New Year's Silent Meditation Retreat

The New Year's Silent Meditation Retreat is a four-night residential silent meditation retreat led by Melissa McKay and Dave Smith, offered by InsightLA Meditation and held at the Mary and Joseph Retreat Center. It is a quiet way to mark the turn of the year, grounded in the Vipassana and Insight Meditation traditions, and it welcomes people of all experience levels, from those new to meditation to those with an established practice.

What to Expect

Most of the retreat is held in silence, with periods of sitting and walking meditation woven through each day. Alongside the practice there are dharma talks, guided meditations, and time for questions and answers with the teachers.

Participants are encouraged to practice mindfulness steadily from morning to night, staying with experience as it unfolds moment by moment. In a supportive, silent setting, awareness tends to sharpen, the body settles, and the mind has room to clear. That can open the way for insight and a greater sense of ease. The aim is to strengthen awareness, clarity, and kindness, and to let go of old patterns so the new year can begin with more calm.

The retreat begins on the first day with arrival and settling in between 3:00pm and 5:00pm, dinner from 5:30pm to 6:30pm, and an opening ceremony from 7:00pm to 9:00pm. The following three days are full practice days of sitting and walking meditation, dharma talks, guided instruction, and afternoon and evening meditation periods, with silence maintained throughout. The retreat ends at 11:00am on the final morning, when there is an opportunity to offer dana to the teachers.

About Melissa McKay

Melissa McKay is a meditation teacher and the Executive Director of InsightLA. She began practicing in 1998 in Oakland, California, with Barbara Janus, who introduced her to the teachings of Sayadaw U Pandita of Burma. Her first retreat with Sayadaw U Pandita was a turning point, and the changes she saw in herself became the foundation of her path as a teacher.

About Dave Smith

Dave Smith has practiced in the Insight Meditation (Vipassana) tradition for nearly 30 years. He was empowered to teach through the Against the Stream Buddhist Meditation Society. He is also a certified teacher of Cultivating Emotional Balance (CEB), a program that combines contemporary emotion-based scientific research with contemplative practices and psychology drawn from Buddhism.

The Setting

The retreat is residential, held at the Mary and Joseph Retreat Center, and hosted by InsightLA Meditation of Beverly Hills, California. Accommodation is offered as a private single room or a shared room. Three healthy vegetarian meals are provided each day. A ride sharing sign-up is available for those who want to travel together.

Before You Go

All experience levels are welcome, and the teachers give instruction suited to where each person is in their practice. The retreat is taught in English. Spaces are limited.

The registration fee covers accommodation, meals, and InsightLA's administrative costs. It does not include compensation for the teachers, and travel and personal incidentals are not included. In keeping with Buddhist tradition, there is an opportunity at the end of the retreat to practice dana, offering generosity and financial support to the teachers.

InsightLA also holds a limited number of pay-what-you-can spots for members of marginalized groups (people of color, queer people, people with disabilities) and for those in financial need. These are offered first come, first served, and those who are able are asked to pay at the highest level they can.