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.

Join us for a personal weekend retreat 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 5 -7 night Open the Heart And Still the Mind retreat is an immersion into nourishing and ennobling silence and is an opportunity to cultivate and deepen your meditation practice with the heart-based focus of metta and self-compassion, with a particular focus on burnout and healing into well-being. The retreat now offers a 5 to 7 night option and is fully CPD accredited, including 3 ethics points.

Sue offers an integration of the psychological and spiritual dimensions of this path of compassionate awareness, combining more than 40 years of meditation practice with her extensive experience as a clinical psychologist and psychotherapist. In response to the prevalence of emotional depletion & burnout which Sue is encountering, she has shifted the focus of this retreat to meet this growing need to understand the role of self-compassion as a protection against burnout, depression and anxiety.

We will draw on the support of nature and the teachings that are revealed by practising in the exquisite environment of the Buddhist Retreat Centre, where the truths of impermanence and our inter-connectedness express themselves daily, through the beauty and wisdom of the ever-changing conditions.
We will cultivate a safe and nourishing home within, inspired by the wisdom and practices of the Brahma Viharas (the Four Immeasurables), which deepen our capacity for loving- kindness (metta), spacious inner freedom, appreciative joy and compassionate wisdom and action.

In addition to the silent and guided meditations in all postures, there will be daily qigong, gentle yoga and additional, optional massages offered to enhance our embodied experience. Sue will include short, individual sessions throughout the retreat, as well as time for reflection, journaling, walks in nature and deeply replenishing rest.

A 30-50 minute pre-retreat individual session via Zoom/Whatsapp is required for newcomers or if you have not attended one of Sue’s residential retreats before. This provides greater containment and enhances and deepens the silent retreat experience for yourself and for the group. The fee for this will be the 30-50 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 Health, Mental Health and Allied professionals is confirmed (includes ethics) with an annual admin fee of R475.

This retreat is a quiet invitation to slow down and return to yourself. Within the sanctuary of the BRC, Despina will gently guide you on a journey dedicated to the art of deep listening and the cultivation of heart-full presence. Days will be held in the gentle embrace of noble silence, supported by a rhythm of mindful movement, meditation, and intentional sound. Together, we will explore practices such as mindful walking, sitting meditation, movement and the resonance of "full-body listening." By weaving these practices of movement, stillness and sound invites possibilities for insight, clarity and transformation. This retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence.

‘In the quiet of your own presence, may the truth of your heart find its voice’

Qigong means life energy in Chinese. Qi (energy) is considered to be an animated power that flows through all living beings. Gong means work or skill with something.

Qigong is an ancient series of gentle movements working with life energy to control the flow and distribution of qi improving overall health and harmony of body and mind. This is a relaxed retreat with free time allowing you to appreciate the natural energy and beauty of the BRC.

Looking for an entry point into Buddhism? Then this is the retreat for you! Who was the Buddha? What is Buddhism? Is it a religion or a philosophy? What are its teachings and practices? These questions and others will be addressed in this retreat which will examine the life of the Buddha, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path while at the same time foregrounding the simple meditation practices - sitting and walking - from which the experience-based teachings emerged. A schedule of talks, discussion, and practice held within the supportive frame of Noble Silence will also include time to enjoy the beautiful grounds of the centre.

Are you struggling to keep pace with an ever-changing world? This retreat offers an invitation to reconnect with your “secret superpower” and re-discover how truly remarkable you are. Do you feel stretched by constant change, longing for greater inner peace and clarity? Do you sense that you are meant for more, yet feel unable to “crack the code” to lasting transformation? This retreat creates a safe space to awaken your natural ability for conscious living. Through simple, practical tools, you will learn how to work with your thoughts, emotions, and awareness in profound and accessible ways.

We will explore expansive themes such as Universal Consciousness and the meeting point between ancient wisdom and modern quantum insights, while grounding these ideas in everyday practices. Meditation, affirmations, journaling, and visualisation will be woven throughout the weekend to bring clarity, balance, and intention into your daily life. You will leave feeling refreshed, inspired, and empowered, carrying with you tools and insights to support a more conscious, aligned, and fulfilling way of living.

Join us for a heart-opening weekend as we gather to awaken the Sacred Feminine within. Through the powerful practices of astrology, soulful yoga, and feminine embodiment, we will remember what it means to truly listen to our bodies, trust our intuition, and reconnect with our inner rhythm.This intimate offering is open to mothers and daughters, sisters, friends, and solo journeyers—all women ready to soften, deepen, and rise together in sacred sisterhood.

✨ Astrology workshops with Margarita Relationship Astrology Specialist
✨ Gentle, intuitive yoga with heart-led Yoga teacher
✨ Sound Journey, meditation and circle sharing
✨ Time to rest, reflect, and receive in the peaceful, natural surrounds of Ixopo

Whether you are yearning for clarity, connection, or simply a break to come home to yourself, this weekend is an invitation to be held, seen, and nourished.

Through accepting what is happening within us, staying with experience and learning to see more clearly, we can taste into a mind and heartfulness that is larger than our habits that keep us stuck.The practice of Mindfulness supports us in discovery of who we are beyond our limiting histories, stories and ideas. Grounding into our bodies through bringing presence to our breath, our flesh and bones we come into the shared embodied realm. Drawing on tools from the Buddha's teaching we will embark on this voyage together, in a shared context, with the inner journey of each of us also finding its own way. The retreat will be held in noble silence with dharma teachings and one to one interviews, meditations and sunrise qigong.

This 3-day Art of Silence Retreat provides optimal conditions for going deep within, quietening our mental chatter, and experiencing profound rest and inner peace. The course builds upon the Sudarshan Kriya breathing technique offered in the Art of Living Happiness Programme. The practice of silence - consciously withdrawing our energy and attention from outer distractions - has been used in different traditions throughout time as a pathway to physical, mental, and spiritual renewal. By participating in various course processes specifically designed to take us beyond our usually active minds, we experience an extraordinary sense of peace and renewed vitality that we carry home with us and into daily lives.

The prerequisite to attending the Art of Silence retreat is the Art of Living Part 1 The Happiness Course.