Close your eyes and you will see

– but deadlines are approaching

Even with a conventional mindset, you can appreciate what an Acem retreat has to offer: a swim in the lake, a walk in the woods, a room with a view, and interesting conversations with people from various parts of the world. The benefits of spending a week of your summer holiday sitting alone in your room with closed eyes for several hours a day may be less obvious. In fact, however, long meditations are where you pave the way for more fundamental changes in your life.

An Acem retreat is hardly the only type of holiday that can make you relax and regain your energy (though these effects are quite remarkable). It may also be only one of several opportunities for social encounters in an international setting (though it brings you surprisingly close to the nerve of your fellow participants).

What makes a summer retreat in Acem stand out from other holiday alternatives is the generous abundance of time spent in deep silence and with closed eyes, but with a wakeful and receptive presence of mind. In the course of the week, the long meditations enable you to nudge open some of the doors that give you access to inner territories of which you have been only vaguely aware, or perhaps not at all. Some of the doors may squeak a bit, and the rooms to which they lead may at first seem obscure and hazy. It helps, though, to translate some of the silent movements of your mind into the exploratory language of the guidance sessions that follow after every long meditation. In the end, you may come home with a richer sense of self, better access to your own inner resources, and an increased ability to put these resources to good use in your work and personal relations.

As in all walks of life, there are deadlines. By registering and paying before 1 June, you may save up to 150 euros. By signing up for shared transport no later than two weeks before the retreat starts, you may avoid the cost and hassle of finding alternative transport from the airport to the retreat center. Even if you miss both deadlines, you are still welcome to participate – until the retreat is fully booked.

International Summer Retreats in Acem Meditation 2015
Acem Meditation World Retreat in the Spanish Pyrenees 2016