The Arc of Human Living – True Adulthood and Beyond

12 places, £350
Tuesday 23rd – Thursday 25th March Led by Leena Seward
This powerful course offers a supportive, intellectually stimulating and spiritually attuned space to explore what it means to be a ‘true adult’ in today’s world. Combining theory, discussion and reflection, we look at themes that arise strongly through the second half of life, often after conventional ‘life goals’ have been navigated; embodied existence, psychological growth, solitude, loneliness and connection, responsibility and contribution, spiritual insight and the natural world. After mid-life, how might we create deeper purpose beyond societal norms, asking “What is mine to do here?”. We will also explore ideas around legacy and death, and how these can inform us to live a meaningful life.

Introduction to Spiritual Adaptation

15 places, £350
Friday 9th – Sunday 11th April Led by Rupert Read
We need to accept that our way of life will be changed forever as a result of the climate/poly-crisis, which is now far too advanced for us to be able to prevent or entirely mitigate against it. That means adapting to the new brutal reality of the changed Earth, which is no easy task. Partly material, partly spiritual, such adaptation needs to include grief-work plus a major change in values and what we hope for. It also includes a new humility. This short course focuses uncompromisingly on deep, transformational and spiritual adaptation to the reality of our present and future. It explores the reasons and ways in which we deny or disavow the truth of our predicament. It examines what deep acceptance means and why acceptance is so difficult. It supports you to develop your inner resources to help you towards a coherent and empowering truth. Participants often report a deep sense of relief and liberation at being able to have their fears, uncertainties and misgivings met and validated. The course starts with tea and a walk from 4:00pm on Friday and finishes at 12:30pm on Sunday.

Trees

This course is now full,please, contact us to add your name to the waiting list, £325
Friday 16th April – Sunday 18th April Led by Letta Jones
Exploring the area’s magnificent trees, considering the history and country of origin and listing useful tips for identification. A trip to Rydal Hall (tbc) is planned by public transport plus leisurely walks. Participants are invited to bring their favourite tree poem to share. Letta Jones, MA, is a Lecturer in Landscape Horticulture who teaches at City Lit in London and Holehird Gardens, Windermere. The course begins after dinner on Friday and finishes at 12.30pm on Sunday.

Walking with the Alexander Technique

9 places, £465
Monday 19th April – Thursday 22nd April Led by Hilary Cook
Join Hilary in the stunning scenery of the Lake District to explore Walking with the Alexander Technique. We will look at our skeleton through anatomy and movement, discovering a more accurate map of ourselves. In addition, we will look at the Principles of the Alexander Technique in a practical, fun and experiential way, helping you improve your posture, de-stress, ease back ache as well as moving with less effort and tension. Hilary will also help you learn how to relax your eyes, helping to improve your posture and vision. We will apply the Alexander Technique to walking in the lovely garden at Glenthorne as well as low level walks in the local area. Afternoons will be free for you to explore the surrounding area, putting into practice what you have learnt. Bring your waterproofs and walking shoes.

Drinking Deep at the Well

13 places, £325
In Partnership with Woodbrooke
Friday 23rd – Sunday 25th April Led by Wendy Hampton and Deborah Shaw
Leaning into Quaker traditions, participants can look forward to worship, reflection, journal writing and sharing in the opportunity of grounding ourselves more deeply in daily practice. Practices will be shared and experienced in this gently paced retreat.

Writing Retreat

3 places, £595
In Partnership with Woodbrooke
Monday 26th – Friday 30th April Led by Ben Pink Dandelion and John Gray
Needing time to write and wishing to do so in community? This retreat offers the perfect opportunity to develop your writing alongside others. Set in beautiful and quiet surroundings, this retreat is open to anyone looking for space and time for writing, whether starting a new project, or to take forward or finish a current piece. There will be the opportunity for one-to-one time with the tutors but the emphasis will be on creating a supportive environment to devote to the craft itself.

Spirituality of Walking

11 places, £295
Friday 30th April – Sunday 2nd May Led by Anna Lyon and Rosemary Field
Glenthorne is a wonderful location to consider why we walk, what it means to us, how it feeds us spiritually and how it quietly guides our lives. We will consider how walking has shaped our lives, walking as ministry, reflect on the value of getting lost and try out walking spiritual practices. There will of course be free time for walking! This course is for people who stroll or wheel(chair) around the block as much as for those who go for long walks (sessions will be adapted). The course begins Monday 6.00pm and finishes Friday 12.30pm.

