About This Retreat
Compassionate and healthy relationships with oneself and others are essential in fostering emotional wellbeing, resilience, and fulfilment in life.
However, many of us struggle with self-doubt, fears and insecurities in ourselves and can find ourselves responding negatively in relationships.
This holistic and trauma-informed retreat explores the theme of ‘Restorative Relating’.
Based on ‘parts work’, a useful approach which views people as having different respective aspects of themselves, with their own strengths, weaknesses, and roles in our lives.
The challenge is to become more aware of them and find ways to create balance between our different parts.
We will look at how this understanding can help us navigate our relationship with ourselves as well as our relationships with others and their different parts.
It will provide an opportunity to practice compassionate awareness and communication skills. We will explore how to connect with our feelings and needs, set boundaries and deal with aggression and threat; this will include ways to work with ourself, to ground and connect with the wisdom in the body.
We will be using ideas and exercises from Voice Dialogue, Non-violent Communication, Compassionate Mindfulness, Body Work, Somatic Awareness and Mental Health inspired Theatre.
Meet the Team
Rufus May
Rufus has worked as a clinical psychologist in the UK for 25 years. He has a special interest in compassionate and holistic approaches to mental health and healing from adversity.
His work trying to promote a more optimistic and less medicalised approach to mental health led to media work which included inspiring the Independent on Sunday's mental health campaign and a Channel 4 documentary 'The Doctor who hears voices' about how he supported a junior doctor who was hearing voices (see www.rufusmay.com).
Jacob Mornington
Jacob is an Integrative Counsellor and is the director of Mind the Path. He is deeply compassionate and committed to developing holistic therapeutic experiences which help people to heal, connect and grow.
Jacob travels full time in his van in Europe works privately a therapist with clients from across the world, specialising in complex and severe mental health issues. Jacob has training in Schema Therapy, Mindfulness Based Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy and Somatic Experiencing.
Filippo Mazzoni
Filippo is a highly sensitive person and spent his whole life helping those surrounding him. He always finds the time to give the right advice, without being too invasive. He has over 5 years’ experience in holistic therapies and tries to find new ways and new techniques to help others.
Filippo has training in Reiki, Shamanic treatments and Ancestors’ Healing. Filippo teaches to clients how to reconnect deeply with themselves, helping them in their journey; he offers private or group sessions were he explores the benefits of sounds and the power of relaxation.
Elisabeth Svanholmer
Elisabeth Svanholmer lives with experiences of hearing voices and identifies as highly sensitive. She finds herself on an ongoing journey to figure out how to be human and live a meaningful life in a world that seems increasingly fragmented and dehumanising.
Elisabeth is now based in West Yorkshire, UK and works as an autodidact organiser and facilitator of training and mutual support groups with a particular focus on compassionate, psychological, relational, and embodied approaches to mental health.
Virginia Vassura
Virginia is a multidisciplinary artist who uses creativity as a tool to support her own and others mental health. After getting a bachelor degrees in performing Arts in Rome she decided to find fortune in London, where she change field of interest and worked for many years in the mental health setting. Working in social care gave her the opportunity to explore human nature besides the stage, and gift her of a deeper knowledge of herself. She identifies as a highly sensitive person, who's chosen a nomadic life style to reconnect with nature and face health issues with an holistic approach. Through a unique performing style that mix writing, music, acting and immersive theatre, she's been participating to many projects in U. K. and abroad. Her aim is to use the cathartic power of Art to play down and lift up the thin line between "normality" and "madness".
Ugo & Lyra
Un-official therapy dogs who will also be in attendance at the retreat!
The Venue
Our venue, Earth Spirit, is Just five miles from Glastonbury, on the edge of Compton Dundon village in Somerset, that lies within the ‘temenos’ (sacred enclosure of Avalon).
The centre is situated in a beautiful landscape between two nature reserves.
There will be a maximum of 2-3 people per room and each room has it's own respective en-suite.
There is also one renovated campervan available.
"I really learned to connect with other people on a meaningful level. I also learned to connect with myself in a way I never thought possible.
This will change your life, don't hesitate. Just take a chance.”
What to Expect
Led by Qualified and Experienced Practitioners
Set in the Beautiful Countryside near Glastonbury
Onsite En-Suite Accommodation Included
Holistic and Trauma-Informed Approaches
Food and Refreshments Included
Maximum Group Size of 15 Participants
Want to talk about this more?
We offer a friendly and free consultation to answer and questions you may have.
Catering
All food is vegetarian, drawing inspiration from modern world cuisine. Garden produce is used when available including green salads and culinary herbs. We source local suppliers for our ingredients whenever possible. We also cater for special diets (allergies/intolerances, vegan etc.) on request and for a small supplement.
There is a separate tea making area with a wide range of beverages which include herbal teas, coffee, decaf, green and black teas, hot chocolate, rice milk, oat milk and cows' milk. There is a fridge for any food participants wish to bring.
How to find us
This retreat will take place at Earth Spirit Centre , Lockyers Farm, Peak Ln, Compton Dundon, Somerton TA11 6PE, United Kingdom
BY BUS
For bus information use traveline : call +44 871 200 2233 (7am-9pm 364 days a year). Traveline website: www.traveline.info/ or better use
Rome2Rio for all options: https://www.rome2rio.com
UK coach timetables and on-line booking www.nationalexpress.com
Mega Bus from London to Glastonbury https://uk.megabus.com
BY TRAIN
The closest train station is Castle Carry. If you are travelling from London, please make sure the train you are boarding stops in Castle Cary as not all trains stop.
The venue is a 20 minutes drive from the station. We encourage people to try to arrange a similar arrival time so that they can share a taxi to reduce costs and CO2 emissions.
We will provide details of multiple taxi providers in the area closer to the event.
BY CAR
Easily accessible by car. Once arrived at Peak Lane, follow this road for nearly one mile until you see a house on the left with a rusty, faded once black iron railing in front. Immediately after this house turn left on a small lane signed to Earth Spirit. Turn left just before thatched farmhouse into concrete yard and park.
Satnav: TA11 6PE or search EarthSpirit Centre on maps.
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