Retreats

The Nature of Awakening

October 4-10, 2025 | Chesterfield, NH

Silent Meditation & Somatic Yoga Retreat

A close-up of a leaf on a dark forest floor. The leaf has a light-colored center with a darker, mottled border and visible veins, surrounded by fallen leaves and natural debris.

About the retreat

During this 7 day silent retreat, learn how to access, cultivate, and trust the inner resources that lead to greater peace, compassion, and wisdom in the heart and mind, supported by deep relaxation and release of the body. Nurtured by over 400 acres of pristine forest and bucolic fields, yogis are guided to explore their own practice in an interdisciplinary format with periods of guided movement, stillness, silence, practice with intentional speaking, and interaction. Open to both beginners and experienced yogis, we offer a daily schedule of guided movement practices, meditations and instructions, time for questions and discussion with the teachers and plenty of open time to follow your own rhythm during the day.

Led by Court Morgan & Laura Williamson

Shared Rooms (2 yogis per room, twin beds) $1350

Single Rooms (1 yogi per room, double/queen bed) $1950

The Retreat Center

Our home for this week-long, silent retreat is a classic 18th century farmhouse that has been lovingly restored to a beautiful, soulful, light-filled space for practice, nourishment and deep rest. One side of the farmhouse is the original structure with a cozy, southern-facing family room, the kitchen, and the dining room, which overlooks the verdant, rolling hills of southern New Hampshire. On the west side of the house through a plant-filled sunroom, is the meditation hall, where our meditation and movement classes will take place along with access to the majority of rooms.

With windows on every side, tall ceilings and a grand fireplace, it’s easy to feel the caretakers’ intention to create a sacred space of respite, care, and loving kindness that soaks the room. Off to the side of the meditation hall is a generous yogi kitchenette with full-sized refrigerator for yogi foods, snacks, and tea-making throughout the day. Multiple porches, both screened and open, grace the expansive farmhouse and offer places for yogis to find space and fresh air when not out exploring the farm’s 400 acres of private land or miles of quiet country roads for long walks or runs.

Yogi Rooms

SHARED ROOMS

There are two sections of yogi rooms. Above the meditation hall are 7 light-filled, quiet and warm shared rooms, each with twin beds. All of these rooms have two cozy beds with high quality cotton sheets and quilts, a small desk, and sink. The residential hallway has multiple shared toilet rooms and separate, individual shower rooms, along with a small sitting area. The nice thing about sharing a room on a silent retreat is that you have a friend right away and you never have to worry about them keeping you up with chatting.

SINGLE ROOMS

- only one left as of 3/18/25 -

On the other side of the farmhouse, next to and above the kitchen, are the 3 single rooms. Single rooms have double beds and share one large bathroom on the second floor (there is another full bathroom available on the first floor). Each of these rooms has a cozy double or queen bed with high quality cotton sheets and quilts.

As single rooms are very limited. If you would like a single room and they are sold out, please indicate your interest by selecting “shared room, single preferred” when you pay your deposit. The waitlist for a single rooms will be in order of deposit received.

Investment

DEPOSIT - $450 refundable -$50 through March 30, 2025

SHARED ROOM - $1350 + teacher dāna

SINGLE - $1950 + teacher dāna

We are committed to offering these retreats on a dāna-basis. This means that the tuition amount goes directly to the hosting retreat center. At the end of retreat, teachers in the Buddhist tradition are offered dāna, or generosity, for sharing their knowledge and time. This allows us to offer smaller retreats at reasonable prices, keeps the spirit of the dharma rooted in the expansive movement of the heart, and fosters deep and trusting relationships between teachers and community.


Please note that all yogis will be on a payment schedule for this retreat after the initial deposit : May 1, July 1, Sept 1. If you need to drop out, please let us know prior to the date of the next payment as payments are non-refundable. For this reason, we strongly recommend that you purchase travel insurance in the event of the unexpected.

  • A cozy bedroom with a floral-patterned quilt on a bed, wooden flooring, a dresser, and an upholstered chair near large windows or doors.

    Single Yogi Room

  • A long dining table with wooden chairs in a bright room with large windows and wooden ceiling beams. There are decorative items on the table and a sideboard against the wall.

    The communal dining table, one place where yogis can eat together

  • Indoor sunroom with large windows and various potted plants on shelves, sunlight streaming in, brick flooring, and view of grass and trees outside.