Circle Dancing

This course is now full,please, contact us to add your name to the waiting list £420
Monday 24th May – Thursday 27th May Led by Anne-Lise Kryger
This course welcomes people with experience as well as newcomers to circle dancing. It is an inclusive form of community dancing where no partners are required. The dances we do are drawn from many countries and cultures. They are always walked through before dancing. We dance for our pleasure and enjoyment in a supportive group with no pressure to ‘get every step right’. The pace of the dances varies from lively to meditative and leaves participants with a sense of belonging, joy and inner peace. The afternoons will be free to explore the delights of our surroundings. The course begins Monday 5.00pm and finishes Thursday 11.45pm.

Questions About Quakers: A Guide to Giving Clear Answers

15 places, £325
In Partnership with Woodbrooke
Friday 28th May – Sunday 30th May Led by Geoffrey Durham and Wendy Hampton
Much of what Quakerism offers is unique and what we might comfortably say about it will change from person to person. The tutors will draw on their experience, facilitate activities and share stories to help us joyfully discover our own words. The weekend will be filled with prompts and reminders, fun questions and varied approaches.

Boot, Boat and Goat

12 places, £650
Monday 7th – Friday 11th June Led by the Glenthorne Team
We shall visit various parts of the Lake District using a minibus, local bus and the Mountain Goat. This holiday is suitable for those, both able and less able, who would welcome the companionship of a small group. There will be a gentle walk and a cruise on a lake every day, and visits to lakeside gardens, historic homes and places of interest. Stout footwear and suitable clothing will be required, and walking poles if needed. All excursion and entrance costs are included. The course finishes Friday after breakfast.

Infinite Light: Opening to the Blissful Nature of Mind

10 places, £315
Friday 11th – Sunday 13th June Led by Adam Dacey
On this retreat, we’ll have the opportunity to engage in a series of meditations and visualisations that bring light and spaciousness to the mind. Beginning with breathing meditations, we gradually deepen into practices of compassion and, finally, meditations that awaken the mind of enlightenment. As the mind becomes calmer and more open, we begin to discover an inner environment of peace, warmth, and clarity, a space where positive qualities can naturally flourish. Supported by the beauty and stillness of the Lake District, the retreat creates the conditions for a profound sense of peace, connection, and renewed inspiration in meditation practice.

Reincarnation: A Brief Introduction

12 places, £560
Monday 28th June – Friday 2nd July Led by Rhonda Riachi
Reincarnation is not part of mainstream Christian teaching, but around 10% of Christians are said to believe in reincarnation. How did this happen? We’ll explore a growing body of research into reincarnation memories to shine a light on this intriguing subject.

Mixed Media Painting

This course is now full,please, contact us to add your name to the waiting list, £560
Monday 26th July – Friday 30th July Led by Sue Ford
Sue Ford is an experienced tutor. She works in watercolour, pastel, acrylic and collage, in a relaxed painting studio environment. Sue has published several articles for “Leisure Painter” and “Paint” magazines. With a natural ability to draw, she can demonstrate a variety of subjects and will show students different painting techniques, explain about materials, the importance of composition and getting the best from their photos and sketches. Within Sue’s courses she will encourage students to achieve their goals and realise their creative ideas, with daily demonstrations and exercises, and step by step tuition. You will receive the itinerary by email prior to every course.

Seated Yoga

This course is now full,please, contact us to add your name to the waiting list, £560
Monday 2nd – Friday 6th August Led by Julia Slater
This is the first time offering this course but after teaching at Glenthorne for 26 years, it will follow the same ambience as previous years. On this course, we will do yoga postures from a seated position in a chair, with the emphasis on moving with ease, helping to relieve stress and tension on a physical, mental and emotional level. Each session includes posture, breath work and alignment. Spontaneity and joy are encouraged, and allowing a sense of wholeness and peace. These are classical postures which can be done from a chair, with a focus on the benefits for health and wellbeing. We will be sharing joyful memories and quiet reflections.

Connecting with Plants

9 places, £560
Monday 9th – Friday 13th August Led by Letta Jones
With local short, easy walks, we will explore wild and garden plants growing in the local area. Grassland, woodland, garden and hedge habitat all provide a rich variety of plants to discover. There will be a visit to the Armitt Museum, Ambleside to study the original natural history illustrations of Beatrix Potter for which an extra charge is made. You will need to be able to stand for 20 mins and negotiate slopes and uneven paths safely. The course begins on Monday after supper and ends after breakfast on Friday. Letta Jones is a Lecturer in Landscape Horticulture who teaches at the City Lit in London and Holehird Gardens, Windermere.

