What I Do & Why It's Different
Five-day silent retreats for adults who think too much. Eighteen years of clinical psychology under the surface. Eight participants per cohort. Phones in a basket. Walking meditation through twelve acres of forest.
Five Days of Silence
Clinically-Informed Holding
Twelve Acres of Forest
Eight People Maximum
Three Vegetarian Meals Daily
No Devices, No Exceptions
Clinical Background
Group Size of Eight
Daily 1:1 Check-ins
Low-Stimulus Setting
What Actually Happens
Forest path on the property, morning light
Old beech, two-hour walk loop
Light through pine, third-day silence
Meditation hall, before morning sit
Reading nook, used only after day five
"I had not stopped working in seven years. Five days at the farmhouse and I remembered who I was before any of it. The fifteen-minute check-ins were the most precise therapy I have had."
"I came skeptical. Day three something gave way I did not know was holding. Elke held it without making it dramatic. I have been back twice."
"The walking meditation in the forest was the doorway. Eighteen years of running and I had never walked slowly. Now I do, every day."
"Eight participants is the right number. Larger and the silence dilutes. Smaller and there is nowhere to hide. Elke knows what she built."
"The vegetarian food, eaten in silence, is its own teacher. I have changed how I eat at home. That is one of many things this week gave me."
"I am a surgeon. I came after losing a patient I should not have lost. Five days with Elke gave me back the part of myself that knows how to grieve. I have been three more times."
"The fifteen-minute daily check-ins are the key. Elke listens with the kind of presence that makes you forget you have been waiting your whole life to be heard properly."
"I tried meditation apps for three years. They never worked. Five days at Elke's farmhouse rewired something in me. I sit without being told to now. That is the result."
What It's Like to Be Here
You arrive on a Sunday afternoon. Phones go in a basket. Dinner that night is the last conversation. Days follow a fixed shape — meditation before sunrise, breakfast in silence, walking meditation in the forest, midday rest, afternoon sit, dinner in silence, evening sit. One private fifteen-minute check-in per day with Elke. By day three the noise quiets. By day four something else is heard. Day five is the slow re-entry.
Who Comes to My Retreats
Therapists. Doctors. Founders. People mid-career who realised the noise is no longer optional. About sixty percent are women between thirty-eight and sixty-two. The remaining forty percent are mostly men around the same range. Almost all are professionals.
Not for people in active mental health crisis or expecting a wellness vacation. The container is high-discipline and the silence is real. Anyone uncomfortable with structured stillness should look elsewhere.
Upcoming Retreats
I run a few retreats a year. Leave your email and I'll let you know when the next one opens.
Five-Day Silent Retreat — Spring Cohort
Five-Day Silent Retreat — Autumn Cohort
If you have a question, want to discuss a private group, or just want to say hi — I read every message.