Event
A six-day retreat at Eden Rise, Devon, weaving meditation, mantra, relational practice and yoga. 11–17 December 2026.
Retreat details
Cost
£150 deposit · balance due 1 November 2026
We will gather in community to explore themes of embodied awareness, joy, compassion and non-duality. Drawing mostly from Buddhist and nondual (Advaita Vedānta) teachings.
A rich and full schedule, including silent meditation, yoga, chanting Sanskrit mantra and relational meditation - a powerful practice between two or more people, exploring consciousness together.
Open to anyone with a genuine interest in meditation & spiritual practice.
There are many ways to meditate, and many directions in which meditation can lead. This retreat is an exploration of those many forms and the unity that underlies them. The practices we’ll be doing work together in powerful ways to support a deepening of awareness, a dropping into stillness and peace, a shedding of tension and constriction, and a greater sense of the sheer mystery of being alive.
We often carry around the sense that something is missing. It can feel like there’s a hole in our hearts that just needs to be filled with something - love, food, entertainment, stimulation - or maybe we’re not even sure what. Opening the fridge without even knowing what you’re in there for. Scrolling through the vast ocean of online content, with no real idea why.
This sense of lack can become very prominent when we take ourselves away from constant stimulation (as we do on retreat), sitting with ourselves and watching the habits of our minds.
With space, time, and the right kind of awareness, this “hole” can be seen for what it really is - the illusory sense that we are separated from the whole.
We share our being with all beings. Practices that cultivate love, compassion and joy help us to sense the inseparability of self and other. As we open our hearts, the boundaries between us and everything else start to dissolve.
At the same time, as the sense of separation (the “hole”) is seen clearly, and our wholeness becomes apparent, the heart naturally opens to love, compassion and joy.
In the Buddhist traditions, wisdom and compassion are often described as two wings of a bird - never found alone, one is not possible without the other. Nisargadatta Maharaj puts it like this:
“Wisdom tells me I am nothing. Love tells me I am everything. Between the two, my life flows.”
This short quote will be the closest thing we have to a textbook on this retreat.
We’ll draw from Buddhist, Advaita and other contemplative traditions, treating teachings as strategies rather than final descriptions of reality.
Practice reveals the ineffability of absolutely everything. No final resting point, but a deepening intimacy with the mystery of existence.
Most of the retreat is held in silence. We'll arrive on the first evening speaking, ease into silence over the first full day, and hold it until the final day, when we'll gradually come back out. Some practices do involve using our voices - sharing experience, chanting mantras - and the background of silence allows these to become even more potent.
We'll meditate several times a day, some sessions guided, some silent. We'll explore a range of approaches, because no two people meditate in quite the same way - part of what we're doing is helping each person find their own route into awareness, steadiness, and ease. At least one session each day will be given to metta or compassion practice.
A contemplative practice in pairs or small groups: we take turns speaking our experience and listening, while staying in meditation throughout. The speaking and listening aren't discussion or reflection - they are themselves the meditation. Meditating in the presence of another can open a kind of shared experience, where what one person touches can support and deepen the same in the other.
We'll chant twice a day, morning and evening, using simple Sanskrit mantras. The sound vibrating in our bodies becomes a surprisingly powerful object for meditative awareness, allowing us to absorb into the mantra. Sometimes the chants will carry an intention - for example, Lokah samastah sukhino bhavantu (may all beings everywhere be happy).
The movement practices we'll do together are a way of grounding awareness in our bodies. Meditative practice is easier when we feel at home in the body, and moving and breathing with awareness helps us settle into that ground. As the body opens, the mind and heart tend to settle along with it.
Each day includes a sharing circle - a chance to share our experience as we move through the retreat, and hear from our fellow explorers. Being on retreat can be wondrous, boring, lonely, funny, and pretty much any other adjective you can think of. Having a space to express some of what's happening in our internal world often helps free things up.
This retreat is open to anyone with a genuine interest in contemplative practice. You don’t need to have sat a retreat before. Some prior experience of meditation, yoga, or other practice will give you a helpful foundation, but this is not required — what matters more is willingness to engage.
It will suit you if you’re drawn to spend six days in mostly silent practice, and are willing to meet whatever your own experience brings up. It will also suit you if you’re curious about practices — chanting, relational meditation, metta, movement — that aren’t always included in silent retreats, and you’d like to see what happens when they’re held together in a single container.
This might not be the right retreat for you if you’re currently in an acute mental health crisis, or if recent trauma is near the surface and unprocessed — in those cases, intensive silent practice can sometimes intensify what’s difficult rather than help. If you’re unsure whether the timing is right for you, get in touch and we’ll have a conversation about it.
Days run from around 6:45am to 8:30 - 9pm, full but not extreme - there's enough time to get a full night's sleep. The atmosphere is supportive rather than challenging or austere.
Two meals a day - a substantial brunch mid-morning and a main meal in the afternoon - with fruit, nuts, tea and snacks throughout. Everything is vegetarian; all main dishes are vegan and gluten-free. Simple and nourishing: porridge with toppings, eggs and toast, dhals, stews, soups, plenty of vegetables.
Meals are eaten in silence for most of the retreat. It takes some getting used to, but often becomes one of the unexpected pleasures of being on retreat.
A short work period each day - around 30 - 45 minutes - when everyone helps with meal prep and basic tasks around the house. This keeps costs down, and is itself a form of practice - bringing mindfulness into daily activities. If you can't do a particular job for any reason, that's fine; there will be enough hands.
Eden Rise is a converted barn complex with some stairs. If you have specific access needs, get in touch and we'll talk through what's possible. Same for any health conditions or dietary requirements beyond gluten-free/vegan.
A pair of converted barns set in the Devon countryside near Totnes. A simple, comfortable place - large practice room with a wooden floor, kitchen and dining area, lounge, underfloor heating throughout. Accommodation is a mix of shared and single rooms, all with shared bathrooms. Outside there's a garden with a fire bowl, and access to the surrounding land for walks.
Eden Rise is close to Totnes, with its main-line rail station. We'll help arrange lifts or taxis from the station for people travelling by train.
The retreat runs from the evening of Friday 11 December to around midday on Thursday 17 December 2026. Arrival is from 5pm on the Friday; the retreat ends after a final sharing and optional lunch on the Thursday.
You'll receive a short questionnaire covering health, dietary needs, and anything else that will help us support you well during the week. If anything comes up there that we want to talk through, we'll be in touch. Questions before booking? Email Will at willje1986@gmail.com.
Will Evans is a meditation teacher based near Totnes. He'll be leading the retreat, holding the structure, and being the chief ringer of bells.
More about Will →
Anna Raven is a Bristol-based yoga teacher drawn to the non-dual Shaiva Tantra tradition, with a background as a neuroscientist. She will be leading asana sessions on the retreat.
annaraven.co.uk →
Matthew Areskog is a Bristol-based yoga teacher who guides movement in a heart-led way, with spaciousness, steadiness and playfulness. He will be supporting the retreat.
Rebecca Prospect is a Bristol-based facilitator of circling, workshops and retreats. She will be supporting the retreat.
You can secure your booking with a deposit, or pay in full. If you choose to pay just the deposit upfront, the balance is payable by 1st November 2026 - you'll receive a payment link by email for this. The deposit is non-refundable, but the rest of the balance is refundable if you cancel more than 60 days before the retreat starts.