Our Burmese video guru, speaking from beyond the grave, emphasized that all “intoxicants”–everything from alcohol to Ambien–were strictly forbidden. We repeated the vow, eager to make an honest ...

A week in silence may sound like a dream to anyone drained by the constant stimulation of modern life. But the reality of a silent retreat can be far from what you might imagine. Beyond the immediate ...

Visitors come in droves to a Morristown Jesuit center to leave modern chaos behind. Could our reporter unplug from a frenetic lifestyle?

A heartbroken mother has emotionally recounted how her 22-year-old “free spirit” daughter killed herself during an intensive 10-day meditation retreat — and is warning others about the potential ...

Chevlen is a journalist and screenwriter from Youngstown, Ohio, now living in Los Angeles. Her writing regularly appears in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and Slate, among other ...

AS THE TRAIN noisily sped me to my first silent meditation retreat, in upstate New York, I decided to practice—by panicking quietly. I’d never meditated before, not for a minute let alone a weekend.

Few people have guided me through mindfulness and meditation quite like Janet Solyntjes. As a longtime silent retreat leader, mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) instructor and co-owner of the ...

Serial entrepreneur Ben Casnocha has long been interested in meditation’s potential to reduce stress. But in 2012, he delved into it seriously–really seriously–through silent meditation retreats. He ...

“I gave my watches away—ain’t got no time for that!” This mantra hummed in the back of my mind every time I craved my phone, a book, or even a pen—anything that allowed me to escape into communication ...

The first time I ever went on a silent meditation retreat, 11 years ago, I thought I had entered the zombie apocalypse. After arriving and having dinner with my fellow retreatants, we went into ...