Retreat Programme

Retreat Programme

2024
Kirsten Kratz​

​19-25 February @ ​Colehayes Park​

​Kirsten Kratz​ with Gareth Fysk-Foskett and Julia Wallond:
“​Being Touched by this World”

​We are living in demanding times with multiple and complex challenges. To truly open to challenging conditions can feel overwhelming. Buddhist teachings point out that we are always free to choose which qualities of the heart we wish to value, cultivate, celebrate along with their accompanying narratives and ways of being.

Past Retreats
​Gavin & Mark​

​13 – 20 October​

Gavin Milne & Mark Ovland​:
“Touching the Ground, Aligning our Life​”

​In difficult times like these, knowing what to do and how to live can feel confusing and overwhelming. The teachings and practices of the Buddha offer a means for connecting with our deeper interconnected nature, and aligning our life and actions in accordance with this

Mark Ovland

​4 November​​

​Mark Ovland​:
“​The Reimagining of Body and Breath​”

​This is a one day retreat exploring the breath

Gavin Milne​

18 March​ @ ​Harberton Parish Hall​

​Gavin Milne​:
“​Compassion​”

​A day long retreat on the theme of compassion

Bluebell Woods​

1 May​ @ ​Bluebell Woods, Nr Bruton​

​Lesley Wye​:
“​Celebrating May Day in the Woods”

​May Day is a perfect time to listen to the birds, delight at the emerging pink and blue Spring flowers, feel the warm breeze and connect with nature

​Laura Bridgman & Alan Lewis​

​10 – 17 June​ @ The High Heathercombe Centre​

​Laura Bridgman & Alan Lewis:
“​Exploring What Is”

​The essence of practice is to see and know as purely as we can our direct experience in the moment, finding resolution right within what IS, rather than trying to push past our current circumstances

​Zohar & Nathan

​8 – 15 July​ @ ​The High Heathercombe Centre​

​Zohar Lavie & Nathan Glyde:
“​Awakening Possibilities”

​When there is stress (dukkha) both we and the world we live in contract and become limited. The Dharma path provides the rich possibility to be freed from this entanglement.

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  • Gavin Milne

    ​11 Sept 2022​

    Gavin Milne:
    “​Equanimity​”

    ​This is a 1 day retreat on the theme of Equanimity

    Rupert

    ​17-24 Sept 2022

    Rupert Marques:
    “Earth in Mind​”

    In this retreat we will explore the gifts of nature-based practice and contemplative practice, coming closer to the inner landscape of our own minds whilst deepening our intimacy with the wider natural world and experiencing the mutuality of these ways of deepening presence with life

    Vince Cullen

    ​18-22 July 2022

    Vince Cullen:
    “​Everyday Nirvana, Every Day​”

    ​This is a 5-day intensive residential retreat exploring ‘Buddhist’ practices that support our waking-up from cravings and aversions; exploring practices that support our healing from addictions and compulsions and exploring practices that support our recovery from greed and hatred and delusion.

    Kirsten Kratz and Tony O'Connor

    ​21-28 May​ 2022

    ​Kirsten Kratz and Tony O’Connor:
    “​The Poetry of Self – The Poetry of Not-Self​”


    The Buddhist teachings on not-self can be easily misunderstood. The Dharma unveils unexamined ways we perceive and construct self and then believe in these fabrications.

    We will enquire into how we create self, other, world; seeing their creation as a spectrum from the dense to ever more refined and subtle levels.

    Laura Bridgman and Ajahn Jutindharo

    ​11-17 October​

    ​Laura Bridgman and Ajahn Jutindharo:
    “​Food for the Heart​”

    ​Our intention for this retreat is the willingness and endeavour to be aware and awake so as to nourish our hearts, minds and bodies.

    Kirsten Kratz

    8 March 2020

    Kirsten Kratz:
    A Day Retreat

    Sumedha and Noon Baldwin

    24 February – 2 March 2020

    Sumedha and Noon Baldwin:
    “Touching our Belonging”

    In this retreat we will explore together a deeper belonging and connectedness – sensing through ideas of who and what we are with gentleness and questioning.

    Suvaco and Mark Ovland

    4 – 11 October 2019

    Suvaco and Mark Ovland:
    “Trusting in God”

    What happens when we invite an attitude of gentle surrender into our lives, humbly bowing before that which we take to be greater than ourselves? Without positing This or That as real or unreal, on this retreat we are interested simply in assuming an attitude of humility and trust in the face of the unknown — opening to, witnessing, and enjoying the effects that such a perspective can have on our sense of self and the world.

    Alan Lewis and Gavin Milne

    9 – 15 September 2019

    Alan Lewis and Gavin Milne:
    “Realising Our Inherent Value – Going Beyond the Inner Critic”

    In this retreat we will contemplate a natural sense of ease with ourselves as we are, and explore what gets in the way of this, in particular the conditioning of the inner critic.

    Suvaco

    31 August 2019

    Suvaco:
    A Day Retreat

    zohar-and-nathan

    10 – 17 August 2019

    Zohar Lavie and Nathan Glyde:
    “A Wide and Wonderful Path”

    On this retreat we will open to the full potential of our life by applying heartful and insightful practices that calm our mind and soothe our body.

    Vince Cullen

    15 – 19 July 2019

    Vince Cullen:
    “Everyday Nirvana, Every Day”

    This is a 5-day intensive retreat exploring practices that support our waking-up from cravings and aversions; that support our healing from addictions and compulsions; and that support our recovery from greed and hatred and delusion.

    Jaya Rudgard and Kirsten Kratz

    13 – 19 May 2019

    Jaya Rudgard and Kirsten Kratz:
    “The Courage to Belong”

    This retreat will cultivate the heart’s capacity to open to the interconnected nature of all things in ways that nourish and empower, and that bring forth compassion and joy.

    Laura Bridgman

    3 March 2019

    Laura Bridgman (Kovida):
    A Day Retreat

    20 January 2019

    Mark Ovland:
    A Day Retreat

    Gareth and Julia

    19 – 21 January 2019

    Gareth Fysh-Foskett and Julia Wallond:
    “Deepening Roots of Refuge: A Winter Retreat”

    Join our intimate group for a nourishing, communal, meditative and land-based retreat, as we deepen in our relationship with ourselves, with the natural world, and with each other.

    Mark Ovland

    21 October 2018

    Mark Ovland:
    A Day Retreat

    Kirsten Kratz and Suvaco

    14 – 21 September 2018

    Kirsten Kratz and Suvaco:
    “The Poetry of Self – The Poetry of Not-Self”

    On this retreat we will enquire into how we create self, other and world; seeing their creation as a spectrum from the dense to ever more refined and subtle levels. We aim to cultivate a liberating pliability that can celebrate the unique expressions of self as well as its emptiness.

    zohar-and-nathan

    4 – 14 September 2018

    Zohar Lavie and Nathan Glyde:
    “A Wide and Wonderful Path”

    On this 10-day retreat we will open to the full potential of our life: Applying heartful practices that calm our mind and soothe our body, we can gently and sincerely journey towards our “sure heart’s release”. Along the way seeing deeper, understanding more profoundly, and learning to live more wholeheartedly.

    18 – 25 August 2018

    Suvaco and Thanissara:
    “The Freeing of Human Consciousness”

    Deconstructing Class Conditioning While Building a More Inclusive and Compassionate Society:
    In this retreat, we intend to explore the social and generational conditionings that result in the distorting and diminishing narratives that impair our ability to engage with the planetary emergency that now shapes our collective experience.

    Laura Bridgman

    14 – 21 July 2018

    Laura Bridgman (Kovida):
    “What Brings You Here?”

    It is a deeply convincing perspective that we are the ones ‘in control’ of our path of practice, and that, through our own endeavour, we can either get things right or wrong. The Buddha offered another paradigm, one of cause and effect, that we’ll be exploring during this week of practice. As part of this investigation we will be contemplating the Five Spiritual Faculties of saddha, viriya, sati, samadhi, and panya

    2 – 9 February 2018

    Catherine McGee and Rob Burbea:
    “Tending the Holy Fire: A Practice Retreat for Lovers of Soulmaking”

    This weeklong retreat is suitable for Dharma practitioners who are already familiar and relatively comfortable with the teachings and practices of the imaginal and the emotional/energy body, and who wish to deepen and widen these aspects of their practice together with other Dharma friends.

    Kirsten Kratz and Suvaco

    6 – 13 October 2017

    Kirsten Kratz and Suvaco, assisted by Mark Ovland:
    “Let the beauty we love be what we do”

    As practioners we may limit our practice to the need of becoming aware of and working through our issues, our hindrances and all that obscures our potential for freedom and insight. Empowering and liberating as this may be, we can end up missing out on the beauty of the path. On this retreat we will focus on recognising and balancing the factors of energy and delight and explore how an increased ability and sensitivity to perceive beauty is already an aspect of the awakened heart.

    jaya-karen-rudgard-100

    1 – 8 September 2017

    Jaya Karen Rudgard:
    “Stopping for Peace”

    The Buddha’s teaching offers a wise, pragmatic and profoundly compassionate response to the predicament of human life. In this weeklong insight meditation retreat we will practise the art of stopping and looking deeply into our own lived experience. Together we will investigate how to develop the peaceful heart that offers the key both to our own happiness and to peace in the external world.

    7 – 15 July 2017

    Guhyapati and Alex Swain:
    “Regenerative Activism: Sustaining Resistance”

    Those of us involved in social change face enormous challenges. Daily we meet injustice, loss, and suffering in the world around us. We also meet our own responses to that: our fears, frustrations and anger. How can we best work with these responses creatively to achieve our goals? And what collective tools can we use to enable our groups, organisations, and networks to better embody our values? This workshop will offer a range of tools – collective and personal – which can make our activism more effective and sustainable.

