Urban Retreats

Have you had the experience of getting into a much more positive state on retreat, only to find it quickly evaporating when you’re back home in normal conditions? Do you find it hard to get on retreat in the first place? Would you like to explore how you can create better, more retreat-like conditions in your life?

An Urban Retreat lasts for a week, at either end of which is a Sunday event at the Centre. It is a great opportunity to give your practice a real boost while carrying on with any work and family commitments.

The first of these Sundays is a day event to plan what we each want to get out of the week. We decide on changes we can make in our life during this period to give it a more retreat-like quality and create more positive mental states – maybe giving up watching t.v, or committing to a particular daily practice. We draw on the ‘five forces’ to motivate and inspire us. Then the following Sunday we gather together again to see how we’ve all got on and reflect on what we have learnt that might be helpful in future.

The two days contain periods of meditation and ritual, but above all they are full of interactive exploration of how we can be creative in our everyday conditions. They are an opportunity to let the Dharma really transform your life, and to make and deepen friendships.