This blog previously appeared on the British School of Meditation website blog in August 2013.
This year my silent retreat was at St. Beuno’s in North Wales. www.beunos.com
Going on retreat has become an essential part of my spiritual practice and I now go on one at least twice a year.
We live in a noisy, 24/7 world, under pressure to respond almost instantly to texts and emails, to keep up to date with our Facebook postings, and join other social media such as Twitter and LinkedIn. There is a 24 hour news cycle with constant updates so that we can know what is going on anywhere in the world by looking at Google or at an app on our Smartphone.
For me the opportunity to get away from this has become really important. I work from home so my work computer is in my home office. I have been to lots of different places on retreat and have come to appreciate deep silence while on away. Just getting away from home and the office gives me an opportunity to recharge my batteries and reconnect with my spirituality.
St. Beuno’s is a spirituality centre set in beautiful countryside, not far from Rhyl. The grounds are lovely and there are plenty of walks you can go on in the local area. The centre itself is a calm and tranquil place and you feel your cares and worries beginning to drop away from you as you are welcomed at the front door.
Silence begins on the first evening after dinner and a short meeting to go through ground rules. Silence is maintained then until breakfast on the final morning. However, everyone is given a spiritual director and you meet with them once a day for forty five minutes. This gives all the retreatants an opportunity to talk through any problems that may have come up coping with being in silence. It is also an opportunity to discuss deeper issues with someone trained to help with discernment.
The time is spent in silence but you are free to do whatever you wish to with your time. The only timetable events are meals and two daily services in the chapel. Attendance at the services is completely voluntary; however, I did find them a lovely way of joining with my fellow retreatants.
I love going to St Beuno’s so much that I have already checked out the 2014 list of retreats and am just about to book my next one.
Mary Pearson
British School of Meditation
http://www.teaching-meditation.co.uk
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