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Wintering - A relaxation retreat

Date
December 4 - 6, 2026

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Details of this retreat

We welcome back Special Guest Teacher Clare Buckley from the U.K. to offer a blissful winter retreat.

Join Clare for a nourishing winter retreat at Ratna Ling, where intentional rest, gentle practice, and the quiet beauty of nature invite you to slow down and reconnect. As we open to the deepest Yin time of year, this retreat offers space to soften, restore, and attune to the subtle wisdoms of the season. Surrounded by redwoods and held by the peaceful landscape, you’ll be supported in body, mind, and spirit as you settle into winter’s sacred stillness.

Experience the guidance of Senior Yoga Teacher Clare Buckley, who offers a deeply nurturing welcome to winter — a gentle pause for reflection in a season that can so easily feel hurried. Rooted in the wisdom of the elements, and especially the water element that shapes winter’s inward turning nature, this retreat invites fresh insight, soothing practices, and intentions that support inner balance and wellbeing.

Through embodied movement, breathwork, energy practices, meditation, and mindful rest, you’ll awaken a sense of holistic harmony. These sessions nourish the body’s energetic pathways, restore equilibrium, and attune you to the quiet potency of transitional, liminal moments. Guided by the rhythms of nature and the shifting seasons, you’ll explore practices that help you listen inward with compassion, allowing deep rest, spacious renewal, and reconnection to form the heart of your experience.

Clare weaves together teachings from Ayurveda, TCM, Yin, Somatics, bodywork, embodiment practices, sound healing, and guided meditation. Beyond the wellbeing program, you’ll have abundant time to settle into the magic of Ratna Ling: nature bathing, journaling, hiking, embracing the redwoods, and enjoying nourishing vegetarian meals, with onsite massage also available. This retreat welcomes anyone who feels called to this lovingly held offering and is open to all levels of practice.

 

**Add-on a Thursday night arrival to spend extra quality time with Clare before the retreat starts!

 

COVID POLICY: For your safety and ours, we require that all guests be vaccinated against Covid and provide a negative Covid test result upon arrival.  We wish to provide peace of mind for all of our residents and guests.

 

Schedule (Subject to change):

**Optional Thursday night check-in

FRIDAY

3pm – Check in
4pm - Gentle Embodied Yoga & Welcome Gathering
5:30pm - Dinner
6:45pm - Guided Meditation for Deep Rest

SATURDAY

7:30am – Meditation in the Temple
8am – Breakfast
10:30 – Elemental Yoga & Breathwork
12:15 – Lunch
1pm – Free Time
4pm - Restorative Yin/Somatic Yoga
5:30 – Dinner
6:45 - Marma Point Self-Massage & Yoga Nidra

SUNDAY

8:30am - Gentle Awaken Yin/Yang and Closing Circle
10am Brunch
12pm – Checkout and Farewell



 


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, jetted bathtub, linens/towels/hand soap, kitchenette with tea & coffee, complimentary wireless internet. 
Vegetarian meals are served during our weekend together.

What people are saying about our retreats:



“Clare is amazing and always curates a wonderful experience.”
“The entire place permeates depth, silence and sacredness.  Thank you.”
“I love it here and hope to continue coming for many years.  The setting and sacredness of this space are the perfect place to retreat."


“Space for reflection while also giving me anchor points through teachings.
“Space and time for meditation and movement classes were truly wonderful.”
“Clare's workshops and retreats are always exactly what I needed."

Getting Here

Location icon Ratna Ling Retreat Center

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 guest)

Venue & Amenities

A/C in Rooms icon A/C in Rooms
Free Wifi icon Free Wifi
Spa icon Spa
Sauna icon Sauna
Pool icon Pool
Towels icon Towels
Free Parking icon Free Parking
Kitchen icon Kitchen
Tour Assistance icon Tour Assistance
Hot Tub icon Hot Tub
Coffee/Tea icon Coffee/Tea
Cafe icon Cafe
Restaurant icon Restaurant
Fitness Center icon Fitness Center
Yoga Studio icon Yoga Studio
Housekeeping icon Housekeeping
Bicycles For Rent icon 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

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

4.95 out of 5.0 average rating

5.0
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Wonderful experience
I found the retreat site to be a particularly beautiful space to be- to reflect, restore and grow. The grounds are really gorgeous, cabins are well constructed and everything is so well cared for. The accommodations are simple yet feel luxurious. The food was delicious and thoughtfully prepared. The yoga practice room is spacious and comfortable. The volunteers on site are helpful and generous. I would be eager to return again.

5.0
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perfect peace
An excellent facility and relavent teachings for today's tumultuous times. Housing is beautiful and food very very good. Thanks to the many staff, teachers, and volunteers.

5.0
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Best hospitality
Everyone at Ratna Ling treated me with care and generosity. This is truly a place to get away and rest.

5.0
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Sonoma County Writers Camp Review
This is a place where we learn to slow down, breathe, take notice of the beauty and serenity of nature, and the kindness of stangers. Except no one at Ratna Ling Retreat Center is a stranger. All are kind, patient, conversant, receptive to our needs. I can't imagine a more blessed location to attend a writers' retreat. The challenge and opportunity upon leaving are to take the sensibilities of Ratna Ling home with us and infuse this energy and gratitude into our lives.

Thank you for who you are and all you gave us.
Lisa C.W.

5.0
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Retreat heaven in the California Redwood Coast
I just returned from the Sonoma County Writers' Camp held at Ratna Ling. It was my first time there, and I enjoyed it tremendously. I wish I´d planned for the extended stay. My cabin was comfortable, peaceful, with a gorgeous view out the back porch. The food was nourishing, healthy and delicious. Every detail of the temple, library, classrooms was beautiful and peaceful. The gardens, inspiring, the Stupa, gleaming in the morning sun.

I have been interested in Tibetan Buddhism for a long time, and it was lovely to get an introduction to the temple and a beginning meditation class.

I cannot recommend Ratna Ling enough. I am starting to save up and plan my next visit already.

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