A hidden treasure off of the N.E. coast of Florida, Amelia Island embodies a sacred sense of community and tranquility. Accommodations are set in charminly quaint B&Bs, and activities are inspired through creativity, nature,recreation and spiritual exercises such as yoga and meditation. A light-hearted and playful approach to uniting the Spirit, Mind, and Body.
Visit www.islandrejuvacations.com
July, 2006

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"Serenity A Way Of Life" - Hello, this web site is intended to explain to Retreat Centers, Ashrams, Intentional Community's and anyone else that stops by here, who and what Jim Adamik is all about. I will start by saying that I have been a Buddhist for almost 4 years now. I started on my Spiritual path after reading a few books on Buddhism by Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Hanh, and was lucky enough to get a job on staff at a Spiritual Retreat Center. I feel that my basic "Path" in life now is to live and work in a Sangha or Community that follows the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, the Eight Limbs of Yoga, or a similar lifestyle. Trying to keep a "Beginners Mind" I am open to all spiritual and community lifestyles and I enjoy "Being of Service”, and hope to continue my "Right Livelihood" in this manner. I have just become a CERTIFIED Meditation teacher and hope to help others learn this simple procedure.

After completing my training I would like to teach Qi Gong & Meditation. If you are in need of, or know of a center that would like to add a Qi Gong teacher to there staff please contact me. I would love to chat with anyone regarding Buddhism, Taoism, Yoga, or Tai Chi. Please do not hesitate, to email me at jimadamik@hotmail.com. This year I have attended 2 month internships at the following centers.

www.yogaville.org
www.lostvalley.org
www.riverspirit.com
www.sfzc.org
www.embracingsimplicityhermitage.org

At River Spirit Retreat Center I was the Relief Groundskeeper, Hospitality Person, and Office Assistant, all in one. I went to River Spirit to setup a customer database and help increase the attendance, and lodging there. One of the ways I did this was to do a bulk emailing to the past retreatants. This was a great success, even more than we had anticipated. I also helped organize an advertising and promotional campaign for the "Woman's Natural Building Symposium" held every year at River Spirit. Previous to that position I was in a work/study program at Way of Nature Retreat Center in Todos Santos Mexico, which is near Cabo San Lucas. While at Way Of Nature we had the opportunity to practice Tai Chi and Yoga daily…….and I did. Jim

June, 2006, www.jimadamik.com

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Harbin Hot Springs in Middletown, CA is the best known place to take the mineral hot springs and organic food for a great price! I have be going there for over 20 years and they now have a Watsu school and Massage school on site! They also can have a group as large as 300 folks and be able to supply the food and great location!

I found Harbin on a retreat with GreenAire Singles and it was pretty rustic then! The pools were crystal clear but the trails and accomadations weren't that great! Now they have cleared trails for hiking and hotel rooms for a nomial fee!

I highly recommend this place for a great retreat to get back to nature! They have tons of things to do ie: Yoga, 3 times a day, weekly dances, Chanting, and many other great things! One highlight of a trip there was a Woman's Sweat! It was a guided spirital expreience and I saw Eagles fly and foxes run out of a den!

Name: Arlene, ASFinke1@cox.net, December 2, 2005

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The women at Word of Life Ministries have been attending the Christian Renewal Center, Dickinson, Texas. for nine years and our spiritual experience has been awesome weach time. We are allowed to have very private time and fellowship without interupting anyone else. Matter of fact we were at the site June 10-12, 2005 and everyone left spirtually renewed, refreshed and rested. Thanks

I have done over 12 10 day retreats at Vipassana retreat centers around the world, 2 here in the US. I have found a peace I never knew existed. 10 days in silence seemed scary at first but on the day we could talk I didn't want to, I enjoyed the silence so much. This was a life changing retreat for me. I found peace.

