Christmas retreat at Sharpham House: a gift to yourself
Katherine Wilkes
Susan Papas
Billie
Louise Neicho (lou lou)
Tessa Turner
Hear FIRST about our retreats & events
Rest and be supported by the beautiful setting of Sharpham House at Christmas-time.
Escape the frantic festive season for a Christmas that gives you the present: space and time for yourself.
This retreat offers meditation and plenty of free time to rest and connect with nature – at a time that’s usually associated with consumerism, stress and busy-ness.
The leaders of this retreat – drawn from our wide pool of experienced leaders – will help you to develop and extend your mindful experience.
Read on for more details on this retreat and click the Leaders, Schedules and Venue & Directions tabs above for further information.
A Christmas with peace and silence
This retreat is for you if you:
- want a Christmas that is peace-filled, tranquil and contemplative
- are prepared to experience a Christmas Day in nourishing silence
- are aged 18 and above
The Christmas retreat programme includes 3 daily meditation sessions with periods of silence to help strengthen the practice.
Christmas Day will be spent in silence.
During this retreat, there will be question-and-answer sessions and guidance in bringing mindfulness, compassion, joy and equanimity into daily life.
The number of participants on this retreat is 28.
Because Sharpham House is a Grade 1-listed mansion (with limits to the changes we are allowed to make to the building), few bedrooms come with an en-suite bathroom and toilet. There are shared bathrooms on every floor.
What you’ll experience on this retreat:
During this retreat you'll:
- practice guided and non-guided meditations, exploring and developing mindfulness in the supportive company of others with time for discussion and personal practice
- be living in safe community with like-minded people
- be able to explore our tranquil Capability Brown-designed parkland and our Grade 2*-listed gardens designed by Percy Cane
- enjoy delicious, healthy, home-cooked vegetarian food that regularly receives rave reviews
- have relaxation sessions and free time to deeply rest and reconnect with yourself, far from the usual busy-ness of the Christmas period.
- be cared for full-board in a Grade 1-listed Georgian House surrounded by history and art, with staff looking after you, in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty close to nature, amid breath-taking scenery on the banks of the River Dart
- experience periods of silence and quiet contemplation, including a whole day of silence on Christmas Day
Mindfulness in nature at Sharpham
When you experience Sharpham's inspiring and nourishing environment, we hope you'll connect spiritually with the natural world, so you’ll:
- become aware of how we are all part of nature - not artificially separate from it
- pay attention to and appreciate the natural world surrounding us
- explore nature through your senses and your natural creativity
- Tread more lightly on our finite planet, developing a respect and reverence for all living things
Click here to read our ethos and principles
What you need to know
If you decide to stay with us, we’ll send you a list of what you need to bring for this retreat in your Welcome Letter that we send out after you've booked.
You can also find out more about staying with us on our Frequently Asked Questions page, including
- accessibility information
- why we encourage you to come on your own and not with partners or friends
- what the difference is between our retreats
See our Sharpham House Covid-19 measures here
Our food & your dietary needs
The retreat is full-board with delicious home-cooked vegetarian food.
In line with sustainable practices across the Estate, our cooks produce seasonal, vegetarian food for our guests. We source food whenever possible from our kitchen garden and support local food suppliers. The Estate's farm tenants produce award-winning wine and cheese as well as organic eggs, meat and vegetables.
We can accommodate the following dietary needs: vegan, wheat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free as long as you have included these on your Booking Form. Please alert us to any food allergies you have. The booking form is sent as a link once you have booked and paid for a retreat.
Your physical and mental health
This retreat is suitable for you if you are new to mindfulness, or seeking to renew or reconnect with your practice.
Although meditation and mindfulness can be helpful in managing stress, depression and anxiety our retreats might not be suitable if you are experiencing major depression or other clinically diagnosed psychiatric illness such as bipolar disorder, psychosis or current self-harming. Click here for more information and for our booking process
We have an accessible en-suite bedroom The Clare Milne Room – click here for details on how to book this room
If you have a medical condition that requires you to have an en-suite room, please contact our Programme Administrator on the number below as these rooms are limited and are bookable on a first-come first-served basis.
A beautiful, restful place - perfect at any time of the year, but Christmas felt very special
If you're coming to stay with us on retreat, it is important to make a commitment to arrive in time for the first group meeting and to attend all the days.
