Writing & Mindfulness in Nature: Summer Mini Retreat, Sunday July 7, 2024

Join experienced teachers Rebecca Hardy and Lucia for this friendly Writing & Mindfulness in Nature Mini Retreat during which we will explore how mindfulness and immersion in the natural world can enhance our writing and wellbeing.

Spending time in nature, and writing about what we are experiencing and feeling, can place us more fully in the present moment and lead to surprising, nurturing journeys, whether we have been scribing for years or are new to this practice and maybe feel a little tentative.

The focus will be on the process of writing and the therapeutic aspects of putting pen to paper, from the heart and as a meditation practice, rather than producing ‘perfect’ prose!

Complete beginners to writing and meditation are warmly welcomed: the intention is to offer a welcoming space where we connect to our creativity and present moment experience in a relaxed, peaceful natural setting.

At their heart, therapeutic writing (including journalling) and mindfulness are about paying attention and connecting to ourselves and the world around us. Both practices can help us integrate our emotions and experiences, in turn enhancing our wellbeing and capacity for awareness and self-compassion.

The setting, a boutique yoga and meditation studio tucked away in beautiful Essex countryside, is incredibly peaceful and holds just 12 guests.

The retreat’s structure

We will begin with some restoring mindfulness, led by Lucia, allowing us to settle and rest into our bodies and senses. We may also take a slow silent personal walk from the door.

Rebecca will then lead a 90-minute creative writing session during which we will playfully explore some therapeutic writing set in this peaceful, beautiful natural setting.

To end we’ll sink into a lying down guided relaxation session as a way to absorb the themes of the retreat and allow time for the all-important practice of deep rest.

Please see below to read more about Rebecca and Lucia.

Your teachers

Rebecca Hardy is an experienced writer and group facilitator, with coaching and teaching qualifications, who runs ‘Writing in the Woods’ sessions in north London and writing classes for Chickenshed theatre company. Passionate about the therapeutic benefits of writing, she aims to lead relaxed and nourishing sessions for beginners and experienced scribes alike, focussing on the links between writing and wellbeing. Join her to discover the magic of penning your thoughts - no pressure to share! Just enjoy!  Rebecca has been writing in the national press for twenty-five years, with her work appearing in The Guardian, The Independent, Red, Elle Magazine, Marie Claire, Psychologies, Women's Health and many others. Her upcoming eco-thriller The Fires in Your Eyes is set in the forests and mountains of California. She has also been meditating for thirty years and has run meditation groups. 

Lucia has been practising meditation for 27 years and teaching for 17. Before training to teach yoga and mindfulness she was a freelance journalist and writer. Lucia has extensive experience and training in both the mindful yoga and meditation traditions, having studied with Bangor University (postgraduate) to teach mindfulness, and with Mindfulness in Schools. In winter 2022 she trained with international therapeutic mindfulness organisation Breathworks and more recently with the late Michael Stone. She trained to teach yoga nidra with the Yoga Nidra Network. Over the years she has taught hundreds of day and residential retreats. Over the years her teachers have included Jon Kabat-Zinn, Christina Feldman, John Peacock, Martin Aylward, Vidyamala Burch, Rupert Marques and Ed Haliwell.

Details:

When? Sunday July 7, from 2-5pm

Cost: £69 pp

Venue: The Retreat, Little Baddow

Non-residential (though camping places may be available on site)

Max just 12 students

Please note: we are unable to transfer or refund bookings. No experience of meditation or writing is needed.

Booking: