5.0
Verified
Clean, tranquil, modern, peaceful and beautiful
The facility is spotless with a serenity that invites you to relax and enjoy nature. Food is phenomenal.—tasty and very nutritious.
You Are Not Your Story
Top Rated
You Are Not Your Story
4.9495 reviews
February 21 - 23, 2025
About this Retreat
Your Guides
Mark Matousek is a bestselling author, teacher, and speaker whose work focuses on personal awakening and creative excellence through transformational writing and self-inquiry. He brings over three decades of experience as a memoirist, editor, interviewer, survivor, activist, and spiritual seeker to his penetrating and thought-provoking work with students. His workshops, classes, and mentoring have inspired thousands of people around the world to reach their artistic and spiritual goals. In his books and teaching, Mark uses an original process of self-examination called Writing to Awaken. This transformative method uses writing as a tool for insight, innovation, and clarity of purpose. His work is accessible to non-writers as well as those with writing experience. He is the founder of The Seekers Forum, an online community dedicated to the cultivation of self-awareness and awakening through dialog and writing.
Please visit markmatousek.com and theseekersforum.com for more information.
Follow Mark:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.matousek
Instagram: @mark.matousek, @theseekersforum
Details of this retreat
Realizing you are not your story is a quantum leap in self-realization. Learning that you are the storyteller, not the story liberates the mind from its narrative ruts and connects you to a greater sense of well-being. In this weekend workshop, bestselling memoirist, and mentor Mark Matousek guides you through the process he calls Writing to Awaken, which helps you to dissolve false narratives and illuminate obstacles that prevent you from flourishing. Writing to Awaken has helped countless students around the world to reach their personal and spiritual potential.
Known for his keen and compassionate insight, Mark is an expert at creating an atmosphere of gentle support and safety that accelerates the self-inquiry process. The workshop includes optional breakout groups, one-on-one time with Mark, and plenty of time for questions and dialog, in addition to the writing exercises. You do not need to be a writer to benefit from this workshop. This workshop is for writers and seekers of all levels, who wish to free themselves from limiting narratives, strengthen the internal witness, and recognize the power of their inborn nature.
In this workshop, you will learn to:
Separate the storyteller from the story
Free yourself of obsolete narratives and a false self-image
Strengthen your ‘witness awareness’ and practice objectivity
Integrate the Golden Shadow (your suppressed creativity and power)
Appreciate paradox and personal contradictions
Increase well-being through truth-telling
Let Mark be your guide on weekend journey to psychological wellness and wisdom.
"Mark is a masterful and loving guide. His teachings and brilliantly conceived questions will enable you to open to life-changing truth."
~ Tara Brach
Check out a video from Mark! https://vimeo.com/1032419068?share=copy
Schedule (Subject to change):
FRIDAY
3:00 pm: Check-in
4:30 pm: Welcome Meeting
5:30 pm: Dinner
7:00 – 8:30 pm: Opening Session
SATURDAY
8:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am: Meditation
9:30 am – 12:15 pm: Morning Session
12:15 pm: Lunch
2:30 - 5:00 pm: Afternoon Session
5:30: Dinner
7:00 – 9:00 pm: Evening Session
SUNDAY
8:30 am: Meditation
9:00 – 10:00 am: Morning Session
10:00 am: Brunch
11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Final Session
12:00 pm: Checkout
COVID POLICY ( as of JAN 2025 ) : For your safety and ours, we require proof of vaccination AND negative test result from all visitors to Ratna Ling Retreat Center. We wish to provide peace of mind for all of our residents and guests.
For directions to Ratna Ling - Ratna Ling Retreat Center 35755 Hauser Bridge Rd Cazadero, CA 95421
Accommodations are beautiful lux cabins
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Transportation to/from Ratna Ling is NOT included - carpooling encouraged
Payments are nonrefundable and transferable to a future Ratna Ling stay or retreat
Each cottage includes TWO private rooms with queen beds, large dining & living area, gas fireplace,
spacious deck, jacuzzi tub, linens/towels/hand soap, kitchenette with tea & coffee, complimentary wireless internet. Towels and hand soap are provided.
vegetarian meals are served during our weekend together.
