The Heart of Wisdom and Kindness
The Buddha’s teachings offer a pathway to discover inner peace, freedom and the compassionate heart.
This Insight Meditation retreat will focus on cultivating a quality of wakeful presence that embraces our heart, mind and body with kindness and wisdom, and supports us to re-connect with what is most important in our lives.
Through understanding that we are not separate, we can come to know what it means to awaken in the midst of our life, to be deeply connected to our experience, and yet not bound by it. All are welcome.
YANAI POSTELNIK has practised and studied Insight Meditation and Buddhism since 1990 and has been teaching internationally for over 20 years. He is much inspired by the Thai forest tradition and the transformative power of the natural world. Yanai is a Core Faculty member of Insight Meditation Society, Massachusetts, and he lives with his wife Catherine McGee in Devon, England.
Listen to one of
Yanai Postelnik’s Talks given at Gaia House on 02.09.2013: The Art of Unknowing (Duration 61:05)
Gavin Milne will be an assistant teacher for this retreat.
Retreat Code = 18152
A = suitable for all
Monday 2 July – Saturday 7 July 2018 (5 nights)
Standard Rate: £280 – Please pay this rate if you can
Sponsor Rate: £336 – A benefactor rate, which helps others to come here on the Supported Rate
Supported Rate: £238 – Available if the Standard Rate is too high for you
FAB Fund Rate: £140 – For more details please see the Financial Assistance page
Young Persons Rate: £84 – For more details please see the Financial Assistance page
Extending Your Retreat = £44 per night – Conditions apply – please see box
Intensive silent 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 (i.e. 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 attend an intensive retreat in silence. The teachers might not be able to give you the kind of individual or psychological care you might need at this time. It could possibly be more appropriate to practise in or seek out a setting where there are more opportunities for interpersonal engagement.
- 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 to attend an intensive silent retreat.
- Please be prepared to offer your mental health professional’s contact information to the teachers on opening day if requested.
- If you have any questions about the above please contact: retreatmanager@gaiahouse.co.uk
This is an old retreat and no longer available for booking.Please click here to see our current retreat programme.
The Four Immeasurables
To help us learn to live in a happy and peaceful way, the Buddha recommended that we practise recognising and cultivating the wonderful natural resources in our own hearts.
During this retreat we will explore how meditation can help us incline our minds to goodwill, compassion, appreciative joy and equanimity.
The first full day of the retreat will be devoted to cultivating mindfulness in order to help us settle and to ground our meditation practice in embodied awareness. Towards the end of the retreat we will reflect together on ways of integrating these practices into our lives.
CAROLINE JONES has been practising meditation since 1989. She started teaching in 2006, and now teaches at Gaia House and internationally. She also spends time as a resident teacher at Gaia House. Caroline will be resident teacher at the Forest Refuge, Barre, Massachusetts. from December 2015.
Listen to one of
Caroline Jones’s Talks given at Gaia House on 18.12.2013: The Gifts of Practice (Duration 50:22)
ZOHAR LAVIE has been practising meditation in different traditions since 1995. This journey has taken her from the meditation cushion into exploring further ways of expressing truth and love and in 2004 she co-founded SanghaSeva. She now spends most of her time facilitating retreats that offer service as a spiritual path around the world. Since 2006 she has been teaching on silent retreats and Dharma gatherings in India, Europe and Israel.
Listen to one of
Zohar Lavie’s Talks from the Dharmalaya Silent retreat on 29.03.2017-: Emptiness, Self and Dependent Arising (Duration 50:33)
Retreat Code = 18153
A = suitable for all
Tuesday 10 July – Tuesday 17 July 2018 (7 nights)
Standard Rate: £392 – Please pay this rate if you can
Sponsor Rate: £470 – A benefactor rate, which helps others to come here on the Supported Rate
Supported Rate: £333 – Available if the Standard Rate is too high for you
FAB Fund Rate: £196 – For more details please see the Financial Assistance page
Young Persons Rate: £118 – For more details please see the Financial Assistance page
Extending Your Retreat = £44 per night – Conditions apply – please see box
Intensive silent 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 (i.e. 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 attend an intensive retreat in silence. The teachers might not be able to give you the kind of individual or psychological care you might need at this time. It could possibly be more appropriate to practise in or seek out a setting where there are more opportunities for interpersonal engagement.
- 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 to attend an intensive silent retreat.
- Please be prepared to offer your mental health professional’s contact information to the teachers on opening day if requested.
- If you have any questions about the above please contact: retreatmanager@gaiahouse.co.uk
This is an old retreat and no longer available for booking.Please click here to see our current retreat programme.
