What does a day on a supported retreat look like?

The principle: follow the sun

In Thailand, the heat sets the rhythm of life. Thais get up early, work in the cool, rest during the hot hours and start again in the late afternoon. Our retreats follow this natural rhythm, and it is one of the first things that does you good: the body finds a tempo it knows.

The whole programme rests on alternation: activity and rest, words and silence, time together and time for yourself.

Morning: the energy of dawn

5:30 to 6:30 am · Waking up and meditation

The day starts early, in the cool. Seated meditation or slow walking, by the sea or among the rice fields. It is not about performance: you simply learn to be there. It is also the moment for the first philosophical exercise of the day, an intention you set for the hours ahead.

6:30 to 7:00 am · Gentle yoga

A practice open to everyone, whatever their age or flexibility, to wake the body gently.

7:00 am · Breakfast

Taken together, with produce from the farm or the local market.

7:45 to 10:00 am · Farm work or a useful activity

Vegetable garden, rice field, compost, caring for animals, picking, or by the sea, helping in a partner garden and in local life. Everyone takes part according to their strength. Manual work has a remarkable effect: the mind empties, you see the result of your efforts, you feel useful.

The heart of the day: words

10:15 to 11:45 am · The talking circle

This is the daily meeting, the common thread of the retreat. The group comes together with the lead therapist. Everyone can share what they are going through, listen to others and be heard without judgement. You can also stay silent: listening already helps you move forward.

Day after day, trust grows. What seemed impossible to say in the first week becomes sayable in the second. It is often in this circle that the most important breakthroughs happen.

The hot hours: the long rest

12:00 pm · Lunch

12:45 to 3:30 pm · Rest

It is now 32 to 35 °C. Nobody works. Two to three hours of rest are planned for everyone: nap, reading, writing in your notebook, conversation in the shade. For many participants, exhausted for a long time, this is a discovery: you are allowed to do nothing, and it is even part of the programme.

Afternoon: create and go deeper

3:30 to 5:00 pm · Art therapy, yoga or a one-to-one session

Painting, modelling, writing, collage: art therapy lets you express what words cannot reach. It is also the time for one-to-one sessions with the therapist, to explore what came up in the group.

5:00 to 6:30 pm · Nature and encounters

A walk through the rice fields, a swim, a visit to the village, a temple, the evening market. The golden light of late afternoon is one of the most beautiful moments in Thailand.

Evening: reviewing your day

6:30 pm · Shared dinner

Sometimes cooked together, always eaten together. Dinner conversations matter as much as the workshops.

8:00 pm · Evening exercise

Before sleep, a simple exercise inherited from the ancient philosophers: reviewing your day. What did I experience? What did I learn? What am I grateful for? Repeated for a month, this little ritual becomes a habit many keep when they get home. Learn more about spiritual exercises.

And at the weekend?

One day a week is freer, often devoted to an excursion: a temple, a national park, an archaeological site, a nearby town. It is also a time to breathe, write to your loved ones and enjoy the place at your own pace.

Nothing is compulsory

This programme is an invitation, not an obligation. If you need to sleep, you sleep. If an activity does not suit you, you choose another. Only the talking circle is strongly encouraged, because it is the heart of the group experience.

Discover the days specific to each retreat: the Sea Retreat and the Rice-Field Retreat.