What people are saying about our retreats:
“The accommodations were great along with the beautiful surroundings - everything was so peaceful and nurturing”
“It was exactly what I needed – to disconnect, get in tune with my soul and recharge my spirit.”
“I loved having time to myself to reflect on my life and where I am going. Thank you Ratna Ling."
“Space for reflection while also giving me anchor points through teachings.
“Space and time for meditation and movement classes were truly wonderful.”
“Being able to move at my own pace is a luxury. And of course the food was delicious."
Known for his keen and compassionate insight, Mark is an expert at creating an atmosphere of gentle support and safety that accelerates the self-inquiry process. The workshop includes optional breakout groups, one-on-one time with Mark, and plenty of time for questions and dialog, in addition to the writing exercises. You do not need to be a writer to benefit from this workshop. This workshop is for writers and seekers of all levels, who wish to free themselves from limiting narratives, strengthen the internal witness, and recognize the power of their inborn nature.
In this workshop, you will learn to:
Separate the storyteller from the story
Free yourself of obsolete narratives and a false self-image
Strengthen your ‘witness awareness’ and practice objectivity
Integrate the Golden Shadow (your suppressed creativity and power)
Appreciate paradox and personal contradictions
Increase well-being through truth-telling
Let Mark be your guide on weekend journey to psychological wellness and wisdom.
"Mark is a masterful and loving guide. His teachings and brilliantly conceived questions will enable you to open to life-changing truth."
~ Tara Brach
Check out a video from Mark! https://vimeo.com/1032419068?share=copy
Schedule (Subject to change):
FRIDAY
3:00 pm: Check-in
4:30 pm: Welcome Meeting
5:30 pm: Dinner
7:00 – 8:30 pm: Opening Session
SATURDAY
8:00 am: Breakfast
9:00 am: Meditation
9:30 am – 12:15 pm: Morning Session
12:15 pm: Lunch
2:30 - 5:00 pm: Afternoon Session
5:30: Dinner
7:00 – 9:00 pm: Evening Session
SUNDAY
8:30 am: Meditation
9:00 – 10:00 am: Morning Session
10:00 am: Brunch
11:00 am – 12:00 pm: Final Session
12:00 pm: Checkout
COVID POLICY ( as of JAN 2025 ) : For your safety and ours, we require proof of vaccination AND negative test result from all visitors to Ratna Ling Retreat Center. We wish to provide peace of mind for all of our residents and guests.
For directions to Ratna Ling - Ratna Ling Retreat Center 35755 Hauser Bridge Rd Cazadero, CA 95421
Accommodations are beautiful lux cabins
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Transportation to/from Ratna Ling is NOT included - carpooling encouraged
Payments are nonrefundable and transferable to a future Ratna Ling stay or retreat
Each cottage includes TWO private rooms with queen beds, large dining & living area, gas fireplace,
spacious deck, jacuzzi tub, linens/towels/hand soap, kitchenette with tea & coffee, complimentary wireless internet. Towels and hand soap are provided.
vegetarian meals are served during our weekend together.
What people are saying about our retreats:
“The accommodations were great along with the beautiful surroundings - everything was so peaceful and nurturing”
“It was exactly what I needed – to disconnect, get in tune with my soul and recharge my spirit.”
“I loved having time to myself to reflect on my life and where I am going. Thank you Ratna Ling."
“Space for reflection while also giving me anchor points through teachings.
“Space and time for meditation and movement classes were truly wonderful.”
“Being able to move at my own pace is a luxury. And of course the food was delicious."
