Retreat Leaders

Patti Summerville began a personal meditation practice in 1996 after attending a retreat at the Tushita Institute, Dharamsala, India. Over the years her practice has been influenced by Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist traditions and in 2013 she took on the role of co-ordinator at The Barn, an Insight Mindfulness Meditation Retreat centre on Sharpham Estate. Patti trained as an Integral Hatha Yoga teacher in 2009 at the Sri Swami Satchidananda Ashram and has undertaken a Mindfulness Teacher training retreat with Exeter University. 

Ramiro Ortega has practised mindfulness for over 15 years, and Insight Meditation since 2005. He teaches Mindfulness retreats at Sharpham House, as well as 8-week courses for the public, and also facilitates an Introduction to Buddhist Meditation at The Barn Retreat Centre. Ramiro trained to teach mindfulness with the Centre for Mindfulness Research and Practice at Bangor University.

Maite Alonso trained in 1991 in Sivananda Yoga in India, in Shakti Yoga Dance in 2009 and in Kundalini Yoga in 2011 in the UK. The major influences in Maite's work and teaching practice have been Yoga, Buddhist Meditation and chanting. She has been attending retreats (especially Zen and Insight Meditation) in spiritual centres in the UK, Europe, India, Thailand and California, since 1990.

Katherine Weare is a respected international figure in mindfulness in education, and Professor at the University of Exeter teaching mindfulness. She also regularly teaches at Sharpham.

She published the widely-acclaimed book Happy Teachers Change the World co-authored with mindfulness pioneer, spiritual leader, poet and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. Read more about her here.

Katherine is also trained to teach the Mindfulness in Schools .b and .b foundation programmes.  She has made a long-term study of mindfulness and well-being for teachers

Ollie Frame has been co-leading yoga and meditation retreats for over five years. Trained in Mindfulness with Bangor University and the University of Exeter, he runs 8-week courses for members of the public as well as courses for teachers and students within schools and colleges. Ollie also works as an Integrative counsellor and has a particular interest in Psychosynthesis, depth psychology and inner journeying. Within the world of mindfulness, he is especially enthusiastic about self compassion, metta meditation and other heart-based approaches.

Lynne Holmes has a background as a nurse, health visitor and also trained as a psychotherapist at Metanoia in London in the early 1990s. While training as a therapist she became interested in meditation and has practiced for the last 15 +years. She has trained as a Mindfulness Teacher at Oxford Cognitive Therapy Centre, Bangor University and Exeter University. She teaches MBSR groups for the Mood Disorders Centre at Exeter University and also mentors and supervises students taking the Mindfulness Diploma. She is passionate about teaching Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction to people suffering from stress and brings a depth of experience and compassion to her work. She has a daily meditation practice, receives regular supervision and attends regular silent insight meditation retreats. Find her at www.mindfulnessdevon.co.uk

Dr Jo Gosling has over 30 years’ experience in the NHS, initially as a Macmillan nurse in cancer care then, after gaining a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 1996, as a Clinical Health Psychologist. She has a longstanding mindfulness practice and has undergone extensive training with teachers from Bangor and Exeter Universities. She has regular mentoring and attends silent meditation retreats to deepen her practice. As a freelance mindfulness teacher she has delivered numerous MBCT groups for people with recurrent depression at the Mood Disorders Centre, University of Exeter and been supervisor to trainee mindfulness teachers. A personal health crisis, combined with training to teach Mindful Self-Compassion (with Chris Germer and Kristin Neff) led to a change of direction in life and she is now at Plymouth College of Art studying an MA in Fine Art. A natural follow-on has been to combine the two areas of mindfulness and creativity, in the form of retreats and workshops: ‘Mindfulness and Creativity-Working from the Heart.’

Nina Jankelson began practising mindfulness in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, attending retreat in Northern India and Nepal and later drawing inspiration from the Insight Meditation tradition and the teachings of Zen monk Thich Nhat Hanh. A former residential coordinator at Sharpham's Barn Retreat, Nina has been facilitating meditations, ceremony and retreats for the past five years. Her practice is grounded in a connection to the land and in contacting moments of ordinary beauty and grace in the every day. She is interested in exploring how contemplative practices can open up our experience of the world and is passionate about creating opportunities for others to do the same.

Rupert Marques has practised in the insight meditation tradition for nearly 25 years in Europe, America and Asia. His primary teachers have been Christina Feldman and Joseph Goldstein. The work of Toni Packer and John Tarrant have also been influential in his practice and teaching. He teaches at various retreat centres in Europe and beyond. For the past 4 years Rupert has lived and worked at Ecodharma, a contemplative retreat community in the Spanish Pyrenees dedicated to exploring the role of the Dharma in the movements for social justice and ecological sustainability. At Ecodharma he directed the Nature based Practice strand of their work that marries contemplative practice with a range of approaches within the field of experiential ecopsychology in a wilderness setting.

Jess Stein offers retreats that combine mindfulness, nature connection and creativity. She has been facilitating mindfulness spaces since 2012, initially as part of the Plum Village tradition and for the last six years at Sharpham Barn, House and Woodland. Reverence for nature informs all that Jess does. Initially trained as a yoga teacher all that she teaches takes its inspiration from the organic shapes of the human body and the forms and patterns of the natural world. She offers practices that awaken each person's unique capacity for awareness, creativity and connection. The spaces she holds are welcoming, intuitive and gently transformative. Alongside retreats, Jess is a palliative care nurse and holds a degree in English Literature. Eternally curious, she has completed training in Dru Yoga, Scaravelli Inspired Yoga, Creative Writing and meditation, Embodied Anatomy, Nature Connection and Cultural Repair, Qi Gong, Adaptive Yoga, Yoga for Women’s Health and much more