I've always been curious about meditation and decided to give this place a try based on other Yelp…read morereviews. My husband and I enrolled in the Level 1 Meditation class, which is free, and lasts for 12 weeks. It definitely is a commitment, but we attended all but one class (due to Thanksgiving break) and really found it so enjoyable and fulfilling. To note, this is Zen Buddhism that they are teaching, so if you are particular about that, it's something to consider. The Shifu who runs the class is really insightful and funny. (I think he's absolutely endearing!!) He made the classes fly by. The way they go is that the first half of class is dedicated to teaching you the basics of Zen meditation (chanting, sitting, walking). The second half is lecture in the dining hall, otherwise known as Dharma talks, which teach you a lot of the practical and traditional aspects of Zen Buddhism and meditation. Overall, going here has helped my hubby and I connect a lot better and learn how to handle stress in a more calm way. We definitely would have joined the level 2 class if we hadn't moved up north. I try to visit and meditate here whenever I am in the South Bay :)

I've visited many temples in the past due to my Buddhist mother dragging me, but this temple is the…read moreonly one that I really enjoy and actually will go on my free will. :P I took the level 1 meditation class in English, which I find is really rare. The other temples that I've been to only speak Chinese or Vietnamese. I don't understand Chinese very well, so I was very happy to find English courses here. The teacher is Shifu JianYing, who is a happy and funny monk. The atmosphere is very warm and welcoming. The lectures are enlightening, fun, and enjoyable. I highly recommend taking the class if you have time (once a week for 2 hours for 12 weeks), and it's free too! :)

The Santa Clara Meditation Center was founded by Korean MASTER WOO MYUNG and is now run by a…read morewonderful Korean couple Sherry (cc'd) and her husband. Words can't describe how terrific they are in guiding your meditation practice which is quite different then the Zen meditation I've been doing at SCU and Empty Gate for 18 years. They are compassionate, caring understanding and very flexible in working with their clients. Strongly suggest you take their free seminar as per https://santaclarameditation.com/free-seminar/ Call or text them at (408) 615-0435 to make an appointment.

I started going here almost a year ago and it has definitely changed me and my life for the better!…read moreSherry and her husband are so nice, you can really tell they care about helping you and having you reach your full potential in the center. I plan on making meditation a thing of my daily life and continuing coming to the center for guided sessions! You can also join by zoom which is really convenient when I can't make it in center or am on vacation. I would recommend Santa Clara Meditation to anyone :)

Art of living teaches wonderful techniques that soothe and calm your mind. I recommend it for…read moreeverybody. These techniques once learnt, can be practiced at home. Fills you with fresh energy, clear mind, free from mental distractions. The first time experience of Sudarshana kriya is exhilarating and I'm sure everybody who has done the course remembers it. Advanced courses teach meditation. Separate courses available for teens too. There are yoga courses as well.

The Art of Living course is a life saver! I'm a software professional, and live with my wife and…read moretwo kids. I did my first Art of Living course two years ago under very stressful conditions. I came to know about the AOL course from a family friend. In the middle of an argument with my wife(which was very frequent those days), I registered for the course. It brought such a tremendous shift in me, my wife did the next course 15 days later. Our lives has taken a new turn since the course. I repeated the course last weekend at the Art of Living Foundation, Cupertino Center. It was simply amazing! The teachers, Suchitra and Krishna, and the center brought in their/its own flavor to already beautiful course. If you are waiting to see how much more stress you can handle, please do yourself a favor - do the course and be stress free!

They are only after your money. They want to rip you off with exorbitant prices. Any opportunity…read morethey get is to find a way to get more money out of you. They only serve those who are dumb and have money to throw on their so-called programs. Please do not take the bait when they invite you for their "free" "workshops" or "sessions" as that's how they'll get you in and then the rip off begins.

This review is primarily for "The Happiness Program" course…read more Course name : The Happiness Program Course duration : 20 hrs over 5 days What covered per course website? Focus, Meditation, Yoga, Sudarshan Kriya and a lot more for detoxification, destress etc How i rate this course on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the highest)? 3 out of 10 What does this course lack? Good instructors Course lacks focus Expectation is that folks enrolled share their stories and this is truly the activity planned for 10 out of 20 hrs... There is not much learning from this activity! Sudarshan kriya focuses on meditation via breathing, this is just one more approach to meditation.... Didn't see much benefit here. Too much hype and too little focus on real learning in this course. About 20% of this course time is set for Iron Chef kind of cooking competition, work to be for Charity etc... which is NOT really an activity that helps improve focus or improve your meditation skills. Who should NOT enroll for this course? Any individual who has common sense, who does some exercise and is reasonably healthy! Who might benefit from this course? Someone who does not have any other activity to do, Someone who sits idle all the time, Someone who needs to know just the basics of Yoga or meditation Someone who is interested in networking and spending away sometime How can this course be improved or made more effective? Avoid all the crappy discussions that don't do any one any good! Put more emphasis on more Yoga exercises Spend more time doing real meditation activities Get more knowledgeable instructors

Very traditional Zen Center, at least for America. If you are looking for a democratically run…read moreorganization this is not it. The teacher is definitely the authority in all matters here. Having said that, it runs more or less smoothly and people treat each other kindly and respectfully. If your focus is on the meditative aspects of practice, and you'd like to interact with others that have that focus as well, then this is a fine place.

