3 Day Vipassana Retreat in Canada

Three full days (three nights) spent in noble silence with a guided programme of Vipassana meditation, hatha yoga, pranayama, walking meditation and sound practices. You arrive Thursday evening and leave Sunday at noon. It is a residential retreat: you sleep, eat and practise at the retreat centre, and phones stay off the whole time.

Yes. Most people at our 3-day retreats have never done a silent retreat before, and many have never meditated regularly. Every practice is taught from the beginning and guided out loud. If you can sit on a chair and breathe, you can do this retreat.

We run 3-day retreats at several locations in Alberta, Canada, currently Gull Lake (a house on the lakeshore) and Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre near Cochrane. Each date shows its location. Directions come with the welcome letter after you book; you can drive yourself, or ask for a seat in the free organised transfer when you register.

It depends on the location and the room, starting from $549 CAD per person; current prices are listed under Our retreat locations on this page. Every price includes three nights’ accommodation, vegetarian meals, the complete programme of practices including one private sound healing session, the free transfer and post-retreat notes. You pay a deposit to book and the balance at check-in.

Gull Lake is about 1.5 hours' drive from both Edmonton and Calgary. Mount St. Francis Retreat Centre is in Cochrane, about 30 minutes from Calgary and 3 hours from Edmonton. A free organised transfer runs to every location; ask for a seat when you register.

Yes, and it is easier than it sounds. Noble silence starts Thursday evening after orientation and ends Sunday morning before the sharing circle. You can always write a note or speak privately with a teacher if something needs attention. Most participants say the silence is what they miss most when they get home.

Phones, laptops and watches with notifications are switched off for the whole retreat. Before we begin you receive the organisers' number to leave with family, so you can be reached in an emergency without carrying a device.

Yes. The yoga at a silent retreat is slow and gentle by design: its job is to make sitting comfortable, not to challenge you. Every posture has an easier version, chairs are available for meditation and you are always free to rest.

Every full day follows the same rhythm: an early-morning block of prostrations, sitting, pranayama and yoga before breakfast; a morning of walking meditation, personal time and a longer sitting; an afternoon of yoga, breathwork, sound healing and meditation; and an evening of the group sound bath, Om chanting and rest. Roughly 3 to 4 hours of meditation a day, never more than an hour at a time. The timed schedule is emailed two weeks before the retreat.

Vegetarian meals every day, plus fruit and snacks between sessions; how many meals depends on the location. Meals are eaten in silence. A gluten-free option is available for all three days if you mention it when you book, and we can work around other allergies if we know in advance.

Comfortable clothes you can sit and stretch in, warm layers and outdoor shoes for walking meditation, a yoga mat and a meditation cushion if you have them, a water bottle, slippers, toiletries and a journal. Bedding and towels are provided.

It happens, and it is a normal part of the process. Silence brings up what is usually covered by noise. Both teachers are available for a private conversation at any point during the three days, and they keep an eye on everyone in the room.

No. Vipassana is a technique of attention rather than a belief system. People of every background join; if you are looking for a 3 day spiritual retreat that asks for no belief, this is one. This is our own guided three day retreat led by Artem and Valerii, combining Vipassana with yoga, pranayama and sound; it is shorter and more gently paced than the 10-day Goenka course.

The one-day retreat is a single day in the city with no overnight stay: a first taste. The 3 day silent retreat is residential, three nights at a retreat location with phones off, and it is where the technique actually settles. Our 10-day Vipassana course runs online from home. Most people do them in that order, and the three day retreat is the one we recommend if you can only do one. See the comparison table above.

For most people a three day silent retreat is the ideal first retreat: long enough for the mind to settle and for the technique to become clear, short enough to fit around work and family. Many participants come back every season; others use it as the foundation for our online 10-day Vipassana course or a longer retreat.

The retreats are open to everyone. If you would rather share a room only with women, Gull Lake has a shared women's room; private rooms are available at every location. Prices are listed under Our retreat locations.

Yes, and many people do. Three days of guided practice give you the technique, the experience of silence and a sense of how your body handles long sitting, which makes a 10-day course, our online one or a residential one, much easier to begin.

Cancel or move to a future retreat up to 30 days before the start, and your deposit is refunded minus the Eventbrite processing fee, or transferred to another retreat within 12 months, subject to availability. Inside 30 days the deposit is non-refundable and non-transferable, because your room and meals have already been paid for. You may pass your place to someone else with our approval. If we cancel, you are refunded in full.