Take a step back from daily life and immerse yourself in an online 7-day mindfulness retreat with Breathworks Founder Vidyamala Burch OBE and Lilasuri Morris.

Streaming live from Adhisthana Retreat Centre, this retreat brings together guided meditations, gentle teachings, and reflective practices to help you explore nature connectedness—wherever you are. Whether you’re joining from a city flat, a rural village, or somewhere in between, this retreat isn’t about how much nature surrounds you but about discovering new ways to tune into it.

Designed for anyone with 6+ months of meditation experience, our online retreat schedule is fully interactive, with live sessions, guided practices, and small group discussions to help you feel part of a shared retreat experience.

Details

Starts: Friday 23 May 2025, 19:30

Ends: Thursday 29th May 2025, 21:00

(UK time; see this Time Zone Converter for your time zone)

Where: Online via Zoom 

Please note, bookings for this event will close on XXXXX

Jump to Booking 

The Retreat Theme

Studies show that spending just 20 minutes in nature can significantly boost your health and wellbeing. But how often do we truly pause to be present with it? It’s easy to be surrounded by nature while our minds are elsewhere, missing its deeper benefits.

This retreat invites you to shift from counting minutes to savouring moments—even from home. Through gentle guidance and thoughtful practices, you’ll explore ways to connect with the healing power of nature, whatever your surroundings or circumstances. Experience awe, gain perspective, and come away feeling refreshed, grounded, and deeply connected.

The Retreat Programme

Our structured yet spacious programme blends teaching on daily themes with gentle movement, guided mindfulness practices, group activities, and restorative periods of silence. Over seven days, you’ll explore five strands of nature connection:

• Senses
• Emotion
• Beauty
• Meaning & Awe
• Compassion
  
  

Practices Will Include

• A variety of guided meditations led by expert teachers
• Breath work to regulate your nervous system
• Gentle mindful movement, suitable for all bodies
• Periods of 'warm silence’ including a full day on Thursday*
• Enquiry and connection in small online groups

*While we appreciate that practicing silence at home is different from being in person, you’ll be supported to create your own moments of stillness.

What You Will Gain 

🌿 Deeper nature connection – Tune into the natural world, wherever you are.
🧘 Stronger meditation practice – Cultivate awareness, stillness, and ease.
✨ Rest and renewal – Slow down and recharge.
💨 Inner balance – Simple breath practices to calm the nervous system.
🤝 Supportive community – Connect with like-minded retreatants.

Is This Retreat For Me?

We welcome anyone with 6+ months of meditation experience to join us. This event would be an ideal first taste of retreat life, or an opportunity for a seasoned meditator to experience Breathworks’ compassionate and accessible approach to mindfulness. There is no need to have previously attended a Breathworks event.

How Will It Work Online?

You may feel doubtful about the impact of an online retreat. However, after running several hybrid retreats, we’ve designed the online experience to feel just as connected and rewarding as being in person. Here’s what you can expect:

Live and Interactive Sessions

Join live-streamed teaching via Zoom, with recordings available instantly if you need to catch up.

One Connected Group 

Feel part of a shared retreat experience with breakout rooms, chat, and optional opportunities to share. Connect between sessions in the private Community of Practice group, where you can share photos of your home retreat setup—a favourite tradition!

Dedicated Support

Two online teachers will be there to guide and support you, regularly sharing your experiences and feedback with the in-person teaching team to ensure your needs are fully understood.

Adapted Practices

This retreat will guide you to connect with the healing power of nature, wherever you are. For example, we’re inviting all online retreatants to bring along seeds or a houseplant to nurture throughout the seven days. You’ll receive tips and practice variations throughout from your retreat leaders. 

You can also read our guide here on top tips for preparing for an online retreat. 

Interested to hear how people previously found joining our hybrid retreat from home? Here's what online participants shared in their anonymous feedback from in September 2024:

“Much more powerful than I expected being on zoom, very inclusive.”

“This retreat for me was like a Rolls Royce model both inside and out. I am so grateful for having the chance to be part of it. Much appreciation to everyone involved for making it happen.” 

