116 Courses

Join us for a day of deep relaxation, self-discovery, and holistic healing at our exclusive retreat designed to rejuvenate your body, mind, and spirit. This immersive experience will guide you through a series of transformative practices, offering you the opportunity to connect with your inner sanctuary.

Organisational retreat, organisational seminar, executive development,

Join our unique surf & yoga retreat in Cornwall for a weekend packed with energising surf & restorative woodland yoga. Whether it’s your first time in the surf or you’re looking to improve, our aim for the weekend is to simply have fun and share our surfing knowledge in a relaxed environment. With post & pre surfing woodland yoga sessions our unique space provides an ideal setting to unwind and re-energise whilst surrounded in nature. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Highlights TWO SURF LESSONS Just bring a towel, shoes for the beach and something to wear under a wetsuit TWO YOGA SESSIONS Two 60 minute yoga classes TWO NIGHTS AT OUR PURPOSE BUILT CAMP Private woodland camping at our yoga retreat Cornwall. Bell tents, air bed, sheets & light blanket provided. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What's Included LIKE MINDED PEOPLE Ideal for solo travellers, couples & friends. NO EXPERIENCE NEEDED Perfect for beginners – you can take it at your own pace. HASSLE FREE ADVENTURES Activities & unique accommodation all in one package. Just arrive ready for adventure. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Activity Details FRIDAY EVENING - Arrival Day We kick our surf & yoga weekends off by meeting at our HQ in the centre of Newquay at 6pm for a warm welcome from your hosts for the weekend. After the hellos and introductions are done with the rest of your group, and the weekend plan has been set, you’ll head up to our camp for your first evening of woodland shenanigans! If you are planning to get to us by public transport, we can help you lift share with another adventurer!  Your hosts will give you the camp tour and you then have the evening to settle in and become accustomed to Camp Living! After a quick introduction to the camp, you’ll want to settle into your shared Bell tent (air bed, sheets & a light blanket provided) before the evening activities begin. Complete with a hand-built games area, Axe throwing zone and sheltered communicable Fire Pit, you’ll spend your time getting to know everyone, and designating the camp chef for the following evening!  SATURDAY MORNING Your first morning starts with a coffee and a camp breakfast of cereals and fruits as you prepare for your first day of activities. If you have personal dietary requirements or feel you’d need something more substantial please ensure you bring this with you. Your hosts are with you for the whole weekend, so if you have any questions about the itinerary they are only a shout away!  You’ll head back to our HQ in Newquay to get ‘wet’suited and booted for your first surf lesson. As we are in the centre of town we have the choice of either Towab or Fistral Beach. Your location is chosen depending on the best conditions for the day.  Whether you are experienced or it’s your first time, our surf coaches are on hand to offer advice and guide you throughout your surfing lesson.  LUNCH You’ll have plenty of time between activities to grab some lunch, take a stroll around Newquay’s many surf shops or head back to our base and hang out in the garden. Newquay has a great vibe during the summer with plenty to look at, just ask us for some recommendations on where to go and what to see. SATURDAY AFTERNOON After lunch, you’ll head back up to our camp for your first yoga session either in our hand-built yoga barn if the weather isn’t on our side or by the side of our acre pond soaking up the sun! Your yoga session is tailored to ease those post-surf aches and spins away and guide you into a relaxed and zen state enabling you to slide into camp living effortlessly! SATURDAY NIGHT Once the day’s activities are finished the rest of the afternoon is yours to relax with a book, explore the camp, or even have a little dip in our pond! You’ll finish the night off with stories around the campfire, roasting marshmallows or one or two of your favourite drinks before sleeping soundly under the stars. SUNDAY - Day 3 Sunday morning starts with the obligatory tea or coffee and our camp breakfast. After breakfast, it’s time to wave goodbye to the wild camp and head back to Newquay, jump into a wetsuit and hit the Cornish waves one last time. Your second surf lesson builds on the previous day's experience – Today is all about having fun in the surf! After a general overview of surf conditions, and recapping the fundamentals it’s straight into the ocean to get the most out of your time in the sea – your coaches will as always be on hand giving personal feedback and goals to aim for in your surfing. By 1pm we are typically all surfed out, with your appetite for adventure satisfied it’s time to say fond farewells…

