New retreats at The Barn - VIDEOS

Touching the Earth - a nature-connection retreat

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Each retreat at The Barn has its own focus, and choosing the right one depends on what you feel drawn to explore.

Touching the Earth is for people who feel a special pull towards nature.

On this retreat, time spent outdoors is central.

Walking in the woods, sitting with the river, or meditating under the open sky.

It's about letting the natural world guide our practice and remind us of our belonging within it.

Awakening the Heart is for those who want to deepen in compassion and kindness. 

This retreat introduces practices such as loving-kindness and compassion meditations, helping us soften towards ourselves and open more fully to others.

It's well-suited if you're exploring how meditation can help to grow your heart's capacity and bring warmth into daily life.

Being and Belonging is for those interested in community and connection.

While all Barn retreats are communal, this retreat makes it a central theme, how we relate to ourselves, to others, and to the wider web of life.

It's a good choice if you want to explore the joys and challenges of living mindfully with others.

Introduction to Buddhism is designed especially for people who are new to Buddhist teachings.

It offers a gentle, practical introduction to core ideas such as mindfulness, compassion and impermanence.

This retreat includes basic Buddhist teachings and explanation, so it's ideal if you're curious about or new to learning about Buddhism.

Living in awareness is best suited for those with some prior experience of meditation or Buddhist retreat, either here or at The Barn.

The emphasis of this retreat is on cultivating steadiness and depth through mindfulness woven into all parts of daily life.

It gives more space for silent practice, so it's a natural step if you're looking to deepen your practice further.

So how do you decide which retreat is best for you?

You might ask yourself, am I most drawn to nature, to compassion, to community, to learning, or to deepening silence and awareness?

Each retreat offers a different doorway into the same shared spirit of meditation and simplicity.

Whichever you choose, The Barn provides a place to pause, to reconnect, and to discover what supports you most on your path.

Thanks for watching, and we look forward to welcoming you to The Barn, whichever retreat you choose to join.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Hi, I'm Tasha, the manager here at The Barn Retreat that's part of Sharpham Trust in Devon.

I'm pleased to tell you about our retreat called Being and Belonging.

All of the retreats at The Barn share the foundations of Buddhist meditation, connection to nature, and simple community living.

In this retreat, we turn our attention more towards cultivating community and the question of belonging, how we find our place within ourselves, with others and in the wider world.

Over the course of the week, we will practice sitting and walking meditation together and share daily rhythms of life at The Barn.

Alongside this, we will explore what it means to truly arrive in our own experience and how that presence allows us to connect more deeply with one another.

So much of our modern lives encourage a sense of isolation and individualism This retreat encourages us to widen our gaze, to include a larger whole, and to weave ourselves with others to create stronger community.

Being and belonging makes space for us to reflect on community, how it feels to live alongside others in a spirit of openness and care.

How the practice of mindfulness can help us navigate the joys and challenges of being in relationship. and explore how resting into the refuge of Sangha, or community, can help deepen and relax our meditation practice.

People may come on this retreat if they're curious about how relationships can support their practice, or if they want to experience the depth of connection that arises from living, meditating, and caring for a place together.

So whether you've spent time at The Barn previously, or you're thinking of joining for the first time, Being and Belonging offers you an invitation to settle into yourself, to meet others with openness, and to discover what it means to find belonging in community.

Thanks for watching, and we hope to see you on retreat soon.