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  • Self Retreating Mid Week

    Teacher: Krishia Schilz and William (Shogan)
    Cost: Number of days' accommodation
    15% discount offered on April mid-week bookings
    Dates: Thursday 29 August 2024 - Friday 01 July 2050 08:00am - 05:00pm

    krishia schilzwill parkerFind meaningful solitude on a Self-Retreat.  One can do as much (or as little) reading, walking, meditation or resting as one chooses. Enjoy walks and bird watching in 300 acres of beautiful rolling hills and indigenous forests. Savour our delicious vegetarian food prepared with love by our wonderful cooks; or browse our well-stocked library. Visit the stupa and the raked Zen sand gardens and walk the labyrinth. Massage treatments, guided walks, qigong and meditation are offered by resident staff, Krishia and William mid week. Self-Retreats are an ideal opportunity to be in a gentle, sympathetic space where one can be still and get in touch with oneself.

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    Krishia Schilz is a qualified Bereavement Counsellor specialising in Grief and Loss, as well as Trauma Containment. Her spiritual path led her to Yoga in which she is certified in various styles. Krishia completed her training in the beautiful Bali, before locating to Thailand in order to teach. Her practice includes: yoga , pranayama (breath work), meditation, Yoga Philosophy and healing massage treatments.

    William (Shogan) has been practising meditation for nearly 20 years, cultivating stillness and inquiry. He took precepts with Dae Chong, Osho at Poplar Grove and now leads morning and evening zazen at the BRC, weaving verses from the Dhammapada into meditation for reflection and insight. With a keen interest in how the Dharma might evolve in an AI-driven, multiplanetary future, William embraces both tradition and possibility. He also guides qigong in the mornings and offers tai chi in the afternoons, integrating movement into mindfulness. His practice is an invitation - to sit, to move, and to explore the ever-expanding nature of awareness.

     
  • Wesak: Doing What The Buddha Did

    Teacher: Stephen Coan
    Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge
    Dates: Friday 09 May 2025 - Sunday 11 May 2025

    stephen coan2024The feast of Wesak is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha 2,500 years ago, and is held annually on the full moon of the lunar month of Vesakha (coincidental with May). We will mark this festival with a programme of sitting and walking meditation plus reflections on the Buddha’s life and teachings and, in union with Buddhists around the world, hold a traditional Wesak ceremony - a lantern-lit circumambulation – on Saturday evening. Apart from a talk or two, and some discussion, the weekend will place an emphasis on meditation, the basic Buddhist practice common to all traditions – simply breathing in and breathing out – doing exactly what the Buddha did.

    This weekend will also mark the 45th year anniversary of the Centre. We hope that you will share this milestone with us.

    The schedule will include time to enjoy the beautiful grounds of the Buddhist Retreat Centre.

    Please note: This retreat will be held in Noble Silence.

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    Stephen Coan has been teaching and retreating at the Buddhist Retreat Centre for over three decades. Inspired and informed by the Theravada and Zen Buddhist traditions his retreats place emphasis on the centrality of practice in living a skilful and enlightened life while also exploring the interface between poetry and silence and the profound benefits of doing nothing, seriously.

  • Unveiling The Deeper Layers of Yoga: The Philosophy Of Posture

    Teacher: Sushmitha Shrikanth
    Cost: 2 days accommodation + R350 surcharge
    Dates: Friday 16 May 2025 - Sunday 18 May 2025

    sushmita shrikanthThrough a merging of concepts from Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and Vedanta Philosophy, this retreat explores deepening your understanding of yoga beyond asanas. We will uncover how the practice of yoga postures can be a gateway to understanding the subtle interplay between our physical actions and mental states through a variety of lectures, reflection exercises, group discussions and breathwork sessions. The aim is to view asanas not merely as physical shapes, but as embodiments of our mental states. The weekend is ideal for those interested in bringing ancient wisdom to modern times through a time-tested self-practice method or Sadhana (spiritual training) to serve as an antidote to our distracted lives.

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    Sushmitha Shrikanth is an Ashtanga Yoga Teacher from Chennai, India with over a decade of practice and teaching experience under her belt. She formalised her training in Hatha Yoga at Kaivalyadhama, one of the oldest and most renowned yoga schools in India and spent several summers studying Indian philosophy at Vedanta Academy, alongside a degree in Western Philosophy from the University of London.
    She is a 500HR (RYT) and 200HR (AYI) certified teacher and is one of the youngest Indians to have completed Intermediate Series in Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga directly under the late Sharath Jois in Mysore, the lineage holder of the Ashtanga Tradition. At the age of 23, she travelled across East Africa to work for an NGO delivering yoga training to refugee women at UN projects, orphanages, sober houses and the like. She has been featured in national newspapers for her work and has programs on major TV service providers like Tata Sky Fitness and Dish TV.

