Mountains and lake graphic.
Welcome to The Good Retreat Guide Online. Here you will find dozens of places to find peace and spiritual renewal all over Europe and beyond. Interesting, wonderful, different, and exciting places to relax, explore your inner awareness, and practice your spiritual beliefs. You can also read about going on a retreat, about different kinds of spiritual practices, how to meditate, and much more.
We hope you find something to take with you from this website. May you be blessed in your journey of the spirit.
Stafford Whiteaker, Editor
Kimberly Didden, Assistant Editor
Steve Oddy, IT Editor
YIS Yoga in Salento are offering a last-minute 30% off their Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga Retreat with Nicolette Wilson, running from May 25th to June 1st, if you and a friend book now. Why not treat yourself to a week’s yoga in the south of Italy? See the flyer for more details.
From Shruti at Fairfield House:
Some of you may have read my blog about my experiment with eating healthily on GBP 1.00 a day as part of the Live Below the Line initiative. While it was challenging, it was also an interesting exercise in getting to know the prices of food (which I often take for granted), getting to know the body and checking in with it to see what ‘needs’ it has as opposed to just stuffing it with things I like and want to eat. So I learnt to get in touch with different types of hunger and feed them, becoming sensitive to how the body reacts to the food I put in and also to just remain hungry for a while instead of stuffing it with food.
Exploring hunger, the pangs, watching the mind becoming restless as the hunger took root, becoming irritable and so on, it was a great exercise in Mindfulness, remaining centred and just experiencing these sensations in the body.
This has given me a lot of food for thought (so to speak!) for the Mindful Cooking workshops coming up in July and November. Come and experience my experiments in action! Places are limited so best to book early. We still have a few spaces left on both of them.
We have wanted to secure the future of our work by trying to raise funds in recent years in order to either renovate the Steadings or erect a new smaller building on the ground adjacent. Unfortunately due to the financial climate, even though we employed a part time fundraiser, we have not been able to raise the money needed. The lease for the Coach House itself terminates in April 2015 and we now know that it will not be renewed, with the House being put on the market for sale.
We feel and know that the Coach House is a very special place. This has been affirmed so often in the letters many of our friends have written and in the outpouring of thanks at our 20th Celebration last year. There is no doubt of the importance of the Coach House. We know it has a purpose that is much needed today and are looking for ways to ensure that it is given the security and opportunity needed to continue.
The way forward…
The Trustees have looked at possible options and are now focused on trying to raise the funds to buy the Coach House so we can continue our work here. With the possible sale of The Steadings and money already accrued, the shortfall we need to raise is a minimum of GBP 165,000.00
Can we count on you to help us? We love the Coach House and we know that many of you do too. If you are able to make a donation, at the moment, the best way is by cheque payable to The Coach House Kilmuir Trust.
It may be that, unable to give a personal donation, you might be able to find opportunities within your own area through friends or people ‘in high places’ to raise something towards the figure needed. It is not insurmountable and together we can save the Coach House. If there are people within Trusts or, just in your area, who might be interested and who you do not feel you can approach on your own, then we will be pleased to do so on hearing from you.
We cannot do this on our own and very much hope that we can enlist your help and support to find ways to ensure the future of our work in this setting that we love so much.
Other possibilities for raising the money needed could be…
These options could enable us to keep the Steadings for future development.
If you have other options do let us know !
Help the team at Gaunts House for 4 hours per day during the festival, and receive free entry to all the fun and a meal voucher per shift.
This year the Summer Gathering is running from 8th - 11th Aug 2013.
Email George at the address below if you’re interested.
That’s me, Edward, with a fellow Karma yogi when I was living in France (2004). From 2003-2004 I worked as a volunteer in a meditation retreat centre in France which proved to be a very insightful process for me in many ways (and what inspired me to buy the Orange Tree). During my time there I learnt a lot about myself, cooking, meditation, what’s involved in running a retreat centre - and also the practice of “karma yoga” (selfless service/ work meditation). Though as you can see by by choice of hat it didn’t help me at all with my fashion sense.
The retreat centre I lived at (for me) had a magical feel about it, that I think came from the people who worked there and the spirit of what we were creating together, as most of then were like me, volunteers. This gave it a different feel - different to just a business. People were working just for the love of doing it and to make something nice for the people who came to stay. It was from my experiences living in France that inspired me in my dream of developing the Orange Tree and also to include “karma yoga” (volunteering) alongside the paid staff as an integral part of the ethos and environment we create here.
People come to the Orange Tree to help mostly because they love the place and enjoy being part of the team looking after guests and developing the place and being in the healing energies of the centre. Helpers stay for no charge and also get to enjoy the wonderful Orange Tree Food (and sometimes enough time to enjoy the wonderful countryside and hot tub too!).
So if you are interested in joining our small team of volunteers - please do get in touch. We are currently looking for suitable volunteers for in the kitchen on weekends and in the garden midweek.
Some experience preferred - though not essential - but you do need to:
