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Cultivating the Joy of Aging: A Ketamine-Assisted Mindfulness Retreat

Location icon
Phoenicia, NY 12464, USA
Date
June 24 - 27, 2027

About this Retreat

Details of this retreat

This is a safe, structured retreat led by a staff of licensed and highly experienced therapists and physicians in the beautiful Catskill Mountains at Menla Retreat and Spa.

“Perhaps aging is not a process of becoming less. Perhaps it is a process of remembering more.”

For much of our lives, many of us have worked very hard to be good: a good daughter or son, a good partner, a good parent, a good professional, a good citizen of whatever tribe we happened to belong to. We were so good at it that we forgot we were performing. The role became the self. Then, without asking permission, the cracks appear. A certainty dissolves. A role no longer fits. And we find ourselves asking a question that refuses to go away: what if this is not the whole story?

This retreat is an invitation to meet that question in community and to discover the unexpected joy of aging. The stories crack, the masks loosen, and beneath it all we find something ancient, something tender, and something surprisingly intact. Not a new self. The self that was waiting all along.

The retreat is open to individuals from all walks of life, ages and all levels of experience, whether you arrive with a personal intention, a professional lens, or simple curiosity. It is designed for those ready to deepen their personal growth within a supportive group setting. Together we will slow down, move gently beneath our defenses, and reconnect with the emotions we may have set aside in order to survive. Awakening contains grief: not because something is wrong, but because something is ending. We will honor the identities that carried us here even as we make room for what is emerging.

Ketamine is offered not as a mandatory component across three sessions. When chosen, it can support this process by softening defenses and reducing anxiety, allowing access to stillness, insight, and love. Many participants experience increased clarity, compassion, and a non-defensive perspective that supports meaningful transformation. Alongside the medicine work, we offer many portals for cultivating joy: meditation, breathwork, poetry, art, and time in the gardens and mountains that surround Menla. These practices open space for creativity and wonder and help create the conditions for cultivating joy.

At the heart of this retreat is the circle. Healing rarely happens in isolation. Wisdom is shared, truth ripens in community, and the group itself becomes the medicine. Again and again we watch the moment of sacred recognition arrive: the realization that we are not alone. So come. Pull up a chair. Bring your questions, your grief, and your joy. The circle is forming, and there is room for you.

Safety is our highest priority. Each participant is carefully screened to ensure readiness for the group experience and the safe, appropriate use of ketamine if chosen. This retreat is not a residential treatment program and is not appropriate for individuals experiencing an acute mental health crisis or unmanaged chronic psychiatric conditions. A medical interview is required for attendance.



Schedule:

Thursday, June 24

4 - 6 pm Check-in starts
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7 - 9 pm Evening program

Friday, June 25

7:45 - 8:30 am Meditation and yoga (optional)
8:30 - 9:30 Check-in and opening program (no breakfast)
9:30 - 10 am Meeting the medicine
10 am - 12:30 pm Ketamine session
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 - 3:30 pm BREAK (book a massage or spa treatment!)
3:30 - 5:30 pm Afternoon program
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7 - 8 pm Evening workshop
9 pm Bonfire (weather permitting)

Saturday, June 26

7:45 - 8:30 a, Meditation and yoga (optional)
8:30 - 10 am Morning program (no breakfast)
10 am - 12:30 pm Ketamine session
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 - 3:30 pm BREAK (book a massage or spa treatment!)
3:30 - 5:30 pm Afternoon program
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7 - 9 pm Evening workshop
9 pm Night activity

Sunday, June 27

8:15 - 11 am Check out of rooms
9 - 11 am Ketamine session (optional)
11 am - 12:30 pm Group process
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
2 - 3 pm Group activity
3 pm End of program (optional stay Sunday night)

*Please note this schedule is subject to change.

Getting Here

Location icon Menla, Phoenicia, NY 12464, USA

Accommodation

Deluxe King

Accommodation
Deluxe King Room with King Bed and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning This Space is not ADA compliant. Deluxe King Rooms are Available only in Kathmandu House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations

Deluxe Queen

Accommodation
Deluxe Queen Room with Queen Bed and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning All Rooms in Lhasa are Handicap-Accessible, Including Four Rooms with Wheelchair Accessible Showers. Deluxe Queen Rooms are Available in Lhasa Inn and Kathmandu House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations

Deluxe Double (Shared Room)

Accommodation
Deluxe Double Room with Two Full Size Beds and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning All Rooms in Lhasa are Handicap-Accessible, Including Four Rooms with Wheelchair Accessible Showers. Deluxe Double Rooms with Private Bathrooms are Located in the Lhasa Inn * Please note rates include meals and accommodations. This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You a Roommate if You Do Not Register with One.

Standard Single - Shared Bath

Accommodation
Menla Private Queen Room with Queen Bed and Shared Bathroom Public Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available This lodging type is not ADA Compliant Private Queen Rooms with Shared Bathroom are Available in Thimpu House, Panther Cottage and Potala House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations

Economy Premium Single - Shared Bath

Accommodation
Standard Premium Single Room with a Queen or Full Bed and Shared Bathroom Up to 10 guests share two large bathrooms. Each bathroom has two shower stalls and two toilets. A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room Phone Access Available in Upper Level Of Conference Center. All calls are free of charge This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note rates include meals and accommodations.

