Basic Hints
- Questions? Use our contact form, we will do our best to get back to you in 48 hours.
- New to retreats? This kit is not meant to completely replicate the experience of a teacher-led daylong or residential retreat experience. If you have never been on a retreat before we suggest you attend a day retreat led by a qualified leader before using this kit. This will give you a better feel for the flow and dynamics of the retreat experience.
- Put your cellphone on airplane mode. If you are using your cellphone to playback your playlist, put it on airplane mode to prevent calls or texts from interrupting your retreat. If you are not using your cellphone to play the playlist, turn it off. If you really must check it wait until meals or breaks.
- Printing the manual. The manual is designed to be printed as a folded booklet on standard 8.5×11 paper. To print the manual open the PDF file in Adobe Reader. Go to File > Print. Select the following settings. (view screen image)
- Pages to Print: All
- Page Size and Handling: Booklet
- Booklet Subset: Both Sides
- Binding: Left
- Orientation: Portrait
- Creating playlists. The use of the kit is completely dependent on the ability to create playlists. If you are unable to do this the kit will be of little use to you. If you know how to create playlists all is good. If you have never created a playlist before please visit this page to practice creating a playlist before you order and download this kit.
- Create smaller playlists. If you need more flexibility in timing, say you have a large group or meals may be some distance from the retreat location you could create a morning and afternoon playlist.
- Test your playlist. Once you have created the list, load it onto the device you intend to play it on and play through it, you can skip the longer silences and talks once you hear them start. This will let you know if it all makes sense or not before you start the retreat. It is much easier to fix it at home than in the middle of a retreat.
- Check your audio levels: When you get set up play the test audio track to see if the sound levels are acceptable for the room. You may need external speakers if you have a larger room or group. If your recorded talks and meditations are different from the Retreat Kit you may need to have the volume control within reach so that you can adjust the volume as needed. Our tracks are mastered to peak at -.3db. You can use a free program like Audacity to adjust the levels on your prerecorded talks to match if they are recorded at significantly lower levels.