Welcome to the Buddhist Retreat Centre Monthly Retreats

Nestled in the heart of Ixopo, the BRC offers a welcoming space for connection, relaxation, and personal growth. Whether you're looking to unwind, host an event, or simply retreat, the BRC brings people together in a nurturing space that celebrates community and meaningful connection.

Cultivating Hope And Joy In Adversity

In the face of stresses both planetary and personal - climate change, biodiversity loss, societal upheaval - cultivating inner resilience and hope becomes not just personal, but deeply ecological. Practices like meditation help quiet the mind and ground the nervous system, allowing us to respond to crises with clarity rather than fear. Reconnecting with nature deepens our sense of belonging to the Earth, reminding us that we are not separate from the systems we seek to protect. And in moments of wonder and awe - whether in the stillness of a forest, the glitter of a starry sky, or the simplicity of meditation - we tap into something greater than ourselves, igniting a reverence that fuels both courage and compassion and active hope.

The weekend will be a poetry-inspired time of meditation practice, deep-time walking and creative imagining, with a touch of morning yoga.

Dirt And Dharma - A Nature Retreat

This retreat brings our practice into direct contact with the living earth. With each step, each breath, we are invited to drop below the noise of thought and return to the ground beneath our feet -  to the dirt, the air, the quiet movement of life all around us. Through walking meditation, outdoor stillness, mindful movement, and creative response, we will explore the meeting point of inner and outer landscapes. We will work with natural phenomena as invitations to presence, humility, and embodied wisdom.

The retreat includes periods of zazen, slow walking in nature, writing or drawing as contemplative response, and gentle ritual grounded in the turning season. Come as you are, and leave more rooted.

THE AWAKENED MAN – Tame Your Mind, Revitalise Your Soul

Are you a man whose very identity, relationships, career and beliefs are in transition?
Is your heart yearning for a more meaningful and soul-centred vision for your life?
Are you also a man who has been doing everything “right” by societal standards - yet still feels like something’s missing?
Do you feel called to something deeper, more meaningful - but don’t know what that is or where to begin?

This powerful retreat facilitated by John Homewood will assist you to find new focus, vision and purpose. By shifting self-limiting perceptions and attitudes, you will release that which no longer serves you and become open and receptive to the potential that life has for you now.

You will gain greater wisdom, purpose and self-knowledge, combined with greater self-worth and emotional balance. You will leave refocused and de-stressed, and with greater mental and emotional resilience. This profound shift experience will open the doors for you to navigate this rapidly changing world with new tools and a more effective level of awareness and insight.

Staying In The Flow - A Gentle Yoga And Meditation Retreat

This mid-week retreat will offer gentle hatha yoga and guided meditation and will provide an opportunity to change your perceptions of everyday life, find more balance, and develop more attunement with the present moment. There will be discussions on practical tools for finding greater peace, understanding life’s lessons, and following your heart. Beginners to yoga and meditation are welcome.

THE ALCHEMY OF PRESENCE – Transform Through Conscious Co-Creation - Part One

Step into a life‑changing journey of renewal and awakening. This powerful retreat invites you to experience the alchemy of true transformation and fresh beginnings. Through their wisdom, intuitive guidance, and over forty years of combined experience in transformational workshops, John and Michelle will lead you into a space where profound change becomes possible. Together, they weave a rich tapestry of:

• Deep meditations that quiet the mind and open the heart
• Process art sessions that are both profound and joyfully creative
• Energy body movement practices to restore flow and vitality
• Immersive nature walks that reconnect you with the Earth’s rhythms

You will be gently guided through processes to release the old patterns and identities that no longer serve you, enabling you to step into the authentic essence of who and what you truly are meant to be now. These two teachers with more than 40 years of combined experience, will gently guide you into embodying the truly life-changing 5 Golden Keys of Awakened Living.

Recovery To Self - How Free Do You Want To Be From Your Addictions?

Why do we need to Recover to our true Self - to our Buddha nature? Often we may find ourselves using various substances or strategies addictively which can include everything from food, alcohol, recreational or prescription drugs, social media, or where we are in abusive relationships. When this affects our daily lives and more importantly the relationships that mean the most to us, we have lost our true nature of self.

In this retreat we will explore the Buddha’s teaching on the cause of suffering (Samudaya), the origin of suffering - our attachment, our craving and ignorance that generate negative karma. We will discover that there is a solution in the Four Noble Truths which results in the end of suffering (Nirhodha) and the possibility of achieving liberation (Nirvana) from the cycle of suffering and the rebirth to our true self (Samsara). Our karma and shortcomings can be removed only by ourselves. We are personally responsible for their creation, and we are responsible for their elimination. This retreat will be helpful to people in need of recovery and speaks to any aspect of ourselves that needs to heal.

Baby Steps To Living Your Brilliance: Neuroscience, Gratitude, And The Art of Sustainable Transformation

This two-day gratitude retreat is designed for people who want real change, not through force or fixing, but through gentle, steady, sustainable transformation. Blending contemporary neuroscience with grounded spiritual practice, this retreat focuses on micro-habits that gently rewire the nervous system while deepening your capacity for presence, gratitude, and self-trust. Rather than aiming for dramatic breakthroughs, we work with small, precise shifts that the brain can actually integrate, changes that continue unfolding long after the retreat ends.

Over two days, you will learn how gratitude functions not just as a mindset, but as a biological and energetic practice that supports emotional regulation, clarity, and resilience. Through guided experiences, reflection, and simple daily rituals, you will begin installing habits that feel natural, authentic, and aligned with who you truly are. This retreat is for those who sense their brilliance isn’t something to achieve, but something to remember, patiently, kindly, and step by step.

Why Does The Buddha Smile?

The feast of Wesak is the most important day in the Buddhist calendar, commemorating the birth, enlightenment and death of the Buddha 2,500 years ago, and is held annually on the full moon of the lunar month of Vesakha (coincidental with May). We will mark this festival with a programme of sitting and walking meditation plus reflections on the Buddha’s life and teachings and, in union with Buddhists around the world, hold a traditional Wesak ceremony - a lantern-lit circumambulation – on Saturday evening. Apart from a talk or two - some thoughts on the Buddha’s smile - plus discussion, the weekend will place an emphasis on meditation, the basic Buddhist practice common to all traditions – simply breathing in and breathing out – doing exactly what the Buddha did. The schedule will include time to enjoy the beautiful grounds of the Buddhist Retreat Centre.

*Please note this retreat will be held in Noble Silence.

Dr Ian Weinberg Is Offering PNI Online

Many of you have asked over the last two years when Dr Ian Weinberg will be offering his memorable retreat “Psychoneuroimmunology: Enhancing The Mind-Body Connection”. As he is completing his doctorate in neuroscience at the moment, he is unable to lead a residential retreat in Ixopo.

By popular request Dr Weinberg’s original BRC retreat “Enhancing The Mind-Body Connection” is now comprehensively online. The online program is now available through the BRC at an exclusively reduced price of R3,500.00 (the current selling price online is R14 000.00). The purchase price includes the 5 modules program, online diagnostic, workbook and slides as well as access to the three-monthly Zoom webinar. For a description of the course (similar to the original three day Retreat) see www.neuronostic.com/courses/expanding-consciousness/ “

Should you wish to enrol, please contact the office at bookings@brcixopo.co.za and we will send you all the information.

The Buddhist Retreat Centre

Ixopo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa

📞 066 395 4682 / 082 579 3037
✉️ bookings@brcixopo.co.za
🌐 www.brcixopo.co.za

A place of peace, reflection & connection – open to people of all religions