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3 days · Alma Chakana, Tulum · from US$1,999 per person, or US$2,999 per couple

Silent Meditation & Deep Rest Retreat

Three days of quiet in the jungle outside Tulum, for one person or for two who want to stop filling the air between them. We keep a private house for silence and hold the space for you, with nobody else staying and nothing asked of you. The silence is offered, not enforced, and the days hold little more than sitting, slow movement, food and sleep.

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Is this for you?

Line illustration of a face resting, eyes closed

You are talked out

You talk for a living, or you are spoken at all day, and the noise follows you home into the evening. You do not need another conversation about how you are. You need a few days where nobody asks you anything and your own voice goes quiet on its own.

Line illustration of a figure lying down at rest

Rest has not been reaching the body

You have slept and you are still tired. Holidays have not touched it. What is underneath the tiredness is not solved by doing less for a week, and you suspect it needs stillness rather than another change of scene.

Line illustration of a figure standing in calm water

You want to sit without performing it

You may have a practice already, or you may have never sat for ten minutes without checking the time. Either way you are not looking for a room of thirty people being led through something. You want to sit quietly, alone or with one person, and see what is there when nothing else is.

Line illustration of three figures embracing, each with a heart on their chest

What makes it special

We offer this retreat because we know how to hold silence for another person. That is a skill rather than an atmosphere, and it is the whole of what we do here. Between us we have spent nearly four decades practising and teaching meditation, yoga and breath, and one of us spent years inside a monastery, including three and a half years in a sealed retreat and a further twelve months alone in silence. That is not why you come. It is why the quiet holds when you stop trying to make it. Most silent retreats hand you a timetable and a bell. We sit in it with you.

There are many silent retreats and very few where you are the only guest. The house is ours, and one party stays at a time, so the quiet is not a group agreement you have to keep. There is no circle and no shared timetable, and nobody is watching how you do it. You can speak to us at any point, and the rest of it is yours. The place does the work that a schedule cannot. The birds start before five, the light comes through the palms, and the pool and the cenotes are a short walk away. You can spend the three days doing as little as you like, and most people find that the quiet arrives whether they were trying for it or not.

Getting started

The work starts before you arrive. We talk about what you are coming for, and what you are not. We screen, because safety is not negotiable, and we tell you plainly what the days will hold.

Clarifying your intention

You decide the timing and the length, and we stay flexible about both. The price is on each retreat page, the same for everybody. If it is out of reach, you tell us and we find a way.

Connection and alignment

Then we talk, on a confidential discovery call. You ask what you need to ask. We explain how we work and how we screen, and by the end we both know whether this is right.

Committing to your work

Once we agree the retreat fits, a deposit holds your dates. It is a booking step, and it is also a promise you make to yourself, which matters more once the days get difficult.

Schedule your discovery call

The retreat immersion

The days move in one direction, and none of it is accidental. You arrive prepared, you are held through the work itself, and you leave knowing what to do with what you found.

Psychedelic ceremonies

Psychedelic ceremonies

We approach these journeys with care, and with respect for how personal they are. You are in a safe, comfortable room, someone stays with you the whole time, and what surfaces is yours to work with at your own pace.

Tantra practices

Tantra practices

Classical Tantra works through the body, and it is one of the most direct ways we know to put you back in contact with yourself. Sessions may include breathwork, slow movement, partner exercises and conscious touch, always inside the boundaries you set and always at your pace.

Meditation

Meditation

Guided sits, some long and some only ten minutes. They teach you how to watch what is happening in you without immediately trying to fix it.

Sound healing

Sound healing

Gongs, bowls and other instruments played over you while you lie down. The body settles first and the mind follows, which makes this a useful companion to the harder days.

Yoga

Yoga

Certified teachers, and no performance. Slow, intentional movement, attention on the breath, and everything adapted to the body you brought with you, whatever shape it is in.

Wellness practices

Wellness practices

Depending on what you need, we can bring in other practices, led by people we trust: temazcal, the traditional Mayan sweat lodge, Chinese tea ceremony, massage, hypnotherapy or EMDR.

Integrative support

Integrative support

Time set aside to talk, one to one or with the people you came with. You say what happened, we listen, and together we work out what to do with it.

Nourishing healthy cousine

Nourishing healthy cuisine

A private chef cooks for you while you are here, using fresh ingredients from the market, and there is always more than you will manage to eat. Meals are long, and nobody is in a hurry.