    Walking from the living room to the meditation hall

  • Modern farmhouse kitchen with dark countertops, wooden floors, hanging pots, and island seating.

    Farm kitchen - all meals are made on site and from scratch!

  • Sunny kitchen with large windows, wood beams, stainless steel appliances, and hardwood floors.

    Yogi kitchenette for tea and snacks throughout the day (or night)

  • Cozy bedroom with wooden beams, two twin beds, patchwork quilts, and a window allowing natural light to fill the room.

    Shared Yogi Room

  • Sunlit rustic room with wooden floors, ceiling beams, and tall windows; chairs line the walls, a wreath hangs above a double door, and sunlight creates patterns on the floor.

    The meditation & yoga hall

  • Two beds with patchwork quilts in a sloped-ceiling room, a small desk by a window, and wooden chairs on hardwood flooring.

    Shared Yogi Room

Common Questions

    • 7 days, 6 nights of deep practice

    • Morning Yoga classes to unwind tension from the body & develop coordination and intrinsic strength

    • Meditation instructions that are simple and accessible in daily life

    • Afternoon Qi Gong and/or Myofascial Release classes

    • Evening Dharma Talks

    • Q&A sessions, small group check ins, and opportunities for individual practice meetings with the teachers

    • All daily meals (vegetarian), made from scratch, with GF and DF accommodations where needed

    • A yogi kitchenette with full-sized refrigerator, microwave, and cooktop for snacking and supplemental foods, available 24 hrs/day

    • Comfy, cozy rooms in a beautiful and light-filled farmhouse

    • Lots of free time and open space to explore and process

    • Silence to support inner connection

    • Rideshare and train coordination help where possible from Boston, Providence, and NYC

  • Silent retreat offers the unique opportunity to relax deeply held tensions in the body, heart and mind. The patterns of bracing, rejecting, denying and distracting can be appreciated for their short term efficacy, but in order to learn new ways of being in relationship - especially with ourselves - we must learn to connect to our own embodied experience in a compassionate and trusting way. Through this process we begin to live our lives from a place of greater balance, integrity, confidence, and connection in the midst of whatever external circumstances we find ourselves.

  • While participants get to take a break from talking (mostly) for the week, Court and Laura will be offering guidance a few times throughout each day. In the morning, you'll get instructions along with a guided meditation and yoga practice, and in the evening we'll present philosophy in what's known as a dharma talk. Every other day, you'll also have small group meetings where you have the opportunity to share your experience and hear from others, as well as an open invitation to meet with the teachers 1-1 when needed.

  • Loneliness and boredom are common and expected emotions when we go from a hyper-stimulating and demanding schedule to one that's, well…not that. Often, because these emotions are uncomfortable, we look to escape routes so we don't feel them, but what happens if you do?

    And as far as connecting with others, most people are really surprised by how well you get to know one another and the deep friendships that develop during a silent retreat. These friendships go beyond the “stats” of your life and foster deep respect for who you ARE, beyond what you DO.

  • This retreat offers instruction from the Vipassana/Insight Meditation tradition as taught by teachers in the Spirit Rock and Insight Meditation Society lineage, and we emphasize the development of awareness in everyday life. This is often taught as “mindfulness” meditation, however in this context we also share the philosophical context of the teachings as taught by Buddhist and vedic yoga traditions. Our guiding teachers are Alexis Santos, Vance Pryor, and Tias Little, who support Court and Laura as students as well as in the role of offering the Dhamma to others. Practitioners of any religious, spiritual, or worldview background are warmly welcomed.

  • Yogis are offered three nourishing, whole-foods meals daily. All meals are prepared from scratch onsite for our group and are vegetarian, organic and locally sourced where possible - every meal will have dairy free and gluten free options. Yogis have the choice to eat together, family style, in the dining room which is open to the kitchen, or take their plate to the living room or outside on one of the porches or lawn.

     As a bonus, there is also a suuuuuper nice yogi kitchenette with a full sized fridge and microwave for snacking and any additional food that yogis might need to bring!

  • As part of holding noble silence, we ask that you do not listen to music, podcasts, or read during the retreat. While all of these can be fantastic tools for learning, inspiration and everyday relaxation, our aim on this retreat is to be able to access and further nourish the qualities of the mind that lead to inner freedom. These include things like mindfulness, tranquility and equanimity - and don't worry, we can promise that if you follow the retreat you will experience and develop all of these from within.