The Barn Retreat People

Tasha Bassingthwaighte

Barn Retreat Manager

Tasha was interested in spiritual practice from a young age and did her first Buddhist meditation retreat at the age of 18. She lived in Nepal, spending time with Tibetan Buddhists, and later moved to a dharma centre in France, deepening her experience and practice of Buddhism.
 
She has lived in various intentional communities in Canada, the USA, and the UK, and has worked in the realm of social services and social justice for the past decade, including community-building while working with refugees, immigrants, and women in poverty.
 
Tasha's inspired in her role by how The Barn works its magic on people. "In one of the early retreats I witnessed at The Barn, on the second day, a retreatant said that it was the most important thing they'd ever done in his life. He repeated it on the last day. The Barn touches people like that, myself included."
 
She lives in Totnes with her partner and her children.

Nina Jankelson

Assistant Barn Manager

Nina began practising mindfulness in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, attending retreats in Northern India and Nepal and later finding inspiration in the Insight Meditation tradition and the teachings of Zen monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh.

Nina was first drawn to Devon by the opportunity to volunteer as a residential coordinator at Sharpham’s Barn Retreat Centre and has been supporting and facilitating retreats at Sharpham and elsewhere since 2016. She has been the Assistant Manager at The Barn since 2023.

Her practice is grounded in a connection to the land and in contacting moments of ordinary beauty and grace in the everyday, noticing that aliveness can be found almost everywhere we look - waiting for a bus, reading poetry, watching the sunset, cleaning the toilet, weeding the garden, washing the dishes. She supports a spirit of discovery and experimentation in each person’s exploration of their experience on retreat, and perceives there is no one-size-fits-all approach to deepening our connection to ourselves, each other and everything.

Luciana Edwards

Barn Gardener

Luci first took up gardening aged three, when she had a carrot patch on her mum’s allotment. Since then she has gone on to train in permaculture design and has a MSc in Sustainable Agriculture focusing on soil health, which is her number one passion.

Luci has worked on organic and agroecological farms in Portugal, Nepal, Thailand and the UK. She has worked at The Barn as a kitchen gardener since January 2019, and enjoys producing food in close harmony with nature.

Luci also has experience of mindfulness, having undertaken an 8-week mindfulness course, as well as longer retreats at Sharpham, and continues her own practice at home.

Luci loves all things natural, so when she’s not in the garden you can find her exploring wild spaces with her family.

Philip Anderson

Volunteer Retreat Coordinator - The Barn

I first visited The Barn in 2022 and immediately felt cared for and safe. 

The more times I came on retreat the more The Barn felt like a spiritual home. It was somewhere I could slow down, become still and pay attention to whatever arose. 

I am genuinely honoured to become a part of the line of co-ordinators who have left their mark here in South Devon.

I have been following Buddhism for 30 or so years now and am really interested in how being amongst like-minded people and right up close with the beautiful environment of the Dart valley helps my practice and in turn how I can share that with retreatants over the year.

Nell

Volunteer Retreat Coordinator - The Barn