InsightLA Meditation — Beverly Hills, United States

Insight meditation retreat house in Benedict Canyon, Beverly Hills

On Sunday mornings at 9:00, the Benedict Canyon Retreat House, at 9940 Westwanda Drive in Beverly Hills, hosts Canyon Sanctuary Sundays. It is a ninety-minute sit led by teacher Melissa McKay and run as a hybrid, so a second group of practitioners joins online while the room fills in person. The house is one of the Greater Los Angeles locations of InsightLA, a non-profit meditation center that says it has offered classes, retreats and special events for over 20 years. Trudy Goodman is listed as its founding teacher, and Jack Kornfield and Guy Armstrong sit on its Dharma Council. The teaching is rooted in Insight practice and the Vipassana tradition, and the same teachers also lead mindfulness courses such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindful Self-Compassion. The canyon is where InsightLA holds its longer days. The Power of Insight, a daylong retreat on October 24, 2026, runs from 9:00 to 4:00 with teachers Lienchi Tran and Eric McCullum. It combines guided and silent meditation with walking meditation, for newcomers and for those deepening an existing practice. Yoga mats, blankets, chairs and cushions are provided, and the suggested donation is $85, with no one turned away for lack of funds. A weekend retreat, Wise Intention in the New Year, follows on January 16 and 17, 2027. The most committed program here is Deepening the Path, a yearlong course for experienced practitioners in 2027. A cohort of about 38 people, plus online attendees, meets for six non-residential weekends with senior teachers from the InsightLA, Spirit Rock and Insight Meditation Society communities. Across InsightLA, fee-based programs hold pay-what-you-can spots, and its Insight in Action outreach partners with 18 non-profit organizations in the Greater LA area.

Traditions: Insight Meditation, Vipassana, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Mindful Self-Compassion, Walking Meditation, Theravada Buddhist Teachings

Programs: Canyon Sanctuary Sundays, The Power of Insight: A Daylong Retreat, Wise Intention in the New Year Weekend Retreat, Deepening the Path: A Yearlong Program for Experienced Practitioners, Non-Residential Retreats, Insight in Action