MEA Foundations
Landscapes of Silence: A Silent Retreat for Restoration and Renewal
Reconnect with what matters most – and design the life that calls you forward
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Yearning for stillness in a world that never slows down?
Step away from the noise and rediscover the peace and calm at the center of it all. Our Landscapes of Silence retreats offer the space, structure, and support to quiet your mind, restore your energy, and help you return home to yourself.
3, 4, and 7-Day Retreats in Santa Fe
Tuition starting at $1,900
5-Day Retreats in Baja
World-class accommodations
Intimate group of 28 people max
Meals, snacks, and drinks included
Taught by beloved MEA faculty
Partial Scholarship Available
Silence is the reset your overloaded mind has been craving
Constant pings, demands for attention, and an endless stream of news designed to keep you on high alert leave you feeling anxious, scattered, and disconnected from what matters most.
It’s a cycle that makes even the most intentional and committed of us feel overwhelmed or exhausted, with not enough room for the clarity, joy, and fulfillment we crave.
The good news: your mind and body already know how to reclaim the harmony and equilibrium you’ve lost.
They just need the quiet space to remember how.
A return to embodied presence
Our Landscapes of Silence silent retreats in Santa Fe and Baja are for anyone craving peace and struggling to find it amid life's relentless pace.
Ranging from 5 days in Baja to 3, 4, or 7 days in Santa Fe, these retreats invite you to move beyond words, sink into presence, and reclaim the innate harmony between silence and embodiment.
Members of our mindfulness and wisdom faculty will hold a sacred and nurturing container for you to rediscover the aliveness within rest – and the wholeness that emerges when body, breath, and awareness move as one.
If you’re ready to step out of the noise and find the space you need to rest, listen, and reconnect with your innermost self, our Landscapes of Silence retreats will provide you with the sanctuary you seek.
What you’ll gain from your days of restorative contemplation
Deep nervous system reset and cellular healing
Through soundbaths, restorative yoga, and guided meditations, you'll activate your parasympathetic nervous system and experience healing at the cellular level. Stillness dissolves anxiety and stress patterns that have become embedded in your body.
Profound wisdom from multiple spiritual traditions
Daily Wisdom Pods with expert teachers will expose you to contemplative practices from Christian Mysticism to Buddhism, Sufism to shamanic traditions. You'll gain practical tools for navigating life's challenges with greater wisdom and spiritual depth.
Enhanced creativity and mental clarity
The combination of silence, nature immersion, and walking meditation quiets mental chatter and opens space for fresh insights. Many participants experience breakthrough creative ideas and clarity on major life decisions during and after the retreat.
Lasting mindfulness practices you can take home
You'll learn sustainable techniques for staying present and grounded in daily life, from breath awareness to nature-based meditation. These aren't just retreat experiences, they're lifelong tools for maintaining inner peace amid external chaos.
Who this is for
Our Daily Rhythm of Renewal
Throughout each day, a balance of stillness, movement, and reflection will invite you into deeper alignment with the land and yourself:
Daily Wisdom Pods Offer Contemplative Teaching and Discussion
While most of the retreat will be held in silence, once a day we will gather for a one-hour Wisdom Pod where our wisdom faculty will offer teachings that touch on mindfulness and wisdom traditions ranging from the Christian Mystics to Buddhism, Judaism to Sufism, and other contemplative mythology and rituals. Each Wisdom Pod will be open for a period of quiet discussion before returning to the shared sanctuary of stillness. If you wish to remain in silence during these sessions, your preference will be honored.
After 20+ years as a CEO I was burnt out and had no vision or energy for my next chapter. One week in Baja reenergized me and I emerged with an inspired vision for my 50s, 60s and beyond.
Aaron Hurst, Seattle, USA
Four ways to experience these transformational workshops in Baja or Santa Fe
We now offer our Landscapes of Silence retreats in four formats to meet you where you are. Join us in Baja for five powerful days of silent contemplation where white-sand beaches meet the ocean – or for three, four, or seven days in Santa Fe’s beautiful high desert.
Santa Fe
Where the Desert Meets the Sky
At MEA’s Rising Circle Ranch in Santa Fe, nestled within 25,000 acres of sacred land, silence arises naturally from the heat of the day, the whispering junipers, and the wide horizon that invites you to exhale. Silence envelops you like a gentle embrace, dissolving the low hum of anxiety that permeates modern life.
Here in the wide Galisteo Basin, where red earth meets an endless sky, our silent retreats are an immersion into embodied quiet – a time to soften, to listen, and to let your body remember the language of stillness. The stillness of the desert isn’t empty – it’s radiant, humming with life, spacious enough to hold the truth of who you are.
As twilight paints the desert sky in gold and violet, the vastness of the high desert becomes a reflection of your own inner spaciousness. Evenings at Galisteo are a return to elemental simplicity: the scent of sage, the hum of crickets, and the felt sense of belonging to something timeless and whole. This awe-inspiring landscape is the perfect environment in which to disconnect from the noise and return to yourself.
