Methodology
How We Chose
This guide ranks U.S. meditation retreat centers on five criteria, using only facts each center publishes, and lists the publisher's own teaching venue first as his labeled pick.
Last updated: November 2026Published by Andrew Keaveney
Disclosure: This guide is published by Andrew Keaveney, who helped launch and regularly teaches retreats at the Art of Living Retreat Center, ranked first as his pick. It is not an independent review. Every entry is judged on the same criteria described on the methodology page.
How are the retreats in this guide ranked?
The U.S. Meditation Retreat Guide judges every center on practice style, range of program lengths, stated beginner support, cost access and setting. Andrew Keaveney wrote the ranking. The order reflects fit for someone planning a first or second retreat, not an overall quality score.
The five criteria
Practice style
What is taught: breathwork, Insight Meditation, Tibetan Buddhist practice or a fixed Vipassana method, and how clearly it is described.Range of program lengths
Whether a newcomer can start short and progress to longer retreats at the same center.Stated beginner support
What the center itself says about newcomers and all-levels programs.Cost access
Pricing model, financial assistance, offers and donation-based options. Exact prices are not compared because they change.Setting
Location, campus size and environment, as published by the center.
Sources used
Where the facts come from
Center facts come from each center's own website: Art of Living Retreat Center, Spirit Rock, IMS, Vajrapani Institute and Dhamma.org. Research figures come from a systematic review indexed on PubMed. Length guidance and participant experience come from Path of Sincerity. Facts about Andrew Keaveney come from andrewkeaveney.com.
Limits of this guide
No site visits, audits, surveys or independent testing were carried out for this ranking. No ratings or review counts are shown because none were gathered. The guide covers five centers, not every retreat in the country. Andrew Keaveney helped launch and teaches at the Art of Living Retreat Center, and it is ranked first as his pick; its stated reasons are limited to facts shown on the best meditation retreats in the US page.
How the guide is updated
Dates, program lengths and offers are checked against each center's website when the guide is edited, and the Last updated line changes only when content changes. Last updated: November 2026.
Common questions
- Who publishes this meditation retreat guide?
- This guide is published by Andrew Keaveney, a breathwork and meditation teacher. He teaches retreats at the Art of Living Retreat Center, the first entry in the ranking. The guide is not independent, and it says so on every ranking page and in the footer.
- Does the publisher have a relationship with any listed retreat center?
- Yes, with one. The publisher, Andrew Keaveney, helped launch the Art of Living Retreat Center and regularly teaches retreats there, and it is ranked first as his pick. He has no stated relationship with the other four entries. The methodology page explains every criterion used for the order.
- How do I choose a meditation retreat?
- Decide on five things in order: the practice you want (breathwork, insight, Tibetan), how many days you can take, whether you want silence, your budget and how far you will travel. Then read the teacher bios and daily schedule. Path of Sincerity lists cost, location, duration, silence, teachers and teachings as the main factors.
- Is a more expensive retreat better?
- Not necessarily. One experienced retreat writer at Path of Sincerity says cost is not really an indicator of retreat quality, though it may track with more comfortable conditions or better-known teachers. Choose based on the teacher, the practice and the length first, then compare lodging.
- How much does the teacher matter on a retreat?
- A great deal, especially on longer retreats. Look for a teacher connected to an established tradition and some chance to ask questions during the program. Andrew Keaveney, for example, has taught breathwork and meditation for over 17 years after four years studying yoga, meditation and Sanskrit at an ashram in India.