I have been doing a lot of general reading about Buddhism over the past year or so, and a friend…read moreconvinced me to stop reading and start doing, so last month I went to the Saturday morning beginner's class at Kannon Do. This center is affiliated with the San Francisco Zen Center, also founded by Zen Master Shunryu Suzuki,s o they are mainstream, excellent pedigree, nothing cult-ish here. Unlike the San Francisco Zen Center, the program for beginners was intense even for me, and I don't think my attention span is as gnat-like as some people. We began by meditating after about a ten minute talk. We sat for 20 minutes, did about 15-20 minutes of walking meditation, took a 10 minute break, did another 20 minutes of meditation, then another 10 of walking, then another 20 of sitting. I was overwhelmed. All the books I read said to start a few minutes at a time, and that even that would be a challenge. I was really struggling. And I had no idea what the purpose of the meditation was. What exactly had I been reading about? If I could focus, to what end? This class was mainly meant to get you started on focusing your mind, and getting your body used to the posture. The nun was very nice, the facility was clean, tranquil, and the gardens beautiful. But this was just too intense for me, and from what I understand, much more intense than the beginners classes at the SF Zen Center. The Wednesday night sessions also have beginner's session, followed by 40 minutes of sitting, followed by a service, then a dhamma talk, which I'm sure would be great to listen to, but I got the distinct impression you couldn't come for just the talk. I don't expect to be good at this overnight, or to gain understanding or insight even after a few years at it, but I think I may need more guidance and a more gentle beginning. If you want to start though, these people are nice and you'll have plenty of time to think, focus, and work on posture.

From their website... "Center for Spiritual Enlightenment is a meditation center in the spiritual…read moretradition of Kriya Yoga, welcoming people from all backgrounds who are seeking Self- and God-realization--a path to spiritually conscious, fulfilled living." Absolutely love it! I spent some time in the garden, spoke to one of the folks who volunteers here, got a nice tour, and was truly impressed. Can't wait to go back for either a meditation session or a talk. The world would be a much better place if everyone could go to a center like this.

I attended this center for almost 20 years, usually attending weekly Sunday services and the…read moreoccasional retreat. I really appreciated the teachings and guided meditations, as well as the fellowship....but...I can't help but be concerned about a close family member that got more heavily involved and attended seminary there. She started to detach from family to devote herself to the center, moved out of state to start an ashram for CSE, named it beneficiary of a family trust. I want to say she wasn't encouraged or led to do this, but over the years, the devotion to the center and increased detachment from family has me wondering if there's cult-like grooming going on behind the scenes. It's all been very concerning and bewildering for the family. No spiritual teacher there was been able to adequately reassure me that they are not engaging in practices that command total devotion, tithing, and disengagement with family, and sadly, as a result I stopped all contact with this center. This may just be my family member independently practicing an unhealthy excess of devotion to an organization, not something that they outwardly support, but I still have a lingering suspicion about the influence they yield over her. It feels exploitive. Her increased involvement in the center has really negatively impacted family relationships. I've also heard many folks have left this center in the last 10 years because of "toxic political rifts" between employees, volunteers and devotees. Some are choosing to hold independent Kriya study groups now. I'm grateful for the teachings while there but distance from this organization has been necessary for my mental health and continued spiritual development. I feel my family member has been stolen from me. Or driven to shun and neglect those that love her most. And CSE knows it and yet they not intervened.

My experience of taking classes, workshops and community musical gatherings at Crave spans several…read moremonths. The offerings are diverse and well curated. My profession spans 35 years of teaching Yoga and mentoring instructors in Silicon Valley. We joyously welcomed Crave into our community when Helena began her new management role and opened the studio four years ago. This Yoga establishment is fairly young AND considered as a treasure to yoga enthusiasts living in Mountain View. The moment you step into the space, you will feel a warm welcome in the environment and from the exceptional teaching staff. Be sure to meet the owner, Helena O'Brien McLoughlin. ~ Marti Foster, Executive Director at Marti Foster Yoga

I've been going to Crave Yoga specifically for their prenatal classes on Saturdays with Marti for a…read morefew months now. It's such an empowering, fulfilling and amazing experience with other mamas who want to strengthen and prepare for birth. So glad I joined and have taken these classes Highly recommend crave yoga and joining this great community!