Baja
Where the Desert Meets the Sky
At MEA’s Baja campus, silence unfolds to the rhythm of the sea – the hush between waves, the salt air that slows your breath, the sun sinking into the ocean, as you stroll along the white sand beaches. Here, the vastness of the Pacific and the simplicity of the desert create a natural stillness that draws you inward.
Depending on the season, you may witness the magic of breaching humpbacks off shore or watch sea turtles make their slow, sacred journey along the sand. Each moment is an invitation to let the noise fall away and attune to the rhythm of the living world around you.
Silence in Baja isn’t an absence – it’s an awakening. It’s the sound of your nervous system settling, the mind softening its grip, the heart remembering what it means to rest in presence. The natural world conspires to remind you: stillness isn’t something you find, it’s something that’s been waiting for you all along.
The MEA Method is backed by social science, proven by years of research & implementation
Our Navigating Transitions workshops are built around our proven MEA Method, which has been designed in collaboration with academics from Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, and Yale, who have dedicated themselves to understanding modern midlife.
Together we’ve developed and refined experiential processes that combine the social science of longevity and the art of intentional living to help people in midlife curate a second adulthood that’s as joyful, deep, and meaningful as it is long.
Guided by world-class faculty who’ve walked this path themselves
Our silent retreats are facilitated by members of the MEA Wisdom faculty, including: Teddi Dean (Head of Mindfulness and Movement), Amie Tullis (Author and Experience Facilitator), Lee Johnson (Head of Land, Livestock, and Mindfulness in Santa Fe), Saul Kuperstein (Resident Shaman), and Chip Conley (MEA founder and Executive Chair).
These handpicked facilitators are highly trained professionals who are all midlifers themselves and have been extensively trained in the MEA Method. They have all navigated their own periods of reinvention and bring a wealth of experience in helping others create their fulfilling next chapter. (Note: facilitators may differ depending on workshop length and location.)
Two Luxury Campuses to Choose From
Baja, Mexico
El Pescadero Resort
A stunning oceanfront property offering all of the amenities of a luxury hotel with beautiful beaches perfect for swimming or surfing. Located on the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula, just a short drive from Todo Santos, the “Pueblo Magico”.
Santa Fe, USA
Rising Circle Ranch
An upscale regenerative ranch featuring traditional Pueblo architecture and spanning nearly 2,600 acres of wildlife, hiking trails in the arroyo, with ancient petroglyphs, and awe-inspiring beauty. Close to historic Santa Fe, an artisan’s mecca.
Nourishment for the body and soul
Throughout the week, you’ll be treated to a beautifully curated menu of fresh, organic meals designed by MEA’s Executive Chef, Krista Steinhauer and prepared by our amazing in-house chefs. Reflecting Krista’s signature artistry and devotion to mindful nourishment, each meal becomes a celebration of flavor, color, and vitality, prepared with seasonal, locally sourced ingredients that honor both the land and the spirit of this retreat.
Krista’s culinary creations are more than food, they’re an invitation to presence. Meals are served in silence, allowing you to engage your senses fully, to taste and feel each bite as an act of gratitude. In the hands of our incredible chefs, nourishment becomes art, aligning perfectly with the retreat’s rhythm of embodiment and care.
7,000+ people from 60 countries and all walks of life have experienced the magic of MEA.
Our alumni include CEOs, artists, professional athletes, homemakers, activists and everyone in between. They’re using what they’ve discovered to create a more fulfilling and vibrant next chapter for themselves. Now it’s your turn.
Come as you are and leave inspired and restored
Silent Embodiment is more than a retreat – it’s a homecoming to the self that lives beneath the noise. Stillness becomes your teacher and awareness your guide into a deeper, more intentional way of being.
And when you return to the “regular” world, you’ll discover the noise hasn’t changed – but you have. Something inside you knows how to stay anchored, intentional, and clear, no matter what the world demands.
Your All-Inclusive Luxury Retreat Includes:
4 or 5 days and nights of lodging at our world-class retreat center in Baja or Santa Fe with all of your meals, snacks, drinks and other amenities included
Daily sessions and experiential activities to help you connect with your inner self, envision your desired experience, and release what no longer serves you
Mindfulness practices to soothe your nervous system and help you cultivate greater mindfulness and presence in the moment
Movement to get the energy flowing and build your strength and agility as you chart your course forward to the life you want to live
Incredible bonding experiences with the most amazing humans you’ll ever meet
Three delicious, chef-prepared meals plus snacks throughout the day prepared from scratch with the freshest local ingredients.
Intimate gatherings to cultivate connection and celebrate the joy and beauty of life
Tuition starts at
$1,900*
Plus tax & service fees
*Depending on room choice & workshop format