Secular Buddhist Meditation Retreat
Offered in partnership with Bodhi College
This retreat is for those who seek a practice of meditation that is secular in orientation but framed by Buddhist ethical and philosophical values. We will explore the role of mindfulness in embracing the suffering of life, letting go of the dictates of reactivity, experiencing the calm and clarity of spaciousness, and cultivating creative engagement as a way of being in the world.
Attention will be focused on the technical aspects of meditation as well as its intuitive and imaginative dimension.
The week will consist of periods of sitting and walking, instructions, discussions and talks.
STEPHEN BATCHELOR trained as a Buddhist monk in the Tibetan and Zen traditions. He is the author of several books, including the bestselling Buddhism without Beliefs. His most recent publications are After Buddhism , Secular Buddhism and What is this? Reflections from a Son retreat. A co-founder of Bodhi College, he teaches worldwide and lives in South West France.
Listen to one of
Stephen Batchelor’s Talks at Gaia House on 24.07.2015: Instructions – Behold the Ceasing (Duration 34:23)
MARTINE BATCHELOR lived in Korea as a Zen nun under the guidance of Master Kusan
for ten years. She is the author of Meditation for Life, The Path of Compassion, Women in Korean Zen and Let Go: A Buddhist Guide to Breaking Free of Habits. She is a Gaia House guiding teacher. She teaches meditation retreats worldwide and lives in South West France. Her latest work is The Spirit of the Buddha.
Listen to one of Martine Batchelor’s Talks at Gaia House on 23.07.2015: Instructions – What is This? Questioning.
The Way of Korean Seon and it’s connection with Vipassana (Duration 34:08)
Retreat Code = 18154
A = suitable for all
Saturday 21 July – Saturday 28 July 2018 (7 nights)
Standard Rate: £392 – Please pay this rate if you can
Sponsor Rate: £470 – A benefactor rate, which helps others to come here on the Supported Rate
Supported Rate: £333 – Available if the Standard Rate is too high for you
FAB Fund Rate: £196 – For more details please see the Financial Assistance page
Young Persons Rate: £118 – For more details please see the Financial Assistance page
Extending Your Retreat = £44 per night – Conditions apply – please see box
Intensive silent 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 (i.e. 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 attend an intensive retreat in silence. The teachers might not be able to give you the kind of individual or psychological care you might need at this time. It could possibly be more appropriate to practise in or seek out a setting where there are more opportunities for interpersonal engagement.
- 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 to attend an intensive silent retreat.
- Please be prepared to offer your mental health professional’s contact information to the teachers on opening day if requested.
- If you have any questions about the above please contact: retreatmanager@gaiahouse.co.uk
This is an old retreat and no longer available for booking.Please click here to see our current retreat programme.
KIRSTEN KRATZ has practised Buddhist meditation in Asia and the West since 1993. She started teaching in 2006. One of her particular passions is exploring how wisdom teachings can foster appropriate responses to the challenges of our time; she supports those on personal retreat in Gaia House and is co-initiator of the Dharma Action Network for Climate Engagement: 
YUKA NAKAMURA PH.D has been practicing in several Buddhist traditions (Vipassana, Dzogchen and Zen) since 1993 and has practiced for long periods in the US (IMS, Spirit Rock), in Burma and Japan. She was trained as a Dharmateacher by Fred von Allmen and has been teaching since 2014 in Europe and in the US. She is a trained psychologist and MBSR-teacher and trainer. She lives near Zurich in Switzerland. 
JENNY WILKS has practised in various Buddhist traditions since the late 1980s, and has an MA in Indian Religions.
She has taught for several years at Gaia House, the 
JAYA KAREN 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.
CHRISTINA FELDMAN is a co-founder of Gaia House. She has been leading Insight Meditation retreats worldwide since 1976. She is a Guiding Teacher of the 
JOHN PEACOCK is both an academic and a Buddhist practitioner of nearly forty years. He was initially trained in the Tibetan 
CHRIS CULLEN has practised and studied the Buddha’s teachings since 1994 and has been teaching insight meditation retreats since 2010. He also teaches for the Oxford Mindfulness Centre and has a psychotherapy practice in Oxford.
BRAD RICHECOEUR has been practising Insight Meditation and Qigong for over 20 years. He is a senior student of Master Zhixing Wang, and brings a meditative inquiry into the nature of health, healing and embodied presence. He is the co-founder of 
BHANTE BODHIDHAMMA started training in 
CARL FOOKS has been practising Buddhism since the late 1980’s, starting with Rinzai Zen before settling on the Mahasi tradition in 2007, and has been under the guidance of Bhante Bodhidhamma since 2010. He teaches a weekly group in London and retreats at 
CATHERINE McGEE has been
teaching Insight Meditation at Gaia House and internationally since 1997. Her teaching emphasises embodiment and working with whatever
hinders us from living our deepest knowing in the world. She is an advisor to 
HELEN STEPHENSON has practised Hatha Yoga and Insight Meditation since 1979. Initially she was taught by the late Robert van Heeckeren and in 1981 she began to study classical yoga with the Indian Yogateacher Sri. S. Rajagopalan. Her movement work is influenced by the work of the late Moshe Feldenkrais “awareness through movement” and her training in body centred therapy with the late Ron Kurtz. Having lived most of her life in a communal setting she and her family now share a home with another family in Newport Pagnell.