If you want to bag-make with genuine leather but are nervous of trying it, this weekend is ideal for you. It will give you the confidence to make your own leather bags at home and you’ll make some fab friends along the way! VERY IMPORTANT! Before booking, please check that your machine can cope with sewing at least 6 layers of faux leather or vinyl. Flat sewing is fine – if the machine can do that, we can manage lumps and bumps!   **This retreat is a little different from many others in that making a bag isn’t the point of the weekend, although you will indeed make one. The focus is on learning new transferable techniques and skills that you will be able to use on so many bags you make in the future. We have our own ‘Retreat Suite’ of rooms, including a spacious, light and airy sewing room which is equipped with a display screen so everyone can easily see demonstrations from a working viewpoint. We also have our own bathroom and kitchen facilities. If you wish, you are free to continue work after dinner and until as late (or early!) as you like. You will need to bring your own sewing machine, fabric scissors and any other favourite sewing tools, but everything else is provided. We’ll have a good selection of fabrics, vinyls and leather for you to browse and purchase if you wish, at retreat-only prices.  Come and join us in the exclusive Facebook group Bag Makers Retreat at https://www.facebook.com/groups/bagmakersretreat/ for all the latest retreat info, chat, gossip and more, plus a chance to meet other like-minded folks.  If you have dietary requirements, please tell me before you book, so I can be sure we can meet your needs. All meal main courses are included in the retreat fee, as are Saturday and Sunday lunches and breakfasts. Starters, desserts and drinks with meals are not included but the meals are so huge you probably won’t want starters and desserts anyway!! Tea and coffee is available whenever you need, but you do have to make it yourself!  If you’d like to stay an extra night or two, maybe to arrive on Thursday or leave on Monday if you have a long drive, let me know and I’ll check availability with our host. If you’d prefer to travel by train, we are happy to ferry you to and from the station, just ask. Please aim to arrive no later than 2pm as we have a lot of pattern cutting and fabric choosing to get through on Friday! Friday The fun starts here as you arrive at your weekend home-from-home – a beautifully refurbished, 4-star 18th century coaching inn with all the comforts you would expect. You’ll have time to settle into your own delightfully comfortable en-suite room which has all the anticipated little luxuries,  before an introductory get-together with me and your companions in the sewing room at 2pm. You’ll be given your own copy of the bag pattern, which is very beginner- and strong domestic machine-friendly (see note in bold at the top of the page), but which will incorporate a lot of features and techniques that are also in much more complex designs, making this an excellent springboard to any leather or other bag you want to make. Then you can wallow in the plentiful stash of leathers and fabrics to choose from.  All the leather, fabrics, interfacing, stabiliser, threads and bag hardware you need are supplied. As soon as you’re ready, you can start preparing and cutting out your pattern and some of the bag pieces so we can hit the ground running in the morning. After a superbly-cooked and substantial evening meal at around 6pm or so, you are welcome to continue working in the sewing room or to simply relax and chat there before bed. Saturday After an excellent breakfast, we can really start work learning some new skills and beginning work on construction. You’ll work at your own pace from around 9am with no pressure – I want your weekend to be fun and not stressful! We will walk through the techniques together and I will be there the whole time to answer questions and troubleshoot any tricky bits. You’ll also have the chance to try sewing with faux leather , if you haven’t already, and we’ll explore ways and techniques to use and apply rivets.  Refreshments are freely available all day and you can take a break whenever you wish. A light lunch (with homemade cake!!) is also provided and we’ll have a short break in the middle of the day. The rest of the day will be similar to Friday – sewing, dinner at 6ish and more sewing if you wish to before bed. Do feel free to have a walk or just sit outside for a breather if the weather is kind. Sunday How can it be Sunday already?? Breakfast over, we’ll get back to work. You will need to allow a few minutes to pack and check out of your room, as it has to be made ready for Monday’s guests. Apart from that, it’s uninterrupted sewing (with refreshments and lunch breaks!) until your bag is finished. We’ll be heading off for a lightish lunch at 12.30pm or so. We have the sewing room for the rest of the day.  If you don’t quite get done, there’s absolutely no need to worry as you’ll easily be able to complete your bag at home. If you finish earlier feel free to head home whenever you’re ready. Amongst loads of other hints and tips, you’ll learn  – * Choosing and handling leather * How to make professional quality rolled handles * Creating and applying custom bag feet * How to create a zipped pocket the pro way * How to use edge paint and get a professional finish with it * Sewing the bag together and topstitching * Reducing bulk with leather * A sneaky way of getting your bag right-sides-out without ugly seams! * An easy way to add a zipper pull without tools * Working with different types of rivet machine and loads more. You’ll have an exclusive pattern, created just for the Retreats, which includes comprehensive mini-tutorials and full instructions. And I hope you have a lot of fun and make new friends while you learn!!  I never abandon my students at the end of the course so if you get stuck on anything at home, you are welcome to give me a shout on Messenger and we’ll sort out your problem together. The not-so-small print Book your place using the simple booking system below – just click on your choice of dates and go from there. The full price is £465.00. The deposit of £65 is non-refundable if you cancel but can, however, be credited towards a future retreat booked within the next 6 months. It is completely refundable if I or the venue cancel. The booking page only shows the Friday, but the course is running until Sunday. The balance of £400.00 is payable by approx 6 weeks before the retreat date and payment instructions will be sent to you in good time. Cancellations 4 weeks or less before the retreat date can only be refunded if someone on the waiting list can come instead. If you book, pay and attend without pre-checking that your machine can sew the required thicknesses, as detailed in the note at the top of the page, I’m afraid no refunds will be given if it proves that your machine can’t cope during the Retreat. I may have a machine available to lend, but can’t promise one. *Don’t worry that your booking confirmation may be headed Unicorn Studios –  it’s just the site that I’ve run my booking system from for years… it’s not a scam!! *

