Join us for a personal retreat mid-week and some gentle yoga.  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.

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.

This retreat invites you into the quiet art of haiku as a contemplative practice. Rooted in the spirit of Zen, haiku offers a simple yet profound way to see clearly, feel deeply, and return to the present moment. Through silence, walking, writing, and shared attention, we will explore how just three lines -  and one breath - can open the heart and still the mind. Our time together will include periods of seated meditation, nature-based observation, guided haiku writing, and gentle reflective exercises. No writing experience is needed - only a willingness to pause, notice, and respond with honesty and care.

This retreat is for anyone seeking to reconnect with presence through the quiet doorway of poetry and the practice of seeing.

Are you struggling? Overwhelmed by what the world throws at you? You need a reset, a matter of a gentle environment, some caring guidance - and your own deep attention. In brief a retreat. Through training in the steady pace of embodied mindfulness, you can return to your own true centre, a place of stability and peace. The retreat will offer teachings and the shared practice of meditation, qi gong and chanting. Previous experience of retreats is recommended.

Most of us spend a third of our life asleep. Taking the average life span into account, this is equivalent to about twenty-five to thirty years. Even though the mental state is more subtle when the body is asleep, it doesn't mean that we can't have an alert, meditative, observing mind. In fact, certain practices prove to be even more effective during this state, as we are less distracted by the five physical senses. In order to access dreams and to turn them towards the Buddhist path, we first have to realise that we are in fact dreaming. Tibetan Dream Yoga is the original form of Lucid Dreaming documented for 1,000 years. Also known as Milam - the yoga of the dream state - it is a collection of advanced tantric techniques. Just like our Western understanding of lucid dreams, the initial aim is to awaken the consciousness in the dream, state. In the Tibetan tradition, dream yoga is also used to practise Bodhicitta (the seed of enlightenment) and to develop wisdom.

The gentle movements that you will learn to do on this relaxed mid-week course will help to build your immune system and improve your general well-being. The mindful way in which you move will work on your internal organs as you generate energy 'qi'. You will also have time to roam the beautiful grounds of the BRC as you take time out to relax and recharge.

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.

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, a complete practice includes physical postures (asana), breathwork (pranayama), and meditation. Postures and breathwork prepare us for meditation. When we regularly practise meditation, we train ourselves to pause before reacting, often based on habitual patterns, and instead respond calmly with more wisdom and compassion.
This retreat offers a reprieve from the sensory overload and constant stimulation of modern life. Throughout your retreat, you will discover practical tools to manage stress, enhance resilience, avoid burnout, and promote overall well-being. From yoga and meditation practices to a guided hike, our experiential approach addresses the mind, body, and spirit, empowering you to thrive amidst life’s challenges.

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 featuring Kaz Wilson, a passionate nutritionist and wild forager of superfoods and edible medicinal plants. Kaz will blend these gifts from nature into her intuitive cooking demonstrations - think sweet potato brownies, banana tahini ice-cream, sweet and savoury coconut chips, chickpea chocolate hummus - creating a unique culinary experience. 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 in nature 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 nutrition that nourishes both the physical and spiritual self.

In 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 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.