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.

This retreat will help you embed more Joy in your everyday life through the simple practices of Gratitude, Connection and Playfulness. It is based on the brain science of wellness and performance, the Global Joy Summit on the wisdom of the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, as well as incorporating daily practices of The Artist’s Way. The objective is to leave behind a few habits that have really proved to make a difference in the way we experience the work we do, the interactions we have and our response to even the most difficult challenges. It is a genuine opportunity to make a real and lasting shift that puts that bounce back into your step. Jane has applied the tools and practices we will use in this retreat over many years, and found them to be invaluable in her own life and those of the people she has coached and trained through Artist’s Way and Joy courses she has run. Please bring a journal and pen.

For many of us who have been on the path of self-discovery and awakening, the paradox of this process reveals itself sooner or later: on the one hand, the steady, developmental, aspirational path that leads towards liberation at some indefinable future and on the other, the growing realisation that this liberative possibility is always and already available, right where we are. The subtle shift that begins to happen is an increasing curiosity and enquiry into the quality and sense of Awareness itself, rather than what Awareness is aware of i.e. the objects of awareness or contents of consciousness. This transition is a subtle one. It invites momentary glimpses, a non-conceptual recognition, of the sense of Awareness that is always available – the prior condition - irrespective of our present experience. This retreat will be an exploration for those who sense their practice is transitioning at this inflection point. A regular contemplative practice is usually necessary as the ground from which to enquire and explore these glimpses. This foundation allows us to be aware of, and be able to work with the tendency to be identified with the thinking mind. We will explore meditation, softening into effortlessness, alongside enquiry as way to sense our way into this simple, subtle quality of the Awareness that is always already whole, in the spirit of curiosity, communal support and care. This will be less about getting somewhere, going ‘deeper’ or changing our state, but rather seeing what is already available right where we are, however we are. There will also be ample space and time for rest, being in nature, connecting or dropping into silence.

Join Lisa for a deeply relaxing and nourishing weekend of mindfulness-based Clinical Somatic Movement. Exploring the communication between the brain, nervous system and muscular-fascial systems, we will learn about pandiculation, nature's way of releasing built-up tension from the body. Slow down and learn gentle practices to help release chronic muscle tension that underlie pain and stress in body and mind. Develop your inner awareness and bring comfort and ease to your body. Basic Mindfulness practices and meditations will be woven throughout the retreat. This weekend is suitable for everyone and will meet you where you are. All bodies welcome!

As winter softens into spring, we invite you for three days and two nights of dedicated Zen practice at the Buddhist Retreat Centre. Inspired by the spirit of a traditional Zen sesshin, this midweek zazenkai offers an opportunity to settle deeply into stillness, simplicity, and wholehearted presence. A zazenkai is an informal gathering of practitioners who commit to sitting together with sincerity and quiet resolve. The emphasis is on silent practice rather than instruction, allowing participants to discover the clarity that emerges through sustained sitting. It offers a taste of sesshin without the intensity of a full week, creating a spacious yet disciplined container for meditation, silence, and contemplation. Here in the valley, we honour this tradition by returning, again and again, to the breath, the body, and this very moment. Each moment of practice is unique and complete, asking nothing of us except our willingness to be present. Whether you are new to Zen or have an established meditation practice, you are warmly welcome. Bring your breath, your body, and an open heart as we welcome the arrival of Spring together.

“Whenever your heart space, your mind space, and your body space are all present and accounted for at the same time, you can experience pure presence, a moment of deep inner connection with the pure, gratuitous Being of anything and everything. It will often be experienced as a quiet leap of joy in the heart.” -Richard Rohr

Through somatics, movement, mindfulness, music and poetry, let’s tune and harmonize the instruments of body, mind and heart.

During this retreat we will experience the larger systems that shape and support human life. Through Family and Systems Constellations, we will explore how family patterns, loyalties, and inherited dynamics continue to influence our relationships, choices, and inner life. This allows us to see patterns clearly, and to emerge with a deeper sense of connection to ourselves and our ancestors.

Alongside this, we will draw on nature-based systems and rhythms, the African medicine wheel, cycles, symbol, art, and music. The intelligence of the natural world, reminds us that healing and orientation arise through rhythm, relationship, and attentive presence. Together, these two streams meet in a larger supportive holding field.

In our fast paced lives, we need the time to find quiet and calm. With this quiet we find the resilience to face the world and all that comes our way. Through Asana (posture), pranayama (breath control) and meditation practice as well as periods of silence, we give ourselves time to uncoil and find space mentally and physically. This space gives breath to our emotional well-being. This retreat is suitable for yoga students who would like to experience Iyengar yoga and those who would like to deepen their understanding and practice of Iyengar yoga.

Zhan Zhuang (‘Standing like a Tree’) Chi Kung is unlike most other Chi Kung styles, in that with the exception of changing from one static posture to the next, as well as a few gentle steps to finish off one’s practice, the practitioner remains absolutely still, whilst cultivating a mind like still water. Regarded by many contemporary Masters as the most powerful of all Chi Kung practices, it opens all of the nine energy portals in the body, and encourages one’s Chi (life force) to flow powerfully throughout one’s entire being, to work its magic on the internal organs. In this retreat Paul will teach the Six Posture Zhan Zhuang Set, which assists in developing a strong physical structure as well as creating a greater supply of healing Chi to promote health, vitality and an increase in physical energy. The benefits of Zhan Zhuang also include the cultivation of a better posture as well as reducing tension in one’s muscles, thereby assisting the practitioner to live their life in a more relaxed manner.

This workshop is an invitation to reconnect with your inner strength, clarity, and self-trust. The lioness symbolizes power, intuition and authentic leadership. Through Guided imagery, nature-based rituals and reflective dialogues you will explore what nourishes your strength, what you are ready to release, and how you wish to shape your path forward. The retreat draws on biophilia - our deep connection to the living world - and uses the lioness as a symbol for empowering yourself. By reconnecting with your inner wisdom, you gain access to inner resources such as courage, resilience and inner stability. This workshop is for women who feel the call for change, who sense that more is possible and wish to move toward  a good future with clarity and trust.