Slip away for a weekend to beautiful Westerbeke Ranch, just 1.5 hours north of San Francisco. The deep nourishment of Westerbeke’s delicious food and relaxing landscape will help you unwind and reset, quieting the chatter of your mind and opening your heart to the wisdom that’s within you.
The retreat begins on Friday afternoon, and ends on Sunday afternoon, making it easy for you to leave your weekday responsibilities behind and come back refreshed for the week ahead.
The retreat will be led by two WITHIN teachers: Devon Pipars and Ranga Jayawardena. Devon brings the perspective of Advaita Vedanta, while Ranga draws from Buddhism. Together, they’ll offer wisdom, insight and guidance to help you cultivate awareness and joy.
Devon Pipars
Devon is a teacher and blogger for WITHIN Meditation, who also works with companies via wellness workshops, meditation sessions, and mindful communication coaching. She is a featured voice for Hyperice’s meditation training device Core, as well as a senior instructor on the Core app (hellocore.com).
Meditation is Devon’s passion and purpose. A meditator since 2002, the practice has been deeply transformative for her. After devoting four years to the study and practice of meditation under the guidance of a master teacher in the Indian Himalayas, Devon’s sessions incorporate multiple traditions and techniques including mindfulness, breath work, mantra, gratitude practice & loving kindness.
Devon is masterful at translating all she’s learned into simple terms, making her classes appropriate for first-time meditators as well as experts. No matter what your experience level, her approach effectively reduces stress and promotes well-being.
Ranga Jayawardena
Ranga sees meditation as playing with perception. We can learn how to adjust perception, and therefore experience, towards more enjoyment, strength and freedom.
He began his training with formal meditation practice at age 10, and has been on a journey of discovery ever since. After years of climbing the corporate ladder and later co-founding startups, he has shifted his career towards sharing his enthusiastic approach to meditation practice.
Ranga's teaching style entails bringing the ancient wisdom of the Buddha to the modern ear, through personal stories and contemporary similes. Rather than offering a singular, rigid view, he believes that we each hold the authority to find our authentic path in life and to deeply free ourselves up from worrying, anger, doubt, dullness and a sense of lacking. As such, he approaches his role as a teacher with an open heart; open to all the particularities, experiences and uniqueness of each student.
He draws on over 20 years of meditation practice and a lifetime of learning from Buddhist (and a few Daoist) meditation masters to guide friends on their personal journeys towards what they yearn for.
Westerbeke Ranch is a restful retreat nestled in the rolling Sonoma countryside. Delightful paths lead to charming redwood sleeping cabins, nestled among trees and gardens. Each bedroom has its own bathroom and residence area for privacy and unwinding. The gathering spaces for our retreat will be the Round House and Casa Vista; you’ll also be able to explore the grounds (and the pool!) at your leisure. A delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner will be served throughout your stay. For more pictures and information about the location, visit Westerbeke’s website.