Join us for a personal retreat mid-week and some optional gentle yoga and meditation.  Enjoy the tranquillity of the space and embrace the art of doing nothing – seriously. This time out offers a slower rhythm, allowing you to step back from the busyness of life and find peace within.

New Year is a good time of the year to take stock and contemplate our moment-to-moment, here-and-now reality in all its fullness. It’s a traditional time for clarifying our motivations, and for starting afresh with new intentions. A time, in other words, to reboot the system. Give yourself the gift of time over this New Year period to collect the Three Wise Medicines of gratitude, ahimsa and contentment, to reflect on the past year, and uncover how you can best live your life in the coming year. During this time together we will let our body, speech and mind fall silent through the practice of meditation and silence. In working with the Three Wise Medicines, there will also be time for writing and contemplation, walking and ceremony especially outside in nature. We will welcome the New Year with a circumambulation around the  lantern-lit  Buddha Rupa, gonging out the old year. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection.

It is difficult to make decisions about important issues in your life when you are immersed in them. You need some distance from them, physically and psychologically to see them clearly for what they are. Only then, can you gain a fresh perspective on them. So, if you feel you need a gentle, uncluttered space to tune into what lies ahead for you in 2027, this largely unstructured weekend will prove useful. Experience sunrise qigong, yoga and meditation with Di, Marrion and Brendon and healing therapies with Nolwazi Bandezi, a qualified therapist. The BRC provides an ideal opportunity to be in a sympathetic space to experience what it is like to "just be".

Christel has used the ancient Science of Numerology to empower and guide her clients for more than 20 years. It is an incredible personal development tool which brings wisdom, clarity and affirmation, in profound ways. Numerology is also a valuable guidance tool for planning a year ahead, making major life decisions, or simply understanding your current life situation. Christel uses her hands-on approach and creative skills of music, movement and art to teach Numerology which make it very easy to understand and to apply immediately.

Join us for a transformative getaway to unwind, recharge, and rediscover your inner peace. This retreat is designed to help you slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with your authentic self. The retreat will incorporate:

Pranayama: Harnessing the power of breathwork to calm your mind and nourish your soul

Meditation: Exploring mindfulness and inner stillness in a supportive environment

Dance: Letting go and expressing yourself through movement

Discourse: Engaging in meaningful conversations and connecting with like-minded people.

You will leave refreshed, renewed, and restored.

When was the last time you truly listened to what your body and life are asking for?

Nothing Is the Same for Everyone is a five-day restorative Ayurvedic retreat at the Buddhist Retreat Centre guided by Dr. Keshia Abraham. Rooted in the understanding that balance looks different for each person, this experience invites you to slow down and reconnect with your natural rhythms. Through reflective writing, guided conversation, meditation, gentle movement, nature walks, and optional one-on-one consultations, you’ll gain clarity about what restores and sustains you—leaving grounded, refreshed, and renewed.

Join us for a transformative retreat as we explore the intricacies of our unpredictable world and strive to nurture a life filled with authenticity and purpose. Inspired by the insights of philosophers such as Krishnamurti, Buddha, and Aristotle, we will embark on a journey of self-awareness, acknowledging that understanding ourselves is essential for navigating the challenges we encounter. Drawing on the insights of Jungian psychologist James Hollis and the poetic wisdom of Rumi, we shall confront the challenges that impede our growth and discover how to embrace our authentic selves. Enhance your emotional intelligence and mindfulness as you apply valuable self-insights to your personal development journey in our fast-changing world and explore ways to enrich your life with purpose and vitality, even in the face of the challenges that we encounter.

Take back your life, it’s the only one you’ve got! The past few years seem to have been particularly challenging for many of us. Unsettling changes, prolonged stress, life crises of one kind or another, or simply giving away too much of your vital fire to another can leave you feeling dangerously close to burn-out and struggling to regain your sense of balance, purpose and passion.

