Find meaningful solitude on a Self-Retreat. These Retreats are unstructured: one does 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, parklands, indigenous valleys and forests. Meditate, learn chi kung and yoga, savour our delicious vegetarian food, browse our well-stocked library. Visit the stupa and the raked Zen sand gardens; walk the labyrinth; reflect on the 8 trees associated with the Buddha’s life, enlightenment and death in the beautiful Buddha Boma; spend solitary time in our deer forest, stalk the light, cloud-gaze at the dam and tune into just being in the present moment. Self-Retreats are an ideal opportunity to be in a gentle, sympathetic space where one can be still and get in touch with oneself and reflect on the things that crowd one’s life. Self-Retreats are available on weekdays - between Conducted Retreats - and over structured retreats. Group or Corporate events can be arranged.

Nelson Alvares is in situ to lead walks and sunrise meditation.

For those who would like to book for a self retreat midweek, Krishia Schilz, a resident member of staff, is offering daily yoga, pranayama and meditation.

Krishia Schilz is a qualified Bereavement Counsellor specialising in grief and loss, as well as Trauma Containment. Her spiritual path led her to yoga in which she is certified in various styles. She completed her training in beautiful Bali before travelling to Thailand to teach. Her practice includes yoga, pranayama (breath work), meditation and yoga philosophy.

Join Kirsten for a transformative mid-week retreat  in helping individuals reconnect with their relationship to themselves and their body’s wisdom. With a deeply personal journey of recovery from Anorexia and Bulimia, she has dedicated her life to understanding the intricate ways we relate to our bodies. She believes that true, sustainable transformation begins with cultivating a curious connection to the body, mind, and spirit. During this retreat, we will explore various practices through a polyvagal-informed lens, emphasizing the importance of understanding and regulating the nervous system. This approach is grounded in the Polyvagal Theory, which explains how our autonomic nervous system responds to stress and how we can cultivate safety and connection within ourselves and others. The sessions will include:gentle yoga to calm the nervous system, foster body awareness, and enhance your sense of safety and grounding; embodied focusing that helps you tune into your body's sensations and signals, fostering a deeper understanding of your emotional and physiological states whilst co-regulating with other; light breathwork techniques that promote regulation and balance within the autonomic nervous system, helping to shift from a state of stress or anxiety to one of calm and connection; mindful movement and meditation and group discussions.

The White Stork Displays Its Wing -  A Beginner’s Introduction to Yang Style Tai Chi, or to give it its full name, Tai Chi Chuan, has often been regarded as a dynamic form of Qigong, or ‘the cultivation of energy’ to help regulate one’s system and prevent disease, thereby leading to the development and maintenance of good health and well-being. Most people associate Tai Chi with flowing, graceful movements. Yet there is much more to the practice of this ancient Chinese art. The great Yang Tai Chi Master T.T. Liang (1900-2002), stated that there are four categories into which the principles of Tai Chi fall, namely health, self-defence, mental accomplishment and the road to immortality. In this retreat, Paul will demystify Tai Chi using the Yang style, which can be traced back to Ch’en Wang Ting (1597-1664). Paul’s intention is to inspire retreatants to further investigate Tai Chi and to find a teacher near their home.

“The most common form of despair is not being who you are.” - Kierkegaard

As humans we live here amongst the “family of things,” yet somehow separate. This illusion of separation the Tibetan Buddhists term Maha Bekandze – the Great Suffering. Join Charisse at the BRC to dissolve into the bliss that is your true nature. Together we will practise various forms of meditation. All of life is a meditation in that it calls us to pay attention. In curious mindfulness we will find our playful connection to Life itself.

Through guided conscious dance, process art making, free writing, immersion in nature, sitting in silence, walking, eating, talking, singing, listening deeply, practising yoga and qigong, you will gently be led back to your oneness, your emptiness, which is true love. You will surrender into your natural grace and choose joy.

Join Steve 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.

Shibuie is the ancient Japanese concept of Accidental Beauty in which the artist is just one ingredient in a number of dynamic interacting natural processes, the outcome of which is delightfully unpredictable, but strangely beautiful - not ego-driven or deliberate.

Ingrid will teach the classical Japanese brush painting techniques - Sumie - as these are applied to traditional subjects, such as landscape, bamboo and flower studies - as well as contemporary subjects. We will use the genuine, traditional materials: solid pine-soot ink, a hollowed-out slate to liquefy it, a deer-hair bamboo-stemmed brush and absorbent mulberry paper. Tools will be provided. Sharon will offer the Raku and explore various glazing and firing techniques. Each retreatant will receive a bisque-fired tea bowl to sumie-decorate and glaze. The kiln will be fired up, after which we will watch the magic as the bowls emerge triumphantly from the scorching heat! Chris will offer qigong sessions and Bernard will be offering forest walks and introducing 'forest bathing' with traditional Mbira music for healing and harmony. A traditional Chinese Tea Ceremony will be held on the final evening.

As the year draws to a close, gift yourself the opportunity to embrace the December holiday season with a mindful grounding. Join Bruce in exploring the roots of mindful awareness through Kundalini yoga. Immerse yourself in transformative practices that seamlessly blend into the beauty of nature, with outdoor sessions whenever possible. Engage in meditation, chanting and the gentle resonance of the gong and crystal bowls for healing relaxation. Delve into practices that nurture your mind, body and spirit, allowing you to embrace inner peace and vitality while finding harmony in nature. Take time to rejuvenate and realign as you prepare to welcome the new year ahead. Join us on this journey of self-discovery.

Imagine! Imagine all the people, living life in peace - John Lennon

Christmas is a time of the giving of gifts. All birthdays are honoured with gift-giving. Usually these gifts are of ‘things’. Yet the very best gift we can give is not anything tangible or material. It is to definitively take away the suffering of oneself, and of others. And this, after all, is the reason why we give material gifts in the first place. It’s also the reason why we do the myriad things we do in our lives. It’s because we are constantly in pursuit of this (seemingly unattainable) state of being: peace, happiness, contentment, an absence of ‘niggle’. The unlimited and ultimate gift would be to be happy without end, at peace without end, to give happiness and peace to all, without end. The Four Immeasurable Gifts are the ultimate gift. They are boundless equanimity, loving kindness, compassion, and joy. They define a path and practice leading to all-encompassing peace and happiness. They lead us back to our true nature, which is peace.

Take time out at the BRC this Christmas to slow down into the moment and unwrap the Four Immeasurable Gifts. We will discover them through meditation, contemplation, journaling, and by just being present.

The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of introspection and silence with time for journaling, reflection, and fireside talks.

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 lantern-lit ceremony in the Zendo, chanting, ringing out the old year with an ancient Chinese temple gong. The retreat will be held in an atmosphere of silence and introspection.