Sweat and Serenity is a rejuvenating and reviving spring retreat held on the banks of the river Thames. Using a spectrum of carefully and thoughtfully curated ancient and modern cleansing techniques, this intimate gathering will enable you to shed outer layers of stress and strife, revealing your pure nature within. Move forward into summer with a fresh perspective and new grounding in your whole self.
Over the weekend you will have the unique opportunity to participate in a traditional sweat lodge ceremony, hosted in a specially designed sacred hazel pole dome and led by experienced masters with chanting and shamanic drumming.
There will be reviving yoga practices and wild swimming in the glistening river waters. Guided meditations with ancient trees and mindful journeying into the forest will show you the way to reconnect with divine nature.
The transformative and healing power of the gong will be held to restore you on a deep vibrational level, the resonance of spirit mantra will restore and replenish you, and storytelling and singing by the campfire will give you the heartwarming gift of community connection.
We will be eating fresh, organic, locally grown plant based meals lovingly prepared according to Ayurvedic principles by Karen Buckland of Plant Based Pirate. Our gorgeous fruit and veg will come from Tollhurst Organic farm who use stock free farming to produce the lowest possible carbon footprint, cruelty free food. Their work is truly inspiring and aligned with our ethos of re-connecting and re-aligning with mother nature to live in more harmony.
The retreat begins on Friday evening 28th May and ends on Bank Holiday Monday afternoon 31st May 2021.
Accommodation is provided on a secluded camping field next to the shores of the river with composting toilets and fresh water. Tents available to rent if you can not bring your own.
Camper vans & caravans are welcome, dogs must stay at home!
There is plenty of space to keep within social distancing guidelines.
Surround yourself with 500 year old trees, wild flower meadows, stunning scenery, magical sunset views, wonderful wildlife & your community.
The lodge during the retreat will be hosted by Buzzard Medicine.
It is an honour to be able to share this sacred ceremony with you in such beautiful organic surroundings. The lodge calls you to gather in circle to honour our ancestors, our grandmother the earth, the sacred fire, grandfather rocks, water and air - bringing them together to create a powerful cleansing medicine.
This traditional lodge is made from bent hazel poles, smudged and blessed and covered with blankets and insulated to make a dome. Special stones that have been heated in a wood fire are brought inside and herbs and water are applied to release an aromatic cleansing vapour. Participants engage in several cycles of sweating and chanting with the opportunity to rest and cool down in between each cycle.
The lodge has a strong purification and transformative power for many people; so do give yourself time after the lodge to integrate. The lodge is a powerful place for prayers and healing.
We advise drinking lots of water on the day before the lodge so that you are well hydrated. Water will be available during the day.
We ask that you refrain from any recreational drugs or alcohol for at least 72 hours before and after the ceremony.
The sweat lodge is a powerful ceremony and can help in healing processes but it is good to check with your health professional if you are concerned about any medical conditions - in particular heart conditions, high blood pressure, migraines, pregnancy, panic attacks, claustrophobia, strong back pain, diabetes, asthma or breathing difficulties, mental health issues or drug addiction.
Hardwick estate is only 40 minutes by train from London (Paddington), and just 20 minutes by car from Junction 12 on the M4. Easily accessible from the main transport hubs at Reading, yet set in the rolling countryside of the Chilterns AONB, Hardwick is ideally located for a weekend getaway of peace and tranquility.
If you have a spare seat in your car and are happy to share a ride, or if you need a lift to the gathering, here is the link to the our retreat community WhatsApp group:
We hope to be able to accommodate all who are interested & feel drawn to come together as a community.
We have tickets available for the Full Retreat: Friday evening - Monday afternoon which are limited in numbers to facilitate deep experience cleanse, rest and reconnection as a community.
Your Tickets include:
4 Days immersion into sacred lands and your beautiful self!
✔️ All 4 days of the retreat.
✔️ Sweat Lodge Ceremony
✔️ All activities, classes and workshops.
✔️ Delicious Ayurvedic food:
Friday dinner, 3 meals a day on Saturday to Sunday and breakfast and lunch on Monday. A selection of hot drinks will be available throughout the day.
✔️ Ground for your own tent.
✔️ Contribution for the build of the retreat space for community.
For those who would like to combine the fun of the retreat and karma of the service we have few Seva Tickets. These tickets are designed for those who enjoy getting involved in the running of the retreat by giving the core crew a hand with whatever is needed to be done on the day, or those who can't afford the full price of the tickets but still want to come. If you’re keen to be involved, please use contact organiser button on this website to apply.
The tickets can be booked in the Available Packages section below.
All the ticket contributions will go towards supporting our teachers and building a yurt on the land at Hardwick to host yoga classes, community events and future retreats. We hope to build this platform for reconnection and rest.
COVID-19 Statement and Refund Policy
As with all events this summer we are at the mercy of government regulations regarding COVID-19. In accordance with the current government roadmap out of lockdown we will be operating on a private campsite with participant numbers limited to the legally permitted amount. We will be taking precautions as recommended during the event to ensure the safety and health of all participants.
If the regulations surrounding social distancing deviate from the current government predictions and do not allow us to go ahead with the event as planned, we will postpone the event and reschedule it for a time which is appropriate. In this instance all tickets will be transferable. If the option to retain your ticket until the event is rescheduled is not preferable for you, just let us know within 14 days of us announcing a postponement, and will refund you 100% of the ticket amount.
Under normal circumstances, if we are continuing with the event as planned but you decide to cancel for any reason, we will refund 50% of the cost of your ticket.
Under normal circumstances, in the unlikely instance we have to cancel the event for any reason other than COVID-19 restrictions, we will refund 93% of the cost of the ticket to you.
We do this to cover any administration and infrastructure costs we have incurred in preparation for the event.
If you are unhappy with these terms let us know within 48 hours of buying your ticket and we will cancel your purchase and the full cost will be returned to you.
Please reach out if you have any questions.
A profoundly transformative process of cleansing led by experienced ceremonial practitioners.
We are blessed to have a clean and pure section of the Thames on our doorstep. Listed as one of the best wild swimming spots in UK.
Morning yoga will help us connect to the natural state of our body/mind... relaxed awareness, presence, peace. Exploring mindful embodiment through the depth of asanas, breathwork, cleansing kriyas.
This is a great opportunity to learn effective methods of meditation with the help of the the embodied stillness and living wisdom of the trees which are our traditional and powerful supporters.
The Art of Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) is a therapuetic technique of immersing oneself in nature to decompress from the stresses of modern living and rediscover the true self.
Transformational workshops in the stunning location with experienced teachers will allow to breath new life into our essence of being and create a lasting connection to a sense of inner contentment.
A session of deep healing and relaxation as the magical vibrations of the gong work to reset your energetic body from the inside out.
Learn the power of sound to revitalise your inner spirit and find your true voice through chanting sacred mantra.
Music round the campfire will be heart-warming songs about nature, green futures and what it is to be human - an open, welcoming and safe space for you to connect with your musical self.
Inspiring folk stories that'll take you on a deep journey inwards and beyond, with an opportunity to join in or share your own tales if you wish.
All our food is organic and locally sourced and lovingly prepared with your health and satisfaction in mind. We are so lucky to be surrounded by passionate and ethical growers!
Personal Ayurvedic Assessment of your constitution will be offered. Understanding of your own nature provides enhanced tool set for self healing and wellbeing.
There will be professional therapist on site offering rejuvenating massage and deeply healing bodywork. This will be offered at a reduced rate but is not included in the package price.
Accommodation is provided on a secluded camping field next to the shores of the river. We have an option to rent tents which you can add before you checkout. Tents for rent are limited.
Please bring your own sleeping bags, blankets, pillows etc
Please bring your own plates, bowls, cutlery and mug. This will help us stay clean and hygienic.
Please bring your own yoga mat. Let us know if you cant access a mat we have a few to borrow. Please also bring a blanket for end of class relaxation.
We will welcome you to our beautiful location between 4-6pm. There will be time to settle and orientate, put up your tents and relax into your space before we gather.
On the first evening you will complete a short Ayurvedic assessment which will inform your practice and your dietary options over the weekend. We will then enjoy our first meal together before holding the opening circle around the camp fire.
Dive straight in with a refreshing wild swim in the river Thames as we wake.
Revived from the waters we will flow into a morning yoga practice, focused on awakening the body and introducing yogic cleansing techniques.
After breakfast we will walk the short distance to the sweat lodge site where we will spend most of the day in ceremony and sweat.
Returning bathed by the cleansing fire from the sweat lodge a restorative meal will be served. There will then be an opportunity for rest, or to explore the gorgeous surroundings as you please during some free time.
The evening will hold space for a chanting meditation, using the power of Om mantra to integrate and process the energy clearing which has happened during the day.
A light evening meal will be served and then we will be led in song and invited to participate in a fireside music and open mic jam session.
Another unique opportunity to experience the cleansing water of the Thames, as we wild swim when we wake.
The morning yoga practice will awaken the body and build on the yogic cleansing techniques learnt the previous day.
After breakfast we will walk into the welcome green of the forest, and enjoy reconnecting with the divine life force in this space of vitality, using the Japanese art of forest bathing.
There will be lunch and some free time for rest after our return from the forest.
