Spirit Rock is an enchanting retreat centre located amongst the rolling hills of Woodacre, California. In July 2023 I was fortunate enough to be a part of a 3 week silent retreat held there that focused on the practices of concentration and awareness meditation. It was such a pleasure to be able to spend so much time here during the summer season.
The retreat was facilitated by 4 brilliant teachers: Guy Armstrong, Sally Armstrong, Tuere Sala and Susie Harrington.
This was the basic schedule that we followed every day.
Unlike many other meditation retreats i’d been to this one broke up the sitting meditation with roughly equal amounts of walking meditation which meant an ample amount of time moving around and being in the sun. This was an excellent idea!
The facilities were excellent. I had my own little dorm room, the bathrooms were clean and hot water was plentiful. 
The kitchen served three meals a day of fresh healthy organically grown vegetarian/vegan food. The quality of the food was frankly quite mind blowing. When you aren’t constantly stimulated by the intense sensory barrage of the modern world, you begin to notice the beauty and delight in simple things so much more. The longer we meditated the more I grew to appreciate and delight in the flavours of simple meals. I found that when I settled the mind and paid close attention to what I was doing in every given moment, a whole world of sensory perception opened up to me. Everything tasted so intense and interesting.
Me on the first day wondering what the heck i’d gotten myself into: 
Me about 2 weeks into the retreat full of loving-kindness for all beings: 