How to Register
The tuition for this experience is $1300. A $300 deposit reserves your spot, with the remaining balance due two weeks before the retreat.
To reserve your place, click the link below to send your $300 deposit via Venmo to Blake. To apply for a scholarship or ask any questions, please email: blakeshields@yahoo.com
Retreat Details
A concentrated week to map, unearth, and heal the places that open you to joy.
Led by Blake Abramovitz.
“The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” —Joseph Campbell
What we need most is often buried in the dark. Digging it up is rarely painless—but there is nothing more meaningful to do with our short time on Earth.
It’s a quiet truth: our capacity for love, creativity, and laughter is inseparable from our willingness to open to sorrow.
Brave travelers have walked this path before us—and they’ve left a map behind.
The Treasure Map curriculum uses mindfulness meditation to gently illuminate dark and tender places, creating the conditions for healing and integration. It is offered in a spirit of realism and hope: with courage, patience, and persistence, this work is possible.
Through sustained practice, participants are supported in loosening the grip of suffering and cultivating a life of greater meaning, depth, and authenticity.
This retreat is an invitation to run an honest experiment on yourself:
Come on retreat. Commit to integrating the practices you learn into daily life. Stay with them for six months, and then ask yourself:
Am I suffering less?
Do I feel more fulfilled?
Are my relationships functioning more smoothly?
Am I finding greater meaning in my work?
From there, you’ll be well qualified to decide for yourself what these practices can offer.
What to Expect
Daily meditation practice
Gentle yoga
Small-group inquiry
Journaling and poetry practices
Focused sessions on:
Stabilizing attention
Cultivating kindness
Working skillfully with difficult thoughts and emotions
You’ll also have time for quiet reflection in nature—Vikara Center is situated on a beautiful Mexican beach—along with world-class, nourishing, home-cooked meals (most dietary needs can be accommodated).
Roundtrip transportation from San Diego, meals, and lodging are included.
Who This Is For
Those seeking a concentrated, supportive container to deepen their meditation practice
Anyone longing to be freer from suffering and willing to engage humble, consistent practices over time
Those disillusioned with grandiose promises in modern pop spirituality
Beginners and experienced practitioners alike; teachings are accessible and grounded
We look forward to having you with us!