The Quiet Advantage | Sharpen your mind, renew clarity

The Quiet Advantage:

A Five-Day Silent Mindfulness Retreat for Leaders

The quietest room you enter all year may be the most productive.

September 6-10, 2027 • Limited to 24 participants

Designed to sharpen the one tool that drives every strategy, conversation, and decision: the mind.

What if the greatest leadership challenge you took on this year wasn't another deal, board meeting, or product launch—but spending five days training the mind that is behind every decision you make?

Reflective lake at Vallecitos surrounded by green grass and wildflowers in the foreground, with rocky hills and pine trees on either side under a partly cloudy sky.

Designed for executives, founders, professionals, entrepreneurs, and others carrying significant responsibility, this five-day retreat offers a rare opportunity to step away from the speed and noise of daily life—and return with greater clarity, steadier attention, and renewed perspective.

The Opportunity

We know five days away is a meaningful investment for any leader. That's why every aspect of this retreat has been intentionally designed to maximize the return on that investment. There is no filler—only a carefully crafted experience combining meditation, mindful movement, nature, one-on-one guidance with senior teachers, and the powerful practice of silence to help you think more clearly, respond more wisely, and lead more effectively.

Leaders spend their days in constant meetings, conversations, emails, and problem-solving, leaving little space to think deeply. This retreat creates that space: five days to step out of the stream of demands and cultivate the steadiness and clarity that effective leadership requires.

Set amidst the extraordinary beauty of remote Northern New Mexico, the retreat draws on contemplative practices refined over centuries and increasingly supported by modern science. It will challenge you as much as it supports you. Few leaders willingly unplug completely for five days—but that challenge is precisely where lasting insight, resilience, and clarity emerge.

Participants may leave with:

Greater clarity and discernment
A quieter, more focused mind
Less reactivity under pressure
Greater emotional steadiness
Renewed creativity and strategic perspective

A dirt trail at Vallecitos winding through a lush green field surrounded by trees, with a mountain in the background and a clear blue sky overhead.

No prior meditation experience is required. Experienced practitioners can deepen their practice, while beginners receive instruction and individual support throughout. All participants will be guided by senior teachers with decades of experience teaching meditation and working with leaders.

You do not need to believe in meditation or know how to "clear your mind." You need only be curious—and willing to accept a challenge that few leaders ever give themselves: five uninterrupted days devoted to strengthening the mind that leads everything else.

“I wish I had learned this skill in law school. My career would have been much the same—but it would have been a smoother, happier ride.”

— Retired CEO, former General Counsel of a Fortune 50 multinational

A scenic landscape at Vallecitos with a forested hillside, tall pine trees, and a sky filled with pink and orange clouds at sunset.

Sample Schedule (for a full day):

“I attended my first silent meditation retreat while working at one of the world's fastest-growing startups. I wasn't searching for anything—I signed up almost as a dare to myself. More than a decade later, I can say that simple intention to 'see clearly' has helped me let go of unhealthy habits, deepen my relationships, and discover a level of inner peace and contentment I never thought possible”

— CEO, former large firm lawyer

Facilitators

Erin Treat

Erin Treat is a Buddhist teacher and organizational leader who lives in Durango, CO and has been practicing Buddhist meditation for 30 years. In addition to serving as the Guiding Teacher of Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center since 2013, she teaches regularly at Spirit Rock and the Insight Meditation Society. She served for 20 years in leadership on the Teaching Council of the Durango Dharma Center. Erin teaches the practical and the profound, from a heart grounded in respect for mystery and the many faces of awakening.
Her approach to sharing the dharma is influenced by her ongoing experience as a student of the Diamond Approach by A.H. Almaas and by Thanissara and Kittisaro’s Dharmapala Training, designed to bring forth an embodied bodhisattva ideal within the lineage of Theravada Buddhism. Erin enjoys working with small groups of committed students over time and regularly offers classes, retreats, and mentoring to students from around the country.
Erin is happiest dancing, hiking, cooking, and being in the mountains and rivers she calls home.
Gullu Singh, JD

Gulwinder “Gullu” Singh is a mindfulness and Dharma teacher who also practices corporate real estate law. Although he was exposed to meditation as a child, he found his own practice when, after law school, he found himself working at high-powered law firms where the job was extremely stressful.
Gullu completed the four-year Spirit Rock Meditation Center Teacher Training Program and qualified to teach Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. Gullu is core faculty in the Mindfulness in Law Teacher Training, the Spirit Rock Dedicated Practitioner Program, and a mentor for the Sounds True Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program. He is also a core teacher for Sacred Mountain Sangha, a senior teacher at InsightLA and the co-chair of the Guiding Teacher Council at Spirit Rock Meditation Center.
Gullu is deeply inspired to share meditation as an antidote to stress, a path to well-being, and a way to inject more sanity, compassion, and wisdom into this world.