Name: Sparkie , loveheals@yahoo.com, May 20, 2005

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I went to a retreat at the Siena Spirituality Center in Water Mill, NY whose theme was supposed to be based on "The Artist's Way" by Julianne Cameron. I liked meeting other artists or aspiring "creatives" such as myself giving us all a forum to discuss and interact as "artists". I met some lovely women there and the sisters at the center were very kind and hospitable. The food wasn't bad either! The center was previously a summer home of some wealthy folks back in the 19th century and then was donated to the Dominican sisters sometime in the 50's. I really got a kick out of wandering around the old creaky house with its winding staircase and listening to the pipes creak when the heat was coming up. I would have liked to spend more time focusing on Ms. Camerons' book, pulling out perhaps some workshops based on the chapters. There was far too much direction given to some of us with regard to technique. The sisters who put this retreat together, both lovely women, perhaps didn't fully understand the gist of the book. I would very much like to go again, if only to stay in that old mansion again and get away for a weekend.

In Austin, Texas there is a new event center called The Crossings. In February, I spent and wonderful weekend in retreat and growth with a group. The Crossings is wonderful with its natural setting and well-planned accommodations. It is an extension of the Omega group of Rhinebeck, NY. Both have extensive programs for persons of all spiritual experiences.

Name: Richard, bcfarm@bellsouth.net, June 5, 2004

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At the Friends Wilderness Center near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, we had an amazing retreat overnight in their woods. Camping 'out' in their dry wooden yurt, we four enjoyed a fire under a night sky carpeted with stars. There were no sounds of mankind, only a babbling stream 200 feet away. Off in the distance we could hear a small herd of deer making their way through the trees. Never have I felt so connected to nature and to God. We could have stayed in the cozy Niles Cabin, but opted to be right among the trees. the next days we had quiet hikes on miles of rustic trails.

Name: Tim, easykayaker@yahoo.com, February 5, 2004

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A Day Of Contemplative Prayer at Bon Secours Spiritual Center

A group of twenty gathered in late August at Bon Secours Spiritual Center in Maryland for a day of peace and prayer to come closer to God. The group was made up of both religious and lay individuals from different denominations: Catholic, Episcopal, Methodist, Presbyterian and Quaker. Martha Campbell and Mary Ann Mulzet, SSJ facilitated the Day of Prayer and introduced the basics of Lectio Divina and Centering Prayer.

Bon Secours is located on 313 acres adjacent to the serene beauty of Patapsco State Park in central Maryland. The center has 84 air-conditioned rooms, an outdoor pool, a fitness center, numerous conference rooms, an outdoor labyrinth, a bookstore and a cafeteria. Services include: spiritual direction, private retreats, directed retreats, conferences and a full calendar of programs for spiritual and personal development.

More ...

Name: Phil, August, 2003, info@findthedivine.com

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Aquaest Retreat (link to Missouri Retreats) is a charming little hideaway tucked into the Missouri Ozarks. If you are looking for a spa with a lot of glitter and hype, this is not the place. If however, you are looking for an opportunity to renew, refresh and tune into your inner spirits, this is a unique experience that can provide all of that. Sulis and Raphael are the warm, intelligent and ever so generous hosts of Aquaest. Both have many hours in aquatic training, massage and movement. I visited Aquaest in Early September, a lvely time in the Ozarks and spent time as a guest in Laguna Ldge. The room was simple and cozy. Food was prepared with love and consideration for their guests and conversation was stimulating. The signature service of Aquaest is the Water Journey;a combination of ballet, movement and massage. Each person's experience is unique. What I received was the space provided in a water environment to trust another person completely with you. Both Sulis and Raphael provide an intimate experience to explore with dignity and respect. The bath house was built by Raphael with love. Sulis has built a labyrinth from the river rocks on the front of the property. The labyrinth was another opportunity to go within, stop the daily internal chatter and get in touch with ones self. Something we rarely give ourselves the luxurey of doing, often at the expence of our very spirits. I spent three days at Aquaest and came away with renewed energy to face my daily schedule. I look forward to returning to Aqaest.

Name: Donna M. Ingraham
E-mail: ingraham@tranquility.net

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Through your ministry I was introduced to the Olivetan Benedictines in Jonesboro, Ak. I spent a week with the Sisters at Easter time and what a holy, uplifting time that was. I have decide to join the community and will be joining them late June. I strongly encourage others to consider this community.

