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Retreat Offerings


 

🌿 **ゆっくり庵（Yukkuri-An）x LX :

A Quiet Monastic Retreat in Rural Kentucky**
— A place for slow living, reflection, and gentle spiritual growth —

🏡 About the Place

Yukkuri-An (also known as LeoXanthous) is a small monastic-style retreat located in Hickory, Kentucky, just outside the towns of Mayfield and Paducah. The grounds sit on a quiet one-acre hilltop, directly across from a peaceful nature reserve filled with maples, oaks, dogwoods, creeks, ponds, and open sky.

At night, the stars shine with vivid clarity—bright in a way you rarely see anywhere near cities.

The nearest major airport is Nashville (BNA), about two hours away.

This is a place where the world moves slowly.

A place where the mind finally has room to breathe.

🌱 The Grounds

Yukkuri-An is surrounded by:

  • flat rural land with long horizons

  • quiet agricultural fields

  • small woods with deer, storks, turkeys, and squirrels

  • a near-constant calm

  • open sky for sunrise and sunset

  • brilliantly starlit nights

Though two neighbors live nearby, the hilltop is quiet, peaceful, and naturally contemplative. There is a seasonal garden, open spaces for herbs and vegetables, and room to create new walking paths.

The monastery atmosphere extends beyond the house—your entire environment becomes a sanctuary.

🏠 The Home

The building is a simple, warm, one-story dwelling with:

  • 2 bedrooms (private or partitionable depending on participants)

  • 2 bathrooms, including one tub

  • a large, bright kitchen with counters, bar, and stools

  • a cozy dining space

  • a roofed outdoor sitting area

  • a spacious, comfortable living room with shelves and soft furniture

  • a small, quiet library/study room

  • wood floors, soft lighting, and gentle, neutral décor

  • a stone fireplace and wall adding to the monastic calm

Everything is intentionally simple — quiet enough for thinking, soft enough for resting, open enough for growth.

📚 Daily Life at Yukkuri-An

Life here is very free-flowing, with no strict timetable.

We describe ourselves as:

🐈‍⬛ A group of cats living peacefully together.
Privacy is respected. Quiet is respected. Personal time is honored.
But companionship is available whenever desired.

Activities are optional and can change based on interest, energy, and mood.

🌤️ Activities You Can Choose From

📖 Intellectual / Spiritual

  • Studying ancient scripture

  • Reading esoteric texts and foreign-language books

  • Personal journaling (strongly encouraged)

  • Note-taking to record insights

  • Drawing to improve spatial reasoning

  • Reflection sessions

  • Quiet reading and contemplation

  • Optional LWC-related study

🧘 Meditative Practices

  • Sitting meditation

  • Walking meditation

  • Driving/riding meditation

  • Height/climbing meditation

  • Advanced inverted (upside-down) meditation

  • Light yogic-inspired stretching and flexibility practice

🌿 Nature & Outdoors

  • Gardening (herbs, vegetables)

  • Walking the nearby 100+ acres of woods

  • Nature outings to lakes and rivers

  • Observing deer, turkeys, storks, and squirrels

  • Quiet sky-watching and stargazing

🫖 Communal & Gentle Social

  • Cooking together

  • Tea time (with monastery-grown herbs)

  • Light conversation practice (English/Japanese/Spanish/etc.)

  • Board/card games

  • Soft music (steel drum, acoustic guitar, bells available)

🧺 Practical Life Skills

  • Simple life skills (cooking basics, budgeting, planning)

  • Light chores (1–2 hours per week total)

  • Optional study windows for structure

  • Optional beekeeping and bicycling

Everything is invited, nothing is forced.

🌙 Structure & Rhythm

There is no fixed schedule.
You may:

  • live quietly in your room

  • join conversations when you wish

  • wake early or late

  • enjoy late-night “owl hours”

  • meditate alone or together

  • improvise your day

  • read, study, walk, or rest freely

The only guiding principle is:

“Keep a small flame lit.”
Even if the flame is small—curiosity, intent, reflection—that is enough.
Over time, a candle becomes a lantern, and a lantern becomes a fire.

💛 Philosophy of Yukkuri-An (LeoXanthous)

The atmosphere you will find here is:

  • cozy

  • calming for the mind

  • refreshing for the spirit

  • soft and gentle

  • patient and encouraging

  • low-pressure

  • safe for restarting life

  • supportive for breaking addictions

  • structured for learning how to deal with pressure

  • a community practicing mutual kindness

This is not a place of judgment or pressure.
It is a place where people grow at different speeds, and that is natural.

Practice develops naturally through:

  • kindness

  • curiosity

  • journaling

  • meditation

  • companionship

  • and the unique ideas each monk brings

🧘‍♂️ About the Host

My name is Harden (ハーデン).

But within Yukkuri-An, I see myself simply as:

“Another monk who is trying to find the monks who reincarnated and forgot they were monks.”

I am not a master or leader.
Just a quiet guide, caretaker, and companion.
A keeper of the environment more than a giver of instruction.

The monastery grows with the monks, not above them.

🏞️ Retreat Lengths Offered

Choose the pace that fits your life:

  • 2 weeks — a gentle reset

  • 2 months — a deeper rhythm

  • 2 seasons (6 months) — extended transformation

  • 2 years — monastic life and long-term growth

Each duration includes optional pre-meetings online and post-retreat follow-ups.


Check out our Japanese and Spanish site also:

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