Week-long Retreat with Jaya Ashmore - Catalonia - June 2025
Dates: 15 - 22 June 2025
Location: Kshanti Les Gavatxes, Carretera d'Oix a Beget, 17867 Camprodon,
Girona, Catalonia.
Contact: Email the retreat manager, Emma - emma.opendharma@gmail.com, with
any questions and to confirm your travel arrangements
ABOUT THE RETREAT:
Jaya welcomes new and experienced meditators to this week of connecting with aliveness in silence, nature and deep rest meditation.
The teachings on this retreat are offered on donation.
Simple rest facilitates healing and learning. Deep rest helps us to remember what is important in life, and to shift into alignment with our deepest wisdom. The supportive conditions of retreat can help us feel more at home in life, and in ourselves, so that we can better listen to our own experience and guidance.
Jaya offers embodied, finely-tuned meditation instructions to help lower the “alarm system” and to connect directly with aliveness beyond ideas. With deep rest, old programming can resolve with less drama than when we force things. And we are more likely to fall into natural spaciousness, joy and insight. These shifts can help us to orient in our values, to live and learn what is precious in life, and to awaken to what is.
On this retreat, you are welcome to lie down or sit for meditation in the hall—whatever position best supports depth in your meditation. In addition to 45-minute meditations in the hall, the daily schedule also encourages meditation during
periods of walking, meals, rest, and collaborating with daily tasks such as cleaning and gardening. Jaya also offers three optional activities: one-to-one meetings, meditative movement and meditative singing.
The silence of retreat--complemented by instructions, teachings, question-and-answer sessions and singing--is not the silence of censorship or of trying to be good. Rather, it is the sweet silence of freedom that allows us all space for our own inner explorations and for the unconditional belonging of aliveness.
Set in lush meadowland in the foothills of the Pyrenees, the center at Les Gavatxes allows us to be at home in the wild. Padding on soft grass along the paths to the meditation hall, we have the company of forested mountains near and far. During the long lunch break, the river or shaded mountain trails may call. After the evening meditation, we can enjoy unhurried stargazing.
Jaya offers her teachings and support on a radical donation basis—following an age-old tradition of offering teachings in trust and allowing participants to feel the joy and challenge of engaging in mutual support.
Jaya receives no income from retreat fees, apart from travel costs and her stay during the retreat.
Similarly, the retreat manager offers her support--without which this retreat would be impossible--on a donation basis.
At the end of the retreat, we will invite you to give conscious donations from the heart for teacher and manager. The schedule, the friendly yet dignified atmosphere, Jaya’s practical and inspiring guidance--and the surrounding forested hills--together help retreatants discover and follow their unique paths towards unfolding freedom.
Language: The retreat will be held in English. Jaya can understand and speak in Catalan and Spanish for one-to-one meetings, if needed.
ABOUT JAYA:
Jaya Ashmore has taught meditation and awakening to thousands of people in a dozen countries since 1999. She revolutionized silent retreats by introducing deep rest meditation over twenty years ago.
Born in the U.S., where she studied religion and art at Harvard, Jaya began practicing meditation in 1985, and was authorized to teach in 1998 by Christopher Titmuss. Jaya has immersed in Buddhism, Yoga, Advaita (non-duality), Christianity and Hindu mysticism, as well as ecology, poetry, embodied movement, and the Japanese art of Jin Shin Jyutsu.
Based in India with her teachers for two decades, Jaya founded the nonprofit Open Dharma in the early 2000s to support awakening for people from any and no religion. She is also grateful to have co-founded Open Dharma in Catalonia and, from 2008-2016, the eco-retreat center Dharmaloca in Catalonia, Spain.
Also an artist and mother, Jaya published her book of Dharma drawings, Already Here, in 2022, and recently came out with a 550-page compilation of essays and images called Just Wondering. Her teachings and art also feature in the Open Dharma anthology Out of Nowhere. You can find all three books on jayaashmore.org/books, as well as Jaya’s new audio course on deep rest meditation at https://www.jayaashmore.org/challenges. You can also access hundreds of free
meditations and talks on both jayaashmore.org and opendharma.org.
ACCOMMODATION:
~ Shared room
Indoor accommodation is in simple yet beautiful rooms in the stone houses and a wood cabin, shared between 2-6 people. All bathrooms are shared. Bedding and towels are provided.
~ Glamping tents
Nestled in the forest, in a secluded location but at easy reach from the main track, there are 3 private glamping tents with bed and bedding included. A compost toilet and shower are nearby. There is no electricity. Please note this is a short walk uphill.
~Camping
In a designated area, with beautiful views. Please bring your own camping equipment, including bedding/sleeping bag, towel, torch/flashlight, tent, and everything else you need to be comfortable.
FOOD:
Our meals will be vegetarian, cooked with love and dedication.
Special dietary requirements including lactose free or gluten free can be provided, for an additional 2,50 € per day—thank you for indicating this on your registration form. The retreat center does not charge a supplement for vegan diets but please inform us if you are vegan so we can make sure your needs are met.
To ensure your food requirements are best met, we ask you to let us know no fewer than 14 days before the retreat begins, so that the cook can prepare menus and supplies accordingly.
We ask you to bring the food supplement payment in euros cash, to pay on arrival.
Thank you for your understanding.
THE COST:
For the whole retreat, not including donations for manager and teacher:
Shared indoor accommodation: 595 €
Glamping: 587 €
Camping: 447 € - Camping is now full.
Please note that we cannot take bookings for specific rooms or sharing arrangements. Please simply book one of the 3 options indoor--indoor, glamping tent or camping option. Rooms will be allocated on arrival.
*There are limited spaces for camping and glamping which may often fill up early.
Donations(dana) for managers and teacher:
Your retreat payment covers your own room and food, and also the travel costs, food and accommodation of both teacher and manager.
At the end of this retreat you will be welcomed to offer donations to Jaya and Emma. Their work begins many months before, and continues during and after the retreat. They take it all on joyfully and in the spirit of generosity, and your donations help make their support sustainable.
Jaya is able to teach this retreat because past donations have sustained her life as a mother, artist, meditator, householder, and taxpayer. She lives on donations even in a time when many teachers have had to start charging for teachings. Your support is very welcome.
TRANSPORT:
The nearest airport is Girona, and further away is Barcelona. From there it is possible to take public transport to Olot or Castellfollit de la Roca. Rides from there can be arranged with Les Gavatxes for between 20-50 euros. Emma will gather everyone’s requirements and coordinate with Les Gavatxes to organise this. Once you have registered you will receive more information about booking rides.
There is also an international train station in Figueres, and an airport and international train station nearby in Perpignan, France.
TIMINGS:
Please arrive between 3 - 4 pm on Sunday, June 15. The Retreat will begin that day after registration at 6pm and will end after lunch on Sunday, June 22nd, at 2pm. Please make sure your departure is between 2pm and 5pm.
You may be able to stay at the retreat center a day or two before / after retreat. To arrange this, you will need to contact the retreat center directly, (more information will be sent to you when booking).
PAYMENT:
Thank you for paying the full amount when booking your place.
We can offer a full refund for cancellations up to 18th May 2025, minus an administration fee of 50 euros. We cannot offer refunds after this date, unless someone else is able to fill the spot.
You will need to bring cash in euros to pay for any special dietary needs (2.50 euros/day) and lifts to and from the retreat center.
We look forward to welcoming you on retreat!