This recalibration workshop is geared at those who feel they have lost the compass. Under the experienced guidance of creative journey guide and author, Elana Bregin, you will be led through the gentle process of rebuilding your inner fire and reclaiming the joie de vivre that may have gone missing in the stresses and traumas of daily life. Amid the quiet beauty and sacred peace of the BRC grounds, well supported by the Centre’s delicious meals, cosy fires and revitalising ambience, we will open our senses and heart chakras and start the conversation with our deeper selves that relaxed attention enables.There will be periods of writing reflection, group sharing, inspirational walks and uplifting talks, to help us get back in touch with who we really are and want to be.

In an era of accelerating uncertainty, burnout, and constant decision fatigue, the Metaphysical Analytics™ Retreat offers entrepreneurs, creatives, founders, and visionary leaders a rare space to step out of reactive living and to reconnect with the deeper forces that shape timing, leadership, opportunity, intuition, and personal alignment. Many leaders spend years mastering strategy, finance, and execution, yet remain disconnected from the invisible dynamics influencing momentum, burnout, relationships, intuition, and the ability to recognize the right path at the right time. This retreat invites participants to explore a different dimension of intelligence: one that integrates insight, self-awareness, symbolic intelligence recognition, and conscious leadership.

Participants will learn how to identify recurring cycles, sharpen intuitive discernment, uncover hidden energetic patterns, and cultivate greater clarity in both life and business. The result is not an escape from the modern world, but a more aligned, resilient, and deeply grounded way of moving through it.

For those building companies, leading communities, creating new paradigms, or standing on a threshold of reinvention, this retreat may become less of a retreat and more of a recalibration of how you lead and live. For others, it may offer rest or mark the beginning of an entirely new relationship with intuition, leadership, and the unseen forces shaping their lives.

Explore this ancient Chinese practice that boosts one’s health and vitality with dynamic teacher, Andy Hu who has been offering retreats at the the BRC for many years. Participants will learn the key techniques of how to master qigong and incorporate it into their daily lives, effortlessly. These techniques are easy to learn, are useful and powerful. The healing power of qigong works on both the physical and spiritual level - if it is done correctly. These techniques include breathing, timing, warm-ups, postures, movement and mind projection. Dr Hu will also introduce acupuncture and Chinese medicine for detoxing, lowering cholesterol, decreasing body fat and relieving water retention. This retreat is designed to suit beginners, as well as those who have practised qigong previously.

This retreat is an invitation to soften, to pause, and to return to the quiet wisdom within. It is a space of gentle holding - where you are met exactly as you are, whether you are a practitioner in need of deep replenishment, seeking to restore trust in your path, feeling the call to return to Reiki, or simply opening your heart to its energy for the first time.

Through guided self-healing, intuitive Reiki sharing, and subtle energy practices, you will be supported in reconnecting with your inner knowing and the universal life force that flows through all things. There is nothing to prove, nothing to achieve - only space to receive, remember, and realign. You can expect a deeply restorative journey of stillness and surrender, guided Reiki experiences, shared moments of healing, and quiet time for reflection and connection within a peaceful, heart-centred environment.

Join 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.

Embark on a wild and delicious journey of deep nourishment for your body, mind and spirit and join us for a ‘nourish in nature’ retreat with Kaz Wild, a passionate nutritionist and wild forager of superfoods and edible medicinal plants. She will blend these gifts from nature into her nutritious  and foodie demonstrations. Think Sprouted pilaf with wild superfoods, savoury coconut chips, Mineral-Enhancement of water and brain-elixirs - all from nature into the kitchen!

With the principle of “Let food be thy medicine and medicine thy food” she will share pointers from her ‘Grow A New You’ programme, incorporating food demos and nature walks to empower you to take healing into your own hands. This retreat will also integrate yoga and mindful food practices, promoting a holistic approach to wellness. Kaz will be joined by Dael Lithgow who will connect mind and body through science and meditation. He will share insights on how our thoughts impact our health - exploring mind-nutrition that nourishes both the physical and spiritual self.

