Walking and meditation have long been associated.  In this retreat we seek to develop the practice of mindful walking... awareness of the immediate and the present in the exercise of walking... awareness of what is around and how it comes to us when we pause.

There are different ways to work with the mindfulness this process enables.  We will work with it by using the awareness as an inside - outside awareness, enhancing on the one hand our physical sense of ourselves in our body and on the other our meta-physical sense of ourselves in the world.  It is possible to feel grounded, while encountering our world as it is, without the distortions we bring to it.

The programme will include individual and group discussion and talks, with time for reflection, as well as one or two walks each day.  The walks will mostly be in the forest and hills around us, but there will be the possibility of a mountain walk as well.  All walks will be accompanied by Simon and will take account of the capabilities of the group, including anyone's wish not to take part in a particular activity.

As with all our retreats, the sense of being a part of a community, but also being able to be apart, will be respected.  There will be time for reflection and time for enquiry, a time for working at new skills and a time for simply sitting and chatting and joining the company for good local food and wine.