Name: Rita, May 2003, E-mail: ritafalc0908@cs.com

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There is a great retreat center in Buckingham county VA (near Charlottesville), called Yogaville. It was started by Satyadanada about 20 years ago. People can rent space to do their own retreats or attend their yoga retreats. Most Saturday evenings they hold Satsang, a time of teaching and chanting with the monks and members of the community.

Dr. Linda J. Ferguson, May 2003

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I got into Google at the end of January and put in retreat centers, Florida, and, lucky me, www.findthedivine.com came up on my screen. So, I checked out Florida centers, discovered St. Mary's and called the number given. I got no answer, so I called again the next day. The person who answered said I'd called a phone booth on the property but I could probably get the information I needed from Fr. Jim Fallon. I contacted Fr. Fallon and told him about "find the divine" and he'd never heard of you, and seemed just a little hesitant about my stay, but then agreed that I could come and try it.

I told Fr. Fallon that I was looking for a place to do some personal reflection and renewal and would be staying for at least twelve days and perhaps longer. I said I needed a bed, a lamp, and a desk, and he said he thought he could arrange that.

I arrived at St. Mary's on the afternoon of February 3rd, met Fr. Fallon, and settled into my room on the second floor of the Spiritual Renewal Center. In addition to the furniture requested, I was happy to discover a sink in my room. Bathrooms and showers were just down the hall.,and a kitchen was available downstairs. The other rooms were rarely used except by traveling or vacationing priests and an occasional other person like myself. There were never more than four people using the twelve rooms at any one time, and often it was just me.

My personal retreat was just that. Fr. Fallon would kindly inquire how things were going when our paths crossed, but did not intrude in any other way. I spent a part of each day in the beautiful, beautiful church on the property, with its open air doorways facing out on either side and its lovely stained glass window and pale blue arched ceilings, and another part of the day in the small chapel that was part of the renewal center where I stayed. This chapel, one of perpetual adoration, was never empty. Someone is there for every hour of every day of every week of every year, praying.

In addition to reading my Bible, attending services, sitting in the church and chapel, and contemplating at the lovely grotto on the property, I spent time learning to knit, writing my story, reading books, drawing, biking, and doing the tourist things like joining others on a sunset cruise and going to the beach.

The trip was just wonderful and I ended up staying for the entire month. The recommended donation is $40 per night. The rooms are not posh, but are adequate, and the opportunity for personal reflection and examination is priceless.

I do not have Fr. Fallon's number handy here, but I'm sure anyone could find it by calling information for St. Mary's Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Key West, Florida. It is located at 724 Truman Ave.

Thank you for your wonderful website. I will certainly use it again.

Sue, March 2003 - Suemuller00@aol.com

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In creating our small vision spa/retreat (Aquaest) in southeastern Missouri, we (Sara and Ralph Pitt) recognize the desire of many to experience and participate in an authentic, sustainable way of being. We suggest that the growing spa industry, now valued at over 6 billion dollars in the US alone (ISPA Industry Study 2000, Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP), represents more than just another consumer market. It reveals a pressing need for those in the western world to re-evaluate, rather than elaborate, their life-styles. There is a deep spiritual element to this need also.

In re-envisioning spa culture we have drawn from the distant past. The Asclepian dream spas of ancient Greece, where people would go for stays of several months, were concerned with the health of the whole culture as revealed through the individual. The Romans saw the spa as a place for both play and politics, as a civic service. The Native American Indians would gather at natural hot springs for their tribal pow-wows. For us, the vision spa/retreat is a place for exploring alternative and positive futures, not just escaping. It is a place for acknowledging that, for true health, body and mind must be infused with and balanced by spirit.