Are you carrying painful awareness of climate breakdown, economic inequality, social rupture, environmental degradation, systemic greed, and ecological loss? Do you at times feel isolated in these feelings, unsure how to move forward, or how to channel your care into meaningful action? Do you feel with David Attenborough that ‘I would rather not think about what the future holds’?

The effects of climatic unravelling are becoming unavoidably apparent. It should be no surprise that we are experiencing a profound loss of confidence in the future. The personal anxiety we are feeling about this is perhaps the major unacknowledged underlying social crisis of today. Our society tends to pathologize this anxiety, ascribing it to personal ‘failings’ that must be ‘fixed’. Our lonely coping mechanisms are numbness, apathy, and/or panic. Rightly understood, though, these anxieties are simply the rational response to what we see happening around us. The Work That Reconnects is based on this understanding, and seeks to reconnect us to these feelings, bringing them into the light to be understood, rather than fixed, to propel our inner transformation.

This three-day retreat invites you into a container of truth-telling, deep listening, and collaborative hope - grounded in the transformative Spiral of The Work That Reconnects developed by Joanna Macy which will guide us through an ever-deepening spiral of  gratitude;  honest acknowledgement of anxiety, fear and loss; a realising that our anxieties are no less than messengers from our compassionate hearts and proof of our deep caring for, and belonging to, Earth and to one another. The Spiral teaches us to feel fully, witness clearly, and act creatively—alone and together for an Earth future that is life-sustaining, flourishing, compassionate, and equitable.

Awareness and mindfulness are the indispensable ingredients throughout. By cultivating present-moment attention, participants develop the capacity to notice the gifts of life, witness difficult
emotions without overwhelm, make conscious and wise choices rather than be reactive, and sustain engagement even amid crisis. This contemplative foundation makes space for our inherent
wisdom to flourish, preventing burnout and driving transformation.

Join Mark Joseph for a transformative retreat focused on mindfulness. At the best of times our minds run riot leaving us exhausted, stressed and often difficult to live with. The simple act of closing our eyes and focusing on our breath can do wonders for our body and mind, but at the root of our tension and dissatisfaction is something that we should investigate more fully for meditation to be beneficial. Over the retreat weekend you will tap into your calming energies, combined with gentle mindful movements you will begin to feel more at peace and at ease.

Key Benefits:

• Improved focus and attention management
• Effective stress management
• Enhanced emotional intelligence and empathy
• Insights for personal and professional growth

Experience how mindfulness can positively impact your well-being. 

Drumming and music-making are ancient ways of opening ourselves to spiritual realms of healing, creativity and a shift in consciousness. Ancient and traditional cultures used drumming for healing, celebration and the marking of rituals and rights of passage. Drumming promotes a sense of belonging and well-being, deep relaxation and healing. In this retreat we will learn some basic drumming techniques and take a journey around the world, exploring rhythms from Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.

This retreat will focus on Family and other Systems Constellations, which is a beautiful modality that helps us see clearly how things are in the particular system that we are looking at. It makes visible the web of relationships that we are in. We may work with issues like dis-ease or certain family patterns that you as a participant choose to work with. We may also work with topics/issues that we see playing out in the world; we may do a Nature Constellation, or work with a topic like Peace. We will use our body’s wisdom and we will make sure our body is well-grounded through walks and conscious movement. Karen will be offering Kahuna massage after the retreat by appointment, which may be very helpful to process and integrate this deep work.

Join Steve for an enjoyable weekend of identifying some of the BRC’s 160 species of birds - including the summer residents, the rare Blue Swallow, Knysna Turaco and Emerald Cuckoo. Wake up to birdsong and walk the verdant hills and meadows close to where the Blue Swallows nest. The BRC has been awarded “Private Nature Reserve” status by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife for its conservation of the Blue Swallow and its pristine mistbelt grasslands. Included will be talks, slide shows, meditation and some quiet time communing with nature. Bring your binoculars and a sunhat.

