I was so inspired [1] by it that I adopted a lot of their principles in my business [2].
Near Oakland there is San Francisco Zen Center (in Marin and in SF)—you might reach out and ask them for recommendations.
Also near Oakland you have many Tibetan organizations like https://gyalshen.org/ and https://nyingmainstitute.com/.
If you want to do more research, you can easily find directories like this: https://buddhiststudies.stanford.edu/resourcesother-resource.... There is tremendous access to teachings in the Bay Area and a handful of fantastic monasteries within 100 miles.
For effective teachings, I recommend: https://pointingoutthegreatway.com/. As you're getting started, it doesn't really matter what you do, but if you want to progress along the path quickly, I have found the Tibetan "pointing" style teachings to be most safe and effective by about an order of magnitude.
Realization Process is also very good, and not strictly Buddhist: https://realizationprocess.org/schedule-of-events/
Finally, https://sfdharmacollective.org/ is an incredible resource and people there can guide to whatever might suit you.
Check it out: https://chanpureland.org
I'm sure that there are dozens of other temples that do retreats, but this one I know from experience.
It's the retreat side of IMC (https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org). You might listen to some of their talks or read some of Gil's writing[1] to see if it's what you are looking for. It's in the Vipassana tradition, though a number of the teachers had affiliation with the SF Zen Center.
[1] https://www.insightmeditationcenter.org/books-articles/natur... is a potentially interesting article
https://berkeleyzencenter.org/ is in Berkley and is in the tradition of Soto Zen; I have sat with sister groups in San Jose and they seem pretty solid if a little more laid back than the Maezumi schools. There is a retreat center up in the Santa Cruz mountains, https://www.jikoji.org/ I have gone to retreats there and it is indeed very nice, peaceful and beautiful and nothing extrinsic to decide or worry about. I went with the Floating Zendo: https://floatingzendo.org/about-sesshin/
In Bay area, we have many opportunities to practice/train with other people. I'd say that the long retreats make daily meditation a lot easier and doing regular daily meditation make the long retreats a lot easier. And sitting with other people strengthens the practice in a way it's hard to recreate on your own.
I haven't sat with a group in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition, but from what I've seen online, the Japanese-derived Zen groups are pretty similar in the essence of the teachings.
I know of an upcoming in-person retreat based on TWIM (Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation) south of San Francisco:
https://www.suttavada.foundation/physical-retreats-suttavada...
The retreat is located here: https://www.suttavada.foundation/venue/stfrancis/
What is TWIM?
https://www.reddit.com/r/streamentry/wiki/twim-crash-course
Here is a book about the practice: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06WRPZZQF/
Edit: I think there are even more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_Village_Tradition#Monaste...
- Change of setting loosens pre-existing habits (compare working in an office to working from home)
- Being surrounded by people doing the same thing as you can be a great source of energy and determination (compare working in a hacker space to working in your garage)
- Having a teacher handy to clarify doubts is a great source of accountability and advice (compare learning from another programmer to teaching yourself to code)
- Depending on the retreat, most chores are taken care of for you so you can focus on meditating (compare being a student with a dining hall to studying while employed)
Often the metaphor used is that a retreat is a container, i.e. it makes it easy to slip into habits conducive to long and concentrated meditation sessions. Peers and environment matter, even for meditation.
I similarly attended these retreats and the community was profound. At every retreat I went to attendees participated in communal work, kitchen cleaning, food prep, compost rotation, temple cleaning. Nothing was a chore, not even silence, because you weren’t isolated. A big part of community was also the integration of monks, nuns and lay people (attendees). The kindness, acceptance and joy the “contemplatives” (monks and nuns) shared with attendees was really very special.
So, theoretically one could meditate alone at home during a weekend but…that’s an entirely different experience.
Short of attending a retreat, the next best thing is finding a Sangha locally and practicing together. Not every journey begins on a lonely road, some start walking slowly alongside others.
https://plumvillage.org/about/international-sangha-directory...
So, why can't you just do it? A solo retreat is not for everyone. People often need help or support to meet them where they are. Different personalities have different needs. A retreat can also be quite destabilizing and having someone to help in person to navigate the emotional territory or insights is valuable. Now, let's say that you think you can do it. In my opinion, you absolutely need a teacher for a longer retreat but for a shorter retreat (1 day, or _maybe_ 3-day) it is not entirely necessary. You end being your own worst enemy on a retreat. A friend of mine was doing practice for 10-12 hours a day without a teacher for 6 weeks and only eating a little bit of bread everyday. This is a bad idea. The mind plays some amazing tricks on you. So, if a solo attempt is done please have a teacher and have a lot of vital context around what you are doing otherwise you will practice wrongly.
I generally am a fan of the Nike, "just do it", but have found it can be significantly beneficial to be surrounded by those who do it better than you. Even if it's primarily a solo journey.
PS My account is new, because I'm a long-time lurker but wanted to post.