  • The Sacred Feminine : Empowering The Feminine With Yoga, Meditation And Your Astrological Moon

    Teacher: Margarita Celeste and Michelle Strybis
    Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge
    Dates: Friday 23 May 2025 - Sunday 25 May 2025

    margarita celestemichelle strybisIn this empowering weekend for women, gentle Yin-style yoga will be offered as an invitation to expand, open and release tightly-held emotions and stress, focusing on the hips and heart. Evening "Moon" themed meditations will help participants to get in touch with this powerful Lunar Body to connect with your inner Feminine. Included will be talks on the Astrological Moon which will help women to navigate their emotional styles, and that of others. Body and Mind will be nourished over a weekend that promises to be nurturing for women - mothers and daughters, sisters and best friends - in a moment by moment openness to each other and to the beautiful, tranquil surroundings of the BRC.

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    Margarita Celeste was intuitively drawn to the starry skies from a young age. In 2013, she enrolled for Rod Suskin's three-year Diploma course, receiving a scholarship for her final year, after which she studied formally with the School of Intuition and Healing. Her passion is to help and guide others towards a more conscious state of being. She has a deep interest in alternative healing such as reiki, crystal therapy, kinesiology, chakra balance, tachyon healing and life alignment.

    Michelle Strybis danced from a very early age and has always been aware of the way movement affects our moods and mental states. Her journey with yoga started on a visit to an ashram in India many years ago where she completed her Yoga Teacher's Training in Bangalore. She has since visited India annually to further her yoga studies. In 2017 she completed a pre-and-post Natal Yoga Teacher's Training and in 2018 she qualified as a Meditation teacher in Dharmsala. She is passionate about sharing how yoga and meditation can help to keep us centered in our everyday lives.

     

  • Change Your Mind - A Mindfulness Retreat

    Teacher: Mark Joseph
    Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge
    Dates: Friday 30 May 2025 - Sunday 01 June 2025

    mark josephIn the 1980’s Dr Jon Kabat-Zinn brought mindfulness into western medical focus. He was a practitioner of Zen Buddhism at the time and wanted to introduce his eastern learnings into a secular western framework. He was highly successful, and his work spread worldwide from the university of Massachusetts USA in the form of MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction). His definition: ‘Mindfulness can be cultivated by paying attention, in a particular way, on purpose and in the present moment, with three attitudes of  non-reactivity, non-judgement and open heartedness’ became the cornerstone of a Mark Joseph's work. He found it wasn’t about converting South Africans to Buddhism but sharing the heart of practices that transformed his mind and heart. Mark became fascinated with the collaboration of HH The 14th Dalai Lama and science, especially with the work of neuroscientist Richard Davidson and author Daniel Goleman. Mark has been running mindfulness workshops for many years incorporating neuroscience and performance psychology. In 2016 he created the ‘Mindfulness teacher training program’ and in 2018 it was introduced into RMB bank to train wellness ambassadors. During the pandemic this program spread to the entire First Rand organisation as well as ABSA and DHL. Mark has pioneered the growth of mindfulness not only in the corporate world but also in training psychologists and individuals in mindful therapy.

    The essence of this program will be shared in this 2-day retreat and combines key points around how mindfulness contributes to:
    - Focus and attention management
    - Stress Management
    - Insight and Innovation
    - Psychological safety
    - Emotional Intelligence
    - Self compassion
    - Empathy
    - Wisdom

    Experience the merging of the eastern and western forms of mindfulness to provide you with an evidence-based approach to cultivating a daily practice and how this will affect your positive mental well-being.

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    Mark Joseph is truly grateful to have been part of the shift in the world of mental health from reactive to pro-active. His training is in mindfulness, neuroscience and positive psychology - which he brings into his teachings. Living in a Buddhist temple for 3 years and backpacking the Himalayas was life-changing and encouraged his love of ancient systems for building resilience and tenacity. His journey with his own struggles with mental health began at a young age, with daily panic attacks - fuelled by the suicide of his father due to ill mental health. By using pro-active techniques of mental wellness and mindfulness, his life stabilised and improved. This approach became his passion and led to his teaching and speaking on the subject as far back as 2001. In 2018 Mark took the leap from Managing Director of an advertising agency to become a full time mental health speaker and facilitator. In a few short years he has been instrumental in the change in culture in large corporations and his role has also expanded to wellness strategist and advisory. Mark truly believes that we can change the world, one liberated mind at a time.