The afternoon will introduce you to the practice of the Yoga of Inner Fire. The previous day we utilised the external gifts of nature to generate the cleansing power of fire energy during the sweat lodge. On this day we will learn how to generate this energy within ourselves using authentic yogic techniques.
Dinner will be served after the yoga session, and then we will enjoy a deeply relaxing gong bath. This vibrational healing will provide opportunity for us to assimilate the universal flow of energy we tapped into during the forest bathing, and to bring the fire energy called on in the yoga into a place of equilibrium and service.
In the evening we will gather round the fire for a guided and co created storytelling session.
We start the day with the third morning swim of the retreat to wash away the layers you have shed during this cleansing weekend.
Our final morning yoga session will bring our awareness deeply into our bodies, mind and beyond with the last instalment of your introduction to yogic cleansing.
After breakfast we will visit some of the ancient trees located around our beautiful site. Sitting in guided meditation, we will learn how to commune with these great spirits and tap into their ancient and universal wisdom.
We will have lunch together, then gather for our closing circle to bring complete fullness to the retreat weekend.
We expect the closing circle to end around 3.30pm, after which time you will be invited to pack down your belongings and begin your journeys back to your homes, resting in the freshness of your new self.
Andy Jupp of Buzzard Medicine
Karen Buckland of Plant Based Pirate
Dmitry Glazkov of Sadhama
Bara Chehova
Kitty Stewart of Musical Embers
and YOU!
Andy Jupp
Andy is a father, gardener and sweat lodge leader. Buzzard Medicine is a sweat lodge ceremony that has been gifted from Canada and the Sundance. By using indigenous teachings together with song, prayer, water, fire, rock and air a holistic healing medicine is created which touches the four parts of us, mental, emotional, physical and spiritual. He has been working in these ways for 12 years and this ceremony has now been well established in the spirit of this land at Hardwick.
Bara Cechova
Bara loves bringing many aspects of life together and sharing the essence and beauty of one’s being through the practice of yoga and meditation.
An introduction to the Authentic Hatha Yoga practice in Prague led her to India where she gained further experience and her teaching qualifications.
She believes that all begins with listening... to the body, breath, the silence, the true self... When we listen, we are giving space to what is.
Confident that anyone can benefit from the various aspects of this ancient practice, she loves introducing and practising yoga with those who are facing various difficulties in their lives.
Bara is dedicated to conscious, sustainable living; health empowering practices and spending lots of time in her garden - not just growing organic produce but also rehoming slugs and snails.
Karen Buckland
Karen's nourishing love of nurturing through food is born from a deep sense of care and compassion for the planet, and a desire to nurture and protect it and its inhabitants, which has persisted since her childhood. She discovered a passion for creating and serving beautiful, wholesome and heartfelt food as a way to serve the planet through promoting the use of sustainable, plant based ingredients and to serve people through providing them with joyful, nutritious meals.
Her passion for plant based food has manifested in over ten years in the catering industry in a variety of different cookery disciplines, from cafes and restaurants, catering for festivals, events and retreats, making and selling wholesale products, making raw chocolates, cakes and patisserie, performing live cookery demos at trade shows and food fairs and leading workshops and classes for a diverse range of participants.
Karen will provide us with delicious and nutritious, lovingly and creatively prepared meals based on Ayurvedic principals throughout our retreat.
Here is Karen's personal website: https://plantbasedpirate.com/
Dmitry Glazkov
Dmitry is a Yoga & Ayurveda wellness teacher, author of unique programs on meditation and self development.
He is fascinated with the healing power of transformation that authentic Yoga and Ayurveda offer to humanity. Dmitry has extensively studied yoga in the UK and Russia, gaining teaching qualifications in both Kundalini Yoga and Authentic Hatha Yoga.
He lives in the sustainable rural community of Hardwick Estate in Oxfordshire. Dmitry finds inspiration in sharing deep connection to this sacred land and in the living wisdom of ancient trees, serving for true well-being, growth and unity with the true self.
Currently he is developing an online Yoga and Ayurveda platform, The school of a unique approach “Sadhama”, which crafts personalised programmes for self realisation and self healing.
You can find him here: Sadhama
Kitty Stewart
"Music is a universal language that brings strength to communities. It is a powerful tool for processing and releasing emotions and creating connection amongst ourselves, other humans and nature."
Dorset based singer-songwriter and music teacher, Kitty Stewart, will be curating our creative musical space.
Driven by her passion for making music and its therapeutic benefits, she teaches ukulele, singing and songwriting through her business, Musical Embers and she regularly performs at festivals and venues across the south coast.
Kitty is dedicated to sharing her skills and knowledge with people wishing to explore their creativity, to help build their confidence and to support them on their musical journey.
You can find her music here : https://soundcloud.com/kittystewartmusic