Economy Single - Shared Bath

Accommodation
Standard Single Room with a Twin Bed and Shared Bathroom Bathroom is Shared with One to Six Other Guests on Your Floor. A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note rates include meals and accommodations.

Economy Double - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Accommodation
Standard Double with Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom The bathroom is Shared with other rooms on the same floor. High-speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others

Economy Quad - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Accommodation
Standard Quad Room with Quad Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom Accommodations Fee Includes All Meals. High speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a quad shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others.

Customer Reviews

4.81 out of 5.0 average rating

5.0
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Cultivating Joy- A Ketamine Assisted Mindfulness Retreat
What a fabulous location and place for this amazing retreat at Menla! The food was great, the grounds were gorgeous and the buildings/ facilities evoked a feeling of peace, honor and tranquility. There is a feeling of spacious stillness at Menla. Look forward to returning.

5.0
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5 Stars for an Incredible Weekend!
We had a fantastic time at the Autumn Reset yoga retreat at Menla in October! The grounds are beautiful, the trails are perfect, the food was incredible, and the yoga space was stunning. The staff was super attentive and helpful. Our only feedback for next time is to be more timely with the bus pick-up (one of the other students waited at the bus stop for 25 minutes) and we wish there were some comfy indoor spaces to read and enjoy down time that weren't just the dining hall tables. Overall an A+ weekend and can't wait to do it again - we will be back!!! Thank you Menla!

2.0
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Beautiful but…
I do love the setting & atmosphere at Menla. There’s magic in the air. After 2 previous visits where I stayed in Dragon (which was dumpy) I paid more this time around for Naranda. It was a lovely room, much nicer than Dragon. There is a tiny mirror in an awkward inaccessible place. A larger mirror in a more accessible place would be appreciated. The bathroom stalls could use improvement! One does not lock at all and the way the doors are designed makes it impossible to know whether to push or pull them and they slam loudly when they shut, jarringly so. This could be easily fixed! The showers are extremely small and it’s very easy to freeze or scald yourself if your elbow accidentally hits the temperature lever. The coffee is TERRIBLE! I had a glimpse of the bag and it’s NOT organic or fair trade which is what we are lead to believe. The food is mostly delicious but inconsistent. On our last evening the risotto was extremely undercooked and sometimes things ran out. Lastly, another retreat was happening at the same time and several of my colleagues had no place to sit to eat their dinner as all the seats were taken. No bueno!

5.0
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Let’s Talk about appropriation
My stay at Menla was beautiful as the center itself, staff and guest are just lovely. The scenery and energy is amazing. Craig (fire keeper) and Jill (water pourer ) supported by Ericka ( song keeper) sweat lodge is legitimate and wonderful.

However , I attended the Wisdom Warrior retreat more than once , where the leader Kareema should get one star or less. She uses names like Iylana Vanzant and others big named people to demonstrate her so called authority in knowing what she is doing. Turns out Iylana and her had a falling out.

She pretends to be oh so spiritual when all she does is appropriate. When you go to her retreats she’s expects you to work like setting up etc. She poorly plans the retreat and actually it really is not much of a retreat because her co-partner also had a falling out with Kareema and she did most of the retreat prior where it was fine much better.

Kareema picking up the coordinating , designing and more of the retreat herself demonstrated just how much she does not know what she’s doing. Total incompetence.

Furthermore she throws tantrums when she do not go her way and she is perceived by me to be manipulative and verbally and emotionally abusive. Especially when her poorly planned retreat gets someone sick. She has no saftey measures in place and no one available to support her in necessary situations . Her retreats from my experience is Not a safe space at all.

She’s about to make a professional documentary using yet another persons skills for her credit, on the wisdom warriors where it will be used to mislead people on how experienced she is and what a “Queen” she thinks she is personally.

During the retreat she actually told a head staff what she wanted and that she was going to get other staff to do it because this lead staff told her no.

I felt Menla deserves 5 stars itself but wisdom warrior retreat is a façade meaning, I felt I should state the facts as I see them so people do not blindly believe the documentary or any publicity she used to collect peoples money. That’s what she’s really about cash to cash business so she doesn’t have to claim it probably ?

2.0
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Not very embodied
Although the description of this retreat emphasized an experiential focus, the first evening and subsequent morning sessions were nearly all theory, with lots of verbalization of concepts, with very little actual body & sensation focus. There were a guided meditation & a body scan, and a brief intro to qigong, but no exercises to facilitate somatic awareness & discernment. And the didactic material was scattered, lots of seemingly random spiritual axioms and theories put forth, some anecdotes, and an incomplete (without any actual experience occurring) description of how to recognize and deal with “incompleted” feelings or emotions, the basis for this theory of (somehow) completing them, and living a sane, happy & fulfilled life.. Instead, it sounds to me like a lot of tumbling around with and coming to some compromise for control with our ego…and again, the sessions were nearly all theoretical, intellectual. Where’s the body? I wondered, and withdrew from the workshop after the first session of the second day, finding the material & presentation not worthwhile.

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