Breathtaking location

Breathtaking location

The retreats happen at our own place in the jungle just outside Tulum, on land we look after and keep entirely for you. Nobody else is here while you are. The house is modern and self-sufficient, the jungle starts at the edge of the path, and both are part of the work rather than a backdrop to it.

Post-retreat integration

What you find here only counts if it survives contact with your ordinary life. That is why integration is not an afterthought for us, and why we stay in touch long after the retreat ends.

Embodying insights

Embodying insights

While you are here we build in time to catch what is moving: journaling if you write, silence if you do not, and Tantric or meditative practices that bring the insight into the body while it is still fresh.

Post-retreat Integration

Post-retreat Integration

Afterwards you get integration sessions with us, at whatever pace you need. Some people arrive with questions, some with a plan, and some simply because the week after a retreat is the strangest week of the year.

Optional on-going support

Optional on-going support

If you want to keep going, we offer follow-up calls, group circles, and introductions to practitioners we trust. None of it is obligatory.

Our team

Between us we have nearly forty years of combined experience in yoga, meditation, somatic and energy work, psychology, psychedelic medicine and nutrition. we will prepare you, sit with you, and guide you afterwards.

Location

Alma Chakana, our home in the jungle just outside of Tulum. While you are with us, the place is yours alone. We never share it with other guests.

Pricing

Our pricing price is fixed and it is on each retreat page. One person pays from $1,999 for three days, and two people in the same villa pay one and a half times the single price. If it is out of reach for you, tell us and we will find a way. If you feel the work was worth more, you are welcome to give more, and it goes to the fund that brings someone else.

A bedroom at Alma Chakana with a white bed, a deep red bed runner and wooden shutters
The practice hall at Alma Chakana: a circular rug ringed with floor cushions under the thatched roof, a gong beside it
A breakfast plate of avocado toast, pickled cabbage and eggs served at Alma Chakana
Guests sharing a meal at a long table at Alma Chakana, jungle visible through the windows

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the silence compulsory?

No. It is offered as a frame and you can put it down whenever you like. Most people keep it because the days get heavier with talking, but nobody marks it and nobody will ask you why you spoke. You can talk to us at any point.

How long are the sits?

There is no fixed timetable. In practice the days hold two or three sits, most of them between twenty minutes and an hour, with long gaps between them. If you want more or less than that, we adjust. Nobody is timed and nobody is corrected.

I have never meditated before. Can I still come?

Yes. Most people who come have no practice at all and arrive convinced they are bad at it. There is nothing to be good at. You sit, you notice what happens, and you get up again. We will show you enough to begin and leave the rest alone.

Is this a Buddhist retreat?

No. One of us trained as a Buddhist and it shapes how the silence is held, but there is no doctrine here and nothing to sign up to. The practices are simple and most traditions would recognise them. Whatever you believe or do not believe is fine in this house.

Who leads the sittings?

No one stands at the front, and there is no teaching schedule to keep up with. One of us is always in the house, available whenever you want to talk or sit together, and otherwise the silence is yours to keep or put down. The holding is the work here, not the instruction.

Can two of us keep silence together?

Yes, and it is a particular kind of few days. You share the quiet without narrating it to each other, and couples often find that the silence between them changes shape by the second day. You can also speak to each other and keep silent with us. It is your frame.

How is this different from the Digital Detox retreat?

The detox retreat is about the phone and the pull of it. This one is about silence itself, and the phone is barely mentioned. Both are quiet. One starts from what you carry in your pocket and the other starts from what happens when nobody says anything for a while.

Is the retreat private?

Yes. One party at a time, whether that is one person, one couple or one small group arriving together. Nobody else is booked into the house while you are here, and no strangers are put in circle with you.

How many guests will be there?

Yourselves, and us. The most we take is four people arriving together, and a group of three or four is a special case we agree on the call. We never mix parties.

Is the price per person?

The price on each retreat page is the price for one person. On a full retreat that is one person in the private villa: three days is $1,999, four is $2,999 and five is $3,999. If the two of you take the same villa, the price is one and a half times the single price, so $2,999, $4,499 or $5,999, and the second person shares your suite rather than taking another one. A small group of three or four, or anything else you have in mind, is arranged on the call. A one-day retreat is $450 per person, or $750 per couple.

What does the price include?

