.
We’ll spend much of each day outdoors, deepening into presence in spring meadows dotted with wildflowers, amidst forests of firs and oaks, in the company of hawks, hares, kestrels, bobcats, and other more-than-human friends.
Whispertree Retreat Center (formerly Bell Valley Retreat) is nestled between two ridges, makes up a sub-watershed of the Navarro River, offering expansive views of Anderson Valley. The 600-acre center includes six miles of pristine trails—some with ridge-top access, others winding through woods and alongside creeks and a swimming pond.
A yurt with panoramic views and a spacious yoga barn provide an indoor sanctuary and ample space for our daily gentle, restorative yoga/movement meditation. A redwood hot tub offers a soaking space for renewal and restoration.
Women identifying practitioners from any and all backgrounds and meditation / yoga experience levels are welcome. And our retreat will be held in the container of Noble Silence to deepen our inner and outer listening.
Each day will include:
Outdoor meditation instruction & silent practice - seated, walking, standing, and lying down
Gentle guided yoga/movement meditation - trauma sensitive and accessible for all bodies
Dharma reflections and group sharing
Mindfulness guidance attuned to deepening our connection with the natural world
Ample time to explore the beauty of the land according to your own rhythms
Retreat Site & Cost
Our retreat fee just covers the basic costs of putting on the retreat: food, retreat center fee, administration costs, and other incidental expenses. It does not include compensation for Anne Cushman for teaching the retreat or for Off-Grid Retreats for organizing it. On the final retreat day, you will be invited to share dana (AKA to donate) to the Retreat Teacher and to Off-Grid Retreats. This tradition of ‘Dana,’ or mutual giving, has supported Buddhist cultures for 2500 years.
We offer the retreat fees on a sliding scale (based on the lodging you choose) to allow each participant to pay for what is most appropriate for themselves. There are a variety of lodging options to choose from at Whispertree Retreat Center. There are glamping spaces and rooms indoors. There are single accommodations and shared (up to 2 people per room/tent). We provide in depth descriptions on the exact accommodations on our registration webpage: ****EARLY BIRD 10 % DISCOUNT UNTIL NOV 15!****
Check in is at Whispertree on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at 2:00 PM PST. And starting with dinner on April 2nd, we’ll be serving 3 delicious vegetarian meals / day. Our cook is able to cater to a wide array of dietary restrictions and allergies (including gluten and dairy intolerance).
Whispertree Retreat Center is dedicated to the Earth and to supporting today’s transformational change-makers. This center embraces an emerging movement of humans seeking to connect more deeply with themselves, each other and the more-than-human world in an effort to create a more reverent and regenerative future.
During this spring retreat, the weather and temperatures can vary. Please ensure to follow our packing list so you may enjoy this nature based retreat comfortably and safely, regardless of the weather.
Retreat Teacher
Anne Cushman is a pioneer in the integration of mindfulness, embodied meditation, and creative expression.
A senior retreat teacher at Spirit Rock Meditation Center, she founded the first multi-year Buddhist meditation training for yoga teachers.
She’s the author of the memoir The Mama Sutra, the novel Enlightenment for Idiots, the mindful yoga book Moving Into Meditation, and the India pilgrimage guide From Here to Nirvana; and her essays on spiritual practice in daily life have appeared in the New York Times, Yoga Journal, O: The Oprah Magazine, Lion’s Roar, Tricycle, and many other publications.
She is a guiding teacher for the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program, which has trained thousands of teachers in more than 70 countries.
She mentors mindfulness practitioners and writers worldwide and leads retreats and classes both in person and online with a focus on creativity, embodiment, connection with nature, and daily life practice.
If you’re interested in learning more about this retreat, experiencing how Anne teaches, and/or practicing meditation in community, then we encourage you to attend our FREE Zoom with Anne!