A 5-day Retreat with Sally Kempton
and Special Guest Elizabeth Rossa
Sunday, April 22 – Friday, April 27, 2012
Mount Madonna Retreat Center, Watsonville, CA
During this intensive retreat, based on core teachings and practices of Kashmir Shaivism, we’ll deeply explore what it means to practice with Shakti, the energy at the heart of life. Using two texts, the Pratyabhijnahrydayam (The Heart of Self-Recognition) and the Vijnana Bhairava as our guides, the retreat will offer a profoundly effective path to transforming your own mind, body and heart by recognizing and partnering with the energies that create both suffering and inner freedom. Through Sally’s talks, meditation, contemplation, yoga with Elizabeth Rossa, and many forms of individual and group inquiry, you’ll enter into a deepened awareness of the transformative power within you, and how that power can guide you at every moment in life.
Mount Madonna is a beautiful, well-supported, and spiritually powerful center in the coastal mountains near Santa Cruz, California, overlooking Monterey Bay. Offering vegetarian meals, walking trails, spa treatments, an Ayurvedic center, and several types of accommodations, it is a perfect backdrop for a deep retreat experience. You can check out their site at http://www.mountmadonna.org.
About Sally & Elizabeth
Sally Kempton is one of today’s most authentic spiritual teachers. She teaches devotional contemplative tantra—an approach to practice that creates a fusion of knowing and loving. Known for her ability to transmit inner experience through transformative practices and contemplation, Sally has been practicing and teaching for forty years.
A disciple of the great Indian guru Swami Muktananda, she spent twenty years as a teaching swami (monk) in the Saraswati order of Indian monks. In her guru’s ashram, she received a traditional training in yoga philosophy and practice, and became a popular teacher, deeply versed in the teachings and practices of Vedanta and Kashmir Shaivism.
In 2002, Sally began teaching independently. She now offers heart-to-heart transmission in meditation and life practice through her Awakened Heart Tantra workshops, teleclasses, retreats, and trainings in applied spiritual philosophy. Her workshops and teleconference courses integrate the wisdom of traditional yoga tantra with the insights of contemporary evolutionary spirituality and cutting-edge psychology.
She recently released Meditation for the Love of It—an indispensable on-the-mat guide to making your meditation a profound, adventurous, and deeply enjoyable relationship with your inner self. Written in Sally’s clear, personal style it explores the theory and practical reality of meditation practice—including the whys and hows of core meditation techniques, the best ways to work with thoughts and emotions, the meaning of experiences at every level, and the secrets of tuning into the power at the heart of meditation.
Elizabeth Rossa is the founder/director of SHRIYOGA, which was voted “Best Next Generation of Yoga” by New York Magazine in 2005, and since, featured in various publications including Gotham, Time Out and Real Simple. Originally certified to teach yoga 10 years ago by notable master teachers, Erich Schiffman and Max Strom, Elizabeth then spent many years refining her practice and teaching skills with Anusara founder John Friend. Under the guidance of her primary teacher and mentor, Sally Kempton, Elizabeth is as committed to teaching as she is to her on-going studentship. Currently, she is integrating new knowledge gleaned from the legendary teachings of Richard Freeman, after recently completing a 200 hour month-long teacher intensive with him and Mary Taylor at their Yoga Workshop. Further certifications include Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan, and Professional Level Reiki 3 through Wendy Miner of Memorial Sloane-Kettering’s Integrative Medicine Center.
As a teacher of yoga and meditation, Elizabeth holds space for clarity and freedom. She offers a fresh perspective which allows the ancient and esoteric to become modern and real. Students are encouraged to cultivate curiosity as they pause and breathe, deeply listening to what life is offering right here, right now.
Primarily committed to Shriyoga’s NYC grassroots community classes, Elizabeth is also on faculty at Kripalu. Philanthropically, she helped to spearhead a successful Give Your Yoga benefit for Women For Women International at Urban Zen in 2010, with plans underway for another in 2012. Personally inspired by WFW founder, Zainab Salbi’s mission, Elizabeth has also sponsored two “sisters” in Rwanda, and hopes to bring more awareness to this powerful organization which recognizes an inherent unity amongst us all.
Cost & Accommodations
The cost of the retreat, which also includes 3 meals a day, is based on the level of accommodations you choose. Early registration is recommended for your choice of accommodations, especially if you prefer a private room and bath. All accommodations are on a first come/first serve basis.
A $300 deposit per person is required to reserve your space. The remaining payment balance is due March 15, 2012.*
We currently do not have any single rooms. However, please email debATsallykempton and she will put you on the list as we may have some come available closer to the retreat.
- $1585 per person for private with bath
- $1425 per person for private with shared bath
- $1325 per person for double with private bath
- $1250 per person for double with shared bath
- $1180 per person for a triple
- $1100 per person for a dormitory
- $930 per person for Commuters/Own Van
*Prices are per person and do not include airfare or transportation.
Payment Policy: A $300 deposit per person is required to reserve your space. The remaining payment balance is due March 15, 2012.
If you cancel before March 15 we will refund all but $150 of your deposit or balance paid in full. If you cancel after March 15 AND after paying the balance in full, and we can fill your place, we will refund everything minus $150. If we cannot fill your spot, we cannot refund any monies due to our obligations to Mt. Madonna Center. Cancellation must be received in writing.
OR 
Registration/Check-in begins at 4pm on Sunday, April 22, 2012. Check-out by 1:30pm on Friday, April 27, 2012.
About Mount Madonna Conference Center
Located on 355 acres of open meadows and redwood forests Mt. Madonna includes hiking trails, volleyball, tennis, and basketball courts, a pond (we call it “The Lake”) for swimming, a hot tub, a gymnasium for volleyball and basketball, and massage and herbal steambath facilities.
All meals are strictly vegetarian, with non-dairy and non-gluten alternatives. Their kitchen staff provides the highest quality, delicious, fresh, lovingly prepared and presented foods.
Housing is available in both rooms and in cabins. All accommodations are on a first come/first serve basis.
Rooms are in hotel-style buildings (no phones or TVs in rooms). Some rooms include a private bathroom with shower. Others have access to nearby shared (but private while in use) bathrooms and showers.
Cabins are located in a forest grove, and include electricity and heat, but not indoor plumbing. A separate shower house with private shower and dressing rooms, and clean, well-ventilated privies are nearby.
All beds are twin size.
Various spots are available for your van, camper, or other vehicle. Some have access to electricity, but no other hookups. Showers and restrooms are available in campgrounds and Center buildings.