For a full retreat: your room, your meals, the transfers, the practices and the integration afterwards. For a one-day retreat: the day itself, everything in it and the food. Flights, insurance and the psilocybin are the only things outside it.

Is the price fixed?

Yes. One price, the same for everybody, and it is the same figure whether you book here or through a booking platform. We do not run sales and we do not negotiate. If it is genuinely out of reach, tell us on the call and we will find a way. If the work turns out to be worth more to you than the list price, you are welcome to give more after you go home, and it goes to the fund that brings someone else.

Do you offer discounts?

No. One price, the same for everybody, no sales and no codes. If it is genuinely out of reach, tell us on the call and we will find a way.

What if I cannot afford the price?

Tell us on the call. You cover what the retreat costs us to run and we leave it there. No forms, and nobody else will know.

How do I pay?

By transfer or card before you arrive, or in cash while you are here. If you book through a booking platform, they take the deposit and we collect the balance seven days before you arrive.

Do I have to take the psilocybin?

No. The medicine is optional on every retreat, arranged separately, and most guests do not take it. We will tell you if we think it is not a good idea for you.

Do I need experience with yoga, meditation or psychedelics?

No. Most people who come to us have never done any of it. The yoga is slow and adapted to the body you bring, the meditation is guided, and anything with the medicine happens only after a screening call. You do not need to be fit either.

Do I have to do everything on the schedule?

No. Everything is available and nothing is compulsory, including the sessions you have paid for. Guests who arrive exhausted usually do very little for the first two days, and that is the point of the retreat rather than a failure of it.

What style of yoga do you offer?

Classical Hatha yoga in the lineage of Maha Sadhana, as taught by Sri Dharma Mittra. Sessions adapt to whatever level you are at.

What kind of meditation will we do?

Several kinds, including practices from the Osho tradition and the way we have come to teach it ourselves. All of them are for noticing what is happening rather than for emptying your mind.

What is the food like?

A private chef cooks for you, mostly vegan and vegetarian, from fresh local ingredients. Food is part of the work here rather than a break from it, and we cook around whatever you cannot eat.

What should I bring?

We send a list before you come. In short: loose clothing for a hot climate, something to move in, swimwear, a hat, a warm layer for the evenings, natural sunscreen and biodegradable repellent, and something to write with. Leave the heavy perfume at home.

Do you arrange airport transfers?

Yes, for the retreats. We arrange private transfers from Cancun (CUN) or Tulum (TQO) with drivers we know, and they are included in the price of a three, four or five day retreat. For a one-day retreat the transfer is not included, since most day guests are already in the Tulum area, and we will arrange one at cost if you want it.

What languages are retreats offered in?

Mostly English. We also speak Russian and Ukrainian between us, and enough Spanish to get by and to ask for help.

Is there wifi or phone signal?

There is wifi at the house and a phone signal across most of the property. Nothing is switched off for you and nothing is confiscated. Guests who want to put the phone down tell us, and we hold them to it.

Is alcohol allowed?

Not during the retreat days. The work here is quiet and it does not mix with alcohol, and nobody misses it after the second day. Tell us before you arrive if that is a problem for you and we will talk it through.

How much preparation is needed before a retreat?

It depends on what you have done before and what you are coming for. We give you guidance on the call and in writing afterwards, so that you arrive prepared in body as well as in mind.

What is a typical daily schedule like?

On a full retreat there is no fixed schedule, because there is no fixed retreat. We agree on a rhythm with you, with one or two sessions a day and long gaps in between for rest, food and doing nothing. A one-day retreat has a shape rather than a timetable, and we will tell you what is on offer when you arrive.

How long are the retreats?

Most run three, four or five days, and the couples retreat runs four or five. The one-day retreats run from the morning until before dinner, with no night stay. The length is yours to choose, and we usually suggest at least three days, because preparation, the work itself and the settling afterwards each need room.

What kind of support is offered after the retreat?

Two online meetings after you go home, included in the price. Most guests spread them over the first month, because the week after a retreat is usually the strangest one, and it helps to have someone to ask.

Can I extend my stay or add treatments?

Often, yes. Extra nights, massage, the Mayan clay spa and a temazcal can be arranged subject to availability, and we quote them before you decide. One-day guests can add a treatment to the day.

What makes this different from other retreats in Tulum?

Most retreats in Tulum are a group, a single ceremony or a yoga holiday. Ours is private, held at our own place in the jungle, and it includes screening before you book and integration sessions afterwards, with two people whose entire job for those days is you.

