Shala Yoga & Meditation Retreat in Mendocino County
June 16-23, 2026 | Week-Long Retreat | 8 Days/7 Nights | Tuesday to Tuesday
Join Mira Shani and Jarret Levine for eight days and seven nights of deep yoga and meditation practice at Spirit Camp, nestled in the glorious Redwoods just a mile from the stunning Pacific coast. This immersive retreat offers five daily sessions of contemplative practice designed to quiet the mind, engage the depths of the body, and commune with the most mysterious heart of hearts. Perfect for adults seeking authentic spiritual exploration through asana, meditation, satsang, and kirtan in a natural setting that genuinely feeds the soul.
Retreat Modalities Included
Asana (yoga postures)
Meditation
Satsang (spiritual discourse and community gathering)
Kirtan (devotional chanting)
Who the Retreat Is For
This retreat is designed for adults of all genders, ages, and backgrounds seeking a genuine deep dive into yoga and meditation practices. Whether you're a seasoned practitioner or newer to contemplative practice, this experience welcomes anyone ready to step away from daily life and devices for the sole purpose of turning inward. This is for those who understand that the majesty available when you still your mind requires dedicated time, quietude, and depth—what longs to be seen and known from deep within remains hidden to the busy mind.
Retreat Description
A Retreat for True Depth and Inner Quietude
The Shala Yoga & Meditation Retreat is not a vacation, although you will feel a kind of deep rest you perhaps have never known. This is not about entertainment, although you will be engaged with yourself and each other in a way that is utterly captivating. This is a unique experience you might treasure for your whole life—a genuine opportunity to commune in the stunning Redwood forests of Mendocino County while diving into daily practices of yoga, meditation, and contemplation.
Led by experienced teachers Mira Shani and Jarret Levine from their Durham, North Carolina-based Shala—which translates to "home" in Sanskrit—this week-long spiritual retreat creates a container for authentic inner exploration. Your daily schedule comprises five sessions of practice designed to help you be in deep, contemplative retreat. Mornings are spent in silence, and you'll explore even more expansive mauna (noble silence) throughout the week. The entire program is elective, allowing you to opt into the kind of retreat experience you want.
Asana Practice Rooted in Traditional Yoga Philosophy
Asana—the physical practice of yoga postures—forms a foundational element of this retreat, approached not as exercise but as a gateway to deeper stillness and embodiment. Mira brings her extensive background as an E-RYT 500 certified teacher, trained in myriad yoga methods and informed by years of study in Eastern philosophy and Indo-Tibetan psychologies. Her teaching invites you to engage with the depths of your body, using yoga as a tool to prepare for the profound inner work of meditation and self-inquiry.
Each session creates space to explore what majesty becomes available when you truly direct all of your energy toward your own inner domain. This authentic yoga retreat honors the traditional context of yoga as a spiritual practice, not just a physical one—a rare offering in contemporary retreat culture.
Meditation and the Art of Stillness
Meditation sits at the heart of this retreat's daily rhythm. Jarret Levine has been an avid seeker of mystical knowledge since the early 1980s, raised in the tradition of Indian saint Meher Baba and informed by Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sufism, Buddhism, and Christianity. He has spent countless hours diligently practicing the art of stillness under the guidance of his beloved teachers, exploring how its tendrils affect mental health through interpersonal and metaphysical relationships.
Together with Mira, whose first deep dive into Buddhist-focused retreat practice began at the Kopan Monastery in Nepal in 1999, they create a meditation experience that draws from authentic lineages while remaining accessible and genuine. This is a quietude retreat in the truest sense—an invitation to settle in and see what becomes possible when you create the conditions for deep inner listening.
Satsang and Kirtan: Community and Devotional Practice
Satsang—gathering in truth with spiritual community—weaves throughout the retreat as participants explore teachings, share insights, and support one another's inner journey. This sangha-focused retreat honors the power of practicing together, creating what Shala calls a "heart community" or kula. When you are part of Shala, you are part of a spiritual home where sincere practice and deep healing unfold collectively.
Kirtan—devotional chanting—offers another pathway into the heart. This ancient practice uses repetitive mantras and music to quiet the thinking mind and open participants to states of devotion, connection, and transcendence. Whether you're familiar with kirtan or experiencing it for the first time, these sessions invite you to let sound and rhythm carry you beyond the limitations of ordinary consciousness.
The Spirit Camp Experience in the Redwoods
Your inner work retreat unfolds at Spirit Camp, a former youth summer camp transformed into a transformational retreat center set on 27 acres of second-growth Redwood forest. The Redwoods themselves become teachers—their massive presence inviting you to slow down, ground into the earth, and remember your connection to something vast and ancient.
Between scheduled sessions, you'll have access to Spirit Camp's beautiful shared spaces: the Sanctuary with its copper roof and skylight perfect for quiet reflection, the Redwood Lodge with six skylights and a stone fireplace, and the Magic Meadow where fire circles gather under starlight. Private hiking trails wind through fern gullies and across seasonal streams, offering opportunities for walking meditation and silent communion with the forest.
