Menla

Menla Tibet in the Catskills. Retreat center, spa and resort. Menla Retreat is a part of Tibet House US,
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Surrounded by thousands of acres of Catskills forest preserve, Menla's magical mountain valley features a stunning retreat center & destination spa that offers annual wellness and spiritual retreats, custom personal getaways, and full service group retreat hosting. Menla's facilities include deluxe private and standard shared accommodations; a world-class Tibetan destination and day spa offering a full menu of services and specializing in ancient Tibetan and Ayurvedic therapies; two yoga studios; a meditation sanctuary; and the largest conference center in the region. Other amenities include on-site and local mountain hiking, outdoor pool, tennis courts, fitness room, healthy delicious cuisine, clean air and artesian spring water, and central access to the entire Catskill region with numerous cultural and natural attractions!

Who raised you? The mountains? The rivers? The forests… or maybe a few mischievous goats along the way. 🐐This Spring Equ...
03/11/2026

Who raised you? The mountains? The rivers? The forests… or maybe a few mischievous goats along the way. 🐐

This Spring Equinox, join us at Menla Retreat for Raised By This Place, a three-day retreat with Katie Garcia exploring ritual theater, poetry, and ecological listening.

Set in the Catskill mountains, this immersive experience invites participants to slow down, spend time on the land, and reflect on the places that have shaped their lives.

Through guided creative practice, group exercises, and quiet time outdoors, you will:

• Explore storytelling through Image Theater
• Write and share “Raised By This Place” poems
• Walk the forest in quiet observation
• Create simple ritual objects from natural materials

This retreat is open to artists, educators, and anyone interested in creative practice, reflection, and time in nature. No acting experience is required.

Raised By This Place
A Spring Equinox Retreat of Ritual Theater, Play & Ecological Belonging
March 20–22
Join us at Menla Retreat.

Link in bio to learn more.

Deep Space Experience: Into the Field of StillnessMay 22–24, 2026Join John Minks and Billy Pinkerton for a three-day ret...
03/10/2026

Deep Space Experience: Into the Field of Stillness
May 22–24, 2026

Join John Minks and Billy Pinkerton for a three-day retreat at Menla Retreat Center in the Catskill Mountains focused on sound, meditation, yoga, and presence.

• Guided Deep Space sound baths and meditation
• Yoga and breathwork practices
• Structured time for reflection, rest, and walking in nature
• Support for cultivating calm, clarity, and embodied awareness

All levels seeking a structured, immersive environment to step away from daily demands, restore nervous system balance, and reconnect to presence.

Leave the weekend with a renewed sense of clarity, grounded awareness, and practical tools for integrating stillness into daily life.

🔗 Learn more and reserve your spot via the link in our bio.

Silence is medicine.When the world feels louder, faster, and more reactive, the most radical thing we can do is pause.Fr...
03/09/2026

Silence is medicine.

When the world feels louder, faster, and more reactive, the most radical thing we can do is pause.

From April 29 – May 03, 2026, join David Nichtern / Dharma Moon for a five-day meditation retreat in the serene Catskill Mountains at Menla Retreat Center.

Together, we’ll immerse in the Four Foundations of Mindfulness — cultivating awareness of:

• Body & breath
• Feelings
• Mind
• The patterns shaping our lives

Through sustained meditation, silence, community, and optional yoga, we strengthen the nervous system and restore clarity from within.

In uncertain times, inner steadiness is not withdrawal — it is service to oneself and to the planet.

This retreat is open to both new and experienced practitioners.

🔗 Link in bio to reserve your spot.

03/08/2026

We are honored to announce a new chapter for the Vajra Yoga School™

Vajra Yoga™ reunites classical Hatha Yoga with the Indo-Tibetan wisdom traditions from which many contemplative sciences emerged — restoring the deeper philosophical and meditative context in which yoga originally developed.

Rooted in the inter-traditional vision of H.H. the Dalai Lama, Vajra Yoga offers rigorous, non-sectarian study of philosophy, meditation, and embodied practice while honoring each student’s spiritual background.

Beginning April 5 at Menla Retreat & Dewa Spa, in partnership with Tibet House US, we launch the 300+ hour Vajra Yoga™ Teacher Training & Immersion.

The opening April immersion is open to all practitioners and may be attended as a standalone retreat or as the beginning of the full training.

Those who join this year will become part of the founding circle of Vajra Yoga teachers.

Enrollment is now open.

Link in bio to learn more 💎

Lifting the GazeAugust 5–9, 2026 at Menla Retreat with Cyndi Lee This retreat is an opportunity to step away from the n...
03/08/2026

Lifting the Gaze
August 5–9, 2026 at Menla Retreat with Cyndi Lee

This retreat is an opportunity to step away from the noise and gather yourself within the beauty of the Catskills and the warmth of community.

