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 circumambulation around the lantern-lit Buddha Rupa, ringing out the old year with an ancient Chinese temple gong. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection.
Brighten your day and step into spring. Join us for a personal retreat mid week. Meditation, qigong, tai chi, hatha yoga, fusion massage, walks and talks on medicinal plants are on offer. Alternatively, you may choose to simply 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.
Aso Balan is a certified 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher and Wellness practitioner who has been practising for 20 years. Her mission is to make yoga accessible to everyone irrespective of their limitations and capabilities. She believes that practising yoga regularly with mindfulness and awareness is the key to attaining physical health. She also offers fusion massage blending yogic breathing with techniques from Thai, Ayurveda, and Aroma therapy.
Jean-Francois Sobiecki is a pioneering South African medicinal plant researcher, a qualified nutritionist, herbalist and research associate with the University of Johannesburg. He has conducted over 20 years of ethnobotanical research on South African medicinal plant use. With a B.Sc.Hons. EthnoBot. (UJ), Dipl Clin Nutr. (Aus) in qualifications, a book and a number of academic publications under his belt, he has been invited to present at international conferences. He is trained and qualified in medical anthropology, permaculture, clinical nutrition, and massage therapy and runs a private herbal and holistic medicine practice in Johannesburg and conducts regular workshops, trainings and tours on medicinal plant use for the public.
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 circumambulation around the lantern-lit Buddha Rupa, ringing out the old year with an ancient Chinese temple gong. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection.
Brighten your day and step into spring. Join us for a personal retreat mid week. Meditation, qigong, tai chi, hatha yoga, fusion massage, walks and talks on medicinal plants are on offer. Alternatively, you may choose to simply 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.
Aso Balan is a certified 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher and Wellness practitioner who has been practising for 20 years. Her mission is to make yoga accessible to everyone irrespective of their limitations and capabilities. She believes that practising yoga regularly with mindfulness and awareness is the key to attaining physical health. She also offers fusion massage blending yogic breathing with techniques from Thai, Ayurveda, and Aroma therapy.
Jean-Francois Sobiecki is a pioneering South African medicinal plant researcher, a qualified nutritionist, herbalist and research associate with the University of Johannesburg. He has conducted over 20 years of ethnobotanical research on South African medicinal plant use. With a B.Sc.Hons. EthnoBot. (UJ), Dipl Clin Nutr. (Aus) in qualifications, a book and a number of academic publications under his belt, he has been invited to present at international conferences. He is trained and qualified in medical anthropology, permaculture, clinical nutrition, and massage therapy and runs a private herbal and holistic medicine practice in Johannesburg and conducts regular workshops, trainings and tours on medicinal plant use for the public.
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 circumambulation around the lantern-lit Buddha Rupa, ringing out the old year with an ancient Chinese temple gong. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection.
Brighten your day and step into spring. Join us for a personal retreat mid week. Meditation, qigong, tai chi, hatha yoga, fusion massage, walks and talks on medicinal plants are on offer. Alternatively, you may choose to simply 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.
Aso Balan is a certified 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher and Wellness practitioner who has been practising for 20 years. Her mission is to make yoga accessible to everyone irrespective of their limitations and capabilities. She believes that practising yoga regularly with mindfulness and awareness is the key to attaining physical health. She also offers fusion massage blending yogic breathing with techniques from Thai, Ayurveda, and Aroma therapy.
Jean-Francois Sobiecki is a pioneering South African medicinal plant researcher, a qualified nutritionist, herbalist and research associate with the University of Johannesburg. He has conducted over 20 years of ethnobotanical research on South African medicinal plant use. With a B.Sc.Hons. EthnoBot. (UJ), Dipl Clin Nutr. (Aus) in qualifications, a book and a number of academic publications under his belt, he has been invited to present at international conferences. He is trained and qualified in medical anthropology, permaculture, clinical nutrition, and massage therapy and runs a private herbal and holistic medicine practice in Johannesburg and conducts regular workshops, trainings and tours on medicinal plant use for the public.
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 circumambulation around the lantern-lit Buddha Rupa, ringing out the old year with an ancient Chinese temple gong. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection.
Brighten your day and step into spring. Join us for a personal retreat mid week. Meditation, qigong, tai chi, hatha yoga, fusion massage, walks and talks on medicinal plants are on offer. Alternatively, you may choose to simply 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.
