Find meaningful solitude on a Self-Retreat.  One can do as much (or as little) reading, walking, meditation or resting as one chooses. Enjoy walks and bird watching in 300 acres of beautiful rolling hills and indigenous forests. Enjoy some qigong, meditation and treatments and savour our delicious vegetarian food; or browse our well-stocked library. Visit the stupa and the raked Zen sand gardens and walk the labyrinth. Massage treatments, guided walks, qigong and meditation are offered by resident staff mid week. Self-Retreats are an ideal opportunity to be in a gentle, sympathetic space where one can be still and get in touch with oneself.

Why must we undertake Vipassana meditation retreats? Because we search for happiness and want to liberate our mind from suffering - Ajahn Tong

The retreat starts with an introduction on Monday evening and follows the original stages of insight meditation for ten days. The aim of insight meditation is to understand reality, to see things as they really are. The main tool of insight meditation is mindfulness: mindfulness of body, feelings and mind. Ajahn Tong states that “attending a meditation retreat is training in the power of mindfulness. With intensive practice the wandering, struggling and chaotic mind can become composed, peaceful, refreshed and purified of negative hindrances.” Retreatants are required to practise approximately ten hours per day (between 5 am and 10 pm), follow the Buddhist precepts and maintain respectful silence throughout the retreat. The BRC staff and teachers will provide their whole-hearted support, which includes daily reporting, loving-kindness meditation (Metta) and Dhamma talks. This retreat will overlap with the weekend retreat (17-19) and the 4 day retreat (19-23) and will be limited to 12 participants.
Thoughts come and go. Feelings come and go. Find out what it is that remains - Ramana Maharshi

We go on a retreat to cleanse and disentangle our troubled lives and minds. This experience frees our mind - Ajahn Tong

Vipassana (insight) meditation uses mindfulness to reveal and release the mental and emotional patterns that cause suffering. The aim is not just to overcome suffering but to wake up and be fully alive in the present moment. This four-day retreat is an opportunity to deepen meditation practice using the traditional Buddhist method of Ajahn Tong. Meditators are encouraged to stay for the entire course but may also stay for a shorter time and beginners are welcome to learn how to start Vipassana meditation. Mindfulness is developed by regular walking and sitting practice (both in the meditation hall and outside in the forest), by maintaining awareness during normal activities such as eating, showering, dressing and supported by daily interviews with a teacher. The retreat will be held in silence.
What is looking is what you are looking for - St. Francis of Assisi

This weekend silent retreat will provide an opportunity to explore two aspects of Buddhist meditation practice – the gradual development of calmness and peacefulness in our mind; and the practice of awareness, to live with more clarity and more centredness in the present moment. This foundation of calmness helps us to meet our confused thoughts and emotions with more acceptance and kindness and, leads to a deeper understanding of the nature of our minds. The retreat will create a gentle and relaxed space in which to explore the benefits of spending time quietly with ourselves, to allow the qualities of calmness and clarity to develop in a natural way and to enjoy the nurturing effect of being silent in a beautiful mountain environment.

Choden, a South African born Buddhist monk, will offer a weekend workshop exploring compassion within the context of mindfulness practice. He currently resides in Edinburgh in Scotland and teaches on the University of Aberdeen Postgraduate Studies in Mindfulness MSc. During the workshop he will offer skills and practices for tapping into the compassionate potential within us. In so doing, we will discover source of inner vitality and well-being that can support us when we are down and help us respond to the inevitable difficulties of life. Choden will draw on the wealth of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, as well as insights from evolutionary psychology and neuroscience. In 2013, he co-authored a book with renowned British psychologist Paul Gilbert called Mindful Compassion (2013) which was a synthesis of psychology, science and Buddhism.

He will focus on the cultivation of self-compassion as an antidote to self-criticism and the cultivation of compassion for others by drawing on the Buddhist model of the 4 Limitless Contemplations (loving-kindness, compassion, joy and equanimity). This will include the practice of tonglen or taking and sending. The workshop will be experiential and will include a combination of imagination and mindfulness-based practices.

This is an invitation to slow down and retreat with the support of two optional daily practices, a sound journey, time for solitude, silence and individual connection to support you through the weekend. Despina will be offering two yoga classes per day which include meditation, breathwork and therapeutic sound (morning and evening) with plenty of time to retreat at your own pace. Yoga and meditation can be experienced as a practice of cultivating well-being. We will be exploring Yin, gentle hatha and restorative yoga, breathwork, therapeutic sound and mindfulness practices. Intentional sounds like in a sound journey intend to invite us into a deeper state of listening and meditation that transcends the thinking mind. It is a beautiful practice to listen deeply to harmonic sounds such as in nature and give ourselves fully to the experience of embodied listening - full body listening. The truth of all things resides in the vibration and resonance made from one single sound. Combining these practices of movement, stillness and sound creates powerful possibilities for insight, transformation and healing for the body, mind, and heart. Breakfast and dinner will be in silence.

Ajahn Jutindharo comes highly recommended by his colleague and friend, Ajhan Sucitto.

Ajahn Jutindharo’s approach is grounded in awareness of our own body, with practices based around body awareness and the breath. He emphasises an open attitude of kindness and curiosity, so that we  learn to trust more in that which is already alive, awake and free within us. When we remember how to connect with these wholesome sources, we access a wider range of tools for deepening our understanding, addressing some of the things that we find more challenging, and furthering our exploration.

Join Aldo for an enjoyable weekend of identifying some of the BRC’s 160 species of birds - including the summer residents, the rare Blue Swallow, Knysna Turaco and Emerald Cuckoo. Wake up to birdsong and walk the verdant hills and meadows close to where the Blue Swallows nest. The BRC has been awarded “Private Nature Reserve” status by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife for its conservation of the Blue Swallow and its pristine mistbelt grasslands. Included will be talks, slide shows, meditation and some quiet time communing with nature. Bring your binoculars and a sunhat.

Explore this ancient Chinese practice that boosts one’s health and vitality. Participants will learn the key techniques of how to master qigong and incorporate it into their daily lives, effortlessly. These techniques are easy to learn, are useful and powerful. The healing power of qigong works on both the physical and spiritual level - if it is done correctly. These techniques include breathing, timing, warm ups, postures, movement and mind projection. Dr Hu will also introduce some Chinese medicine for detoxing, lowering cholesterol, decreasing body fat and relieving water retention. This retreat is designed to suit beginners, as well as those who have practised qigong previously.

 “When you are busy judging people, you have no time to love them.” Marshall Rosenberg
Learn the life-enhancing practices of mindful awareness and non-violent communication with Felicity Joan Hart.
When interacting with others, we often find ourselves triggered and then communicate in ways that hurt or harm - ourselves, the other, or the relationship between. Our conditioned ideas of what it means to communicate, especially during times of conflict, frequently results in a loss of connection. Judgement and defence, as well as the strategies of criticism, insults, blame, or put-downs are commonly used in our attempt to be heard or to meet our need to be “right,” “good” or “winning.” Despite our best efforts and intentions, we habitually become “violent” with our words and then feel the pain of disconnection.

What to expect.

This retreat explores the principles and practices of mindfulness and non-violent communication (NVC), to foster connection and minimize the suffering of outmoded ways of engaging. You will practise both intra-personal and inter-personal mindfulness to cultivate skills of empathy, compassion, and a better understanding of yourself and others. Together, these practices will help you communicate more consciously so that you learn to be aware of your feelings and needs, make requests to meet these needs and stay open to the feelings and needs of others.

You can expect daily mindful meditation practice to support the empowering and enriching teachings of NVC and some down time for rest and relaxation.