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Preceding Day
Tuesday 27 October 2026
Following Day

  • Cultivating Self-Compassion for Burnout & Healing into Well-Being

    Teacher: Sue Cooper
    Cost: 4-7 days accommodation + R450 surcharge
    Dates:

    sue cooper 25This 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.

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    Sue Cooper is a Cape Town-based Clinical Psychologist with extensive experience as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist, working in private practice since the early 1990's. She has a long-standing interest in the interface between psychological and spiritual approaches to self-discovery and inner healing, and has attended Buddhist meditation retreats, mainly in the Theravada tradition, for 40 years, both in South Africa and at Gaia House in the UK. She has been inspired by the teachings of Ajahn Chah of the Thai Forest tradition and is deeply grateful to her primary teachers: the late Godwin Samararatne, Kittisaro and Thanissara, Ajahn Sucitto and Stephen and Martine Batchelor. She has a particular interest in exploring how our practice enables us to embrace our humanness, integrating love and loss in our lives, so that we can live and die with compassionate awareness. She offers weekend and longer retreats throughout South Africa at Temenos, Mont Fleur, Bodhi Khaya and Somerset Gift in the Western Cape; Dharmagiri Sacred Mountain Retreat Centre and the Buddhist Retreat Centre in KwaZulu Natal; and Emoyeni Retreat Centre in the North West Province, as well as "Open the Heart and Still the Mind" courses, on-going weekly groups and monthly half-day/day retreats in Cape Town. See: https://stillmindretreats.com and please contact

  • A Personal Retreat : Rest, Reflect, and Restore – 15% discount mid-week

    Teacher: Robyn Aitken, Keelan Naidoo, Dirk Lamprecht
    Cost: Number of days accommodation
    15% discount ends 31 August 2026
    Dates: 08:00am - 05:00pm 

    robynkeelandirk lamprechtJoin 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.

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    Robyn Aitkin is a level-3 (300-hour) instructor with a Yoga Alliance International (YAI) certification in Transformational Hatha Yoga, which is a powerful system of yogic techniques (poses, breathing, meditation) that helps keep us naturally happy and healthy, physically and mentally strong and emotionally stable. She is also a Mindful Coach, Sound Bath Guide, WFPB (whole food plant-based) Nutrition Coach. Robyn is resolute in living a life in line with Ahimsa (non-violence) and with kindness towards all sentient beings.

    Keelan Naidoo did his 200-hour Sivananda yoga teacher training certificate in Kerala, India. He offers a gentle yoga class that is accessible to all, including beginners. He also offers guided meditation sessions ideal for those who are new to meditation and mindfulness practice focusing on the present moment experience, on gratitude and acceptance. Keelan’s calm presence is best for those who are looking to relax, connect and ground themselves.

    Dirk Lamprecht guides retreatants in meditation and mindfulness practice by utilising the Himalayan singing bowl with its sound vibrations to align energy centres and to restore mind and body harmony. Dirk’s personal philosophy embraces the core Buddhist practice of Metta (Loving-Kindness): May all beings be healthy, may all beings be happy, may all beings be free from suffering, may all beings be free from the causes of suffering.