Aso Balan is a certified 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher and Wellness practitioner who has been practising for 20 years. Her mission is to make yoga accessible to everyone irrespective of their limitations and capabilities. She believes that practising yoga regularly with mindfulness and awareness is the key to attaining physical health. She also offers fusion massage blending yogic breathing with techniques from Thai, Ayurveda, and Aroma therapy.
Jean-Francois Sobiecki is a pioneering South African medicinal plant researcher, a qualified nutritionist, herbalist and research associate with the University of Johannesburg. He has conducted over 20 years of ethnobotanical research on South African medicinal plant use. With a B.Sc.Hons. EthnoBot. (UJ), Dipl Clin Nutr. (Aus) in qualifications, a book and a number of academic publications under his belt, he has been invited to present at international conferences. He is trained and qualified in medical anthropology, permaculture, clinical nutrition, and massage therapy and runs a private herbal and holistic medicine practice in Johannesburg and conducts regular workshops, trainings and tours on medicinal plant use for the public.
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 2026, this largely unstructured weekend will prove useful. Experience sunrise qigong, yoga and meditation with Di, Marrion and Brendon while Nolwazi Bandezi, a qualified therapist, will be offering healing therapies by appointment. The BRC provides an ideal opportunity to be in a sympathetic space to experience what it is like to "just be"..
Dianne Franklin is an Advocate in private practice. She has been studying Buddhism and Qigong for twenty years. She is a student of Max Weier, the Qigong Master from Switzerland. Her teachers include Rob Nairn, Tenzin Palmo and Ken Holmes.
Marrion Clarke found yoga at a crossroads in her life. Needing to make urgent lifestyle changes to heal, she completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2014, followed by her 300-hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training 8 years later under the guidance of Cheryl Lancellas of Devahiti Yoga. Yoga engenders an intense responsibility to live in alignment with nature, and its transformative power keeps us grounded, focused and accountable on and off the mat. Marrion is passionate about sharing the asanas and philosophy of yoga and embracing our shared humanity.
Nolwazi Bandezi, a therapist and owner of Neno, a 100% women-owned business located in Morningside, Durban, will be offering treatments such as tension relief massage using a combination of different therapies (Swedish, Lomi Lomi, Myofascial, deep tissue therapy, lymphatic drainage massage) and incorporated is Thai stretch therapy, Reflexology and Ayurvedic Head massage.
Brighten your day and step into spring. Join us for a personal retreat mid week. Meditation, qigong, tai chi, hatha yoga, fusion massage, walks and talks on medicinal plants are on offer. Alternatively, you may choose to simply 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.
Aso Balan is a certified 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher and Wellness practitioner who has been practising for 20 years. Her mission is to make yoga accessible to everyone irrespective of their limitations and capabilities. She believes that practising yoga regularly with mindfulness and awareness is the key to attaining physical health. She also offers fusion massage blending yogic breathing with techniques from Thai, Ayurveda, and Aroma therapy.
Jean-Francois Sobiecki is a pioneering South African medicinal plant researcher, a qualified nutritionist, herbalist and research associate with the University of Johannesburg. He has conducted over 20 years of ethnobotanical research on South African medicinal plant use. With a B.Sc.Hons. EthnoBot. (UJ), Dipl Clin Nutr. (Aus) in qualifications, a book and a number of academic publications under his belt, he has been invited to present at international conferences. He is trained and qualified in medical anthropology, permaculture, clinical nutrition, and massage therapy and runs a private herbal and holistic medicine practice in Johannesburg and conducts regular workshops, trainings and tours on medicinal plant use for the public.
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 2026, this largely unstructured weekend will prove useful. Experience sunrise qigong, yoga and meditation with Di, Marrion and Brendon while Nolwazi Bandezi, a qualified therapist, will be offering healing therapies by appointment. The BRC provides an ideal opportunity to be in a sympathetic space to experience what it is like to "just be"..
Dianne Franklin is an Advocate in private practice. She has been studying Buddhism and Qigong for twenty years. She is a student of Max Weier, the Qigong Master from Switzerland. Her teachers include Rob Nairn, Tenzin Palmo and Ken Holmes.
Marrion Clarke found yoga at a crossroads in her life. Needing to make urgent lifestyle changes to heal, she completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2014, followed by her 300-hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training 8 years later under the guidance of Cheryl Lancellas of Devahiti Yoga. Yoga engenders an intense responsibility to live in alignment with nature, and its transformative power keeps us grounded, focused and accountable on and off the mat. Marrion is passionate about sharing the asanas and philosophy of yoga and embracing our shared humanity.
