Silentium Retreats
Come rest your head by our quiet stream
I’m founding an interfaith retreat space with my partner. We’re starting small, making one guest room of our new home available for solo retreats, for one week of each month.
The retreats we offer are for contemplatives, writers, poets and those wishing to deepen their connection the silent practices, whether complete beginners or experienced contemplatives.
Perhaps you will come to rest and reflect, to find yourself as you journey through one of life’s thresholds. Perhaps you wish for quiet time to focus on your spiritual practice, or a writing project.
Your room is beautifully lit by our favourite triangular window, remaining from when a pole went through it on which the crops from the quinta were dried. After dark, we provide tea lights for ambient lighting, and selected lighting in our off-grid solar powered quinta. Alongside the tea lights, you’ll find a pawlonia wood box of authentic Japanese temple incense, and a burner. There will be a quartz crystal, freshly cleansed in springwater and moonlight.
The retreat room is furnished with a wooden framed double bed, a small writing desk and chair, with a small reading chair for quiet moments spent alone. A soft blanket, meditation cushion and yoga mat are provided.
For those thirsty moments, you can choose between one of our selection of authentic Asian teas, brewed and served from your very own Chinese gong-fu tea pot. You will find a water carafe, filled with spring water from our own spring, filtered with Japanese binchotan charcoal.
For readers, we will provide a copy of our own extensive spiritual library of over 500 books, on a Kindle Fire, along with a charger for your own devices, and wifi internet, as required.
Practicalities are important too, bathroom facilities are shared with Willow and I, a clean, simple and contemporary wetroom, refurbished from the ground up in the last three years.
Please note that the guest room is currently being refurbished to have a cleaner look than in the present photo.
Whatever it is, we’re here for you. We will provide all your meals, combining home grown, cooked and baked food with fresh local produce. Our kitchen, run by Willow, focuses on nourishment and simplicity, direct from ground to table. You might enjoy a slow cooked meal, cooked on top of our wood burning stove, or home baked bread with local olive oil and salad from the garden, with a choice of local cheeses. We also offer a full vegan menu, with gluten free and other needs available on request.
We love quiet living, and keep silence until 11am (and after 9pm) in the house, when we begin to quietly prepare lunch. We start our day with meditation, contemplation, or simply staring out at the stars, the nearby mountains and the forest.
You’ll hear the sound of goat bells, as the goat man crosses our land most days for a while, with his herd of sheep and goats.
We can offer you guided silent forest walks, incorporating forest bathing, traditionally inspired indoor and outdoor Japanese and Chinese tea ceremonies, and one to one coaching and mentoring in contemplative practices, writing and poetry. Andō also offers spiritual direction to those seeking to explore life’s deeper questions with an attuned and registered guide. Willow is a personal trainer and running coach, so can help with one to one coaching in the more physical aspects of life.
Your retreat can be as solitary as you choose, we’ll even provide your meals in your room, or you’re always welcome to join us for your breakfast, lunch and supper.
We don’t drink, so you need to know that the quinta is an intoxicant free zone. That means no alcohol, drugs or smoking.
We do however, offer 40 acres of land for you to wander and sit in. Or simply come rest your head by our quiet stream. If you visit in summer, you might enjoy a cooling dip in our swimming pond.
Allow the wind in the pines fill you with healing prana, and the elixir of the finest teas and healthful food provide you with all that you could wish for.
All in all, you can expect a warm welcome, and a quiet stay with us, engaged in contemplative practice of writing, silent sitting, or other ways.
Remember, we welcome those of all faiths, and seek not to sell anything other than peace of mind, and the opportunity of deep retreat for those who join us.
Don’t worry about getting here, we’ll provide you with directions and if you come via plane and train, we’ll pick you up at our nearest station, and return you on departure.
Stays can be between 3 and 7 days, with us offering retreat accommodation for a maximum of 7 days each month. See the booking page for available dates. It’s important for us to maintain a balance for our own contemplative life, and for Andō’s work as a writer, publisher and spiritual director.
Will you join us?