  • Journey To Self - Explore Your Connection With Your True Self

    Teacher: Sadhna Hamchander and Ravika Ramnath
    Cost: 2 days accommodation + R400 surcharge
    Dates: Friday 06 June 2025 - Sunday 08 June 2025

    sadhna hamchandarravika ramnath"Journey To Self" is a structured and interactive retreat designed to help you explore and develop your connection with your true self, to enhance self-awareness and cultivate personal growth and well-being. It focuses on various aspects of personal development, self-discovery and inner-child healing. Join Sadhna assisted by Ravika for a weekend in the nurturing atmosphere of the BRC and tap into joy. They will offer guided meditation and self-discovery exercises and help you to transform limiting beliefs. This retreat is your chance to break free from limitations and embrace a life of purpose and fulfilment. Because you are worth it!

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    Sadhna Hamchander is a certified Heal Your Life facilitator, life coach, and Holistic Counsellor dedicated to catalysing positive transformations in people's lives. Her transformative journey began in 2017 when she attended a Heal Your Life workshop, deeply influenced by the wisdom of Louise Hay. Inspired, she joined the Heal Your Life organization to share her passion for healing and empowerment. Her approach involves customized workshops, coaching and consulting designed to meet each individual's unique needs and aspirations. She firmly believes that everyone is deserving of a life filled with happiness, health, and fulfilment. Through the principles she has embraced, she guides others toward unlocking their potential, fostering resilience, and cultivating a renewed sense of purpose by journeying within. Her self discovery Journey began in 2005 at Manav Dharam Meditation Centre.

    Ravika Ramnath is a Facilitator, Counseller and Heal your Life Study Course teacher. She is passionate about teaching the art of self-care by empowering individuals with the skills to learn to love and respect themselves and their emotions. Much of her work is based on the teachings of Lousie Hay and incorporates a Holistic approach to self-care, allowing people a safe space to heal and grow in both corporate and private sessions. She has been living and loving this work since 2017 and believes that sometimes it is just the listening ear or honest feedback given by a Coach, mentor or Counsellor that could transform the tapestry of your life.

     

  • Traditional Hatha And Raja Yoga

    Teacher: Duncan Rice
    Cost: 3 days accommodation + R350 surcharge
    Dates: Friday 13 June 2025 - Monday 16 June 2025

    duncanrice fullJoin Duncan for a weekend of reflection, rejuvenation, relaxation and restoration. The retreat is based on the ancient practices of hatha and raja yoga and is open to all levels of ability, including beginners, who wish to understand the fundamentals of yoga and develop, or deepen, their own practice. In the tranquil environment of the Buddhist Retreat Centre, we will discover how shatkarmas (cleansing techniques), asanas (postures), pranayama (control of the breath), mudra (gestures to manipulate and stimulate the energies in the body), bandhas (energy locks with the body) bring us into equilibrium. These traditional practices will help us to develop awareness of body, mind and breath. As the body gently opens like a lotus flower, and we start to release our past impressions, so the mind becomes relaxed preparing us for meditation. We will follow traditional guided meditation techniques in the meditation hall and in the labyrinth to quieten the mind, calm anxieties, recover balance in life and enhance creativity, insight and self-reflection.

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    Duncan Rice offers community-based yoga at "Yogam Yoga" in Durban. He has studied and lived in India for many years and has followed the teachings of Patanjali (Ashtanga Yoga), Ayurveda and Hatha Yoga which are laid down in some of the oldest texts of yoga. His yoga is rooted in ancient tradition passed down by the teachers over thousands of years teaching that we are a multi-layered being from our physical body to your subtle body. Yoga is about creating health and equilibrium in our body, calming the mind and allowing us to be in touch and at peace with our true self.

  • Buddhanalysis: What if Buddha was your psychoanalyst?

    Teacher: Jason Ross
    Cost: 3 days accommodation + R350 surcharge
    Dates: Friday 20 June 2025 - Monday 23 June 2025

    jason ross2024Through a merging of concepts from Existential Psychoanalysis and Secular Buddhism, this retreat explores Buddhism as a form of therapeutic living. The retreat will take us from the concept of inherent “lack” (sunyata), through “longing” (“tanha”), to “love” (metta). Along this journey, we will consider the implications of the Buddhist notion of “non-self” (anatta) for the practice of psychotherapy and its practical application to our everyday lives.

