The Art of Living - a retreat.

Please contact to register interest. 

Postponed until October 2026.

10am - 4pm daily

Sccul SANCTUARY, Clarinbridge, Co. Galway. 

💗💕'The Art of Living'💕 💗

A Gentle Retreat into Mindfulness, Heartfulness, and Coming Home to Yourself

You don’t have to become anyone here.

You don’t have to improve yourself, fix yourself, or perform in any way.

This retreat is an invitation to slow down…
to breathe a little deeper…
and to rest into the simple experience of being you.

In everyday life, many of us move quickly. We carry responsibilities, expectations, roles. We try to do things well. We try to be “ourselves” — and sometimes forget what that even feels like.

The Art of Living is a warm and welcoming space to reconnect.

          

A Place to Arrive

Over these days together, we gently weave together modern science, Western psychology, and Eastern contemplative wisdom — not as something complicated or abstract, but as practical, embodied support.

You will learn simple ways to calm your nervous system.
You will explore your patterns with kindness instead of criticism.
You will practice being present — not perfectly, just honestly.

There is no pressure to go anywhere dramatic or intense.
Depth unfolds naturally when we feel safe.

 

Mindful Understanding

When we understand how our mind and body work, something softens.

You’ll discover how stress shapes your thoughts, how habits form, and how awareness itself creates space. Not to judge what you find — but to gently see it.

Understanding brings clarity.
Clarity brings choice.
Choice brings freedom.

 

Opening to Heartfulness

Mindfulness helps us notice.
Heartfulness helps us embrace.

In guided meditations, quiet reflection, guided time immersing your senses in the nearby woodland, and shared moments, we will cultivate compassion — especially toward ourselves. Toward the parts that strive, the parts that protect, the parts that sometimes feel tired.

You may begin to sense that beneath all the layers, there is something steady and tender within you.

 

Remembering Presence

Through simple self-inquiry and embodied awareness practices, we explore a quiet question:

What if you are more than your thoughts, your roles, or your history?

Not as a belief to adopt — but as something to gently experience.

You may discover a spaciousness inside you.
A sense that life is happening within awareness — and that awareness is already whole.

 

Self-Care as a Warm Blanket

Here, self-care is not another task on your list.

It is a warm blanket around your shoulders.

It is nourishing food, time in nature, soft movement, rest without guilt, quiet mornings, unhurried conversations.

It is permission.

Permission to pause.
Permission to feel.
Permission to simply be.

 

What You May Take Home

• A calmer relationship with your mind
• Tools to support emotional balance
• A deeper connection to your body
• A more compassionate relationship with yourself
• A felt sense of inner steadiness

The Art of Living is the art of remembering:

·         You have a body.

·         You have a mind.

·         You have a personality.

·         And you are the awareness in which all of it unfolds.

This retreat is not about escaping your life. It is about returning to it — more grounded, more open, more yourself.

You are warmly invited.
Exactly as you are.

 

For those who come for the first time to ‘The Art of Living-retreat’, no special requirements are needed. Just make sure you are available for the entire two day’s.

For those who come back for a second time to the retreat; you're invited to come with the beginners mind. No moment is the same. Although this retreat builds on the same foundation as the first one, your experience will be different, with new insights that awaits you.

Margreeth & Maeve

💜Cost is priced to cover our expenses like space rental, travel and lunch. Teachers/ Organiser fee’s not included but Dana is very much welcomed during the weekend.

 💜We are beyond thrilled to collaborate together again based on the wonderful experience last October. I am delighted to welcome back my mentor and wise teacher Margreeth van der Oord, from Holland, for this very special weekend. 

Margreeth is warm, joyful and lives her life based on the philosophy of radical love. See her website www.innatepower.live for more information. 

We met through her work with renowned meditation teachers Tara Brach & Jack Kornfield and have connected almost weekly over two and half years in her precious online, global sangha. 

Retreat Location:

The Sccul Sanctuary:  https://scculsanctuary.com/, Clarinbridge, Co Galway.

This special retreat space offers us beautiful internal spaces to gather in, retreat to, and it is located in a natural environment in a park and woodland area. 

What else is provided

💚Nutritious wholesome vegetarian lunches, Solaris Herbal Teas & healthy treats

💚What to bring

water bottle, a mat, extra blankets/cushions/ socks for comfort, a notebook for insights and personal wisdom, and all of you, just as you are!