Day Retreats

What is a day retreat? At the heart of a retreat are the therapeutic benefits of relaxation, centering, and spiritual growth, and healing. A day retreat can be a personal experience, or a day away with family, co-workers, and friends. Participate in an educational or experiential workshop, or enjoy our quiet rooms and natural surroundings on your own.

Relax with a walk around the farm, use the labyrinth, swim in the pool, enjoy a spa cuisine lunch and receive a massage from our certified massage therapist.

Whispering Winds is a 22-acre estate. Our beautiful and fully renovated buildings hearken back to the 1880’s, a simpler age perfect for the contemplation of life and a time of meditation. Retreat to our natural surroundings, where you can walk our Chartres model labyrinth or spend time with our intelligent and graceful Rocky Mountain Horses. Relax by the heated indoor pool or go swimming.

Your meditation retreat can help you gain a new perspective and uncover what gives your life purpose. Many of us are overstressed by the demands of work, and even by caring for the family members we love. You owe it to yourself to take a day away and recharge your energies and enthusiasm for life, returning to the work-a-day world refreshed and with renewed perspective.

If you are a writer or artist hopeful of reconnecting with your muse, there is no more inspiring environment to unblock whatever has stalled your creative energies than this heavenly locale at the foothills of the Laurel Mountains.

Please Contact Us for more information on how we can create the perfect day retreat for you.

At Whispering Winds, our day retreat offerings set us apart. Come alone, with co-workers, or bring family and friends. Enjoy our:

• Panoramic view of the Laurel Mountains from our 22-acre estate.
• Fully renovated 1880’s buildings offer the open spaces and welcoming feel of a more peaceful time.
• Walk the outdoor Chartres model labyrinth, where meditation, contemplation, and beauty combine to refresh your spirit.
• Enjoy our spectacular heated indoor pool.
• Spend time with our family of rare Rocky Mountain Horses, whose presence is the perfect compliment to your day retreat.
• A private oasis where you can rest your body, renew your spirit, and refresh your soul. A meditation retreat for the overstressed.

Please Contact Us to inquire about our weekend, weekday, and seasonal rates.

Therapeutic Benefits

The therapeutic benefits of your meditation retreat include relaxation, spiritual growth, and healing. Preventive maintenance for your body, mind, and spirit must be looked to not as a luxury, but as a necessity!

At Whispering Winds you will be given “tools” to handle the challenges of the everyday. Our services are designed to create a long lasting balance through relaxation and centering.

Chartres Model Labyrinth at Whispering Winds

One of the unique offerings at Whispering Winds is our Chartres model labyrinth. This 70 foot diameter labyrinth rests at the highest point of our 22-acre estate, overlooking the tranquil grounds and rolling hills of the Laurel Highlands.

The labyrinth is an ancient pattern found in many cultures around the world. Labyrinth designs were found on pottery, tablets and tiles dated as far back as 4,000 years. Many patterns are based on spirals from nature. In Native American culture, it is called the Medicine Wheel and Man in the Maze. The Celts described it as the Never Ending Circle. It is also called the Kabala in mystical Judaism. One feature they all share is that they have one path which winds in a circuitous way to the center.

The labyrinth design used by Lauren Artress is a replica of the 11-circuit labyrinth of Chartres Cathedral in France. This pattern, once central to cathedral culture, was inlaid into the stone floor in 1201. For the last 250 years, however, it has been ignored -- covered with chairs -- until Artress led the effort to reintroduce the labyrinth into the world as a spiritual tool. One focus of the work of Lauren Artress and Veriditas has been to make the labyrinth in Chartres open to the public once again. It is currently open for walking on most Fridays.

Labyrinths are currently being used world-wide as a way to quiet the mind, find balance, and encourage meditation, insight and celebration. They are open to all people as a non-denominational, cross-cultural tool of well-being. They can be found in medical centers, parks, churches, schools, prisons, memorial parks and retreat centers as well as in people's backyards.

The labyrinth is not a maze. There are no tricks to it and no dead ends. It has a single circuitous path that winds into the center. The person walking it uses the same path to return and the entrance then becomes the exit. The path is in full view, which allows a person to be quiet and focus internally. Generally there are three stages to the walk: releasing on the way in, receiving in the center and returning; that is, taking back out into the world that which you have received. There is no right way or wrong way to walk a labyrinth. Use the labyrinth in any way that meets what you need. There are many ways to describe a labyrinth. It is a path of prayer, a walking meditation, a crucible of change, a watering hole for the spirit and a mirror of the soul. May you be nourished.

Bus Tours Welcome

Contact Us for information

In the past, labyrinths were walked as a method of pilgrimage, or for repentance. The symbolism of the labyrinth was that of a journey, a quest for coming closer to God.

Today, walking a labyrinth can have many meanings.

• Self-reflection.
• Farewell walks with friends or co-workers who may be moving away.
• Remembrance walks.
• Resolving grief and acts of closure.
• Labyrinth walking with a loved one, as a way of becoming closer.
• Labyrinth dances performed with ribbons and scarves.

At the center of the labyrinth, take a moment to reflect on your experience before you begin the journey back. You may wish to record your thoughts in the journal we provide, so that you can take with you a record of the peace and tranquility you have experienced, a wonderful resource when back at work or under the stress of the daily grind.

At Whispering Winds you may walk our Chartres model labyrinth with a guide, take a private walk, or enjoy a group or team building exercise. Labyrinth walks can be arranged to music, or performed as dances with ribbons and scarves. The labyrinth teaches you to reflect on your actions, your perception of others, and the world around you.

Special Notes

We discourage the use of cell phones at Whispering Winds. After all, our day retreats and meditation retreats are meant to take you away from the stresses of the modern world. Relaxation and spiritual refreshment are our goals.

Be sure to bring an extra pair of shoes. Beautiful as the environment and the grounds are, this is farm land and a home to horses; therefore you may have occasion to change shoes during your stay.

Service Area

Planning a trip to Southwestern PA or the Pittsburgh region? Whispering Winds offers the perfect day retreat and meditation retreat accommodations. We are located in the heart of the Laurel Highlands, we are nearby to the towns of Mt. Pleasant, Scottdale, New Stanton, Greensburg, Latrobe, Ligonier, Irwin, North Huntingdon, Jeannette, Youngwood, and more.

Return to Top