New Year Retreat
Residential retreat
Saturday 28 December 2024 – Thursday 2 January 2025 (5 nights)
With Kirsten Kratz, Jaya Rudgard and Bernat Font
Spaces available Experience required Single rooms are available to pre-bookBuddhist meditation offers a pathway to explore our potential to bring a wise and compassionate response to all aspects of life and to discover what it may mean to be truly human.
This annual retreat in the midst of winter is a precious opportunity to practise for a sustained period over the New Year, dedicated to cultivating a receptive heart of wisdom and kindness. To mark the turning of the year we will offer periods of reflection, silent communal gathering and ritual on New Year’s Eve. There will be meditation instructions, guided practices, reflections and opportunities to meet with the teachers.We ask all participants to commit to staying for the whole retreat.
As in the previous years we plan to livestream the retreat from Gaia House and there is again an opportunity to join us online.
What can I expect on a residential retreat that is livestreamed? Here is some practical information about how it works: All other teaching and tech support for the online retreatants is conducted away from the meditation hall.
Much care is taken to ensure that a livestreamed residential retreat remains a simplified, calm and well-held retreat space, like any other residential retreat.
Experience required
To attend this retreat, in-person or online, you need to have at least one-week of previous silent retreat experience or participated in online retreats of the same length.
Rates
Please consider paying at the highest rate that you are able to. Your generosity is vital in supporting Gaia House to sustain its Dharma offerings for the benefit of all.We are committed to ensuring that our programme is available to everyone who wishes to participate. If our rates are too high for you, we invite you to apply for support from our Financial Assistance and Bursaries Fund (FAB Fund).
Teachers
KIRSTEN KRATZ has practised Buddhist meditation in Asia and the West since 1993. She started teaching in 2006 and since 2015 she has been ‘teacher in residence’ supporting those on personal retreat at Gaia House. Her love and understanding of Dharma has been strongly influenced by, among others, the teachings of her friend and teacher colleague, Rob Burbea.
One of her particular passions is exploring how wisdom teachings can foster appropriate responses to the challenges of our time, and Kirsten sees her involvement in activism as an important expression of her practice. Kirsten is co-initiator of the “Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement” (DANCE) and supporting teacher of Freely Given Retreats. Listen to one of Kirsten Kratz's Talks given at Gaia House on 23.03.2013: Calm and Kindness (Duration 38:57)
JAYA RUDGARD began meditating in the 1980s and practised for eight years as a nun in the Thai Forest tradition in England with Ven. Ajahn Sumedho as her teacher. She is a graduate of the IMS/Spirit Rock Teacher Training and teaches Insight Meditation and mindfulness in the UK and internationally. She also studies and teaches qigong.
Listen to one of Jaya Rudgard's Talks at Spirit Rock Meditation Center on 24.11.2015: Seeing Through the Net of Illusion (Duration 47:55)
BERNAT FONT BERNAT FONT met the Dharma at a very young age and has practiced in Europe, India and Myanmar, gradually putting aside his artistic career. He completed his Dharma teacher training with Bodhi College in 2022, mentored by Stephen Batchelor, and has a PhD in Buddhist Studies. He founded the Dharma organisation 'Espai Sati' in Barcelona, serves the LGBTQIA+ community, and teaches in English, Catalan and Spanish.
Rates
Please consider paying at the highest rate that you are able to. Your generosity is vital in supporting Gaia House to sustain its Dharma offerings for the benefit of all.We are committed to ensuring that our programme is available to everyone who wishes to participate. If our rates are too high for you, we invite you to apply for support from our Financial Assistance and Bursaries Fund (FAB Fund).
Accommodation
This retreat will be offered in a mixture of shared and single rooms. Some single rooms are available to book in advance for those that need them to come on retreat. If these are still available, you will be able to select this option. Some single rooms are also held for people to request, but these cannot be guaranteed. These will be allocated in the days leading up to each retreat so we cannot let you know in advance. Priority will be given to those with specific medical needs.
Extend your retreat
If you have previously been on a residential retreat of a weekend or longer at Gaia House, you are welcome to join us a day earlier than the retreat start date. All retreatants are welcome to stay an extra night at the end of the retreat. There is an additional cost of £73 per night.
Please note, retreat conditions will still apply from arrival:
- Observe silence
- Follow the daily schedule
- Practise meditation
Dana/generosity
None of your registration fee goes to the teacher. Gaia House teachers rely on the generosity of students for their livelihood. At the end of the retreat, there is an opportunity to make a dana offering to your teacher(s), the residential community team and Gaia House. We are deeply grateful for your generosity.Click here to read more about the practice of dana.
Gaia House and covid-19
We hope to make everyone's retreat at Gaia House as supportive as possible. Please click here for further information on how we are creating as supportive and safe a retreat environment.Arrival and departure times
- Arrive for registration between 2.00pm-4.45pm on the opening day.
- Depart after 12.30pm on the final day (or 1.30pm if staying for lunch).
Please note:
- We will need everyone to commit to the full duration of their retreat.
Cancellation terms & conditions
We have now updated our Booking Terms and Conditions which includes cancellation information, please click here. Please take time to review these before you book.Before booking
In support of your retreat, two weeks before you arrive, we will send a list of questions about your physical, mental health and dietary needs. This will help us to support you during your retreat. If you are unsure whether or not to book due to needing specialist support due to significant physical or mental health needs, including checking availability of our only ground floor bedroom (also wheelchair-accessible), please email retreatmanager@gaiahouse.co.uk.
For more information on our retreats please check our frequently asked questions page.
Well-being and silent retreats
This is a silent retreat: apart from during individual or group meetings with the teachers you will be invited into silence for the duration of the event.
Before you book, please read these guidelines about mental well-being and silent retreats:
Meditation retreats can be very nourishing; however, as they require sustained meditation practice, they also need some stability of psychological health. If you have recently (within the past year or so) experienced significant trauma or psychiatric illness, or if you are currently experiencing acute emotional distress such as serious depression or anxiety, it may not be the best time for you to participate in a retreat. The teachers might not be able to give you the kind of individual psychological care you need at this time. A setting with more opportunities for interpersonal engagement may be more appropriate.
- If you are currently under the care of a mental health professional, please discuss your attendance with them. You should be in a relatively stable period of mental well-being and have adequate psychological resilience.
- If you have any questions about this, please contact Laura using the email address, retreatmanager@gaiahouse.co.uk