Rolling Meadows Retreat

02/17/2026

The Benefits of a Silent Retreat

Years ago, I stood at a turning point. I had left my career as a lawyer and stepped into the unknown. A friend suggested a ten-day silent retreat. I enrolled immediately. Those ten days changed my life.

Without conversation, distraction, or external pressure, I began to see my thoughts clearly. Many reflected conditioning and expectations that were never truly mine. In silence, those patterns softened.
Space opened.

Clarity replaced confusion. Direction emerged naturally. I experienced a depth of connection and love that felt steady and real.

For 38 years, I have guided retreats of many kinds. Again and again, I see that silence allows insights to move beyond the mind and settle into daily life. Decisions feel cleaner. Energy returns. Self-trust strengthens.

A silent retreat supports:
• Emotional steadiness
• Clear thinking
• Nervous system restoration
• Authentic alignment

At Rolling Meadows Retreat we combine meditation, yoga, restorative practices, breathwork, and meaningful time in nature. We also protect unstructured space for reflection and integration.

Silence does not remove you from life.
It refines how you live it.


https://rollingmeadowsretreat.com/

02/14/2026

Silent Yoga,Meditation and Breathwork Retreat July 1-5 at Casa Portal, Jackson, Maine https://rollingmeadowsretreat.com/septemberradiance/

01/23/2026

Silent Yoga, Meditation and Yoga Retreat July 1-5 Casa Portal, Jackson, Maine w/Surya
www.rollingmeadowsretreat.com

Blending yoga asana, meditation, movement, Breathwork, time in the natural world free of the distractions of daily life in a container of silence, our energy opens into a direct embodied experience of Love, unveiling the ever-present, reliable, unseen and mysterious sacred foundation from which to live our lives.

01/23/2026

Silent Yoga, Meditation and Breathwork Retreat July 1 - 5
at Casa Portal, Jackson, Maine
www.rollingmeadowsretreat.com

Blending yoga asana, meditation, movement, Breathwork, time in the natural world free of the distractions of daily life in a container of silence, our energy opens into a direct embodied experience of Love, unveiling the ever-present, reliable, unseen and mysterious sacred foundation from which to live our lives.

09/01/2025

The Ease of Being
Meditation, Yoga and Breathwork Silent Retreat
November 6-10, 2025
with Surya
Casa Portal,
Brooks, Maine
$1,295

Due to a recent cancellation there is one space available for this retreat.

08/18/2025

The Ease of Being
Meditation, Yoga and Breathwork Silent Retreat
November 6-10, 2025
with Surya
Casa Portal,
Brooks, Maine
$1,295

05/23/2025

Love Is Our True Nature

At the heart of every religion is the same truth: we are made of Love. Though each tradition may use different language or rituals, they all point to this essential reality—Love is the fabric of life.

The real question is: if Love is who we are, what keeps us from living it?

The answer is simple, though not easy—we live in fear. We’re caught in our minds, believing we are separate. Love feels vulnerable and uncertain, and the mind doesn’t like uncertainty. It clings to the past or worries about the future, while Love can only be felt here and now.

To return to Love, we don’t need to seek anything outside ourselves. We need to feel the fear in our bodies, allow it fully, and stop resisting it—because resistance only gives it more power.

Since Love is already here, our work is to notice what blocks it and let those barriers fall away, one by one. With each step, we come closer to living from our true nature.

More and more, I see that Love is all that truly matters. When we make that our focus moment by moment, we begin to live in Love—not perfectly, not without struggle, but more deeply each day.

The ego may resist, but there is nothing more important, or more precious, in this brief life.

05/14/2025

04/24/2025

Neti Neti

One of the most profound, yet simple teachings from the Upanishads is the term Neti Neti. It means “not this, not that”.
It’s a direct way of realizing the Self (Atman). Since our True Nature or Brahman is infinite and beyond form, as we let go of identification with form we come to know who we really are.
“I am not my thoughts”. “I am not my body.” “I am not my emotions,” and so on. What remains is pure consciousness or undivided awareness. The yogic journey is actually very simple although our minds often complicate it. It’s simply a process of letting go of everything we are not. The result is to live in Freedom, Ease, Peace, and Love.

The practice is not only useful as a spiritual practice but as a way to navigate our practical, earthly journey. It has been helpful for me as I attempt to navigate my life without my late wife who was my best friend and soul-mate for 36 years. We did everything together and one-half of me is gone. I am often lost without her. I am attempting to learn who I am now. Rather than having a specific idea of how I should spend my time, what tasks I should take on, who I should spend time with, etc I attempt to reflect on what my recent experiences have been.
If it does not feel right for me I say “not this” or “not that.” I find it more accurate and authentic than deciding who or what I am. By letting go of things that don’t feel right on the physical plane I find myself learning what’s right for me now.

04/22/2025

Drop the Story

Many years ago I was in Berkley working with a Breathwork facilitator who was helping me find some clarity in a difficult time in my life. Evenings she took me to a college auditorium where a spiritual teacher named Gangaji was giving a series of nightly talks. Each talk explored ways of letting go of the identification with our body/mind and to live from a much deeper place beyond the limited conditioning of the mind. I had been practicing meditation for some time by then so the basic understand was clear to me. Much of her teaching was done thru having a student appear of the stage with her in a dialogue whereby the student asked Gangaji questions and spoke of their difficulties.
Through these interviews there was a suggestion that she offered over and over to each student. It was simply “Drop the Story.”
She was speaking to that inner conversation we are constantly having with ourselves about what’s happening, what we want, what we fear. She was pointing to the fact that although this narrative is of course occurring, it blocks us from living from a deeper truth beyond our limited conditioning.
By dropping the story for even a brief time, we can make contact with what is underneath the story line - stillness, spaciousness, presence.
As I said, I had been on the spiritual path for quite some time by then, but the simplicity of her suggestion has a powerful impact os me. Too often a spiritual practice can be complex and cause us to become more in our head. This message said “Just let it go. Don’t try to understand it of fix it.”
Very often When I am lost in thought I simply say to myself “Drop the story.” When I am able to do this it’s most always helpful.

04/19/2025

As we go through life we receive and select various roles or identities. The role of being a mother, father, grandparent, teacher, doctor, lawyer, successful business person, wise therapist or brilliant scientist. The list is endless. They can be roles that we and society consider “praiseworthy” like a successful athlete or diminishing like “uneducated” or “uncreative”. We even identify wth roles like “the quiet one”, “an introvert”, “the hero”, or “the victim” Having recently lost my wife I find myself identifying as a “widower” or the “grieving one”. This can keep me “stuck” in the grief. While of course I am going through these passages, it’s not who I am. Very often we don’t recognize the depth or strength of our identification.

When identified with a role the ego is guarding our image. If we are challenged it can feel like the other is attacking our self-worth. When dropping the role we can hear them more clearly and not feel personally challenged. Freedom.

In truth we are none of these roles. We are the vast, unknown, undivided consciousness or awareness that underlies and pervades every one of us. We are all interconnected. No one is above or below another. There is endless freedom in this both in life and as we face our death. I witnessed this with my wife in the time before her passing. Because of her endless exploration of her spiritual life she met her illness with grace and calm. She had no fear. She said that beyond her form she was awareness and that after her form dissolved she would still be the undivided awareness -that her soul, journey in this form was complete and it was her time to move on to the unknown. What a blessing to live with that understanding.

I encourage you to take time to explore the various roles you have assumed, to see how strongly you identify with them and to see how you might let go of that identification. Feel it in your body, listen to your heart. In the end the heart is the most reliable guide.
It’s the doorway to the ultimate truth. You are Love itself, connected to every one and everything.