Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing: Meditation Retreats in the New York Catskills — Local services in Town of Wawarsing

My first silent meditation retreat… to sum it up in one word, “ Extraordinary“ I arrived on Friday night mentally drained and feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. I was welcomed by the most delicious farm to table vegetarian meal. Shortly after our program started, with some introductions and the turn over of our phones… the Tibetan Singing Bowls were Tapped and the silence began. We would commune together for group focused meditation, and walking meditation, but other than that we had a lot of time for self reflection and rest. In the beginning, when I got to my room to read, I would find myself falling asleep within 15 minutes. It actually took 18 hours of being completely unplugged without outside stimulation to decompress enough to get the mental rest I needed. After 18 hours my thoughts became much more clear and I seemed to derive energy from the meditation versus falling asleep. I worked on a writing project that I had been procrastinating… my creativity started flowing. I started feeling compassion versus anger towards certain individuals. The gift of no distractions, phones , TV, internet, pressures to look or act, a certain way- were so therapeutic! Even not having to engage in small talk left me more energized. I loved not being vulnerable to anyone else’s agenda … and I could just experience “Being” as the yogis have described with meditation in the background. The center itself is a hidden gem. It felt very much like a boutique experience with more staff/ volunteers than participants. The positive energy of the center was palpable. The place and the people definitely vibrated at a higher frequency. The grounds and the rooms were spotless, and it was clear that every single detail was well thought out in the design. The food was delicious and clearly made with such love. And although the volunteer servers didn’t speak, their radiant smiles left you with such warmth. When the silence ended, all the participants got to have our closing lunch together. And although we hadn’t spoken until then, we felt the closeness based on our shared experience. We all felt the same way… we wished it was longer, and wished we could stay for at least five nights. Lol! Honestly after those 48 hours I feel like I’ve gained at least another year onto my life💗 Highly recommend for anyone needing mental rest … and everyone needs mental rest (in my...

The past too many months of COVID have been difficult for the entire world. Most have dealt with death, sorrow, loss and suffering in its many forms. I realized I needed a place find some quiet..some peace. The Dharmakaya Center itself is pretty new and has been meticulously maintained and obviously put together with care. The rooms, dining hall, the meditation hall, every space that I went into in fact, was super clean with sanitizer and Lysol wipes readily available. Everything was spaced so there was at least 6 ft between all participants, usually more. All meals were provided and the food was absolutely amazing, and daring in fact. Thank you Mamadou! (vegetarian/vegan). The meals were served in disposable eco-friendly containers so there would be less chance of COVID contamination. The program was led by Gary. He showed the group several different ways to meditate with emphasis on being able to take these techniques home and incorporate them into our daily lives. I felt he was very sincere in his desire to convey what knowledge he had. He also took time to make sure to email us the meditations, the spoken words and dedications after the weekend was over. Dharmakaya seemed a little on the pricier side but it's comparable to other places in the area. To put it in perspective, I use one of the techniques that Gary taught that weekend, every single day to get by. That alone is enough to have made that weekend worthwhile for me. I cannot speak for other places but I can vouch for the cleanliness, the overall peaceful and comfortable feeling that this place vibes on. If you're looking for a place to go to give yourself some time and space, surround yourself with beauty both man-made and in nature, feed your soul and your body what it needs, and be sincerely taken care of by kind people, then I recommend you take a day or a weekend here and...

I went on a four day personal retreat here after the end of an extremely stressful school year as a teacher. Overall, it is very nice place. The staff was very nice and the room and bathrooms were super clean. I will admit my first day there I had the place basically to myself and was spoiled, but for the rest of my four day stay, my experience wasn’t as peaceful. On my second day a large group came to stay, and they were were not mindful or respectful of other guests. The doors to the sleeping quarters are heavy and make a loud sound when opening and closing them. There are signs on them saying to close them quietly to assure they don’t slam, but it seemed like I was the only one who took that to heart. There are spaces in the bedrooms to meditate, but with the incessant coming and going of guests, the doors were constantly slamming - meditating was nearly impossible. It happened so often it was almost comical. The worst was at night, as guests were talking at full volume in the hallways until well after 11 pm. For reference I brought a white noise machine (set on full volume) and could still hear the talking and door slamming over it. I’m pretty easy going, but this was upsetting as the whole point of this trip was to gain some peace, quiet and relaxation. I know this is not at the fault of those at Dharmakaya, but I would urge future guests to be more considerate of other people during their stay, and maybe staff can do a better job at...