Detailed List of Retreats

24 - 26 and 24 - 29 Nov (2 and 5 night options)

This Open the Heart and Still the Mind Retreat is in ennobling silence and is offered for an extended 5 nights for those who want a longer and deeper retreat experience, or as a 2 night weekend retreat for those unable to stay longer. Drawing on the beauty of nature and the Mist Rising, Dew Falling, we will explore living with change and uncertainty as we embrace the truth of impermanence with courage, compassion and joy.
As we experience the unfolding of aging, sickness and death (dukkha), we are invited to be more fully present, so that we can live wholeheartedly and more joyfully, connecting with ourselves, each other and this world with greater kindness and care. The deep nourishment of the silence and the experience of our interconnectedness with the sangha (our silent retreat family) and with nature enhances our connection to what is life-affirming, compassionate and wise. We will discover that we can embrace impermanence with less fear and more appreciative joy (sukkha), inspired by the qualities of heart and mind found in the Brahma Viharas (the 4 divine abodes) of loving-kindness (metta), compassion (karuna), appreciative joy (mudita) and equanimity (upekkha).
This retreat includes guided sitting and walking meditations, short individual sessions with Sue and daily sessions of qigong movement meditation to enhance the integration of body, heart and mind. There will be time for silent, mindful walks in nature when you can explore the beauty of the Centre. Additional optional mindful movement and massages will be offered - details to be confirmed nearer the time.

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.

A pre-retreat individual session via Zoom/Whatsapp is highly recommended for newcomers or if you have not attended one of Sue’s residential retreats before. The fee for this will be the 30-40/50 minute medical aid rate and will be reduced if you are not on medical aid. Please contact Sue on to arrange a time.
CPD accreditation for psychologists and other HPCSA registered professionals: Confirmed with an admin fee.

This retreat will provide an opportunity to explore two aspects of Buddhist meditation practice - the gradual development of calmness and peacefulness in our mind; and the practise of awareness, in order to live with more clarity and more centredness in the present moment. This foundation of calmness helps us to meet our confused thoughts and emotions with more acceptance and kindness and leads to a deeper understanding of the nature of our minds. The retreat will create a gentle and relaxed space in which to explore the benefits of spending time quietly with ourselves, to allow the qualities of calmness and clarity to develop in a natural way and to enjoy the nurturing effect of being silent in a beautiful environment.

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it - Mary Oliver

We will play with the energy we are - exploring qigong, tapping, yin yoga, free dance, sunning, breath work, shaking, and meditation techniques, while exploring creative expression through movement and stillness, the written word and art. This is an invitation to heal in Nature through mindfulness and co-creation. Everyone is welcomed to a compassionate and open-hearted space for remembering who we are.

Shibuie is the ancient Japanese concept of Accidental Beauty in which the artist is just one ingredient in a number of dynamic interacting natural processes, the outcome of which is delightfully unpredictable, but strangely beautiful - not ego-driven or deliberate. Ingrid will teach the classical Japanese brush painting techniques - Sumie - as these are applied to traditional subjects, such as landscape, bamboo and flower studies - as well as contemporary subjects. We will use the genuine, traditional materials: solid pine-soot ink, a hollowed-out slate to liquefy it, a deer-hair bamboo-stemmed brush and absorbent mulberry paper. Tools will be provided. Lungelo will offer the Raku and explore various glazing and firing techniques. Each retreatant will receive a bisque-fired tea bowl to sumie-decorate and glaze. The kiln will be fired up, after which we will watch the magic as the bowls emerge triumphantly from the scorching heat! Bernard will be offering forest walks and introduicng 'forest bathing' introducing 'forest bathing' with traditional Mbira music for healing and harmony. A traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony will be held on the final evening led by Venessa Muller.

The aim of this workshop is to develop the tools that enable us to arrive gently and lucidly in the present moment, being aware of the ebb and flow of our moods and emotions and learning to be mindful instead of reactive in our interactions with others. Using the techniques presented, we will learn to train our minds to be centered on the present so that we can flow with the river of life instead of fighting against the current of our conditioning. There is great joy in being present, no matter what is happening. We will explore Kundalini yoga, which is a combination of stationary and dynamic poses and qigong (chi kung) techniques. These practices increase our energy level and give us the capacity to be fully present and integrated in our bodies and minds. This is a meditation-centered practice - not a physical yoga practice. The workshop will be varied to allow retreatants of all ages and levels of experience to derive great benefit from this very old tradition. Bring comfortable clothing and a sun hat.

