At Home in Rock and Water: A Wilderness and Meditation Retreat

This retreat pairs the structure of a traditional sesshin with the physical and contemplative practice of wilderness travel. Six days in the Adirondacks means mornings and evenings of zazen in a monastery setting, but the days themselves unfold on water and in forest—canoeing Little Tupper Lake, camping, and sitting alone in nature. It's not a workshop about wilderness or a casual canoe trip with meditation breaks. The silence and daily zazen schedule anchor the retreat; the wilderness is where you practice.

Zen Mountain Monastery, located in the Catskills but running this program in the Adirondacks, teaches in the Soto lineage. Expect a traditional sesshin rhythm: early wake, periods of zazen and kinhin (walking meditation), communal meals in silence, and instruction. The difference is that your "work period" and much of your solo practice time happens outside—paddling, camping, moving through landscape. This appeals to people who sit well when there's also something to do, and to those who find the teaching of impermanence and non-self clearer in wild places than in a hall.

Come prepared for camping and paddling in August in upstate New York. Canoe experience is not required, but comfort in a canoe and willingness to paddle several hours a day matter. You'll be cold-soaking and sleeping under canvas; this isn't a retreat center with hot water and beds. The retreat draws a mix of experienced meditators seeking a different format and people relatively new to zazen who connect more readily with practice in motion and nature.