One of the highlights of visiting Southern California’s Golden Door is the immersive Meditation Hike, held on Friday mornings. We had the chance to chat with Scotty King, a mindful fitness specialist at Golden Door who helps lead guests on their journey.
“I wear a few different hats, focusing on fitness, breath work, yoga, movement, and meditation. My approach is holistic, integrating mind, body, and spirit. The Meditation Hike is hands-down my favorite part of the week and the thing I love facilitating the most.
This hike offers a great opportunity for people to slow down. It’s a 1.5-mile silent retreat, part of a three-hour experience. It’s more than just a physical journey—it’s an inward adventure to uncover new insights, ‘A-ha’ moments, and realizations that go beyond our everyday titles, roles, and responsibilities. It’s a chance to get to know ourselves better by embracing stillness.
When we slow down, we create space for new awareness, insights, wisdom, and perspective. The Meditation Hike incorporates breath work, meditation, mindful movement, and a labyrinth experience, all within that 1.5-mile stretch. In this silence and stillness, we also get to let go of what may be weighing us down—pain, fear, old beliefs, or judgments. It’s a process of releasing what keeps us stuck in certain areas of our lives.
The experience continues through a silent breakfast, and afterward, we come together in a sharing circle. Men and women alike share their reflections—what they liked and didn’t like their discoveries, and their appreciation. This creates a kind of wisdom circle where we all exchange perspectives and take away ‘golden nuggets’ to apply in our everyday lives. The most nourishing part of it all is the bond that forms in that shared silence, which deepens when we come together afterward to talk and reflect.”
The Meditation Hike takes place every Friday morning at Golden Door.