NLP, Neuro Linguistic Programming plus Hypnosis and Time Based Techniques Training - in an amazing nature reserve Cape Town

Meditation Retreat November 2023

Leadership Retreat

Calling all artists! We're proud to announce that we're opening up a brand-new artist retreat, and we want YOU to be there. Our Artist Retreat is a week-long retreat that gives you the chance to immerse yourself in the art of your choice, from beginner to advanced. We'll give you expert tuition in the arts and crafts of your choice, so you can spend your week focused on learning and exploring your creativity. At Gifted Crafts, we believe that everyone is an artist. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, we promise you'll find something new to learn at our retreat. You'll be immersed in an unforgettable week of activities and hands-on learning in the arts and crafts of your choice—from pewter casting to bookbinding, from enamelling to printing, from drawing to felting, from painting to yarn craft. We've even got some surprises up our sleeves for artists who love photography and sketching. And don't forget about foiling, engraving, batik…We think you get the idea.

A Retreat in Daily Life is a way to find something of what you might experience on a residential retreat, with the difference being that you are at home, and the prayer experience is woven into the rhythm of your ordinary life.  The Contemplative at Home Retreat in Daily Life involves two components: * Six days per week : Thirty to Forty-five minutes of daily personal prayer, with suggested meditations and reflection questions. * One day per week : A two-hour Zoom call, to share with other pilgrims who are on retreat with you. Lissy hosts these sessions in a group spiritual direction format.  Who is this for? This retreat is suitable for anyone who has (or has had) some kind of practice of Christian prayer, and is ready to explore a bit more of their faith, their prayer life or their relationship with God.  This might be for you if you * Would like to explore the contemplative prayer traditions of the Christian faith * Are ready for something deeper in your relationship with God * Hope to find God in new ways * Would like some structure and support to help you reinstate a habit of daily prayer * Would like to go away on retreat, but are unable to at the moment * Enjoy Contemplative at Home meditations and want to connect with others who do as well Prayer Material Meditations from the Contemplative at Home archives are suggested for five days of the week, with an Examen or review practice on the sixth day of the week. Each week follows a slightly different theme. Week One: Introduction to Contemplative Prayer / Establishing your Routine Week Two: Lectio Divina / Listening to Scripture Week Three: Imaginative Contemplation / Encoutering Jesus  Week Four: Praying with the Psalms / My Life in God Prompts for reflection are also provided. Most of the meditations are around twenty minutes in length, with a suggested 15 minutes after the audio meditation for journalling or reflecting on your prayer experience.  Further Details and Commitment The times listed on the sign up link above reflect the time for the group calls. Please be aware of your local time zone. I work in the UK and times may be listed for GMT.   There will be one call before the retreat begins, and one at the end of each week, for a total of 5 calls.  There will be a maximum of six participants in the group. Please check that you are able to attend all of the group sessions before you apply. The daily prayer can be done at any time that suits you but, if you don't already have a 30-45 minute window of time devoted to prayer each day, do take some time to think about when you might fit it in, for example: will you wake up earlier? Will you do it at lunch time? in the evening? How realistic is this?  Is there a place in your house where you could sit to pray? Will those you share space with will be able to respect your commitment to the retreat? This won't be for everyone, but for those who are drawn to take part in this prayer experience, I have no doubt that it will be a positive and enriching time. I am really looking forward to sharing this space with you.  

A full day exploring and experiencing the art of Kirtan meditation for self practice and facilitation