The Human Flourishing and AI Retreat: A Meditation Retreat for the Age of AI

November 9th - 15th, 2026

Register Now

Arrival: Monday, November 9th, 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM

Departure: Sunday, November 15th, 12:30 PM

Tuition:
Lodging and tuition is bundled. Select lodging to see retreat price.

Meals & drinks included
Inc. V, VG, GF

Add extra nights at 50% off

Tuition:

Lodging and tuition is bundled. Select lodging to see retreat price.

Meals & drinks included
Inc. V, VG, GF

Add extra nights at 50% off

Note: This page will allow you to register to attend this program online. To register for online participation and attend from home, click here.

About the Retreat

Over six transformative days, we are gathering a community of leaders, builders, and changemakers driven by an urgency to align artificial intelligence and human flourishing, and who understand that this journey begins by pausing and turning inwards.

 Drawing on the integration of spiritual and scientific ways of knowing, this contemplative practice retreat opens a natural path towards inner alignment. Through meditation, reflection, and dialogue, we will experience this path and study how its principles can help shape our lives and the future we are building.

Perhaps now more than ever, retreat practice is the medicine for our times. Technology promises to reshape the future in profound and uncertain ways; and even today our relationship with technology challenges our basic human capacities of attention and intention. Our task, in the face of this, is to anchor ourselves in the deepest experiences that define us as human, and draw on them to approach the future with greater presence, discernment, and care. 

This retreat offers a  path: calm the mind, open the heart, analyze the nature of reality, and integrate the wisdom of these experiences into a clearer ability to respond to the challenges poised by transformative technology. 

The work that cannot be out-sourced – retreat as a practice of living fully

Perhaps now more than ever, retreat practice is the medicine for our times. Technology promises to reshape the future in profound and uncertain ways; and even today our relationship with technology challenges our basic human capacities of attention and intention. Our task, in the face of this, is to anchor ourselves in the deepest experiences that define us as human, and draw on them to approach the future with greater presence, discernment, and care. 

This retreat offers a  path:

  • Calm the mind
  • Open the heart
  • Analyze the nature of reality
  • Integrate the wisdom of these experiences into a clearer ability to respond to the challenges poised by transformative technology. 

Why Attend?

Over six days, you will be immersed in meditation, silence, reflective dialogue and embodied practices that draw on 2500-year old contemplative traditions, and are woven together with contemporary science and emerging questions around consciousness, AI, and human flourishing. Teachings will be grounded through conversation with peers, expert facilitators and time in the restorative landscape of Drala Mountain Center.

Together, we will investigate some of the defining questions of our age:

What is consciousness?

What is a life well-lived?

How can we create technologies and systems aligned with human flourishing?

You will leave with practical tools and renewed perspective – and more lastingly, with a path you have walked deeply enough to carry back into the work:  a clearer mind, a steadier heart, and a greater confidence in the qualities that allow us to live fully, act wisely, and contribute meaningfully to humanity’s most urgent work.

What to Expect

MIND and HEART

The meditation practices we will introduce are primarily:

  • Calm, focus, and stability of mind (Shamata)
  • Unconditional love, and joy (Metta / Maitri)
  • Analysing the nature of things / interrogating reality (Ché gom)
  • Seeing clearly and accurately (Vipassana)
  • Calm presence bridging meditation and daily life (Walking Meditations Zen Kinhin)

The heart of each day is meditation practice: sitting periods of 20-30 minutes interspersed with 5-10 minute walking meditations.

INTEGRATION

Tying the wisdom of these practices into grounded reflection on the technologies we are building through:

  • Personal study
  • Peer dialogue
  • Expert guidance from technologists working at the intersection of wisdom and AI
  • Emphasis on  how to transition from the deeper contemplative space of meditation back into our daily work and contributions–and how to keep these worlds together going forward. 

“Human Flourishing must start with our own experience of flourishing: living physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually at our best; in harmony with ourselves, others, and the natural world. Our task on this retreat is to get there and know the path deeply enough that we can bring it back to our work.” Sophie Maclaren

Teacher Testimonials

“My twice yearly retreats with Sophie are the lighthouse in my life. They recharge me and keep me on course with what I want to accomplish, and who I want to be. ” David, USA

“In my life now there is a clear before and after the retreat with Sophie. I see the world with new eyes, and feel somehow wiser, more resilient, calmer, and experience more joy.” Isabelle, Belgium

Retreat Faculty

Sophie Maclaren

Sophie Maclaren is a meditation instructor, Buddhist teacher, leadership consultant, and executive coach specialising in the science of human flourishing. She draws on a multi-disciplinary approach combining insights from neuroscience, leadership studies, psychology, and wisdom traditions to enable leaders to perform at their best and flourish in both their personal and professional lives. Since 2012 [...]

Lodging

We have several accommodations to choose from during checkout.
All options include our healthy meals and drinks. Inc V, VG, GF.

Monk Rooms
A cost-effective option for participants looking for indoor, solitary lodging, but who don’t mind using a shared bathroom or are looking for a more affordable retreat solution. These rooms are in the same hall as the Ridgen Dormitories, but offer more privacy than the dorms. In addition to a bed, bedding, a private room and closet, the monk rooms also have a large window and a desk and desk chair for added comfort.

Single and Double Rooms
The perfect choice for a retreat where you want both your own space and your own bathroom. Each room offers a little more space, a dresser and closet, and a 3/4s bathroom (toilet, sink, and shower, no bathtub) attached to each room.

Junior Suite
Our Lodge Junior Suites include a queen-size bed topped by a cozy comforter, a desk, dresser, closet and private bath with bathtub, plus a sitting area.

See more photos of lodging options here.