Retreats & Courses at Land of Joy
Land of Joy offers a range of introductory, next step, advanced and secular retreats through most of the year. Please click on any event that interests you to learn more about it and book your place.
Personal retreats or private stays are also possible depending on availability. Please click here for more details.
Please be aware event might be cancelled up to two weeks prior to their start date due to lack of numbers or other reasons. It is also possible they will be re-arranged if we have the chance to host touring teachers,, so please keep this in mind when booking transport.
July
With Ven Lozang Yönten: 2nd & 3rd July – online only
Join Ven Yönten for a weekend of looking into the psychology and practice of Buddhist Tantra. This retreat is suitable for anyone wishing to deepen their tantric practice, as well as those who anticipate practicing Tantra in the near future.
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With Ven Lozang Yönten: 23rd & 24th July – online only
This deeply personal, poetic and provocative text, invites us to “be the peacock in the poison grove…” with the bodhichitta attitude that takes hardships as the path to awakening.
A radical reframing of Dharmarakshita’s ideas will be shared in this experiential Lo-jong (thought transformation) retreat with Ven. Yönten.You will take part in inner work by looking at karma more deeply, as well as outer work in the world, seeking to benefit the planet and all the beings we share it with.
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With Lou Beaumont: 29th – 31st July
This will be a weekend course of gentle movement & breathing helping us to connect with our subtle body. Combining these movements with mindful attention we can experience quite naturally how to rest our mind in this expansive energy.
We will learn how to control the breath with simple pranayama exercises that energise the body & gently train the mind to focus within.
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August
With Various leaders: 06th – 07th August
This relaxed weekend of events and activities is a great chance for friends to reconnect with Land of Joy or join us for the first time to explore our home and be a part of our growing community. Many of the sessions on offer will create a huge amount of positive energy for those who attend and towards the ongoing success of Land of Joy so it’s win, win!
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With Güzin A. Yener: 10th – 12th August
Requirements to attend: All Buddhist practitioners are welcome, however those attending will have ideally been initiated into tantra (at any level), as well as be familiar with six session guru yoga and deity yoga.
The aim of this retreat is to support practitioners in gaining confidence and experience on their path to actualising Kurukullā as a yidam. There will be discussions and Q&A’s in an open and inclusive way to provide a safe space to strengthen your individual practice.
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With Güzin A. Yener: 13th – 21st August
Requirements to attend: In order to attend this retreat you must have taken the Kurukullā empowerment and/or that of another highest yoga deity with the same level of vows, commitment and samaya.
This will be an approximation/nearing retreat with a daily sadhana practice based on the sadhana Meditation on Kurukulla, composed by Lama Zopa Rinpoche, with mantra recitation. The mantra will be recited during the retreat, but it is up to you whether it is counted or not. For those who complete the mala count of, 100,000, there will be a Dorje Khandro offering on the last day.
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September
Mindful Movement & Breathing for Everyday Life
With Lou Beaumont: 2nd – 4th September
Another chance to join us at Land of Joy for some gentle chi gong movement & pranayama breathing.
These ancient exercise systems can deeply energise our bodies they are used as a basis for mindful attention and meditation practice.
We will be focusing on bringing these exercises into our everyday experience so that we can utilise them to enhance are health and our mental well being. Very simple techniques that can be done lying down in bed, standing up at the bus stop or just watching the telly! Learning to focus the mind in the body & breath is very simple.
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With Wendy Ridley: 9th – 11th September
During this weekend we will explore embodied mindfulness, universal ethical values and resilience, inspired by the 16 Guidelines for Life Program. The 16G program, developed by the Foundation for Developing Compassion and Wisdom, provides a simple, robust and flexible framework for reflecting on the ways we think, act, relate to others and find meaning. The program provides mindfulness-based practical tools to bring about positive change.
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Shamata Retreat (Standby list in operation)
With Ven Mary Reavey: 23rd – 30th September
Shamata is the development of attention which enables us to focus our attention on an object without agitation or dullness, eventually reaching the clear mind of. Shamata (calm abiding) is the clear mind that provides us with the focus we need to positively transform our minds for ourselves and others. We all need to start where we are so no matter what our level of meditation might be, you will find benefit from training your attention.
Learn more…
Shamata is the development of attention which enables us to focus our attention on an object without agitation or dullness, eventually reaching the clear mind of. Shamata (calm abiding) is the clear mind that provides us with the focus we need to positively transform our minds for ourselves and others. We all need to start where we are so no matter what our level of meditation might be, you will find benefit from training your attention.
Learn more…
October
With Andy Wistreich: 7th – 23rd October
This retreat is open to anyone who has taken the Kalacakra initiation, regardless of whether or not they have experience in Kalacakra practice, as it’s a great way to learn to practice the Kalacakra tantra.
The practice that we will use during the retreat was composed at the request of His Holiness the Fourteenth Dalai Lama by his senior tutor, Yongdzin Ling Rinpoche, in the sixties. It is a powerful practice for personal social and ecological transformation. So, participation in the retreat will benefit both the practitioner and the world.
With Shan Tate: 28th – 30th October
Self care and self compassion help us develop our inner confidence. This in turn enables us to expand our capacity to reach out to others. We naturally have more to give. At the same time, we are not neglecting or bypassing our own practice of inner development though distracting ourselves, or kidding ourselves that we don’t have our own struggles and limitations.
Presentations, discussions and meditation techniques will be used as a basis for exploring ideas and understanding how they can improve our daily lives and those around us.
November
With Paula Chichester: 4th – 9th November
Medicine Buddha is an ancient, powerful meditation practice to heal the wounds of our body, mind and spirit —personally and globally. In this weekend workshop, we will balance the five elements in the body/mind, using meditation and physical exercises interspersed with discussions on how to heal ourselves and others. Meditation will emphasize sadhana integrated with resting in nature of mind.
Paula Chichester is known for her friendly, experiential teaching style that evolved from 4 decades of training in Tibetan Buddhist meditation, healing arts, yoga and chi gong. Her ability to distill and impart the essence of these disciplines is inspired by her main teachers, Lama Thubten Yeshe and Kyabje Zopa Rinpoche. Coming out of years in meditation retreat, her heart is dedicated to help create a world culture of health, compassion, wisdom and joy.
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