MARY AUBRY has been practicing Vipassana meditation since 1993, and practising the Jhanas since 2010. She was authorized by Tara Brach in 2013 to teach Vipassana retreats and by Leigh Brasington in 2016 to teach the Jhanas. Additionally, she teaches retreats on the Brahma Viharas and the Heavenly Messengers.
LLOYD BURTON discovered the power of Vipassana and Metta practices to free him from war-related post-traumatic stress in 1975; and began Dharma teaching in 1997. In 1985 he incorporated the organisation that founded Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Marin County, California. In 2000 he graduated with the charter class of SRMC’s Community Dharma Leader training program. He serves as resident guiding teacher for the Insight Meditation Community of Denver, Colorado. Lloyd received training in Jhana meditation practice from Leigh Brasington and Sister Dipankara (formerly of Pa Auk Monastery); and has been either assisting or co-teaching Jhana retreats with Leigh since 2005. Since 2000, his principal Dharma teaching mentor has been Joseph Goldstein. 
ANUSHKA FERNANDOPULLE has trained in Buddhist meditation for over 25 years, lives in San Francisco and teaches meditation around the globe. Her teaching is informed by nature, creative arts, political engagement, and modern urban life. She holds a BA from Harvard and MBA from Yale. For more info visit: 
LAMA ROD OWENS a formally authorised teacher in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. He is a visiting teacher at 
DANIEL SUTTON-JOHANSON is the founder and community dharma leader of 
NOIRIN SHEAHAN has been practising meditation under the guidance of Bhante Bodhidhamma for the past thirty years. She attended Gaia’s first Dharma Study Course in 2002-4 and she has been assisting Bhante Bodhidhamma since 2003. In July 2013 she lost her voice box due to throat cancer and now pioneers Dharma-teaching via an electro-larynx. She teaches regularly at 
KAREN PIGGIN was introduced to Buddhism at Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village in 2004, returning every summer with her family until 2011. In 2009 she joined the Birmingham DharmaMind Sangha and followed their Chan/Zen practice of Silent Illumination. At the beginning of 2015 Karen joined Bhante Bodhidhamma adopting the Mahasi approach and attends 6-8 weeks of retreats at Satipanya each year, deepening her knowledge of the Buddha’s teachings and her approach to the challenges that arise in meditation. Karen is married, has two grown-up sons, and retired to Devon in 2015 after 30 years in the IT Industry.
LAURA BRIDGMAN began her Dhamma practice in her early teens, and eventually ordained as a nun with Ajahn Sumedho in 1995. She was resident at 
Spaces Available
LEELA SARTI has been a student of the Buddha’s teachings and practices since she was 16 years old. She lives with her family in Sweden and in addition to teaching Insight Meditation retreats internationally works individually with students in her psychotherapy practice in Stockholm. She is a long term student of the 
GAVIN MILNE has been practising Insight Meditation since 2004, including extended periods of retreat in Asia and the USA. He is currently training to be a Dharma Teacher under the guidance of Yanai Postelnik, and is particularly interested in exploring practice wherever we find ourselves – everything from family life to responding to the wider challenges of our era.
ALISON EVANS has practiced insight meditation since 2004. She regularly attends retreats, alongside individual mentoring to support her practice. She is the director of The Mindfulness Network, a MBSR/MBCT teacher, trainer and supervisor and trained to teach Mindfulness-based Compassionate Living. She is studying on the 
SUVACO is a former Buddhist monk and a passionate advocate for embodying life in all of its forms. He lives in the South West UK where he works as a psychotherapist and Tai Qi teacher.
THANISSARA trained in the Burmese Vipassana School, and 
NATHAN GLYDE began meditating in 1997, and teaching retreats in 2007. From continued exploration grew a deep love for meditation’s alive stillness and creative silence. Feeling the potential for all of life to play a part in awakening opened an interest to cultivate attentiveness in every experience. In 2004 this led to co-founding 
MARK ØVLAND has been devoted to practice and service since his mid-twenties. He has lived and worked as a coordinator at both Gaia House and the Barn Retreat and is currently training to teach with Rob Burbea. Mark is a founding trustee of 
AJAHN JUTINDHARO Ajahn Jutindharo began his meditation practice in 1982 and since 1989 has been a monk in the Thai forest lineage of Ajhan Chah and Ajahn Sumedho, living primarily in the UK. For the last ten years he has been the Abbot at 
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