Imagine! Imagine all the people, living life in peace - John Lennon

Christmas is a time of the giving of gifts. All birthdays are honoured with gift-giving. Usually these gifts are of ‘things’. Yet the very best gift we can give is not anything tangible or material. It is to definitively take away the suffering of oneself, and of others. And this, after all, is the reason why we give material gifts in the first place. It’s also the reason why we do the myriad things we do in our lives. It’s because we are constantly in pursuit of this (seemingly unattainable) state of being: peace, happiness, contentment, an absence of ‘niggle’. The unlimited and ultimate gift would be to be happy without end, at peace without end, to give happiness and peace to all, without end.

The Four Immeasurable Gifts are the ultimate gift. They are boundless equanimity, loving kindness, compassion, and joy. They define a path and practice leading to all-encompassing peace and happiness. They lead us back to our true nature, which is peace.

Take time out at the BRC this Christmas to slow down into the moment and unwrap the Four Immeasurable Gifts. We will discover them through meditation, contemplation, journaling, and by just being present.

The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of introspection and silence with time for journaling, reflection, and fireside talks.

The spiritual life is first of all a life. It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived - Thomas Merton

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 lantern-lit ceremony in the Zendo, chanting, ringing out the old year with an ancient Chinese temple gong. 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 2024, this largely unstructured weekend will prove useful. Experience sunrise qigong, gentle hatha yoga sessions and meditation. The Centre is yours to enjoy, walking or bird-watching in three hundred acres of rolling hills and indigenous forests. Circumambulate the labyrinth and stupa, meditate in the Zen garden or in the Buddha Boma, and spend solitary time in the deer park and at the dam or  immerse yourself in the "Circle of Sound" in the Bamboo Grove. Deborah Don, a qualified Self-Esteem Coach and massage therapist, will be offering healing therapies by appointment. The BRC provides an ideal opportunity to be in a sympathetic space to reflect on the things that crowd one’s life and to experience what it is like to "just be".

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.

Why must we undertake Vipassana meditation retreats? Because we search for happiness and want to liberate our mind from suffering. We go on a retreat to cleanse and disentangle our troubled lives and minds. This experience frees our mind - Ajahn Tong

The retreat starts with an introduction on Monday evening and follows the original Stages of Insight for ten full days of meditation. The aim of insight meditation is to understand reality, to see things as they really are. The main tool of insight meditation is mindfulness: mindfulness of body, feelings and mind. Ajahn Tong states that “attending a meditation retreat is training in the power of mindfulness. With intensive practice the wandering, struggling and chaotic mind can become composed, peaceful, refreshed and purified of negative hindrances.” Retreatants are required to practise approximately ten hours per day (between 5 am and 10 pm), follow the Buddhist precepts and maintain respectful silence throughout the retreat. The BRC staff and teachers will provide their whole-hearted support, including daily reporting, loving-kindness meditation (Metta) and Dhamma talks. Maximum 12 students. This retreat will overlap with the weekend retreat (19-21) and the 4 day retreat (21-25). 

Thoughts come and go. Feelings come and go. Find out what it is that remains - Ramana Maharshi

The retreat will be limited to 12 participants.

Thoughts are about what is not happening - Paul Hedderman

Vipassana (Insight) meditation is based on mindfulness, which is always available, everywhere, without limit or cost. The challenge is how to realise it. The answer was provided by the Buddha. He taught ways to cultivate mindfulness that lead to insight and awakening. This retreat is an invitation for beginners and experienced meditators to practise Vipassana using the traditional Buddhist method of Ajahn Tong. For beginners it is a simple and direct technique to start meditating and for experienced meditators, it is a skilful method to deepen their insight. Mindfulness is developed by regular walking and sitting practice, by maintaining awareness during normal activities, such as eating, showering, dressing and supported by talks and daily interviews with a teacher. The weekend will be held in silence. Retreatants are welcome to join the subsequent 4-day meditation retreat.

