Mandali Retreat Center — 2, Italy

Not-for-profit retreat centre on a hilltop above Lake Orta, Northern Italy

Before Mandali there were dance festivals. Its founders, friends Wouter and Wildrik, had built success organizing large-scale ones and, by their own account, had achieved everything they dreamed of while still feeling unsatisfied. In 2009, both thirty years old, they sat their first silent retreat in India. It took a couple of days to slow down. Then, they write, a deep inner silence and contentment emerged, and a new world opened: silence, self-understanding, meditation and yoga. Mandali was established in 2017 as a not-for-profit foundation in Quarna Sopra, in Piedmont's Verbano-Cusio-Ossola province, 75 minutes' drive from Milan Malpensa airport. It reinvests all revenue in maintaining the space and expanding its mission. The staff are locals from the Quarna villages and beyond. The centre sits on a hilltop with sweeping views of Lake Orta and glimpses of the Alps. Its buildings take their cue from the medieval towns nearby and were built mostly from reclaimed local materials, meandering along a cobblestone path like a quiet alpine village. The plan follows Feng Shui principles of harmony and balance. Practice happens in the temple, the dome, the diamond room and on an outdoor terrace. A body care centre has a sauna, steam room, indoor pool and an outdoor jacuzzi overlooking the lake. A permaculture garden and growing food forest supply the vegetarian kitchen, and breakfast is taken in social silence. The signature in-house programme, the Mandali Experience, runs three to seven days of guided meditation, yoga or qigong, and periods of silence. Visiting teachers lead themed retreats, from Path of Love and non-duality to Buddhism, Tibetan Five Elements practices and the dyad-based Enlightenment Intensive. There is no Wi-Fi in the rooms, only in the library.

Traditions: Meditation, Yoga, Qigong, Zen self-inquiry, Tibetan Five Elements, Tantra

Programs: Mandali Experience, Mandali Experience Special, Enlightenment Intensive, Path of Love Process, Opening To Intimacy Couple Retreat, Yin/Insight Yoga and Inquiry Silent Retreat, Tibetan Five Elements Practices, Silent Solstice Digital Detox