There are different kinds of retreats, and I have experienced several types. In the past, I attended "religious" retreats and am no longer interested in these types. They usually include talks by clergy or nuns, often taking place in monasteries. They include group prayer and/or liturgy as well. Silence at meals is usually maintained as well as throughout the retreat. They can be directed or private. There are often themes for the retreats, such as forgiveness and reconciliation, addictions, grief, etc.

More recently I have attended spiritual/holistic retreats. These also vary in nature. I have participated in silent retreats, ones that incorporate yoga, art-journeling, tai chi, mindfulness practice, bodywork, and meditation meditation meditation. They can range from Buddhist, Hindu, Christian (progressive), non-denominational, Quaker, etc. And some are just getting away from the city to a place in Nature and just being.

My most recent choice for a "retreat" is to go away alone and be by myself, going within, with no distractions. A purification on all levels, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.

Here are some links to get you started.....

http://www.findthedivine.com/

http://www.retreatsonline.com/guide/christian.htm

I feel you need to go within and have an cllmax

SRF- self realization fellowship

3-5 days retreats
Silent Meditations, lovely locations

Wildquest-so cool! FUN, FUN, must like water..

http://www.wildquest.com/dolphin-swims.html

Dan Millman -The Peaceful Warrior

http://www.danmillman.com/event_schedule/

Several in Hawaii

It is so much fun

I like yoga...So yoga retreats

i do not retreat...
but i do surrender...
spend quiet time alone...
and make yourself at hOMe...
how much of life... can you let go...
can you forget the things you think you know...

we become trapped... in a "self" made prison...
a prison created by the imposed ideas of others...
and freedom... can only come by letting go...
of all those things... we think we know...
you will know your spirits has risen...


may i recommend reading...

"AS A MAN THINKETH"... James Allen 1864-1912

"Mind is the Master-power that molds and makes,
And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes
The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills
Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills:--
He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:
Environment is but his looking-glass."

"Thought in the mind hath made us. What we are
By thought we wrought and built. If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind . . . If one endure in purity
of thought joy follows him as his own shadow - sure."

"You will be what you will to be;
Let failure find its false content
In that poor word, "environment,"
But spirit scorns it, and is free.

It masters time, it conquers space;
It cows that boastful trickster, Chance,
And bids the tyrant Circumstance
Uncrown, and fill a servant's place.

The human Will, that force unseen,
The offspring of a deathless Soul,
Can hew a way to any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene.

Be not impatient in delay,
But wait as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands,
The gods are ready to obey."


http://www.concentric.net/~conure/allen.html

the above is a very well done page...
please take time to explore it fully...
there are also 2 other works by james allen...
plus it offers other spiritual materials...