Sustain awareness at every moment in every posture, whether standing, walking, sitting or lying down. This is the way to establish mindfulness in the heart - Ajahn Chah

You may find that the cell is an ideal place to learn to know yourself, to search realistically and regularly the processes of your own mind and feelings ... it gives you the opportunity to look daily into your entire conduct to overcome the bad and develop whatever is good in you. Never forget that a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying - Nelson Mandela - Mandela The Authorised Biography by Anthony Sampson

Vipassana (Insight) meditation uses mindfulness to search for the mental and emotional patterns that cause suffering. The aim is not merely to overcome suffering but to learn how to wake up and be fully alive in the present moment. This four-day retreat is an opportunity to deepen meditation practice using the traditional Buddhist method of Ajahn Tong. Meditators are encouraged to stay for the entire course but may also stay for a shorter time and beginners are welcome to learn how to start Vipassana meditation. Mindfulness is developed by regular walking and sitting practice (both in the meditation hall and outside in the forest), by maintaining awareness during normal activities such as eating, showering, dressing and supported by daily interviews with a teacher. The retreat will be held in silence.

What is looking is what you are looking for - St. Francis of Assisi

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.

The great [artist]…. moves effortlessly… from some unknown centre
which is certainly not the brain centre but which is definitely a centre,
a centre connected with the rhythm of the whole universe, and consequently
as sound, unshakable, as defiant, anarchic, purposeless, as the universe itself - Henry Miller

Theresa will re-introduce you to the world of intuition, which was your primal and most natural way of knowing the world as a child. We will withdraw from the world of busyness and hustle and slow down. The intuitive way of being has been the focus of Theresa’s attention over the last fifteen years during which she has tried to understand the fleeting and fragile experience of intuition during the creative process which occurs when we surrender and let go of the thinking mind. The experience of creative intuition is characterised by moments of mysterious potentiality and open-ended suggestiveness which generate new and original thoughts, sounds, images and actions. It is to these original and highly personal points of potential that you, a creative person, will constantly return for inspiration as you attempt to express in the medium of your choice (words, paint, music) your original contribution to the world. We will begin with a discussion about what exactly intuition is, and more specifically how it functions during the creative process. Ways of nurturing creative intuition will be suggested, and it is these ways of being which we will be nurturing during the retreat. We will start every day with some gentle qigong to bring ourselves into our bodies, and then - 
we will talk
we will walk
we will observe
we will write
we will draw
we will paint
and we will move…

Join Beatrice Kidd, a Clinical Transaction Analyst and Integrative Psychotherapist, for six sessions over three weeks - online. This course has been put together for Psychologists, Social Workers and other interested persons, who want to further their understanding of these two different operating systems that function to ameliorate pain and develop insight; engender compassion for self and others, and ease unnecessary suffering, mental distress and relational conflict.

FIRST WEEK:
TUES 6 FEB 2024 11 am - 1 pm
THUR 8 FEB 2024 11 am - 1 pm

SECOND WEEK:
TUES 13 FEB 2024 11 am - 1 pm
THUR 15 FEB 2024 11 am - 1 pm

THIRD WEEK:
TUES 20 FEB 2024 11 am - 1 pm
THUR 22 FEB 2024 11 am - 1 pm

Explore this ancient Chinese practice that boosts one’s health and vitality. 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 some 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.

Our lifestyles seem to require us to direct our attention and energies into an external world that although involving us, also overwhelms and extends beyond our reach. We need to find a steady centre to our lives. Meditation builds internal qualities of calm and steadiness, but the training also encourages a wise focus and response to the external world. From this comes the Middle Way, a dynamic open centre within action and stillness. Finding and abiding in that centre is the theme of the retreat.

The retreat will include periods of sitting, walking and standing, along with qigong and chanting.

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.

“When you are busy judging people, you have no time to love them.” Marshall Rosenberg
Learn the life-enhancing practices of mindful awareness and non-violent communication with Felicity Joan Hart. When interacting with others, we often find ourselves triggered and then communicate in ways that hurt or harm - ourselves, the other, or the relationship between. Our conditioned ideas of what it means to communicate, especially during times of conflict, frequently results in a loss of connection. Judgement and defence, as well as the strategies of criticism, insults, blame, or put-downs are commonly used in our attempt to be heard or to meet our need to be “right,” “good” or “winning.” Despite our best efforts and intentions, we habitually become “violent” with our words and then feel the pain of disconnection.
This retreat explores the principles and practices of mindfulness and non-violent communication (NVC), to foster connection and minimize the suffering of outmoded ways of engaging. We will practice both intra-personal and inter-personal mindfulness to cultivate skills of empathy, compassion, and a better understanding of self and other. Contemplative dyads are a way to promote social connectedness, something that we are often lacking in daily life where our time is dominated by digital devices. Together, these practices will help us communicate more consciously so that we learn to be aware of our feelings and needs, make requests to meet these needs and stay open to the feelings and needs of others.
You can expect daily mindful meditation practice to support the empowering and enriching teachings of NVC, gentle exercise, and some down time for rest and relaxation.