September 6-10, 2027

Limited to 24 participants.

Participation is by application.
Applications for Priority Review Due: November 15th, 2026. Initial Acceptance Notifications: December 1, 2026. We will continue to review applications and send notice of acceptance until the retreat is full.

APPLY

Additional Details

Amidst the high alpine mountains, Vallecitos Mountain retreat center is a breathtaking, off-grid wildlife preserve on the ancestral territories of the Ute and Jicarilla Apache Peoples (Tusas mountains, New Mexico). Wildlife abounds among alpine meadows, mountain ponds, ponderosa pines and aspen groves.
The 135-acre private mountain retreat center is surrounded by 300,000 acres of The Carson National Forest. The Vallecitos River, protected under federal law, runs through the mountain retreat center. Trails wind in and around the retreat center.
The land is a wildly diverse biological treasure. Countless mammals in northern New Mexico have been sighted here, from deer and elk to bobcat, lynx, wild horses, muskrats and black bears. Vallecitos includes a rare wetlands habitat with over 60 species of birds and over 50 varieties of grasses and flowers. The tree that many retreatants lovingly refer to as “the Buddha tree” is estimated at 600-800 years old. It is one of many in an area that contains the largest old-growth trees in the entire Carson Forest.
Vallecitos is protected under a conservation easement; it will never be subdivided or partitioned, it will not exceed the existing facility footprints, and the care for all natural conditions and ecosystems are paramount.
The price for this retreat is $2780, which includes all meals, bedding, teachings, and shuttle service to the retreat center.
The retreat does not include airfare.
Detailed instructions will be provided for accepted applicants who wish to drive to the retreat center instead of taking the courtesy shuttle.
Check-in is from 3:00-5:00 pm on September 6th, 2027. The retreat will close mid-morning on September 10th, 2027.
Guaranteed single occupancy, private lodging in a charming yet rustic yurt or casita.
Vallecitos is off-the-grid and uses only solar power. Accommodations do not have water or wired electricity. Each cabin has a small solar powered or battery operated lamp. There is a bathhouse with flush toilets and hot showers, and there are also outhouses located throughout the Vallecitos property.
The Quiet Advantage retreat is held in what is referred to in Buddhist practice as, “Noble Silence,” a practice of maintaining silence for much of the retreat, including unplugging from your cell phone. To support the development of a collected and settled mind, most retreats and meals are held without ordinary social conversation. Teachers will offer instruction and teachings as well as practice discussions or group dialogue.
Your teachers will discuss this practice with you at the beginning of the retreat.
Vallecitos Mountain Retreat Center is a wilderness retreat center located in a mountainous forest area that does not accommodate wheelchairs, wheeled walkers or other walking aids that are designed for flat, even surfaces. Participants should be able to walk up 3-4 steps at a time, and navigate uneven dirt or gravel paths with occasional, narrow slopes.
CPAP Machines: We can accommodate CPAP machines that do not utilize an oxygen convertor to run. We’re happy to discuss considerations to understand when bringing your own CPAP.
Despite our remote location more than an hour from the closest grocery store, we are proud to report that we can accommodate 99% of all special diet needs! Meals at Vallecitos are healthy, hearty, ovo-lacto vegetarian (incorporating eggs and dairy). We strive to use organic and locally sourced ingredients. Tea, fruit, and snacks are available throughout the day in the dining room. Coffee is served at breakfast.
We will discuss any diet and medication storage needs with all accepted applicants, however, if you have a question, don’t hesitate to reach out.
The elevation of the ranch is 8,800 feet so if you’re coming from a lower altitude environment, there will be an adjustment.
Temperatures in the high mountains can also swing thirty degrees between early morning and afternoon; fall overnight temps can dip into the 30s°F, while daytime highs in are typically in the 60s°F.
Detailed support for packing and preparing will be provided for all accepted applicants. However, don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions.
If there is an emergency and you need to be contacted during your retreat, your family or company may call (505) 484-6433, a line that is checked frequently. For all other non-emergencies, call (505) 469-9017 or email refuge@vallecitos.org.