Courageous Heart, Calm Mind: Living Intentionally Through Zen & Yoga

The combination

This retreat pairs two disciplines that work on the body-mind simultaneously: Zen zazen (sitting meditation) and Iyengar yoga, a methodical alignment-based practice. The pairing isn't incidental — both cultivate steady awareness of posture, breath, and internal state. Where zazen is stillness, yoga is conscious movement, but the intention is parallel: settling into direct experience rather than thinking about experience.

Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman leads the Zen side. As abbot of San Francisco Zen Center, one of the oldest and most established Zen communities in North America, he represents the Soto Zen lineage — a tradition that emphasizes zazen as itself enlightenment, not a means to it. The daily schedule will likely follow traditional sesshin (intensive retreat) form: early rising, multiple sitting periods, kinhin (walking meditation), meals taken together in silence, and likely dokusan (private meetings with the teacher).

What to expect

A 5-day residential format at Green Gulch Farm, SFZC's rural retreat center in Marin County. Expect the retreat to alternate between Zen meditation blocks and yoga sessions — not a casual hybrid, but an integrated daily rhythm. The yoga instruction from Letitia Bartlett will be precise and attentive to alignment; Iyengar style is known for its detail and use of props to find proper position.

Living quarters are simple, shared dormitory-style. Meals are vegetarian and eaten in silence as part of the practice. The schedule emphasizes noble silence throughout — no talking except in dokusan or structured conversation.

Who this is for

The retreat welcomes all levels explicitly. If you've never sat Zen before, the schedule and instruction will guide you. If you practice yoga already but are new to Zen, or vice versa, this retreat is designed to welcome both backgrounds. The combination may appeal especially to people who find sitting alone difficult, or who want to explore how physical and meditative practice inform each other.