A Sacred Pause
Coming Home to Stillness, Belonging & Soulful Expression
A Meditation Retreat | September 9-13, 2026
Most of us live in doing mode.
We work hard. We manage family. We respond to it all. We hold everything together.
And somewhere beneath all that motion, something quieter begins to stir — a longing for stillness, connection and a deeper sense of belonging.
This retreat is an invitation to pause. Not to step away from life — but to return to the center of it. To remember who you are beneath the roles, the striving and the noise.
Often, there’s nowhere we feel we can really turn with these feelings. So we keep going. And in our more reflective moments, a deeper longing appears—not for more achievement, but for something abiding: peace, connection, and a sense of fulfillment we know, deep down, that constant doing can’t provide.
This retreat is an invitation to return to that place.
To reconnect with your own inner peace.
To rediscover your natural creative energy.
To remember what it feels like to be in relationship—with nature, with others, and with the simple aliveness of being human.
Beauty and stillness. Time outdoors. Real connection. Space to breathe. Space to be.
The Land that Holds Us
Land of the Medicine Buddha is one of the most beloved Tibetan Buddhist retreat centers in the United States, set within 108 acres of redwood forest above Soquel.
From the moment you arrive, the pace shifts. Prayer wheels line the paths, shrines appear quietly among the trees, and forest trails invite wandering without destination. Many people say the land itself feels welcoming—calm, protective, and alive.
The redwoods seem to slow time. The silence feels companionable. The environment supports an effortless return to presence, making it easier to rest, listen, and remember what already lives within you.
The Shape of the Retreat
Our days will include dharma talks, meditation and silence—rest, and mindful presence—allowing the nervous system to soften and attention to come home. Silence becomes a supportive container rather than an absence, making room for clarity, ease, and inner steadiness to arise on their own.
Silent walks through the redwoods invite a different kind of listening. The land offers its own rhythm—steady, spacious, and grounding—reminding us how natural it is to be here, just as we are.
There will be moments we turn toward creative expression—movement, art, writing, sound, and shared presence—not to produce or perform, but to play, explore, and give shape to what’s been quietly forming within. Creativity becomes a way of staying in conversation with life.
Your Teachers
Cari Jacobs-Crovetto is a meditation teacher, executive coach, retreat leader and podcast host of Finding Treasures in the Trash. Cari spent 30 years in the corporate world building a successful career as a CMO. While Cari’s professional career soared, she felt more disillusioned and unfulfilled. She began to build a bridge to a more personal endeavor and became obsessed with personal growth and self-awareness. In 1998, , she began an active and rigorous study of meditation and mindfulness – long before it was cool – and spent three months in silence while living in India. In 2005, Cari began teaching meditation at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in their family program and by 2010, Cari was teaching in Dharma Centers and companies as a side hustle.
Cari has extensive training including completing the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach and is currently in the Dedicated Practitioner Program at Spirit Rock. She brings a warm, grounded, humorous, and deeply human approach to her teaching. She is an ICF-certified executive coach, teaches at Stanford Graduate School of Business, works with UC Berkeley–affiliated programs, and founded Brave Directions, a practice dedicated to personal, organizational, and leadership transformation. Her work invites people to reconnect with inner truth, embodied presence, and a deeply meaningful way of living and leading.
James Rosser is a certified meditation teacher and licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) with decades of experience supporting individuals and groups in emotional well-being, resilience, and personal growth. He holds leadership roles at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital, where he supervises outpatient behavioral health programs and contributes to the delivery of integrated mental health care. James brings deep psychological insight, relational skill, and systems awareness to his contemplative teaching.
He has over 30 years of personal meditation practice and has completed the Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program with Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach. He is a Trained Mindful Self-Compassion Teacher and a student in the Community Dharma Leadership Program at Spirit Rock’s Dharma Institute, where he also completed the Dedicated Practitioner Program. James teaches through InsightLA, serves as a Mentor at the Self-Compassion Institute, leads Community Builder Retreats at Big Bear Retreat Center, and leads other classes, retreats, and community programs for diverse populations.
His teaching is known for its warmth, clarity, and integration of mindfulness, self-compassion, and therapeutic understanding—supporting people in cultivating presence, ease, and authentic connection in everyday life.
Retreat Manager &
Embodiment Coach
Emily Morrison is an embodiment coach, facilitator, and movement artist. She is an ISMETA-Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist, a Guild-Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner®, and a graduate of Anna Halprin’s Tamalpa Institute (the Tamalpa Life/Art Process®). Her work integrates somatic education, contemplative practice, and creative process, supporting individuals in developing trusting relationships with the wisdom of their bodies.
She has maintained a devoted meditation practice for over fourteen years within the nondual tradition, engaging in sustained mentorship and retreat practice. Throughout this time, somatic listening and creative expression have remained central—grounding her spiritual life in lived, embodied experience and deep trust in the current of her life force as it moves through the body.
Emily holds a private practice in Berkeley, CA, where, through private coaching and group facilitation, she works with artists, activists, and visionaries to cultivate resilience, authentic expression, and inner authority. She continues to create and perform, experiencing art as both offering and practice. She brings compassion, appreciative curiosity, and a quietly playful spirit to all forms of her work.
Photos courtesy of Land of Medicine Buddha
Retreat Cost
Retreat costs include:
Room of your choice
Three all-organic carefully curated vegetarian or vegan meals per day
Parking for standard sized vehicles & SUVs
Access to all retreat center hiking paths
Swimming pool, sauna, and jacuzzi
All teachings and activities
Room cost varies by room selection.
Single Room
Double Room
Shared Room, 3-4
Single Yurt
Double Yurt
Single Tent Platform
$2250
$1950
$1675
$1625
$1500
$1400
Register
To reserve your place in the retreat, payment in full is required at the time of booking. If a payment plan would better support your participation, please contact Cari at cari@bravedirections.com to discuss available options.