Self Compassion Day Retreat - Saltburn
Feb 14th, 10am - 3pm
Facilitated by Kim
'If it feels like a struggle, it's not self compassion' - Kristin Neff.
We can spend so much time looking after others that we put ourselves at the bottom of the list of things to care about. But the old adage is true: we can't pour from an empty cup. Self care isn't selfish! We are much better equipped to deal with others and can be more useful in the world when we are feeling strong and resilient and self compassion can give us a hand in getting us there.
This lovely day retreat will help us to breathe compassion back into our bodies and to learn how to become our own best friends, as taught by Kristen Neff and Chris Germer, leaders in their field. There will be time to rest and time to reflect and recharge. We'll be taking time out to gently explore what it means to be compassionate to ourselves, to have boundaries and to meet others in compassion.
This is great for anyone who's feeling frazzled and needs to really investigate 'me time'.
We'll explore:
- Bringing compassion to ourselves (when that feels like the last thing we should be doing)
- Guided visualisations focusing on creating a safe space within
- Looking at how to bring more compassion into our lives
- Why it matters to put ourselves first (this is a struggle for a lot of people who are used to putting themselves at the bottom of the list!)
- Building resilience
- Tuning in to our intuition
- We'll also include some very gentle movement practice
Please bring a lunch to share.
Open to all
Online Retreats: 9am - 6.30pm, £35
Facilitated by Kim
It's so lovely to get away on a retreat and change our environment and feel as though we're really having an
opportunity to commit to some meditation and quiet. However, sometimes life doesn't present us with that
opportunity.
Committing to a day of meditating can be a great way of connecting back in to ourselves,
grounding ourselves in our own lived reality - not a reality borne of the TV or our phone - and slowing down
a little.
We'll start our retreat at 9am (although you're welcome to start earlier) with a guided 25 mins
meditation and then we'll come together again at 10.30am, 12pm, 1.30pm, 3pm, 4.30pm and finally at 6pm.
You're welcome to come to as many or as few as you like.
Every other meditation will be guided (4 in total), every other meditation will be silent (3 in total). For the guided meditations
we'll start with a basic breathing meditation to settle us, then on to an insight meditation and finally
coming into self compassion meditations as we bring the retreat to a close.
There will be an opportunity
at the end for us all to share our experience, but other than that it will be strictly microphones off!
Online Weekly Meditations
Thursdays at 8.30am and 8.30pm, £15 for the month
Facilitated by Kim
Join our lovely Zoom Meditation Community every Thursday morning and evening for guided and sometimes silent meditations. There is normally a chance to discuss how your practice went at the end, but this isn't at all compulsory. It's much more about developing and maintaining a good habit. Especially useful if you've been along to a retreat and want to keep your practice up when you get home.
£15 gives you access to all the meditations for the month. Same price if you attend one or all eight/ten!
Weekend Retreats
Deep Listening and Forest Bathing, July 3-6th
£369 for 2 nights, £499 for 3 nights
Facilitated by Kim
Deep Listening - learning to listen out for the messages and wisdom that the body has to offer us. A time to take stock, re-calibrate and uncover the direction that our inner satnav is taking us.
With the hustle and bustle of life, the subtle (and not so subtle) conditioning forced upon us by our surroundings (think advertising, social 'norms', peer pressure etc), it can be difficult to stop long enough to check in to what it is we actually want and need. Instead we end up absorbing the needs and wants of others, often at the risk of abandoning ourselves.
Our Deep Listening retreats provide space so that we can slow down enough and become quiet enough to hear whatever it is that our hearts yearn for. Most often it's simply the permission to truly feel... How many of us have guarded against really feeling anything in fear that we'll become overwhelmed and collapse in a heap on the ground or worse! That's why we start every retreat with practical ways to regulate the nervous system. We take things very gently. We honour resistance and come to make friends with it and the protection that it has been long offering us. We stop fighting ourselves. We learn how to make peace with the inner world which in turn improves our relationship to the outer world.
Forest Bathing - We'll also take the opportunity to truly connect to nature with your Forest Bathing sessions. A great way for the heart and mind to relax and to light up the part of our brain that deals with intuition, bigger picture and context.
There will be guided meditations including self compassion, periods of silence, mindful walking and some talks and discussion aimed at furthering your connection to yourself - the most important relationship you will ever have.