    This is not a silent retreat but there will be periods of quietude.

    zohar-and-nathan

    9 – 16 June 2017

    Zohar Lavie and Nathan Glyde:
    “Opening Awareness: The Freedom to Know Life”

    What could we gain from emulating generally in life the open and non-judgmental qualities of awareness? Could we bring more peace, well-being and happiness into our lives by shaping the way we look at, and meet, experience? On this retreat we will make use of this inquiry to develop a meditation practice that is calm and centred, friendly and compassionate, and playful and enjoyable.

    Vince Cullen

    22 – 26 May 2017

    Vince Cullen:
    “Being Human: A Hungry Ghost Retreat”

    A retreat exploring ‘Buddhist’ principles and practices that cultivate a more personally contented experience of everyday living. Being Human is an encouragement to lift the veil and break the spell of universal cravings, aversions and confusions that so often manifest as addictions and compulsions, as well as harmful thinking and behaviours.

    Kirsten Kratz and Suvaco

    24 Sept – 1 Oct 2016

    Kirsten Kratz and Suvaco:
    “Within this body there is the whole universe”

    Practice invites us to be present to our physical being, our inner landscape with its sensations and emotions. It invites us to be fully present to see the ways we get stuck and also to touch freedom. We discover that compassion, care, joy, and wisdom are found and known in the body and that we need to be embodied and intimate with this body/mind/heart to experience them deeply.

    Laura Bridgman

    16 – 22 August 2016

    Laura Bridgman (Kovida):
    “Meditation is Watching Nature Happening”

    In her teaching Laura likes to enable a natural gradual process of settling into a meditative state and inner connection. Meditation is ‘watching nature happening’, she says, rather than judging and trying to fix one’s mind.

    paul-burrows2

    23 – 30 July 2016

    Paul Burrows:
    “Be Like a Mother”

    Teaching love and compassion as a path of liberation, the Buddha challenges us to open our eyes and hearts to what is happening around us on the planet. Join together with us for this group retreat course where we will draw on the various Buddhist traditions to investigate: How do we make a wise response? What really helps? And what are you willing to risk to cultivate a limitless heart?

    Frank-Uyttebroeck-2016

    15 – 22 July 2016

    Frank Uyttebroeck:
    “Mind the Heart!”

    How does it feel to bathe in the silent pond of equanimity, knowing that we are all capable of attaining a peaceful mind state? And what about the joy we experience when we get in touch with the different aspects of the path of the Buddha? In this Insight Meditation retreat we will direct our kind awareness towards the four truths of unsatisfactoriness, truths offered by the Buddha with wisdom and clarity. We will investigate these four truths with the emotional power of the Buddhist heart practices.

    Ramiro Ortega and Mark Ovland

    10 – 14 February 2016

    Ramiro Ortega & Mark Ovland:
    “Deepening in Mindfulness”

    This retreat is an opportunity to strengthen and deepen your mindfulness practice with the support of silence, like-minded people and experienced teachers. Especially suitable for those who have taken an 8-week course and are looking to go one step further.

    Kirsten Kratz and Suvaco Bhikkhu

    23 – 30 October 2015

    Kirsten Kratz and Suvaco Bhikkhu:
    “Being Intimate with All Things”

    An intimate relationship with ourself, others and this world can be our deepest yearning and our biggest fear. Can we learn to trust the heart’s capacity to attend to all of life with an allowing and curious presence?

    AfD-200

    21 – 28 September 2015

    Rob Burbea and Guhyapati:
    “Action from Depth: an engaged buddhist training for ecological action”

    This event explores how dharma-based perspectives and practices can resource life-affirming action for ecological justice.

    Frank Uyttebroeck

    18 – 25 July 2015

    Frank Uyttebroeck:
    “Mind the Heart!”

    Come and join us on a path that leads to awakening the heart through training the mind. Together we will learn that freedom is possible through meeting ourselves, our relationships and our world with deepened wisdom, compassion and acceptance.

    zohar-lavie

    6 – 13 June 2015

    Zohar Lavie:
    “Resting Into Our True Nature”

    An invitation to relax into an intimate relationship with the depth of our being, and to nourish a genuine kind-heartedness towards ourselves and all of life.

    kirsten-kratz

    6 – 13 September 2014

    Kirsten Kratz:
    “The Gaze of Kindness and Wisdom”

    Cultivating qualties of mind and heart that have the potential to heal, to nourish and inspire, are expressions of wisdom and ultimately liberate.

    ken-jones-crop

    25 – 31 May 2014

    Ken Jones:
    “How to Make a Life”

    All you’ll need to know to get started! Talks, meditation, small group activity, interviews, body work.

    singing-bowl

    3 – 9 October 2013

    Insight Meditation Retreat

    An opportunity for retreatants with previous experience to develop their practice independently.