This ensures you experience the retreat programme from start to finish and helps your group of participants to gel.
This retreat includes a complete day of silence on Christmas Day (Day 3).
Typical schedule
Day 1:
| Afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|
| 3.00pm - 5.00pm - Arrival |
6.15pm - Supper |
| 5.15pm - Welcome meeting, House tour, settling in | 8.15pm - Guided meditation |
| 9.00pm - House moves into silence until 9.50am, supporting individual mindfulness and reflection |
Typical Day:
| Morning/afternoon | Evening |
|---|---|
| 7.00am - Wake up | 12.30pm - Meditation |
| 7.30am - Mindful movement (optional) | 1.00pm - Lunch and tasks |
| 8.00am - Meditation |
2.00pm - Personal time |
| 8.30am - Breakfast and tasks | 4.00pm - Mindful movement (optional) |
| 9.50am - Daily group meeting | 5.30pm - Meditation |
| 10.30am - Walk of the grounds/personal time/teaching/Q&A | 6.00pm - Supper and tasks |
| 7.45pm - Personal time/Mindfulness in daily life Q&A | |
| 8.00pm - Deep relaxation | |
| 9.00pm - House moves into silence until 9.50am, supporting individual mindfulness and reflection |
The final day is as above with a closing meeting at 10.30am, and your departure by midday.
Christmas Day in silence - wonderful
The silent day and the silent meditations/periods of time were very soothing and relaxing. Sharpham House and its surroundings are a magical place to escape Christmas...I’d recommend this experience to anyone.
Can’t imagine a better retreat for the hectic end-of-year period. A perfectly balanced blend of activities both stimulating and relaxing, with plenty of personal downtime in a truly stunning setting - and all accompanied by an abundance of delicious and creative cuisine.
I couldn’t have given myself a better Christmas present
This retreat takes place in the beautiful and historic Grade 1-listed Sharpham House set in a Capability Brown-designed landscape with stunning views over the steeply-wooded River Dart.
Click here for our How to Find Us page on this website.
Click here to view, print or download directions and a map to Sharpham House
Click here view and download walking/cycling directions to Sharpham House
If you have a medical condition that requires you to have an en-suite room, please contact our Programme Administrator on the number below as these rooms are limited and are bookable on a first-come first-served basis.
Just to let you know, we have poor mobile phone coverage – which we see as a virtue. While there is wi-fi in Sharpham House, we encourage you to disconnect from ‘the network’ so you can fully retreat when you’re here.
We are 3 miles from Totnes – famous for its Transition Town movement
We are in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Sustainability
We take sustainability seriously.
All of the hot water and heating in the House is produced by a state-of-the-art biomass woodchip boiler and we have 2 large photo-voltaic solar panel arrays on barn rooftops.
Our gardens are managed organically and we only use bio-degradable cleaning products.
2022 costs - 5 nights
£550 - Shared room
£650 - Standard room
£795 - Premium room
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Maite Alonso
Maite has a background in general and psychiatric nursing, and Movement and Drama Therapy. Since 1990 she has been practicing meditation and attending retreats in different traditions, mainly Insight Meditation and Zen, in India, Europe, the UK, and the USA.
She has trained in Sivananda Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, and Shakti Dance and has been working for the last 12 years as a yoga teacher and massage therapist. In the last 6 years, she has been co-leading retreats at Sharpham.
Maite's passion is co-creating spaces where people can find insights through connecting with their bodies, with nature, and with each other. Embodiment practices and using the body as a source of wisdom are also her passion.
Ramiro Ortega
Ramiro is a mindfulness teacher and a retreat leader, and also a philosophical counsellor in training. He started practising in Spain in 2005 in the Soto Zen tradition, moving later to the UK to finish his studies in philosophy, where he came into contact with other different schools of meditation practice.
Finally Ramiro made his home in the UK and after spending two years living in Gaia House, a Buddhist meditation retreat centre in the Insight Meditation tradition in Devon, he trained to teach mindfulness with the University of Bangor and with the University of Exeter. He is also participating in the teacher training programme with the Bodhi College.
How to book easily and securely:
- online on this page
- by phoning 01803 732542
Ring us or email us on [email protected] if you've got any questions.
Please click here to see our booking and cancellations policy.
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