9520 Grossmont Blvd.,CA 91941La Mesa

• Zen Retreat Ayurvedic & Laser Spa
• Zen Retreat

Every Sunday we run introductory classes in zazen (Zen meditation). Throughout the year there are events, often on weekends, which focus on various aspects of Zen practice. We hold sesshin (silent meditation retreats) almost every month of the year, ranging from 2-7 days. It is possible to stay at Yokoji for any period of time. Tracy is a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist and currently holds state board licenses in Florida and Texas. She is the Founder of Zen Therapeutic Retreat and 1Fit Physique By Tracy.

Zen Retreat offers accommodations on scenic Mount Helix in La Mesa, 12 mi away from San Diego International Airport. Free WiFi is featured throughout the property and free private parking is available on site.

The air-conditioned 1-bedroom apartment at Zen Retreat has a private entrance. It includes a bathroom with a shower, a small kitchen with a dining area and all necessities and appliances. This apartment includes a flat-screen satellite DirecTV.

Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo are 18 minutes’ drive away from the property. Downtown San Diego’s vibrant Gaslamp District is 11 mi away. Ocean Beach is 20 minutes’ drive away.

Rooms: 1

Facilities of Zen Retreat

General

• WiFi in all areas

Miscellaneous

• Non-smoking rooms
• Heating

• Smoke-free property

• Air conditioning
• Adults only

Internet

WiFi is available in all areas and is free of charge.

Parking

Free private parking is available on site (reservation is not needed).

Policies of Zen Retreat

These are general hotel policies for Zen Retreat. As they may vary per room type, please also check the room conditions.

Check-in

14:00 - 18:00 hours

Check-out

00:00 - 11:00 hours

Cancellation / Prepayment

Cancellation and prepayment policies vary according to apartment type.

Children and Extra Beds

Children cannot be accommodated at the hotel.

There is no capacity for extra beds in the room.

The maximum number of total guests in a room is 2.

There is no capacity for cribs in the room.

Pets

Pets are not allowed.

Accepted credit cards

• No credit cards accepted, only cash

The property reserves the right to pre-authorize credit cards prior to arrival.

Important Information

Please note: Property cannot accommodate people under 21 years of age unless accompanied by an adult guardian or parent.
PAYMENT: Most major credit cards are accepted through PayPal for rent and cleaning fee and must be paid upon reservation to hold the reservation.
CANCELLATIONS: Sixty days’ notice is required for cancelation. Cancelations that are made more than 60 days prior to the arrival date will incur no penalty, except for July bookings. Bookings for stays in July will forfeit all monies if canceled. Early departure does not warrant any refund of rent or cleaning fee.
MONTHLY RESERVATION CANCELLATIONS: Monthly renters must cancel ninety (90) days prior to check-in.
MAXIMUM OCCUPANCY: The maximum number of guests per rental is limited to 2 people. Subletting or assigning the property to others in not permitted. Parties are not permitted and residential noise ordinances are strictly enforced.
MINIMUM-STAY: This property may require a minimum stay on certain calendar dates, unless waived by the owner.
INCLUSIVE FEES: Rates include a one-time linen-towel setup, initial sundries, and use of all kitchen items.
NO DAILY MAID SERVICE: While linens, bath towels are included in the unit, daily maid service is not included in the rental rate. However, additional maid service is available at an additional rate. Access to laundry room is NOT included.
RATE CHANGES: Rates subject to change without notice until rental payment is made.
CHECK-IN TIME is AFTER 2:00 PM PST and CHECK-OUT is before 11:00 AM PST. No early check-ins or late check-outs without prior approval. A fee will be deducted from your deposit for each half hour that you are late checking out if housekeeping is kept waiting.
PARKING: Parking is limited to 1 vehicle. Vehicles are to be parked in designated parking area.
RECREATIONAL EQUIPMENT: Use of any recreational equipment furnished with the property is at the renter’s own risk and for liability for injuries resulting from use. No certification as to the condition or safety of such equipment is implied by this contract or claimed by the property owners. The owners take agreement to this contract as a waiver as to any request for monetary damages resulting from injury believed to be caused by the use of this equipment. Loss or excessive damage to any equipment may result in a fee.
GENERAL: This home is privately owned; the owners are not responsible for any accidents, injuries or illness that occurs while on the premises or its facilities, and guest waives all claims. We reserve the right to switch occupants to a different location or refund due to emergency, unforeseen circumstance or natural disaster. The Homeowners are not responsible for the loss of personal belongings or valuables of the guest. By accepting this reservation, it is agreed that all guests are expressly assuming the risk of any harm arising from their use of the premises or others whom they invite to use the premise. In the event of any dispute among the parties (guests, owners or property management) the owner shall be entitled to recover all legal fees and costs. Kitchen area is for renter’s exclusive use; however owner may need to access a storage area, and does use the freezer for some of their food. Renter acknowledges that there is a low support beam in the kitchen. Caution must be exercised when using this area. Renter accepts these conditions, and waives any claim to injuries.

You don’t need to go halfway around the world to escape from the stress of daily life.

Sometimes, a week on the beach is not enough of an escape from the whirlwind of daily responsibilities and social media notifications. Increasingly, stressed-out travelers are finding respite in meditation retreats—daylong or multiday workshops during which participants engage in meditation and other mindfulness practices.

But you needn’t journey to a mountaintop monastery in Thailand or an ashram in India to deep-breathe your way to tranquility. There are numerous meditation and Zen centers across the United States. Some focus on traditional schools of Buddhist teachings, such as Zen (which originated in China and is influenced by Taoist teachings) and Theravadan (which is the oldest school of Buddhism and practiced widely in Southeast Asia); some are hybrids and incorporate additional religious meditation practices (from Hinduism and Taoism, for example) and other mindfulness practices, including yoga or forest bathing. Many offer silent retreats.

The options can be a little daunting, and many of the long-established retreat centers are clustered on the coasts. But RetreatBase, a new website launched in May 2019, allows users to search by location and filter by type to find their perfect match. Here, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite retreat centers across the country, so you can soul-seek without using all your miles.

Esalen Institute

Big Sur, California

Overlooking the Pacific Ocean on California’s rocky central coast, Esalen is part retreat center, part educational institute for philosophical theory and research. It’s just three hours from San Francisco and five hours from Los Angeles, and a number of Esalen’s retreats do focus specifically on Buddhist, tantric, and other types of meditation. However, the center also offers up to 600 integrative weekend and weeklong workshops a year covering a wide range of topics—including dance, yoga, leadership, permaculture, and scientific inquiry. Guests can opt for a premium room with en suite bathrooms and ocean views, book a bunk bed in a dormitory, or reserve space to roll out a sleeping bag in a common area. The 27-acre campus includes a farm and gardens, an art studio, and a clothing-optional cliffside bathhouse and natural hot springs. Since its founding in 1962, Esalen has attracted famous visitors and residents such as Henry Miller, Joan Baez, Richard Feynman, and Hunter S. Thompson, and today, it hosts around 20,000 visitors each year.

Shambhala Mountain Center

Red Feather Lakes, Colorado

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The Shambhala Mountain Center, two hours outside of Denver, is high in the Rocky Mountains and surrounded by pine and aspen forests. It was established in 1971 by Tibetan meditation master Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoch, who also founded the namesake secular meditation practice, which welcomes people from all faiths and backgrounds to seek an enlightened community based on basic goodness. The Shambhala Mountain Center holds more than 100 two-day to weeklong programs per year, including introductions to meditation, deep dives into different practices, and multidisciplinary offerings that incorporate indigenous wisdom traditions, body awareness practices, contemplative arts, and more. Accommodation varies, too, from well-appointed lodge rooms, to shared dormitories, to tents. The site is also home to the 108-foot-tall Great Stupa of Dharmakaya, one of the largest stupa (Buddhist shrine), in North America; it was built to honor Trungpa Rinpoch when he died.

Zen Mountain Monastery

Mount Tremper, New York

Set on 250 acres in the Catskills two and a half hours outside of New York City, the Zen Mountain Monastery teaches Western Zen Buddhism. The modern and distinctly American practice draws on the traditions of Zen Buddhism as they evolved in ancient China and Japan. Curious newbies can join regular meditators in the monastery’s weekly Sunday Morning Program or participate in an Intro to Zen weekend retreat. The center also offers longer programs, from one week to one month to one year, during which residents have the opportunity to learn more about integrating their practice into everyday life. Visitors stay in dorms (for short courses) or private rooms (longer retreats), and the main building, which was built as a Benedictine monastery, is a national and state historic landmark. The Zen Mountain Monastery also has a location in New York City.

Rolling Meadows

Brooks, Maine

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Intimate Rolling Meadows only accommodates 11 guests at a time to a handful of silent meditation and yoga retreats each year at its restored 1840s New England farmhouse. It’s two hours from Portland, Maine, and just seven hours from New York City (and more than worth the travel time). The interdisciplinary approach here combines yoga poses, meditation, breathwork (which has its roots in yoga, tai chi, and Buddhism) to encourage participants through personal transformation to a higher level of awareness. Unstructured time is also a cornerstone of these meditation retreats and sets them apart from others. Guests are encouraged to stroll the walking paths and through the flower and organic vegetable gardens of the 100-acre property, relax in the sunroom or library, or unwind in the wood-fired sauna as a valuable part of the experience. Meals are vegetarian and feature produce from those same on-site gardens.

Zen Retreat Ayurvedic & Laser Spa

Spirit Rock Meditation Center

Woodacre, California

Less than an hour outside of San Francisco, Spirit Rock nonetheless feels worlds away from any metropolitan hustle and bustle on its 411 acres of quiet, hilly countryside in West Marin. The primary meditative practice here is a mindful Vipassana, or insight meditation, which is rooted in the Theravada tradition. The teachings at Spirit Rock also draw on other practices, including mindfulness through breathing and loving-kindness meditation, which focuses on compassion. There’s something for everyone here, whether you’re looking to dip your toe into a two-hour class, interested in getting involved at a daylong event, or ready to commit to a longer (three days to two months) silent retreat.

Insight Meditation Society

Barre, Massachusetts

Set in the peaceful central Massachusetts countryside about 90 minutes from Boston, the Insight Meditation Society teaches awareness and compassion through Vipassana and loving-kindness meditations. The wooded campus consists of two facilities—the Retreat Center, which offers more than 30 courses that are generally around seven to nine days long, and the Forest Refuge, which welcomes experienced meditators on longer retreats. Guests spend their days on these silent courses alternating sitting and walking meditations, enjoying vegetarian meals, and sleeping in simple single rooms.

Art of Living Retreat Center

Boone, North Carolina

The 380-acre Art of Living Retreat Center in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina is based on the ideals of the eponymous movement started by the humanitarian and spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in 1981. About three hours from Raleigh and two from Asheville, its multidisciplinary offerings include happiness, silent, yoga, and meditation retreats that can accommodate 15 to 200 people and include a free class at the center’s pottery studio. But the center prides itself on its Ayurvedic spa. Ayurveda, a sister science of yoga, approaches wellness based a person’s constitution. There are three different constitutions, and at the Art of Living Retreat Center, guests can learn about how improve their diets and lifestyle based on these constitutions. All programs can be paired with Ayurvedic treatments, so you can pair bodily heath with mental well-being. Guests can choose between boutique hotel rooms and simpler retreat rooms.

Zen Retreat

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