What are your qualifications?

Between us we have spent close to forty years practising and teaching. Lena is a certified nutritional practitioner, a Dharma Yoga teacher and a Tantra Kriya Yoga instructor, with twenty years of practice and teaching across Canada, the United States and Mexico. Olga trained under Sri Dharma Mittra from 2007 and teaches at his centre in New York, spent seven years at the Karma Triyana Dharmachakra monastery including a three and a half year sealed retreat, and has a background in medical science, massage and bioenergetics. Full biographies are on the About page.

Are you therapists?

No. We do not diagnose and we do not treat. We screen, we prepare, we hold the space and we help you make sense of what comes up. If you are already working with a therapist or a doctor, keep them involved, and we will work alongside them.

How is my privacy protected?

What happens here stays here. We do not discuss guests, we do not use your story, and we do not post photographs without asking. The full Privacy Policy has the detail.

What is your cancellation policy?

The Terms of Service set out the cancellations and refunds, and we go through them with you before you book. Nothing there should surprise you later.

What is the weather like, and when is the best time to come?

December to April is dry and cooler, and it is the busiest season. May to November is hotter, the rain comes in the afternoon, and the jungle is at its loudest. We host all year and will tell you honestly what to expect in the month you are considering.

Does every retreat include psychedelics?

No. Everything we offer is optional, including the medicine. Your retreat is built around what you need and what you are ready for, and nothing is compulsory. Plenty of guests come for the rest, the work and the food, and never ask for a ceremony.

Are your retreats for individuals or couples?

Both. People come alone, and people come as a couple. We build the days differently for each, and we will tell you honestly which retreat suits your situation.

What kind of Tantra do you practice?

Classical Tantra, which works through breath, slow movement, energy awareness and non-sexual conscious touch, always with consent and always at your pace. If you are a couple and want to explore intimacy, we give guidance, and our facilitators never take part in any sexual touch. Our Tantra guide explains how this differs from what you will find online.

What results can I expect from a retreat?

We do not promise results, and we are suspicious of anyone who does. Seeing yourself clearly, or knowing what to do next, comes out of your own work rather than out of ours. What we bring is preparation, the tools and a steady space, and we stay with you while you use them.

What is the primary goal of your retreats?

To help you put down the tension you arrived with and hear yourself think again. We keep the days quiet and unhurried, and we leave room for the work you came to do.

What is the general atmosphere of your retreats?

Quiet, unhurried and friendly. Some hours are hard, and we do not pretend otherwise, but nobody is left alone with a difficult one.

Are your retreats standardized or personalized?

Personalized. There is no set programme to fit yourself into. We build each retreat with you, from what you tell us and from what we see on the day.

What does "spiritual" mean in your context?

It is not religion, and it is not decoration. It means the connection to your own heart, to whatever you call the larger thing you are part of, and to the part of you that already knows what it wants.

How do I know if this retreat is right for me?

You will know more after the discovery call than you do now. Our retreats suit people who are ready to look at their own life honestly. The call is where we both find out whether that is you, and whether we are the right people to sit with you through it.

Choose a different theme

We run retreats around a handful of themes, and every one of them is built for the person who books it. If this one is not yours, look at the others.

A person in the pool at Alma Chakana leaning on the stone steps beneath the wooden pergola
One day

The full reset micro-retreat

One day, starting in the morning and ending before dinner, with nothing asked of you in between. This is the private one-day reset at our place in the jungle outside Tulum, for people whose calendar will not give them three days.

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A tray of tea and a plate of fresh fruit resting on the stone edge of the pool at Alma Chakana
3-5 days

Nervous system reset & burnout recovery retreat

Rest has stopped putting anything back. This is a private nervous system reset and burnout recovery retreat in the jungle outside Tulum, for one person, a couple, or a small group who work together.

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Three people in conversation in the retreat space at Alma Chakana, thatched roof behind them
4 or 5 days

Couples Intimacy & Tantra Retreat

Four days for two people who have not properly looked at each other in a while. This is a private couples retreat at our place outside Tulum, built on classical Tantra: breath, slow movement and contact rather than another conversation about the same thing.

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Two people sitting face to face in the practice space at Alma Chakana, hands meeting between them
One day

A sacred day for two - couples day retreat

A day for the two of you, with the house to yourselves and nowhere to be afterwards. You do not need to be in trouble to book this. Most couples who come want one private day in the jungle outside Tulum that is not a restaurant and not the beach: slow practice together, some silence, and time to notice each other again.

