Our office staff receives and processes each request submitted through the Request-a-Retreat form on our website. For reservation requests made by verified SRF members (please use the email address associated with your Member Portal Account for ease of verification) confirmations are booked by your specified first, second, or third choice dates according to Retreat availability. For those who are not enrolled in the SRF Lessons, and for whom this will be the first stay at Lake Shrine Retreat, we will contact you for a short phone conversation before reservation confirmation.

It is not necessary to be a student of Self-Realization Fellowship to participate in our retreat program. It is important that guests be familiar with meditation and be comfortable spending their time at the retreat in silence. For those unfamiliar with Self-Realization Fellowship, we suggest visiting an SRF Temple, Center, or the SRF website at yogananda.org. Additionally, it may be helpful to read some writings of Paramahansa Yogananda before scheduling a retreat.

The Retreat program is open to adults 18 years and older. The retreat activities are not designed for children who are unaccustomed to keeping silence for extended periods of time, or participating in longer periods of meditation.

Children are welcome to visit the Lake Shrine Meditation Gardens and the Lake Shrine Temple offers Sunday School programs.

The Lake Shrine Retreat offers year-round Personal Retreat and Conducted Retreat programs that are designed around the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda and the spiritual work of Self-Realization Fellowship. For this reason, the Retreat facilities are not available for rental.

Our suggested donation for personal retreats is $150 per night and $200 a night for conducted retreats (not currently offered). This donation is used to offset the cost of operating and maintaining the Retreat. We strive to keep the donation as low as possible so that the greatest number of souls might be able to benefit from a spiritual retreat. Even though the suggested amount does not fully cover our expenses, the generosity expressed through donations that have been given above the suggested donation, has helped substantially to keep this sanctuary available to all.

Donations for retreat accommodations may be made at the Retreat office upon check-in. All rooms at Lake Shrine Retreat are Single Room Occupancy. The suggested donation is $150 per night, per person. Lake Shrine Retreat accepts American Express, Visa, Master Card, Discover, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, or cash, checks, traveler’s checks, or money order.

The Lake Shrine Retreat offers a protected spiritual environment that encourages you to leave behind the pressures of everyday life. We kindly ask that you book a reservation only when you are able to disengage from other activities and responsibilities for the duration of your retreat stay.

In keeping with the ideals of a spiritual community, we ask that retreatants dress comfortably, but modestly and that they not wear shorts or similar attire inside the Retreat. Some type of footwear should be worn in public spaces, preferably soft-soled to help preserve the quiet atmosphere.

We would like to explain that we have a planned menu in the retreat that is served in a buffet table. As our operations are very small and very simple, we are not able to offer options for each dietary restriction our guests may have. As the menu changes daily, we are not able to label individual ingredients in our food. Additionally, as it is a silent retreat, and because we have volunteers serving who are not involved in the preparation of the food, it is not possible for guests to ask the dining room servers about the food. It is up to each individual on retreat to decide what they choose from the buffet.

As there is considerable work involved in each booking and confirmation we send, we ask that guests research possible flight options and employment time off requests before requesting a reservation. If you need to cancel your reservation, please let us know as soon as possible by email lsretreat@yogananda-srf.org or by phone at 310-459-4740. For cancellations made within 24 hours of a retreat, we suggest making a donation of $150 to the Retreat Building Fund. This donation helps offset the costs of reservation cancellation processing and the loss of the Retreat room for that weekend as we are unlikely to be able to book the room again at such short notice.