Barefoot Barn

A weekend mini-retreat (Sat 7pm- Sun 4.30pm) combining meditation and writing.

This weekend on the edge of Dartmoor is loosely rooted in the profound simplicity of Zen, with its focus on mindfulness, the immediacy and beauty of the passing moment, and the natural world, and we’ll be exploring how we might express this in general writing and also haiku and haibun. The weekend will include guided and solo sessions, writing, walking, silence and discussion, and time outdoors being aware of the connections between inner and outer landscapes and our participation in the beingness of everything. We’ll look at the relationship between the practice and philosophy of Zen and the art of writing poetry. It’s probably helpful if you already have an interest in either Zen or poetry – if both, that’s a bonus; although the ‘process’ here is more emphasised than the ‘product’, and no previous experience of meditation technique is needed.