Silent Retreat – Bliss & Stars, Cederberg

This silent retreat at Bliss & Stars in the Cederberg, near Clanwilliam in the Western Cape, South Africa, is a silent meditation retreat for anyone who wants to step away from noise and screens. It combines meditation, mindfulness and somatic practices with time in nature and stargazing, in an off-grid setting with no Wi-Fi. It is open to everyone, and the group is small, with a maximum of eight guests.

What to Expect

The retreat is held in silence and built around three strands of practice: meditation, mindfulness and somatic work, which brings attention to the body. Between sessions there is time outdoors in the valley, and in the evenings the dark Cederberg sky is part of the programme through stargazing.

The retreat runs in different lengths: four, six or seven days. The length depends on the dates you choose, and shorter and longer versions are offered at different times of year. The material does not give a daily timetable, so the rhythm of the days is best confirmed with the hosts when you enquire.

The Setting

Bliss & Stars sits in the Cederberg, a mountain valley in the Western Cape. The place is off-grid and has no Wi-Fi, which is part of what makes a silent retreat here practical: there is little to pull you back toward messages and news. Retreats at Bliss & Stars share the same valley, and guests are kept to small numbers, with no more than ten across the retreats offered and a maximum of eight for this one.

Sharing accommodation is the standard arrangement, and the retreat is priced per person on that basis. For those who want the whole valley to themselves, private retreats can be arranged for individuals, couples and small groups, with dates, duration and programme set on their terms.

Before You Go

The retreat is open to everyone, and no previous meditation experience is listed as a requirement. Because the property is off-grid and without Wi-Fi, plan to be offline for the length of your stay and let the people close to you know in advance.

Spaces are limited by the small group size, and some dates fill and move to a waiting list, so it helps to decide early if a particular time of year matters to you. If you are weighing this against other retreats in the same valley, this is the one centred on silence. The others focus on rest, astronomy, cooking, couples, or women's and men's groups.