“I really enjoyed seeing all the retreatants both in person and online. It felt very familial and warm. Fantastic efforts of all the tech folk involved. The sense of [Breathworks] teamwork added to the sense of connection and excitement. I felt touched by Breathworks’ efforts to continue to enable the 'homebods' (for whatever their circumstances) to get a look in!” 

Retreat Schedule

As an online participant, you’ll be fully immersed in the retreat experience, joining the same teachings and meditations as those attending in person at Adhisthana. Live sessions will be streamed via Zoom, with recordings instantly available on YouTube—so if you’re running late or in a different timezone, you won’t miss a thing.

To get the most from the retreat, we encourage you to join as many sessions as you can. At the same time, we invite you to listen to your needs—whether that means taking a break or resting when needed.

When?	What?
Friday 23 May
19:30	Introduction to retreat
Saturday 24 May - Thursday 29 May
7:30	Meditation and movement
8.45	Breakfast
10.30	Morning session with teaching & movement (includes a break)
13.00	Lunch and free time
15.30	Afternoon session with teaching, practice, and small groups (includes a break)
17.30	Supper and free time
20.00	Evening session with breath work and meditation*

*with the concluding ritual on Thursday 29th May

Meet the Retreat Leaders

Vidyamala Burch OBE

Vidyamala is a mindfulness and compassion teacher, award-winning author and coach. She began teaching her mindfulness approach for managing pain and illness following her own personal experience living with health challenges. At age 23, she sustained spinal injuries that required multiple surgeries and left her with partial paraplegia and chronic pain. She began to explore mindfulness and meditation as a way to manage her pain and found the results to be life changing.

In 2004, she developed the world’s first Mindfulness-based Pain Management (MBPM) programme which has now been recognised by the NHS and global health boards and has reached over 100,000 people coping with pain, illness and stress.

Vidyamala’s list of accolades includes an OBE for services to Wellbeing and Pain Management and an honorary membership from The British Pain Society for her outstanding work for the alleviation of pain. She has been recognised as one of the most influential disabled people in the UK for four years running by the Shaw Trust Power List.

Vidyamala offers wise and kind guidance and through her work hopes to pass on the tools that have helped her reclaim a full, happy and meaningful life.

Lilasuri Morris

Lilasuri is a Breathworks Associate teacher and MBSR teacher, trainer and supervisor. She is the founder of Wild Awake Mindfulness creating opportunities for individuals, communities and workplaces to experience mindfulness through nature connection. 

She facilitates courses, workshops, training, mindful walks, and runs a series of retreats in the North of England called The Nature of Compassion with a fellow mindfulness teacher. 

Lilasuri has developed an on-line self-guided course with Breathworks called Natures Mindful Path which is a walk through the five natural elements, available on the Community of Practice platform.

She was the Mindfulness Coordinator for the mental health charity Mind for five years leading on a 12-month mindfulness teacher training programme, and before that she worked in the environmental sector for over ten years in senior management.

Lilasuri loves nothing better than getting into the hills, sitting down with a packed lunch, and taking in the view.

Tickets & Financial Support

Breathworks is a UK registered charity with a mission to make mindfulness accessible to everyone. When you purchase a ticket for one of our events, you are not only investing in your own wellbeing, but paying it forward to someone else in need - All profits are reinvested to support our charitable work, helping us cover essential costs like staff, operations, and expanding our impact

We're offer three different pricing options to those wishing to join us: 

Rate	Cost	Details
Standard	£395	Full priced rate
Concessionary	£284	Applies to individuals with an income of less than £22,000 a year (£25,000 if you live in London) or those in financial hardship
Bursary	£159	A limited number of bursary places are reserved for individuals with significant financial barriers that limits them from affording the Concessionary Rate.

We trust our participants to assess their eligibility honestly and ask you to consider the Standard Rate if you possibly can, to keep our offering sustainable. If you have any questions or would like to discuss your situation, please contact us here.

Discounts for Accredited Breathworks Teachers

If you are an accredited Breathworks Teacher, you are eligible for 10% off your place (bursary places not included). Details of how to access your discounted rate are on the Community of Practice Teachers & Trainee's Group.

Payment Plans

Spread the cost with interest-free monthly instalments - request a payment plan here. Please note, the full balance must be paid 7 days before the retreat start date.