Have never attended here, but was initiated in Washington DC in Spring 1973. TM is a great…read morespringboard into expanded awareness taking only minutes a day. Try it, you,'ll like it. ;)

Life-changing! Learning TM has been a deeply rewarding experience. The instruction was clear,…read morethoughtful, and well-structured. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to reduce stress, improve their health, and find greater inner peace.

I have gone to Natalie's sound meditation for around 6 years....pre pandemic.....during and post…read more What I receive from her sound meditation is truly healing and grounding for my sou. Ive gone to many different sound meditations throughout the Bay Area with friends and I've not found a better aligning of my mind, body and soul as I have with Natalie. Natalie is a true light and beautiful soul, I'm so grateful our path aligned.

I will give three stars because the times I have attended have been good. The only downfall is the…read morelocations have been different every time I have attended. last time we couldn't contact anyone to get into the building luckily we got in even though we would've been considered late. I was suppose to attend the last one however I went to the wrong location I was two minutes late and was not able to go inside which is super unfortunate because I take new people with me every time I attend. I was extremely disappointed that there isn't at least a Grace period of five minutes. I'm not knocking this meditation just in the end doesn't seem like it's a good fit for me.

This retreat exceeded my expectations!!!…read more After falling into a serious illness that left me stuck to my bed earlier on 2018. I decided I would look into a retreat and get away as far as I could. As I was searching I found this wonderful woman Salila, whom posted a brief description about her services and different retreats. I knew right then that I should contact her. Our first scheduled call I realized that this retreat was nothing like a regular get away. I instantly felt her genuine heart to help. She is very familiar with retreats and doctors and she was able to matched my needs to the perfect doctor and retreat. Salila also helped me get in contact with Dr. Devraj via video chats on multiple occasions. With his advice I was able to ease my conditions at home since my conditions was worsening and doctors still till this day do not know what I had. In the beginning I was super excited , and at the same time didn't have any idea how I would come up with the travel expenses since I had been out of work for a while and Salila help me to figure out my money situation. She made sure she checked up on me as often as she could with helpful advice. On top of all this Salila took care my flight and booked the air tickets for me so I wouldn't go through the hassle. She also walked me through the visa process, and she scheduled someone to pick me up and drop me off at the airport. Weeks before leaving, I talked to Salila about a friend who was in New Delhi and how I wanted to visit them before leaving back home . She was able to switch out my tickets to include New Delhi and also gave me some important advice about traveling to New Delhi. If this wasn't enough , throughout my 28 days stay at Sitaram Beach Retreat she texted me to make sure all my needs and concerns were met by staff and the doctors. I cannot thank Salila enough for going out of her way and beyond to make my stay as special as it was. I really got a sense of peace and I also want to thank every one who works at Sitaram retreat for making my stay so much better. Words can only express so much which is why I'm leaving some pictures of this awesome retreat here for who ever is inspired to take some well deserved time for self care level 50! It's been 3 months since, and my health is back on track. I would do this all over again through Salila. I recommend Salila to book any flights and retreats to anyone that wants to have a beautiful experience Contact her ASAP

Pancha..what??? Salila and AYURGAMAYA ... the perfect…read moreanswer for a much needed reboot, reset, in my life. Feeling physically and mentally sluggish, foggy brain so to speak. "...if I could just be taken care of for a couple of weeks...unplug, no one to answer to, focus on my inner self to re-balance my body and my mind......." AND enjoy an incredibly interesting part of the world ??? Salila was stellar in organizing a 2 week ayurvedic retreat and beyond. Totally safe, seamless ( stress free) and enjoyable !!!!! First, her close connection with Dr. Vignesh Devraj, the ayurvedic trained doctor at Sitaram , made it possible to have a one-on-one Skype conversation to get first-hand information about Ayurvedic treatments, what to expect, any concerns...so easy to talk to, so knowledgeable. Being trained in clinical pharmacy, everything made perfect sense to me. Next...the magical 2 weeks at Sitaram Ayurvedic Retreat began..with herbal hot oil massages every day, special herbal drinks for immunity boosts, meals to die for, specifically geared for each individual per their treatment regimen....and as I had dreamed of...nothing to do but rest, walk on the beach, do yoga, meditate.....( yes, they have internet..but, really,... UNPLUG..its worth it) After the retreat the journey was SEAMLESS. Salila arranged for transportation, drivers who were great guides with local information and found us AWESOME Homestays (per our request) , cozy, friendly, with fantastic food (instead of high cost hotels ) throughout the rest of the trip. Met incredible locals who treated us like friends, experienced genuine local life feeling completely safe and at ease. I would do it again in a heartbeat!!!!