Weekend Retreat at Healing Spring

This weekend mindfulness retreat at Healing Spring Monastery in Thénac, in the Dordogne region of France, is an invitation to slow down and practice in the Thich Nhat Hanh tradition. It is open to everyone aged 18 and over, beginners and experienced meditators alike, and welcomes all genders. You stay with the monastic community and other lay practitioners, learning and deepening meditation together, with teachings from a monastic Dharma teacher of the monastery. Deep Listening of the Heart, a meditation teaching presence in the same tradition, is also part of the offering.

What to Expect

The weekend is a simple program built around rest and togetherness. The practices include sitting meditation, walking meditation, mindful meals, service to the community, sharing and teachings. Mornings generally begin around 6.30 am, and noble silence starts at 21.30 and continues until the next morning, after the breakfast dishes are washed. It is not a whole-day silent retreat, so there is room for conversation and sharing within the rhythm of the days.

You practice alongside the monastic brothers, and at times alongside visitors who come for a day of mindfulness on Sunday. Past participants describe it as calming and insightful, a time to slow down and renew their energy. Like all the monastery's programs, the retreat accepts impermanence: if conditions are not sufficient, parts of it may be adjusted, rescheduled or cancelled.

About Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh, affectionately called Thay by his students, was a Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, teacher, author, poet and peace activist. He founded the Plum Village Tradition and is widely credited as a major influence on how Buddhism and mindfulness reached the West. Born Nguyễn Xuân Bảo in Huế, central Vietnam, he entered the monastery at Từ Hiếu Temple at sixteen and was ordained as a monk in 1951.

In the 1960s he co-founded the School of Youth for Social Service, which sent volunteers into rural areas to build schools and clinics and to help rebuild war-torn villages. He also created the Order of Interbeing, a community of monastics and laypeople built around the Five and Fourteen Mindfulness Trainings, and he coined the term "engaged Buddhism", the idea that mindfulness and compassionate action in the world belong together.

The Setting

The retreat takes place at Healing Spring Monastery, a home for monks in Thénac, Dordogne. Three vegan meals are served each day. The weekend begins with check-in from 15h00 on the arrival day and ends with check-out at 15h00 on Sunday.

Before You Go

No previous experience is needed. The retreat is held in English only. Because the monastery is home to monks, men may sometimes be the majority of participants.

Children and teenagers may come, but there is no special program for them. Parents remain fully responsible for their care, and some adult activities may not be open to young people.

The contribution is a donation supporting the monastery and its monastic communities, and it depends on your financial situation. Reductions are offered based on individual need, and the community does not want financial difficulty to stand in the way of practice. A reservation is confirmed once payment is made.