Nolwazi Bandezi, a therapist and owner of Neno, a 100% women-owned business located in Morningside, Durban, will be offering treatments such as tension relief massage using a combination of different therapies (Swedish, Lomi Lomi, Myofascial, deep tissue therapy, lymphatic drainage massage) and incorporated is Thai stretch therapy, Reflexology and Ayurvedic Head massage.
Brighten your day and step into spring. Join us for a personal retreat mid week. Meditation, qigong, tai chi, hatha yoga, fusion massage, walks and talks on medicinal plants are on offer. Alternatively, you may choose to simply 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.
Aso Balan is a certified 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher and Wellness practitioner who has been practising for 20 years. Her mission is to make yoga accessible to everyone irrespective of their limitations and capabilities. She believes that practising yoga regularly with mindfulness and awareness is the key to attaining physical health. She also offers fusion massage blending yogic breathing with techniques from Thai, Ayurveda, and Aroma therapy.
Jean-Francois Sobiecki is a pioneering South African medicinal plant researcher, a qualified nutritionist, herbalist and research associate with the University of Johannesburg. He has conducted over 20 years of ethnobotanical research on South African medicinal plant use. With a B.Sc.Hons. EthnoBot. (UJ), Dipl Clin Nutr. (Aus) in qualifications, a book and a number of academic publications under his belt, he has been invited to present at international conferences. He is trained and qualified in medical anthropology, permaculture, clinical nutrition, and massage therapy and runs a private herbal and holistic medicine practice in Johannesburg and conducts regular workshops, trainings and tours on medicinal plant use for the public.
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 2026, this largely unstructured weekend will prove useful. Experience sunrise qigong, yoga and meditation with Di, Marrion and Brendon while Nolwazi Bandezi, a qualified therapist, will be offering healing therapies by appointment. The BRC provides an ideal opportunity to be in a sympathetic space to experience what it is like to "just be"..
Dianne Franklin is an Advocate in private practice. She has been studying Buddhism and Qigong for twenty years. She is a student of Max Weier, the Qigong Master from Switzerland. Her teachers include Rob Nairn, Tenzin Palmo and Ken Holmes.
Marrion Clarke found yoga at a crossroads in her life. Needing to make urgent lifestyle changes to heal, she completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2014, followed by her 300-hour Advanced Yoga Teacher Training 8 years later under the guidance of Cheryl Lancellas of Devahiti Yoga. Yoga engenders an intense responsibility to live in alignment with nature, and its transformative power keeps us grounded, focused and accountable on and off the mat. Marrion is passionate about sharing the asanas and philosophy of yoga and embracing our shared humanity.
Nolwazi Bandezi, a therapist and owner of Neno, a 100% women-owned business located in Morningside, Durban, will be offering treatments such as tension relief massage using a combination of different therapies (Swedish, Lomi Lomi, Myofascial, deep tissue therapy, lymphatic drainage massage) and incorporated is Thai stretch therapy, Reflexology and Ayurvedic Head massage.
Brighten your day and step into spring. Join us for a personal retreat mid week. Meditation, qigong, tai chi, hatha yoga, fusion massage, walks and talks on medicinal plants are on offer. Alternatively, you may choose to simply 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.
Aso Balan is a certified 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher and Wellness practitioner who has been practising for 20 years. Her mission is to make yoga accessible to everyone irrespective of their limitations and capabilities. She believes that practising yoga regularly with mindfulness and awareness is the key to attaining physical health. She also offers fusion massage blending yogic breathing with techniques from Thai, Ayurveda, and Aroma therapy.
Jean-Francois Sobiecki is a pioneering South African medicinal plant researcher, a qualified nutritionist, herbalist and research associate with the University of Johannesburg. He has conducted over 20 years of ethnobotanical research on South African medicinal plant use. With a B.Sc.Hons. EthnoBot. (UJ), Dipl Clin Nutr. (Aus) in qualifications, a book and a number of academic publications under his belt, he has been invited to present at international conferences. He is trained and qualified in medical anthropology, permaculture, clinical nutrition, and massage therapy and runs a private herbal and holistic medicine practice in Johannesburg and conducts regular workshops, trainings and tours on medicinal plant use for the public.