01 · Sanghos
Muir Beach, CA
One-Day Sitting at Green Gulch Farm
Nov 1613 Hours
DonationReserve
Sanghos Wellness Passport · No. 002
Bay Area
Fog, redwoods and the oldest practice halls in the West.
The City in One Truth
Fog off the Pacific, redwoods on every ridge, and the deepest contemplative lineage in the country. The Bay is where American Zen and insight practice took root, and it still holds them well.
The Sanghos Bay Area Passport is a way through it all, from a Sunday sit by the ocean to a week of silence in the redwoods.
Now Booking
Bookable now in Bay Area.
Three vetted micro-retreats from the Sanghos catalogue — each one chosen for the people you should be sitting with this season.
Chapter
The Institutions
Lineage centers that have held silence in these hills for decades. Daylongs, sesshins and residential retreats.
Spirit Rock Meditation Center
Woodacre, Marin
One of the leading insight meditation centers in the country, set in the rolling hills of West Marin. Daylongs for newcomers and residential silent retreats for those ready to go deeper.
Green Gulch Farm Zen Center
Muir Beach
Part of San Francisco Zen Center: an organic farm and Zen practice center a short walk from the ocean. Sunday programs, weekend retreats and guest stays.
1440 Multiversity
Scotts Valley
A 75-acre nonprofit campus in the redwoods. The most polished option here, with trails, lodging and meals sourced from nearby farms.
Mount Madonna Center
Watsonville
A community-run center for yoga and Ayurveda on 380 acres of redwoods and grassland. Offers self-guided personal retreats with lodging and meals.
Land of Medicine Buddha
Soquel
A Tibetan Buddhist retreat center on 108 acres of coastal foothills, bordering protected redwood forest. You do not need to be Buddhist to come.
Jikoji Zen Center
Los Gatos, Skyline Blvd
Hidden PickA small, rustic Soto Zen retreat in the hills, with sesshins and personal retreats. Quieter and more austere than anywhere else on this list.
Chapter
The Sanctuaries
Quieter houses, city zendos and day sanctuaries. Places to return to without leaving for a week.
San Francisco Zen Center
Hayes Valley, San Francisco
The city temple of the lineage that brought Zen to America. Morning zazen and introductory programs, right in the middle of San Francisco.
San Francisco Insight
San Francisco
A community for insight meditation in the city, with weekly sits and daylongs for practitioners at every level.
Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary
Freestone, Sonoma
Hidden PickKnown for its cedar enzyme baths, Japanese tea garden and meditation garden. The best day-retreat option in the region.
Westerbeke Ranch
Sonoma
A family homestead for five generations that became a retreat center, about an hour north of the city. It mostly hosts visiting groups, which makes it a natural home for retreat weekends.
Vallombrosa Center
Menlo Park
A Catholic-rooted retreat house with an interfaith welcome, set in quiet gardens. Contemplative programs, easy to reach from the city or the South Bay.
Mercy Center
Burlingame
Run by the Sisters of Mercy, with contemplative prayer, meditation and personal retreats on a peaceful campus. Open to people of all backgrounds.
Chapter
Further Afield
Worth the drive when you are ready for a longer container.
Esalen Institute
Big Sur
The iconic cliffside institute on the Big Sur coast, about three hours south. Worth the drive for a longer container.
Harbin Hot Springs
Lake County
Rebuilding since the 2015 Valley Fire. Its new buildings were set to reopen in spring 2026, so check with Harbin before you plan a visit.
Start Here
If you've never done a micro-retreat in the Bay
A sequenced introduction. Three experiences. In this order.
01
A Sunday program at Green Gulch
Zazen, a talk and tea, then a walk to the ocean. The gentlest way into the Bay's practice community.
02
A daylong at Spirit Rock
A full day in noble silence with experienced teachers. Bring layers. The hills turn cold by late afternoon.
03
A personal retreat at Mount Madonna
Book a self-guided stay among the redwoods once a day of silence feels like home.
The Neighborhoods
Wellness doesn't happen uniformly across a city.
01
Marin & West Marin
Oak hills, ocean fog and two of the country's most important practice centers.
Lineage, silence, coastal
02
Sonoma
Farmland and old ranches. Baths, gardens and slower weekends.
Restorative, pastoral
03
San Francisco
City zendos and weekly sits for anyone who practices between commitments.
Urban, steady, daily
04
The Peninsula
Retreat houses in quiet gardens, often rooted in contemplative Christianity.
Contemplative, gentle
05
Santa Cruz Mountains
Redwood campuses for longer stays and personal retreats.
Immersive, forested
Your Passport
A document that travels with you.
Each city Passport is a collectible. Every experience you complete becomes a stamp. You collect cities. You return to a city and your Passport shows what you've already explored — and what you haven't yet.
Sanghos
Wellness Passport
City
Bay Area
Curated by The Sanghos Editorial Team
Start Here Path
1
A Sunday program at Green Gulch
2
A daylong at Spirit Rock
3
A personal retreat at Mount Madonna
Updated this seasonNo. 001
Bay Area will sell you wellness all day long. What Sanghos curates is something different — the places and people where the practice is real, where the transformation is genuine, and where you leave knowing something you didn't when you arrived.
That is the only standard that matters here.
Curated by
The Sanghos Editorial Team
Curated by practitioners who sit in these halls. No paid placements. No algorithm. Just the places where the practice is real.