Getting Here
Directions
San Francisco International and Oakland International airports are approximately three hours south of Ratna Ling by car. Alaska Airlines flies to and from Sonoma County Airport in Santa Rosa which is approximately 1.5 hours from Ratna Ling by car. Unfortunately, there are no shuttles that bring you directly to Ratna Ling, so it is best to rent a car or email us to support in coordinating a carpool with fellow retreatants.
Accommodation
14 guest cottages on 120 acres of property. Each spacious, quiet cottage has 2 private rooms, with high ceilings and a deck with a view. Cottages include jet tubs (or ADA shower), towels, deluxe linens, refrigerator, tea kettle, coffee/tea, kitchen sink/counter, diningware, dining table, and living room with a stove fireplace. Free wifi available and a landline telephone. Guests can choose to have an exclusive cottage for ONE person; a private room for ONE person in a SHARED cottage; or a cottage for TWO people. Any additional guest after TWO is $100 per person per night. Meals and classes included.
For 1 guest in Private Room (Shared Cottage with 1 other person)
Venue & Amenities
A/C in Rooms
Free Wifi
Spa
Sauna
Pool
Towels
Free Parking
Kitchen
Tour Assistance
Hot Tub
Coffee/Tea
Cafe
Restaurant
Fitness Center
Yoga Studio
Housekeeping
Bicycles For Rent
Three miles from the beautiful Sonoma coast. Organic, vegetarian meals. 120 acres of redwoods, canyons, reservoirs, and wildlife. Sacred architecture timber cottages and communal spaces. Featured stupas, gardens, and temple empowered by Tibetan Buddhist Lama Tarthang Tulku Rinpoche.
Meals
Menu Types
Vegan
Vegetarian
Pescetarian
Ayurvedic
Includes Meat
Organic
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Nut Free
All of our meals are organic and vegetarian, made with love and care.
We provide homemade yogurt and granola for breakfast. Lunches and dinners always include salads or salad bar. Each meal is self-served on a buffet table.
Customer Reviews
Verified
5.0
Verified
Amazing Place for a Retreat, Personal or otherwise
My wife and I just finished leading a weekend retreat at Ratna Ling, truly as the name implies, a jewel of a place. It is perhaps the 6th time we are held our events here, and it is consistently one of the best places in the world were we get the privilege to share our yoga with people. The setting is beautiful, the lodgings wonderful, the vegetarian cuisine delicious and plentiful and the staff attentive and always helpful. We love this place and can't wait to return in 2025!
5.0
Verified
Amazing Bay Area Retreat Center!
After just returning from this magical place, I want to share with others how important it is to get away, if even for a weekend, to re-charge, go inward and be part of a beautiful community commited to making the world a better place, starting with ourselves. The cabins, the staff, the food, are worth your time and investment!
5.0
Verified
Restore in the Redwoods
Weekend at Ratna Ling any time of year is a gift and especially in the winter. The towering redwoods stand sentry around the spacious, cozy cabins. The heated lodge floor adds a special layer of comfort as you make your way to the yoga mat. Views of redwoods and hills and meadows and native landscaping are framed by the large windows in every room. At night, the moonlight streams in and stars twinkle. It is dark - no ambient light; and it's silent - no traffic. The vegetarian meals are sumptuous and nurturing. The company of like-minded individuals can be as restorative as silence. At Ratna Ling, you choose to interact, to retreat, to engage, to shelter or any mix that suits you. Ratna Ling is where my tranquility is restored, season after season, after season. I invite you to explore Ratna Ling, anytime. Namaste.
5.0
Verified
Great Intro to Ratna Ling
I've been hearing about Ratna Ling from friends for quite a while, and finally made it down there this past weekend for a Space & Ease retreat. The retreat was a nice break, food was all good, the cabins are wonderful - I would love to have one for my house! Since there was a lot of free time (purposely) I don't have a ton to say about the classes, but both the meditation and yoga ones I attended were a great intro. I hope to make it back sometime!
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