Yamanashi Meditation Retreat
Integrating the heart-body-mind in our last retreat of the year
We have a few spots left for our last retreat of the year on Dec 14th-15th! This will be a one-night retreat from Saturday-Sunday at a Buddhist temple near the mountains.
This is a unique chance to reconnect, recharge, and experience mindfulness in a serene, historical setting.
Book by Dec 7th to secure your spot! I’ll need to purchase bus tickets for everyone soon. Details and pictures are below—feel free to reach out with any questions. :)
🔍 Details:
Theme: Mindfulness of the Mind-Body-Heart
Location: Kakurinbo Temple, Yamanashi
Date: Sat Dec 14th - Sun 15th
Price: 48,000 yen (round trip transportation included!)
⛰️The setting:
We’ll be staying at Kakurinbo, a 500-year old Nichiren Buddhist temple with a small onsen, a beautiful garden, and spacious rooms. Nichiren Buddhism focuses on chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo ("Devotion to the Mystic Law of the Lotus Sutra").
We’ll have the chance to join the monks for a 6am chant on Sunday morning at the Kuonji temple next door (the main temple of the area), located at the top of this long flight of stairs. Nice way to get the blood flowing in the morning.
The temple serves incredible vegetarian tofu dishes, including yuba (tofu skin), for breakfast and dinner. For lunch, we’ll visit a nearby café with both vegetarian and meat options.
Tatami rooms will be shared with one other person on the retreat and are very spacious
🧘♂️The experience:
Meditation: Six guided sessions (45 minutes each) exploring mindfulness of heart, body, and mind, with practical insights for daily life. (guided by Misha)
Movement: Gentle yoga, qigong, hiking and stretching to support your practice.
Connection: Pair/group activities to deepen your understanding and share experiences.
Silence: Periods of quiet reflection to unplug and reconnect with yourself.
📍 The Plan
Day 1: Depart Shinjuku bus station at 7:30am, arrive at the temple by 11:30am. Enjoy lunch, afternoon meditation, dinner, onsen, and an evening meditation before bed.
Day 2: Begin with early morning chanting, followed by breakfast and a 2-3 hour hike towards Mt. Minobu. Along the way, we’ll practice meditations on change and impermanence (mujo). We leave at 330pm and return to Shinjuku by 7:00pm. (Note: the hiking is beginner friendly)
Digital Detox: Phones will be set aside for 24 hours so you can step outside of the matrix. Prepare to be offline.
Hope to see you there!