We'll also take the time to hone our skills of listening to others, listening with the whole body, listening without the need to fix or resolve the other. Providing a place of safety for true connection to occur.
The Price Includes:
- 2/3 nights accommodation
- All meals
- All guidance/teaching
- Private chats, if you'd like
What to Bring
- Walking Shoes/Boots if you plan to wander a bit
- Something to write with and in
- Clothing appropriate to the North Wales Coast and its seasonal weather
- Anything at all that you intuit you'd like to bring: journal, knitting, drawing etc
If this is feeling like something you'd like to do you can use this booking form. Or drop us a line if you have any questions . A
non-refundable deposit of £100 will save your place.
Tai Chi Qigong Shibashi and Meditation Weekends
Facilitated by Kim
This is a great way of slowing down, relaxing and finding our flow. Meditation in movement as well as seated.
Slow, repetitive movements can lead to a profound sense of being right, here right now, allowing ourselves to
drop into 'just this'. This in turn can reduce stress and allow us to step away from a racing mind.
This form of the classic Qigong Shibashi Set One focuses on the therapeutic benefits of these gentle and
flowing
movements.
We will look at:
- Practical exploration of this 18 movement Qigong set
- Introduction to posture, body alignment and stance structure
- Learning to harmonise the breath, body and mind
- Exploration of the essence of Qigong as a moving meditation
We'll go through the movements a few times during our time together along with some periods of guided
meditation and silent meditation.
There will be plenty of time spend as you see fit in the afternoons.
Dip in and out as you please!
To book you can use this form. Or drop us a line if you have any
questions. A non-refundable deposit of £75 will save your place.
What's the Big Deal about Silence
In some of our UK and Moroccan retreats we practice periods of silence.
Why would we voluntarily become silent? What is the point? Many of us live alone and are silent a lot anyway,
why would we choose to expose ourselves to more, when we could have the opportunity to be making new friends
and socialising?
I’m pretty sure you all have your own reasons for turning up and entering the silence, so what I’m about to
say speaks only for me. Maybe it’ll resonate, maybe not ;)
Some years ago, an old friend announced she was doing a silent retreat. I remember being horrified - you
can’t speak?! Or read?! Or write?! But I was also at a point when I was questioning a lot of what my mind
was telling me. So I turned it around - what was so terrible about not being able to speak or read or write?
And it’s then I realised that I was terrified of what might turn up if I was left alone with my own head. I
thought that Pandora’s box might be opened, a huge can of worms that I would be unable to put the lid back
on. But that wasn't my experience and in over twelve years of running silent retreats it hasn't been anyone
else's either. In fact I realised that my fear of looking within was keeping me trapped in all sorts of
subtle ways.
During our time together we WILL have the possibility of reading, writing, drawing etc. We welcome this
simply because we don’t need to create extra stress for ourselves when we first meet silence. You’re welcome
to read and write and draw - but we can be very interested in the moment BEFORE we pick up the book, the
journal, the drawing etc. Why do we feel the need to distract ourselves? Is something going on that feels
uncomfortable? Can we possibly sit with that feeling and turn our minds towards it? Even for 2 seconds?
After we’ve turned towards the feeling that’s going on for us, we may find that we’re quite curious about
what’s going on and want to investigate further. Or we may decide that we absolutely DO want to distract
ourselves and that’s perfectly fine. The thing is to have some curiosity about the whole thing. We call this
‘friendly curiosity’.
If we decide to investigate the bodily experience, then our intention isn’t to work anything out or get to
the bottom of anything or analyse it, although we may have some insights in that direction, our intention is
simply to give our bodies the gift of our 100% complete attention in this moment of discomfort or whatever
it is that we have going on for us. In the West we have become very used to moving away from discomfort as
we’re told over and over again (by the media and society) that we shouldn’t have to experience any
unpleasantness and that if we do (and this message can be quite subtle) then we are in some way ‘failing’.
This is not true. We are simply living.
I feel a strong connection to Kim as she is so open and honest in her thoughts and provides the most
engaging, authentic meditation experience.
- Miriam
Kim is an exceptional teacher; courageous, authentic, wise and compassionate. She brings real humility
and appropriate humour to her sessions.
- Sarah
Kim is one of those very special people who makes you feel that you do matter and gives you the direction
to believe in yourself. Kim's down to earth, passionate and very informative teaching is just brilliant.
- Angela