The mind can be like a monkey, jumping here and there - from one emotion or thought to another. In order to find peace and stability, it is useful to calm the mind by giving it something on which to focus, like the breath or sound. Once the mind has settled, it is able to be clearly aware of the truth of what is happening in the moment. This is called insight. The union of both Calm Abiding and Insight is necessary to overcome the scattered ignorance of the ordinary mind - leading to liberation. This retreat will include the explanation and practise of Calm Abiding and Insight Meditation.

We like to think of Devahiti Yoga as an all-encompassing yogic system founded on the traditional disciplines, while simultaneously embracing the exciting, and ever expanding, new developments in yoga. Continued education and a passion for Pranayama, has led to many “aha” moments around breathwork and healthy breathing. Join Cheryl for 5 days of yoga and meditational breathwork to enhance your health. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence.

If you feel worn out, stressed and depleted in these challenging times, then a nurturing Yin Yoga retreat is just what you need. This restorative retreat will replenish and heal you physically, mentally and emotionally. Yin yoga is a more meditative type of yoga where the postures are held while your body is supported with props, allowing you to relax, to breathe into the stretching and gravity to do its work. The slower, meditative pace gives you the opportunity to turn inwards, to breathe mindfully and to be at ease within your yourself.

Albert and Lulu will offer a relaxation retreat with methods to soothe and balance the nervous system, and heal the mind from excessive negative thought patterns. Counteracting the contractions of chronic stress will help participants access states of bliss, clarity, peace and kindness.

28 March 2024 - 1 April 2024 or 28 March -  04 April 2024

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. This frees us from our habitual reactivity and from the curse of perfectionism. 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 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-heartedness 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.

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.

A pre-retreat individual session via Zoom/Whatsapp is required for newcomers or if you have not attended one of Sue’s residential retreats before. The fee for this will be the 50-55 minute medical aid rate and will be reduced if necessary. Please contact Sue on to arrange a time and for the course fee.

CPD accreditation for health and mental-health professionals will be confirmed, at an additional admin fee of R375.

Hope does not sit on the threadbare couch clutching a lotto ticket, passively waiting for good luck. Hope wields an axe, actively breaking down the door in a crisis. We can’t escape that Earth is in crisis. It’s also ever-more evident that we feel this crisis within ourselves as personal crisis. There is creeping hopelessness, fatalism, anxiety, denial, and numbness - a disengagement from the natural world which sustains us. The inner crisis even has a name now: eco-anxiety. To hear the daily news is to hear the myriad ways in which humanity is sensing and expressing the eco-anxiety.

How to respond to these crises? Can we better understand the eco-anxiety of these times? How should we live in these times? Within a framing of Active Hope, the weekend will be spent in group and solo practices from The Work That Reconnects, moving through the spiral of gratefulness, grief, and transformation that will unlock your unexpected resilience and creative power. Hope is waking up to the beauty of life, on whose behalf we can act. As Joanna Macy always says: I am so grateful to be alive at this time of great upheaval, because we are made precisely for these times! Mostly we will practise in silence. As much as possible we will practise outdoors, in contact with nature. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection.

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 to not only help ourselves, but to help the world of which we are 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. The retreat is suitable for those with or without meditation experience and will be held in an atmosphere of introspection.

Do you struggle to speak your truth? Feel scared to say or sing what is in your heart? Many of us hold back and listen to the critical voices in our heads. Over time, we may start to feel blocked in our throats, scared to speak what we feel, to make sounds, or to sing. We make ourselves small and hide our voices - fearing rejection or judgment. Can you listen to yourself and appreciate the unique sound of your voice? Can you bring consciousness to the way you express yourself?
On this Mindfulness retreat we will deepen awareness of our voices and bodies. We will work with movement and the sensations in our bodies to help us open our throats and give voice to our experience – in the here and now.
You are invited to come and explore your unique expression - to connect with your voice, to speak and sound from your heart, to sing regardless if it is in tune or not... No previous singing or sounding experience needed to benefit from this retreat. This non-judgmental process, held in the safe container of a group, will support you to find your own authentic voice.
There will be periods of silent and sound meditations, singing, sharing and enquiries. In between sessions the retreat will be held in silence.