In a world that constantly asks us to do more, think more, and become more, Return to Love offers an opportunity to slow down, breathe deeply, and reconnect with the peace, wisdom, and love that already exist within. Through guided energy healing, crystal singing bowls, meditation, breathwork, and practical teachings, participants are invited to step away from the noise of everyday life and return to themselves. This retreat welcomes both men and women, regardless of background or belief, creating a warm and inclusive space where healing is experienced rather than explained.

Throughout the weekend we journey through five core pillars: Sacred Space, The Power of Thought, Energy Healing and Sound, Return to Love and Integration. Together, these experiences gently calm the nervous system, quiet the mind and encourage greater self-awareness, compassion, and connection. Alongside periods of reflection, silence, and time immersed in nature, participants will leave with simple, practical tools they can carry into everyday life helping them continue living with greater presence, resilience, and an open heart long after the retreat has ended.

This Easter long-weekend Open the Heart and Still the Mind Compassion Retreat with clinical psychologist Sue Cooper, is held in Noble Silence and is offered either as a 4 night Easter Weekend retreat or as an extended 7 night retreat. Inspired by the wisdom teachings of the Dharma and of Buddhist and western psychology, we will cultivate mindfulness and compassion practices which calm the nervous system and help integrate body, heart and mind. As we learn to listen and connect more compassionately with ourselves, drawing silent support from the sangha (like-minded practitioners finding solace in the shared silence), we will discover that the containment of ennobling silence allows us to find the courage to honour and embody our authentic, heartfelt presence with greater confidence, clarity and joy.

As we embrace the joys and the sorrows of life with a greater understanding of impermanence, we move beyond fear, shame and crippling self-doubt. After establishing some stillness and calm in the mind and the heart, we will explore the Brahma viharas (the four divine abodes/ immeasurables) to cultivate greater kindness, courage and compassion for ourselves and others. These compassion practices bring more appreciative joy, equanimity and wisdom into our lives, strengthening our capacity for more open-hearted presence and healthier boundaries in our relationships. This silent retreat includes teachings, guided meditations, daily qigong, time to walk, rest and replenish, as well as short, individual sessions with Sue to deepen our insight and sense of well-being. There will be relaxing massages and mindful movement offered as optional extras (the cost of which to be confirmed), to support our embodied experience.

CPD accreditation for psychologists and other HPCSA (or equivalent) registered professionals will be confirmed, with an annual admin fee tbc.

Please note: There is a teacher's fee for this retreat, which is offered on a sliding scale, with reductions and payment plans on request. Please contact Sue on for her pre-retreat questionnaire and to discuss a pre-retreat session if needed. More details can be found here: https://stillmindretreats.com/event/retreat-the-joy-and-wisdom-of-embodied-heartfelt-presence/

Participants will experience a traditional South African healing ceremony over three days during which they will learn to connect to their Ancestors (bones), Dreams, 'Umoya' (spirit) and one another. 'Ubuntu' means 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. It is a circle of interlinking relationships connecting the seen and unseen worlds. The ceremony will involve a plant cleanse, using medicinal plants to cleanse the spirit and open the heart. Included will be an in-depth discussion on 'African cosmology' and the understanding of ancestors, plant medicine and dreaming. Retreatants will learn one of the most ancient and misunderstood cultures in South Africa today - the Sangoma medicine people, the monks and nuns of Southern Africa. The retreat will focus on educating people about South African traditional spirituality and also lead participants on a spiritual journey to rediscover their own ‘soul’ or what is termed ‘umoya’ in Xhosa and Zulu culture. This is a unique opportunity as there are very few places in South Africa today where people can learn from this mystical tradition. 'Ubuntu' in essence represents harmony and is similar to the Zen circle. Linking the past and present, it is an evolving state of co-operation and compassion whereby every human being is linked to their own families and communities as well as the unseen world of ancestors. John will be assisted by his colleague Makhosi Nomusa who is the resident Zulu Sangoma. Please bring a plastic basin which will be used for medicinal foot healing, a dream journal, pen and paper to take notes, a meditation blanket and an open mind. This retreat is suitable for all therapists, healers and those with a desire to heal South Africa. 

Read the Odyssey magazine article on John Lockley.