A spiritual retreat is not about becoming someone else.
It’s about touching your mind and heart as they are, right now.

Through meditation, sustainable yoga, pranayama, restorative practice, dharma talks, and walking meditation, we’ll reconnect with the basic goodness already living within us.

You’ll strengthen your mindfulness, relax long-held obstacles, and connect the dots between why you practice, how you practice, and how it supports your life.

We’ll show up for ourselves.
We’ll show up for each other.
And we’ll make it joyful.

All levels welcome. Modifications offered.

✨ Join us in lifting the gaze, and returning to yourself.
Link in bio to learn more.

03/07/2026

Tuikuru (Kuru), named after his grandfather, is a young Yawanawá leader from Mutum Village in the Brazilian Amazon. As the son of Chief Matsini, he carries the sacred teachings of his ancestors with humility, strength, and deep responsibility.

Rooted in tradition while helping shape the future, Kuru is devoted to preserving ancestral knowledge and protecting both the culture of his people and the largest rainforest on Earth. For him, the forest is not simply land, but living consciousness — a sacred relationship he is committed to honoring and safeguarding for generations to come.

You can now take part in the Sacred Bridge gathering held at Menla last October — a historic meeting that brought together Indigenous leaders from the Amazon and wisdom holders from Tibet and the high Himalayan mountains.

Learn from these living traditions and wisdom ways through the Sacred Bridge recordings.

Visit the link in our bio to take part.

Dragon Heart: A Women’s RetreatJuly 16–19, 2026with Alison Sinatra + Lynn Schauweckersinatra Awaken the feminine wit...
03/06/2026

Dragon Heart: A Women’s Retreat

July 16–19, 2026
with Alison Sinatra + Lynn Schauweckersinatra

Awaken the feminine witness. Ignite the sacred fire within.

Dragon Heart is an immersive women’s retreat devoted to descending into the deepest chambers of the heart, where truth, instinct, and ancient feminine wisdom meet.

In many traditions, the dragon is not a symbol of fear, but of guardianship protector of hidden realms, keeper of untapped power, and fierce defender of the heart’s most sacred truths.

Here, we call upon the Sacred Dragon as guide and mirror. Through guided inquiry, ceremony, embodiment practices, breathwork, and circle work, we soften the outer layers and awaken the clarity and strength that live beneath.

Menla’s land amplifies this work. Long regarded for its potent healing energy, this valley is said to hold the presence of the Naga, serpent-dragon beings connected to water, medicine, and unseen wisdom. Tibetan masters and Indigenous elders alike have described these subtle forces as protectors of profound esoteric knowledge. Throughout our time together, we honor and attune to these currents as we navigate our own inner landscapes.

We will also enter the sweat lodge, a sacred space of purification and prayer. Held by earth and fire, we release what no longer serves, open the heart with humility and courage, and remember the ancient knowing within.

Together, we explore how to embody softness and strength, stillness and power, tenderness and truth — allowing each to shape and refine the other.

Return home with renewed clarity, purpose, and inner fire.
Rooted in your Dragon Heart.
Supported by the women beside you. 🔥

Register through our linktree

There is a way of recognizing awareness that is already complete.This September, Menla hosts a rare immersion into Dzogc...
03/05/2026

There is a way of recognizing awareness that is already complete.

This September, Menla hosts a rare immersion into Dzogchen — the Great Perfection teachings of Tibetan Buddhism.

Dzogchen Retreat: Revealing the Great Inner Connection
September 22–27, 2026 with Dr Nida Chenagtsang and Robert A.F. Thurman

Rooted in the Yuthok Nyingthig lineage, this retreat offers an accessible yet profound introduction to Dzogchen as a living path of direct recognition.

Dr. Nida will share rare oral commentaries from his personal retreat experience, teachings not widely available in English, alongside guidance in:

• Trekchöd — cutting through conceptual fixation
• Tögal practices with sunlight and darkness
• Direct experience of the nature of awareness

Bob Thurman will contextualize the teachings historically and philosophically, supporting both newcomers and seasoned practitioners.

Dzogchen points us toward direct recognition of the nature of awareness.

Join us for a week of deep practice, dialogue, and direct experience in the mountains of the Catskills.

✨ Limited space available. Link in bio to learn more.

03/04/2026

Come to the UPLIFT Festival at Menla (July 24 – 26, 2026) and liberate yourself through movement, dance, sound, and deep connection — to yourself, to community, and to the living beauty of nature. Experience the freedom of being fully alive in a summer landscape that invites you to breathe, move, and open.

UPLIFT is a joyful and deeply embodied festival, mindfully curated to inspire connection with community and self through Ecstatic Dance, Yoga, Sound Baths, Cacao Ceremony, Circle Singing, Bonfire Sing-Alongs, Somatic and Wisdom Workshops, and more.