Join Buhle for a weekend 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.

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/ 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.

Scientists maintain that the leading cause of disease is not hypertension, diabetes or cancer, but stress. Stress is the underlying cause of disease. We can endure short periods of enormous stress, but not extended amounts of prolonged stress. In this retreat we use the tools of yoga, pranayama, qigong, meditation and yoga nidra or guided meditation to calm the nervous system, to soften and open up the body and allow it to re-calibrate after the stress of daily life. Most often we find we are not able to sustain regular practice of yoga or meditation due to the “flood” of stress in our daily lives. Sometimes we simply haven’t been shown the tools to learn to cope with these pressures. However, the body has an amazing ability to re-balance and, in doing so, to heal itself. Just two nights away can give your mind a rest, calm the sympathetic nervous system, regulate blood pressure and re-balance your body to restore health and well-being. The retreat is suitable for everyone and lays the foundation for deeper practice, cleansing and energizing.

Are you ready for a life shift? John Homewood and Michelle McClunan bring their combined forty years of facilitating experience to this two-part retreat, providing you with a gentle, yet powerful process that will shift, awaken and nourish your whole being. You will leave this retreat greatly refreshed with a new and awakened perspective in life, taking with you practical tools to apply in shifting all areas of your life.

The retreat will integrate transformational, yet practical spiritual teachings of Presence, Awakening and Creative Art Processes. This integration will help you clear blockages that may have prevented you from living a healthy, peaceful and abundant life. All creative experiences are process-driven, as opposed to being outcome-based, so no artistic experience or skill is required. You will leave with a deeper sense of peace; a more focused sense of life purpose and rekindled joy and with greater emotional and spiritual intelligence to navigate life’s challenges.
Should you only be able to attend the weekend, Part 1, you will still gain much. However, investing in the whole 4 days will provide you the space to integrate and apply this Shift even deeper and more fully into your awareness.

For more info on their work see www.journesyofawakening.com

Are you ready for a life shift? John Homewood and Michelle McClunan bring their combined forty years of facilitating experience to this two-part retreat, providing you with a gentle, yet powerful process that will shift, awaken and nourish your whole being. You will leave this retreat greatly refreshed with a new and awakened perspective in life, taking with you practical tools to apply in shifting all areas of your life.
The retreat will integrate transformational, yet practical spiritual teachings of Presence, Awakening and Creative Art Processes. This integration will help you clear blockages that may have prevented you from living a healthy, peaceful and abundant life. All creative experiences are process-driven, as opposed to being outcome-based, so no artistic experience or skill is required.

Part 2  will provide you the space to integrate and apply this Shift more deeply and more fully into your awareness. You will leave with a deeper sense of peace; a more focused sense of life purpose and rekindled joy and with greater emotional and spiritual intelligence to navigate life’s challenges.

For more info on their work see www.journesyofawakening.com

Heavy is the root of light,
Stillness is the master of movement.
Who can by stillness, little by little
make what is troubled grow clear?
Who can by movement, little by little
make what is still grow quick?
To follow the Way
is not to need fulfilment.
Unfulfilled, one may live on
needing no renewal - Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching (interpretation by Ursula K. Le Guin)

In this retreat, participants can expect to be guided gently through the process of becoming mindful through meditation and movement. Dave will lead sitting meditation in the Zendo, as well as walking and moving meditation in the inspiring and nourishing sanctuary of space that the BRC offers. He will also facilitate intentional open discussions around the fire to stoke the wholesome sparks of enquiry and deep listening. Whether you are a beginner or committed practitioner, this process will empower you to cultivate presence, clarity, adaptability, creativity and patience. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of noble silence and introspection.

During this silent retreat you will be introduced to a style of Zen that combines Just Sitting (zazen), High-Energy Chanting (okyo), Vocalized Movements (Mu-I-Tai) to cultivate strong Ki’ai (energy) and quiet awareness (Mindfulness) that will enable you to face your fears until they disappear. The retreat will commence and end with a short tea ceremony. The sessions will alternate with zazen, walking meditation, chanting and movement.

On the Saturday night in union with Buddhists around the world, we will hold a traditional Wesak ceremony - a lantern-lit circumambulation around the Buddha Rupa. Wesak is the most important day on the Buddhist calendar, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha nearly 2500 years ago and is traditionally held on the full moon of May.