    This retreat involves philosophical discussion, therapeutic engagement, a variety of sitting practices, walking meditation, basic yoga (no experience needed), written reflection and group discussion. It is an ideal retreat for those interested in a practical, therapeutic and atheist (non-soteriological) approach to Buddhism.

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    Dr Jason Ross is a practicing psychologist with a PhD in Philosophy and Psychoanalysis from the Global Centre for Advanced Studies.  He takes a critical stance towards conventional psychology and its ideas of what it means to be supposedly normal.  He proposes a move away from its impoverished language of diagnosing individual experience and a return to a more embodied, socially embedded, poetic, and philosophical engagement with our struggles.  He campaigns for a psychology that is more interested in providing a therapeutic experience than attempting to explain our problems away.  He is particularly sceptical of Psychology’s more recent incorporation of “mindfulness” into its methodology, viewing this as a contradiction of the Buddhist philosophy from which “mindfulness” originally emerged.  His work, therefore, attempts to do justice to the existential philosophical thread that runs through most Buddhist teachings, merging this with an existential psychoanalytic method.  Jason was first introduced to Buddhism through the teachings of Rob Nairn and Louis Van Loon in the 90’s, and his hope is to pay tribute to the legacy of these teachings.  He is currently most influenced by the work of Stephen Batchelor and David Loy.

  • Ishta Yoga And African Sound

    Teacher: Buhle Mabanga, Zawadi Yamungu, Tinashe
    Cost: 2 or 4 days days accommodation + R400 surcharge
    Dates: Friday 27 June 2025 - Tuesday 01 July 2025

    buhle mabanga2023zawaditinashe oicJoin Buhle for 2 to 4 days of Ishta Yoga which is a blend of different styles of yoga practices. Ishta is an acronym for Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra and Ayurveda, but also has deeper meaning in its Sanskrit roots that translates as “that which resonates with the individual”. As students, we each have our own path, and it is this very personal journey that Ishta Yoga seeks to encourage. In this full-rounded practice, you will also experience tapping, pranayama (breathwork) and inner child healing meditation. This retreat will also incorporate African indigenous music with Zawadi and Tinashe.

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    Buhle Mabanga is an accredited yoga and mindfulness teacher and founder of Nomvula Well-Being Movement. She began practising mindfulness, yoga and meditation four years ago with teachers Nandiva from Ishta Yoga and Mark Joseph from Mindful Revolution. In addition to her mindfulness and yoga work, Buhle is an artist, a children’s book author, a spoken word writer and a fashion designer.

    Zawadi Yamungu is a South African indigenous musician born in Kwa-Zulu Natal. She started her career with a local church group and was later exposed to acting, dance and composing music which enhanced her career as a professional artist. Umakhweyana, Ugubhu string bow and penny whistle are some of the instruments she plays. Working with Mbuso Khoza's African Heritage Ensemble, she has also collaborated with Gcina Mhlophe, Madala Kunene, Themba Mkhize, Nduduza Makhathini and other legends. 

    Tinashe is an indigenous instrument artist, hailing from Harare, Zimbabwe. His music - influenced by his late teacher - sparked the heart of his talent from a tender age. He plays the instruments mbira, flute, djembe drum and marimba. He has been with the Nomvula Well-Being as a sound healer and is uniquely talented.

  • Iyengar Yoga: Nudging The Body Into Shape And Health

    Teacher: Judy Farah
    Cost: 2 days accommodation + R450 surcharge
    Dates: Friday 04 July 2025 - Sunday 06 July 2025

    judy farah2019Get moving again! The upsurge of interest in the ancient practice of yoga attests to its proven physiological and psychological benefits. Our sedentary, western lifestyle has stiffened our limbs and spine to such an extent that many people find the yoga asanas (poses) difficult to perform. Iyengar yoga evolved to deal with this problem - safely, without forcing the body into harmful contortions. Iyengar yoga uses simple, but carefully calibrated props and other supports to achieve postures that would otherwise be unattainable except after years of practice. This retreat is suitable for beginners and for those who may have practised other forms of yoga. It is an introduction to the Iyengar method. For those who wish to consolidate their practice to a deeper level, the additional 5-day retreat is strongly recommended (6-11 July).

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    Judy Farah began her yoga practice at the age of 18 and has been teaching Iyengar yoga for the past 20 years. She has travelled to Pune many times to study and practise under the guidance of Gurus, BKS, Geetaji and Prashantji. She has attended many seminars of visiting Senior Iyengar teachers and travelled extensively to study under various other Iyengar teachers. This included doing a 6-year Medical/Remedial Course with Stephanie Quirk. It is her ongoing devotion to yoga practice that is her driving force in life.