At Aquaest Retreat, water takes center stage. Our special offering is a form of aquatic bodywork, WaterJourneys, that the we believe enables a person to dive deeply into themselves and into the collective unconscious, the web of spirit. In a natural setting beside a clear creek and surrounded by private woodland, guests are encouraged to immerse themselves in the world of dreams, myth and meaning. Following in the footsteps of the Taoists, who drew from nature and especially water in understanding human behavior, Aquaest offers an alternative vision of spa with spirit.

Sara Firman-Pitt

E-mail: waterjourneys@hotmail.com

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In December of 2001, at the invitation of a friend, I did an Emmaus Retreat at Mother of Christ Catholic Church in Miami. Like the disciples whose eyes were opened and saw the risen Jesus Christ, Emmaus ignited a passion within me to serve the Lord and I am now leading Emmaus retreats for others. To learn more about Emmaus, please read Luke 24:13-35 and visit www.emmausradio.org

Willaim J. Lopez

E-mail: lopez_wjl@yahoo.com

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We have recently established an InterFaith retreat center, "Peace House" for pastors/ministers/rabbis/priests/laity who are in service to members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered community. In addition to the benefits that one would anticipate from the places arranged for silence and contemplation, our center offers specific guidance in working with the GLBT community, avoiding burn-out and developing InterFaith support systems in the community at large.

The Retreat Center is located in the Munger-Jones estate in Abilene, Texas. The estate was built in 1923 and encompasses 50 giant Live Oaks, a prayer arbor constructed with 18th century English church timbers, three courtyard meditation areas with fountains, outdoor fireplace for gatherings and cooking meals with other residents, beautifully restored, wonderfully peaceful sleeping rooms, library and common area with massive fireplace. Licensed Counseling Professionals who are also ordained clergy are available for one-on-one sessions in addition to group processes included in the regularly scheduled retreat. Call Dr. Cynthia Love at 817-291-5203 or send e-mail for more information. Dr. Cynthia Love has more than twenty years of experience working with chronically disabled adults and GLBT individuals in crisis. She is affiliated with the Metropolitan Community Church as well as the InterFaith Council.

Dr. Cynthia H. Love

E-mail: clove5317@aol.com

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I think you should include the Upaya Zen Center (Santa Fe, NM) in your listings. Their website is www.upaya.org or you can email them at upaya@upaya.org. It's a beautiful place that offers a wide range of retreats and also rents conference/retreat space to spiritual groups.
Peace,

Gary, gjanka2@cox.net

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I highly recommend the White House Retreat Center outside St. Louis Mo. It has beautiful grounds and it is on the Mississppi River. They have many wonderful places to sit and pray or just reflect on your life.

They serve wonderful meals and you pay what you can give. If you can give nothing, that is fine. You are always invited back. No pressure on money.

At the end of the retreat, at breakfast, they hand you a small envelope. In the privacy of your room, you put what ever you can afford, and for some poeple that is nothing. They stress, that if that is the case, you are still welcome. What matters, to them is that you benefit from the retreat. They say they get enough money through out the year, they don't need for everyone to give.

I have been going every year for 3 years now. The 1st year, I gave $150.00, the second year, I could only give $25.00, this year, I gave $100.00. The retreat, is for 3 nights, you get all your meals and a private room and bath. I felt like I was cheating them. But they say, it does not matter, they just want me to benifit.

If you are on a strict budget, but need to get away, I highly recommned this one.

Jackie Mullinix, October, 2002

jacquelinemullinix@earthlink.net

PS: Father Pilgrim is great. He tells jokes and people are always glad when they find out he is going to be their retreat leader.

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The quote below from Mark Twain, to whom Missouri's National Forests are dedicated, encouraged us in creating a small retreat center at the edge of one of those forests:

"In America, we hurry--which is well; but when the day's work is done, we go on thinking of losses and gains, we plan for the morrow, we even carry our business cares to bed with us, and toss and worry over them when we ought to be restoring our racked bodies and brains with sleep. We burn up our energies with these excitements, and either die early or drop into a lean and mean old age at a time of life which they call a man's prime in Europe. When an acre of ground has produced long and well, we let it lie fallow and rest for a season; we take no man clear across the continent in the same coach he started in--the coach is stabled somewhere on the plains and its heated machinery allowed to cool for a few days; when a razor has seen long service and refuses to hold an edge, the barber lays it away for a few weeks, and the edge comes back of its own accord. We bestow thoughtful care upon inanimate objects, but none upon ourselves. What a robust people, what a nation of thinkers we might be, if we would only lay ourselves on the shelf occasionally and renew our edges!"

