Connecting With Breath, Finding Peace At Novato's Anubhuti

Spiritual centers that offer yoga and meditation are a dime a dozen in southern Marin County.

But in no-nonsense Novato? It's a little less expected.

Since 2007, Anubhuti Meditation & Retreat Center, located on the former West estate in Bel Marin Keys, has been offering an escape from the din of daily life to visitors from all over the Bay Area and beyond.

Spread out over seven acres and overlooking the San Pablo Bay wetlands, Anubhuti, which means “experience” in Hindi, wants to help people achieve self-transformation through meditation.

Sounds easy, right?

“What we see around us is maybe just 10 percent of what is really there,” explains Elizabeth Padilla, one of the eight raj yogis who run the center. 

“But underneath our conscious there are sunken gems and wisdoms and they are navigators that we are born with. Meditation is a path that is conducive to creating an environment where those innate qualities grow.”

Unlike many spiritual centers, Anubhuti does not follow the teachings of a guru. There is no talk of God, but rather a light. On cream colored walls of the center hang pictures of Brahma Baba, who founded the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual Organization in India in 1936.

Today the organization has more than 8,000 centers around the world and is led by women. At its retreat centers, visitors can come to quiet the mind, learn how to meditate and participate in discussions that help them work through issues such as anger, low self-esteem and chronic stress.

What makes the center different and, arguably, more accessible, is that everything is donation-based. Every Tuesday, Anubhuti holds a workshop centered around a specific theme, like discovering inner peace, overcoming fear or finding trust in relationships.

“When you meditate, you become more sensitive to various environments,” says Padilla, who has been with the movement for almost 30 years. In her previous life Padilla was an actress in San Francisco, but left after she realized she hungered for more tranquility and peace in her life.

“I was very successful, but I got to a point and thought ‘This is it?’” she recalls. Many of us may be successful on an external level, but we’re so angry inside.”

The white-robbed raj yogis who live at the center adhere to a strict schedule that is not for the faint of heart. Alarms go off at 4am, meditation lasts close to an hour, followed by chores and other tasks. There is no alcohol, no sexual relations and no meat, although a bit of coffee is allowed. 

Despite the early hours and constant work, the yogis glow as if they’ve already discovered the secret to being happy. But they insist that “householders,” that is people who don’t live at the center, can attain the same results through meditation, mindfulness and listening to breath.

“We believe you can be a yogi in every day life,” Padilla says. “It all starts with making time out to meditate and asking yourself  ‘Is my vision clear?’ ‘Do I judge people?’ It asks you to catch your breath and slow down.”

Anubhuti Meditation & Retreat Center is located at 820 Bel Marin Keys Blvd  in Novato, CA. (415) 884-2314. For more information, visit anubhutiretreatcenter.org

Have you visited Anubhuti?