Off hours invite exploration—whether hiking Redwood trails, visiting nearby beaches along the Pacific coast, or simply settling into the natural world as a significant aspect of the retreat experience. The accommodations range from private cabins with queen beds to shared rooms and bunkhouse options, all impeccably maintained and infused with Redwood charm.
Benefits for Body, Mind, and Spirit
This meditation retreat in Northern California offers participants the chance to experience:
Deep rest and nervous system regulation through sustained stillness practice
Increased body awareness and physical vitality through daily asana
Mental clarity and insight that emerges from extended quietude
Connection to authentic spiritual lineages and practices
Community bonding with fellow seekers in a sober, intentional environment
Direct experience of Redwood forest energy and natural beauty
The retreat's structure—five daily sessions with silence in the mornings and optional free time—creates the ideal conditions for transformation without forcing outcomes. As the facilitators note, this is about creating space for what longs to be seen and known from deep within.
This experience is perfect for those searching for: yoga and meditation retreat, spiritual retreat, Buddhist focused retreat, sangha focused retreat, yoga retreat, meditation retreat, asana retreat, quietude retreat, inner work retreat, authentic yoga retreat
About The Retreat Facilitators
About The Retreat Facilitators: Mira Shani & Jarret Levine
Mira Shani started her studies of yoga during her college days at UT Austin, where she was introduced to Thich Nhat Hanh's books in a Critical Thinking class, bringing the thoughtful love of the Buddhist tradition to a western mind. Her first deep dive into Buddhism came at the Kopan Monastery in Nepal in 1999, followed by her first yoga teacher training the following year in Detroit.
Since then, Mira has taught yoga, meditation, and Eastern philosophy throughout the US and internationally, spending many years with international seeker communities abroad. In 2003, she co-founded the Yoga Studies Institute, an organization devoted to locating and translating ancient scriptures and ensuring their authentic transmission in the West. Mira is an E-RYT 500 and YACEP-credentialed teacher with the Yoga Alliance, signifying certification at the highest level as an expert teacher, continuing education provider, and practitioner of Therapeutic Yoga. She teaches a practice informed by myriad yoga methods out of Shala, which she co-owns and operates with her partner Jarret in Durham, North Carolina.
Jarret Levine has been an avid seeker of mystical knowledge since the early 1980s. His mother raised him in the tradition of Meher Baba, an Indian saint aligned with and informed by his roots in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Sufism, Buddhism, and Christianity. Jarret has spent countless hours diligently practicing the art of stillness with the guidance of his beloved teachers, exploring how its tendrils affect mental health expressed through interpersonal and metaphysical relationships.
He has taught alongside longtime partner and accomplished yogini Mira Shani for over 10 years. He currently offers private stillness-based guidance and facilitates a meditation club that meets weekly in Durham, North Carolina. Together, Mira and Jarret embody the essence of Shala—creating spaces where community gathers in sincere practice, deep healing, and authentic spiritual exploration.
Spirit Camp Retreat Center
Within the gentle embrace of Northern California’s coastal woodlands, the Northern California Retreat Center at Spirit Camp stands as a dynamic portal to healing and self-discovery. Here, emerald ferns catch the morning light, and redwoods whisper old stories into the soft coastal wind. Just a short distance from Mendocino’s artisan shops and only a few hours from the Bay Area, this center merges accessibility and remoteness, granting each visitor the chance to activate their magic and align with nature’s primordial rhythm. You’ll find that even the simple act of wandering through quiet trails or settling before a campfire inspires a sense of reverence and grounded presence.
Spirit Camp curates a multitude of transformative experiences, offering spiritual retreats in Northern California for those seeking inner alignment, dance and embodiment retreats for those craving deeper bodily wisdom, and yoga retreat Mendocino immersions for anyone longing to harmonize breath, movement, and soul. Owned by a queer couple dedicated to inclusivity and authentic community, the center welcomes all who step onto its land. Whether you arrive for a men’s retreat, a women’s weekend, or a fully inclusive circle of seekers, you’ll find an atmosphere that respects diversity, encourages open dialogue, and honors each individual’s unique path.
The accommodations themselves reflect a spectrum of comfort and intimacy. Private cabins offer year-round coziness, while camping and glamping allow you to witness the forest’s nocturnal rhythms firsthand. Each season brings its own flavor of beauty: the hush of winter rains nurturing quiet reflection, the warmth of spring and summer evenings fueling communal connection. And throughout the year, moments of forest bathing, breathwork, and ancestral reconnection emerge as catalysts for meaningful healing, bridging the gap between who you’ve been and who you are becoming.
At Spirit Camp, you learn to unplug, not just from technology, but from the pressures and patterns that limit your growth. Here, you may rediscover your voice, tap into your inner wellspring of creativity, or simply rest in the company of towering trees that have stood watch for centuries. As you depart, carry with you the subtle lessons learned—an imprint of land, community, and spirit that continues to shape your journey long after you’ve returned home.