Yoga teaches us the ability to remain present, calm and stable no matter what situation we find ourselves in. It is not about perfecting the shape of the pose or increasing flexibility -  it is about knowing what the shapes do and how they impact our physiology, our energy and our mind. When carefully planned and sequenced, yoga helps us to thrive in the external world that is always changing, and simultaneously allows us to disconnect from our daily lives and reconnect to that aspect of being that never changes. In yoga we use the body to connect with the breath (asana), the breath to connect with the mind (pranayama) and the mind to connect back to Source (meditation). When we regularly practise meditation we train ourselves to pause before we react – often based on habitual patterns – and instead to respond calmly with  more wisdom and compassion.
Previous yoga practice is recommended; however, beginners are welcome. Please bring your own yoga mat.

Tune in and allow nature to flow through your heart and lens. The lens of your camera is an extension of your eye, your eyes are an extension of your heart. This weekend workshop is guided by Master Fine Art photographer, Marlene Neumann. She will take you on a journey deep into the forest where you can explore the light through your camera lens as you listen to the ancient wisdom whispered by the trees. This is not a technical workshop on how to use your camera, but rather an opportunity to learn to follow the light and allow the spirit of nature to shine through you. Marlene’s contemplative approach will teach you new insights and a new way of seeing. See: www.marleneneumann.com  

Qigong can be loosely translated as the movement of energy. Qi is the energy derived from nature that is always around us. Using 6,000 year old movements, we can tap into this energy and thereby energise ourselves. Qigong exercises are slower than aerobics, but faster than tai chi. There will also be free time to relax and rest, and to take in the beauty of the BRC.

Would you like to connect more deeply with Life?
Reunite with the simple joy of being?
Open to the flow of creative abundance?
Shift your life to a new level?
Join two of South Africa’s top transformational facilitators, John Homewood and Michelle McClunan on a powerful, transformational experience, that will awaken, shift and nourish you. This retreat will integrate powerful spiritual teachings of Presence, Awakening and Flow with different creative art processes, to help you to clear blockages that may have prevented you from living a healthy, joy-filled, peaceful and abundant life. The creative experiences are process-driven, as opposed to being outcome-based, so no artistic experience or skill is required. Through wisdom teachings, guided visualisations, meditations, time spent in nature, heart-opening music and a variety of experientially creative processes, you will be led gently into your inner landscape, where you will rediscover your own deep wisdom and reason for being here, on this planet, right now. You will also be provided with valuable tools to help you navigate our quickly changing world.

PLEASE NOTE: This retreat is further extended to include Monday and Tuesday 9-11 May

The Heart And Art Of Awakening Part 2 - GOING DEEPER

This is a follow-on from the weekend’s retreat for those wishing to deepen the process of Awakening and aligning with Presence and Flow.

Please book this extension separately.

Join Bhante Sukhacitto and Elizabeth Faria in a mini Zoom weekend retreat during which they will help you develop mindfulness in silent sitting meditation, and also use the practice of Insight Dialogue to develop insight. In dialogue meditation, we will explore and contemplate in the virtual presence of another, relevant Dhamma topics in order to understand how things really are. The aim is to develop wholesome qualities such as kindness and compassion and cultivate spiritual friendship. We will explore how to apply the Noble Eightfold Path into practice. 

2 and a half hours | Saturday 8 May | 09:00-11:30am
2 and a half hours | Sunday 9 May | 09:00-11:30am

Register

This is a follow-on from the weekend’s retreat for those wishing to deepen the process of Awakening and aligning with Presence and Flow.
It will be structured in a way to allow newcomers to attend - so all welcome!

Would you like to connect more deeply with Life?
Reunite with the simple joy of being?
Open to the flow of creative abundance?
Shift your life to a new level?

Join two of South Africa’s top transformational facilitators, John Homewood and Michelle McClunan on a powerful, transformational experience, that will awaken, shift and nourish you. This retreat will integrate powerful spiritual teachings of Presence, Awakening and Flow with different creative art processes, to help you to clear blockages that may have prevented you from living a healthy, joy-filled, peaceful and abundant life. The creative experiences are process-driven, as opposed to being outcome-based, so no artistic experience or skill is required. Through wisdom teachings, guided visualisations, meditations, time spent in nature, heart-opening music and a variety of experientially creative processes, you will be led gently into your inner landscape, where you will rediscover your own deep wisdom and reason for being here, on this planet, right now. You will also be provided with valuable tools to help you navigate our quickly changing world.

It is important for us to take time out from the incessant demands and fast pace of daily life. The BRC gives us a space to step off the wheel and the time to come home to the quiet, strong refuge which lies at our centre. Cultivating the natural state of peace and ease that lies there reveals our true nature - which enables us not to just help ourselves, but to help the world of which we are a part. Then daily living becomes meaningful. This mid-week retreat will bring out our Beginner’s Mind through the practice of meditation. The time will be silent, quiet, and slow. There will be meditation instruction and guidance, formal sitting, and time for walking, writing, or staring into the distance.

 Stories and story-telling are what make us human. We have stories about health, wellness and well-being. Often, we are informed by the should, could and would of life. These stories, or programs, inform our view of the world - whether it is a world-view and story of scarcity or one of abundance. Sometimes these stories, or the programs from the past can entrap and restrict us from living a full life. How have other people’s stories of the world in health and wellness, scarcity and abundance - informed your own? This retreat is an invitation to look at our own personal stories as part of a much larger story of world, health and well-being; to look at the programs that run automatically and prevent us from living freely and being in the present moment. It is also an invitation to seek alternate stories as we explore new possibilities of being well and being present; to be curious at how and where certain stories come from and to seek alternate meaning through engaging with new ideas and research, and to be enlivened as we open up to the possibilities. Through learning and practising Ho’oponopono we can learn how to release ourselves from restrictive stories and live in the fullness of each moment and to see how transforming this can be. The weekend will be informative, with practical workshopping real-life examples of how to shift our lives into the fullness of the present moment.

It is often our personal struggles that bring us to a retreat setting. But, is Buddhism meant to serve as a form of therapy? This retreat will explore the potential meeting place between Secular Buddhist practices, Existential Philosophy and Psychotherapy. We will explore methods such as Vipassana and Korean Zen meditation as a means of better understanding the nature of our own minds and the relationships we have formed with the struggles we are facing. The retreat will include Tai Chi, meditation, philosophical reflection, therapeutic discussion and short periods of essential noble silence.

Wesak is the most important day on the Buddhist calendar, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha 2,500 years ago, and is traditionally held on the full moon of the lunar month of Vesakha (coincidental with May). As in the past, we will mark this festival with a programme of sitting and walking meditation, talks and reflections on aspects of the Buddha’s life and teachings and, in union with Buddhists around the world, a Wesak ceremony culminating in a candle-lit circumambulation and traditional chanting. Please note: Apart from the talks and discussion periods this retreat will be held in Noble Silence.