Sara and Ralph Pitt, August 2002

waterjourneys@hotmail.com

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My beloved retreat place is Medjugorje.I have been there twice and will go back after I get my new knees. Peace and love is what I felt along with the Blessed Mothers presence.I stayed with Mirjana one of the visionaries. It changed my life. Our Lady calls you to come and you can't say no. Peace Peace Peace.

Mary Ann from Missouri, June, 2002

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I am an enthusiastic fan of retreat centers. When I was teaching public school I began going to retreat centers on some of my school vacations. If I remember correctly the first Monastery that welcomed me was Conception Abbey in Northwest MO. The Guestmaster of this Benedictine Monastery was Br. Blaise. For most of the week he and I ate alone in the retreatants' dining room. The food was sooo good! It's not a place to lose weight!

For most of the week I was the only person on retreat so I had a lot of alone time. I read and went to all the Liturgy of the Hours and masses. I loved seeing the monks file in for these prayertimes. This was my first experience with The Daily Office which I have now come to love. The Minor Basilica there has since been renovated so it has a fresh kind of beauty now.

I welcome this opportunity to write about places I love to visit. So ends installment #1.

Gloria from Kansas, May, 2002

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"I had the pleasure recently of visiting Casa De Paz y Bien, the Franciscan Renewal Center in Scotsdale, Az. As a result of my job as an airline pilot I travel around the country. Knowing I would be in Scotsdale, I planned to combine an early morning walk with a visit to the center. I called the afternoon prior to inquire of the time of morning mass and any details I should know. The staff encouraged my visit and invited me to explore. The next morning I arrived in time for 7:00 Mass.

Next I explored the center. It has several buildings of rooms for overnight stays arranged around grass filled courts. There is a cafeteria style dining hall and meeting rooms. My visit focused on the area behind the main structure. There I found a several acre desert nature walk interspersed with shade structures, and a labyrinth for meditation. From the midst of the nature area are views of Camelback mountain and surrounding area. Very peaceful. The final highlight for me was a visit to the Bro. Conan Meditation Chapel. I entered and sat in a circular room. The atmosphere was ever so pleasant but the memorable aspect was the silence that surrounded me. It was indeed a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of our everyday world.

Their schedule shows a steady diet of retreats, both single and multi day, and a variety of ongoing classes. I finished with a brief visit with a couple members of their staff. They gave me some general information, a few historical tidbits, and set me up with cab for my return to the hotel."

Bill, February, 2002

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"I previously lived and worked at a Yoga Retreat Center in Vanderbilt, MI. "Song of the Morning", is a Yoga Retreat Center founded by Yogacharya Oliver Black ( a direct follower of Paramahansa Yogananda ),around 1970.

They offer group evening Meditations, a variety of specific weekend workshops, as well as simple vegetarian meals. They have accommodations for 28 - 33 people (up to about 51 within a years time - in process of renovating Domes dorm style accommodations).

The retreat is built around the Hydro- Electric dammed Sturgeon Valley River, which supplies power to and runs directly through "Song of the Morning". The damming of the river created an informally named "Lotus Lake". There are canoes available for specific times of the day. The retreat center makes sacred use of the over 800 Acres upon which it is built and has a number of trails leading to shrines.

I believe there is a small staff of 5 people plus the spiritual director. It is electrified with light all seasons of the year, and since it is opened year round, the cross country skiing is majestic- might even see wild Elk, Deer, or Beaver.

The Manager at present is Mohini (Maureen) Delany and the person in charge of promotional materials is Don Handyside. The phone # is (989) 983-4107.

This retreat center has given me the internal space to change my life!"

Susan M. Golarz, October, 2001