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A bowl of sliced watermelon on the pool edge beside a pair of feet resting after a swim at Alma Chakana
One day

The Digital Detox Day

When did you last go a whole day without checking anything? This is that day. One private day at our place in the jungle near Tulum, for a digital detox you can actually keep: no screens, no notifications, and nothing urgent waiting for an answer.

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A guided session at Alma Chakana: a facilitator resting her hands on a guest lying on a low bed, a gong behind them
3-5 days

Psychedelic Integration & Transpersonal Healing Retreat

Integration is the part most people do on their own, and it does not have to be. This is a private psychedelic integration retreat in the Tulum jungle, for the work around the session: preparing for one, sitting with what it opened, or making sense of one you took years ago.

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A person lying under a red cloth with singing bowls resting on them during a sound session
One day

Deep trip with sound

A few hours of gongs and bowls played over you, privately, with no group to share them with. You come alone or with your partner to our jungle house outside Tulum, the house is yours for the day, and nobody else is booked in.

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A man tending a fire outdoors at the jungle sanctuary, surrounded by trees and rocks
3-5 days

Digital Detox & Deep Presence Retreat

Your phone is the first thing you touch in the morning and the last thing you look at, which is a design decision somebody else made. This is a private digital detox retreat in the jungle near Tulum: a few days in which nothing is expected of you and nothing is beeping.

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A person standing in a cenote, ripples spreading across the green water
3-5 days

Somatic Release & Deep Rest Retreat

The tension has outlasted the reason for it. This is a somatic release retreat, private, just outside Tulum, working through the body rather than through the story: breath, movement, bodywork, sound and rest.

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A guided Tantra practice session at Alma Chakana, two people working with breath and presence
One day

Tantra intro - a day of embodied practice

Most of what you have read about Tantra is about something else. This is a private day of classical Tantra at our place outside Tulum: breath, slow movement, meditation and non-sexual contact, for you alone or for the two of you.

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Two people lying down resting on floor cushions under the thatched roof at Alma Chakana
One day

Burnout first-aid day

This is the day to book when you cannot take a week and cannot wait another month. Private first aid for burnout in the jungle outside Tulum: breathwork, somatic release, meditation, sound and rest, for one person or a couple.

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A guest practising yoga with arms raised in the practice space at Alma Chakana, gong behind her
3-5 days

Yoga, Sound & Meditation Retreat

Sound, played properly, does most of the work that meditation is supposed to do. This is a private yoga, sound and meditation retreat in our jungle house outside Tulum: slow practice for any level, long sits, and gongs and bowls played for you alone rather than for a room of thirty.

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Two guests sitting close together in the retreat space at Alma Chakana
4 days

Couples Psilocybin & Reconnection Retreat

Four days for two people who want to sit with the medicine together and come back toward each other. This is a private couples retreat in the jungle outside Tulum, with at least one of us in the room with you through the whole session and the days around it shaped for the two of you.

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A guest sitting cross-legged on a round patterned rug facing an altar in the practice space at Alma Chakana
4 days

Solo Tantra Retreat

Four days for one person in the jungle outside Tulum, built on classical Tantra: breath, slow movement and attention. This is the work of getting on terms with yourself, with nobody else in the house and nobody needing anything from you.

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Testimonial from Galya, from a retreat at Akumal
I leave with a deep connection to myself and the world around me, and remembering that there's so much beauty in the world and we just need to slow down, connect and experience it - and that's the gift that you've given me...
Galya, from a retreat at Akumal
★ 5.0 · 63 Google reviews ★ 4.99 · 34 BookRetreats reviews More testimonials
“These 2 are exactly what they portrayed themselves as. Spiritual guides with a specialty in helping couples reconnect. I am very grateful for their time and the gifts they have shared...”
A grateful couple
“If you are seeking this path to the point of reading this review, please take this as your sign to pursue. I had this craving inside of me- this seeking of clarity and to exile the inner barriers that were locked in...”
A retreat guest
“Our 4-day personalized spiritual wellness retreat in Tulum, Mexico with Compassion Retreats was truly one of the most meaningful and beautifully held experiences of our lives...”
A guest and her family

Start with a conversation

Tell us what you are looking for, even if it is not clear yet. We will tell you honestly whether this retreat is right for you.

Book a discovery callContact us