Guided by an extraordinary team of facilitators, this sacred weekend is a living reminder that what we create together isn’t an escape from life — it is life itself.

Featuring:
Pamela Kalechofsky: misspaminstagram
Tasha Blank:
Michael V:
The Yoga House:
Reggie Hubbard:
Chynna Dee Andrada:
Ben Brown:
Tracy LJ Robertson:
Rose Stoller:
Amy Reed:
Joyce San Pedro:
Alex Tse:
Jenny Papo:
Olga Choedron:

Join us for a magical weekend of movement, music, connection, and soul-filled celebration. Awaken your joy. Open your heart. Feel fully embodied and alive.

Uplift Your Body.
Uplift Your Heart.
Uplift the Collective.

For more information visit: www.TheUpliftFestival.com or go to the retreat section on our web site.

Vajra Yoga Mahasiddha Reunion 2026May 28 – June 04, 2026withDr. Robert Svoboda Krishna Das Nina RaoChandra Easton Michel...
03/04/2026

Vajra Yoga Mahasiddha Reunion 2026
May 28 – June 04, 2026

with
Dr. Robert Svoboda
Krishna Das
Nina Rao
Chandra Easton
Michele Loew
John Campbell Yoga
Robert A.F. Thurman

The Mahasiddha Reunion returns for its third year — gathering an extraordinary constellation of teachers for a week-long immersion in Ayurveda, Bhakti Yoga, Vajrayoga, and ta***ic Hatha Yoga.

This is more than a retreat. It’s a reunion of living lineages.

Mornings begin with integrated Vajrayoga practice led by John Campbell. Nina Rao and Chandra Easton guide devotional teachings on Tara and Devi. Robert Thurman explores the ta***ic and Rājayoga dimensions of Vajrayoga, weaving philosophy with lived experience.

Afternoons feature teachings and dialogue with Dr. Svoboda, Krishna Das, and Thurman on the lives and wisdom of the great Indian and Indo-Tibetan mahasiddhas — depth, humor, devotion, and inspiration woven together.

The week culminates in Fire Pujas led by Svoboda and Thurman — a communal offering for healing and planetary renewal.

You’ll leave energized, inspired, and connected to a growing spiritual community.

✨ Space is limited. Hybrid option available.
Register via link in bio.

Eliminating Obstacles Through Reconnection with the Five ElementsMay 21–24, 2026In the Tibetan healing tradition of Sowa...
03/02/2026

Eliminating Obstacles Through Reconnection with the Five Elements
May 21–24, 2026

In the Tibetan healing tradition of Sowa Rigpa, the Science of Healing, health is balance between Space, Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth within body, energy, and mind.

This May, join Bair Manzarkhan at Menla for a four-day immersion into elemental healing and self-reconnection. Through experiential teachings, meditation, and embodied practice, you’ll explore:

• The Five Elements as the foundation of physical and emotional health
• Your unique elemental constitution
• The Five Chakras and Five Inner Lights
• Practical methods for restoring clarity and balance

In Tibetan understanding, obstacles are signals, invitations to rebalance.

Whether you are new to meditation or already on the path, this retreat offers an accessible and profound introduction to Tibetan Medicine rooted in living lineage.

🔗 Link in bio to learn more.

03/01/2026

Sacred Bridge brought Tibetan and Amazonian leaders together at Menla in October 2025 for a profound cross-cultural gathering between the wisdom traditions of the Himalayas and the Forest.

As these teachers, healers, and wisdom keepers shared with one another — and with all who attended — something beautiful was revealed: no matter how vast the mountains, oceans, or forests that seem to separate us, there is an invisible bridge connecting all human life.

Across traditions, the teachings echo one another. Indigenous peoples who caretake these sacred lands understand this deeply — that we are small within the vastness of this planet, and that what truly matters is our connection to one another, and to the teachings that guide us toward the deeper wisdom available to all who sincerely seek it.

Now you can experience this gathering from wherever you are. The Sacred Bridge recordings offer rare teachings, conversations, and moments of connection that can be returned to again and again — a living archive of wisdom shared across traditions.

This extraordinary gathering is now available online.

Visit the link in our bio to watch and learn more.

Address

375 Pantherkill Road
Phoenicia, NY
12464

Telephone

+18456886897

Website

https://linktr.ee/menla

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Tibet in the Catskills

Menla lies on 325 acres of private nature reserve at the head of a breathtaking glacial valley in one of the most beautiful parts of the Catskills. Stay in a range of deluxe accommodations or shared cabins set in fragrant woods & gardens with murmuring streams and trails nearby.

Experience Menla’s unique wellness facilities, from our Dewa Spa to fully equipped yoga & movement spaces, fitness room, tennis courts & hiking trails. Explore the surrounding Catskill Forest Preserve with guided hikes, river rafting, horseback riding and swimming.