Tai Chi and Chi Gung

This course is now full,please, contact us to add your name to the waiting list, £320
Friday 13th – Sunday 15th August Led by Kim Noy-Man
We will introduce the practice through exercise, meditations and the teaching of the theoretical and philosophical aspects of Tai-Chi and Chi Kung Silk Reeling. Most of the sessions are practical, with body and mind exercises, in beautiful surroundings. Please bring suitable clothing and shoes for indoors and outdoors. The retreat will suit novices and skilled students from all disciplines and abilities. Kim is a Buddhist and Quaker and has had a passion for practising and teaching the art of Tai-Chi and Chi Kung Silk Reeling for 30 years. The course begins Friday 5.00pm and finishes Sunday 12.00pm.

What is Prayer?

15 places, £300
Tuesday 17th – Thursday 19th August Led by Jennifer Kavanagh and Annique Seddon
Many of us have a problem with prayer. What is it? Who or what do we pray to? This workshop offers an opportunity to explore different types of prayer and share something of our spiritual lives and practice. We will explore the practice of contemplative prayer and the possibility of an entire life lived as prayer. Is prayer the same as worship? We will spend the weekend as a community, with time in plenary, sharing in pairs and groups, and solitary consideration. We will also use the Prayer card game (first played at Glenthorne!) as a tool of exploration.

Mixed Media Painting

5 places, £560
Monday 23rd – Friday 27th August Led by Sue Ford
Sue Ford is an experienced tutor. She works in watercolour, pastel, acrylic and collage, in a relaxed painting studio environment. With a natural ability to draw, she can demonstrate a variety of subjects and will show students different painting techniques, explain about materials, the importance of composition and getting the best from their photos and sketches. Within Sue’s courses she will encourage students to achieve their goals and realise their creative ideas, with daily demonstrations and exercises, and step by step tuition.

Deepening Silence Through Centering Prayer

14 places, £295
Friday 27th – Sunday 29th August Led by Rosemary Field and Dana Littlepage Smith
The course will explore how we deepen our experience of Silence through Centering Prayer and with reference to two Quaker books on Silence, by Pierre Lacout and J. Brent Bill. There will be time for practice, reflection and sharing. We’ll hope to experience silence in the beautiful surroundings of Glenthorne.

Sculpting Animals in Papier Mâché

12 places, £635
Sunday 29th August – Friday 3rd September Led by Patty Callaghan
Learn how to create an animal from papier mâché. You might want to immortalise a much-loved family pet or that icon of the Lakes, a Herdwick sheep, or go wild with a wildebeest. For inspiration, take a look at Patty’s website – www.pattycallaghan.com. If you’re new to papier mâché a four-legged animal is easiest, but if you‘ve attended the course before, this is an opportunity to experiment with something more ambitious. Papier mâché is a wonderfully sustainable and adaptable medium. We will be using old newspapers and magazines and a cooked flour and water paste that can be made at home, so it really is an ideal art form to tread lightly on the planet.

There is a Spirit Which I Feel …

12 places, £300
Friday 3rd – Sunday 5th September Led by Terry Winterton
The Quaker James Nayler’s last words in 1660 (after he was robbed, beaten, tied up and left for dead), remind us of that enduring spirit of love and peace that is central to the Quaker way. It speaks from and to the heart, is accessible within us all and offers us a way of hope, love and truth through challenging times. We will explore and share our experiences of this spirit over the weekend. The course finishes 12.30 pm on Friday.

Circle Dancing

This course is now full,please, contact us to add your name to the waiting list £420
Monday 6th – Thursday 9th September Led by Anne-Lise Kryger
See May listing for course information.

Enhanced Spiritual Adaptation

15 places, £350
Wednesday 22nd – Friday 24th September Led by Rupert Read
We need to accept that our way of life will be changed forever as a result of the ecological and climate crisis. This course is aimed at those who are preparing to see themselves as ‘collapse-aware’. Together we examine deep and transformative adaptations, including spiritual adaptation, to find ways in which we might constructively respond to the reality of our present and future. As we find ourselves in a world wildly in transition, the course also further explores the work of discovering one’s own path henceforth, reviewing, ‘What is mine to do here?’. The course starts with tea and a walk from 4:00pm on Wednesday and finishes at 12:30pm on Friday.

NOTE: this course requires participants to have already attended the pre-requisite ‘Introduction to Spiritual Adaptation’, also offered at Glenthorne in the Spring, (or a directly equivalent course with Rupert).

A Spirituality of Peace

14 places, £335
In Partnership with Woodbrooke
Friday 24th – Sunday 26th September Led by Ben Pink Dandelion
What is at the root of the Quaker attitude to war, and the desire for peace and social justice? In what ways has this tradition been maintained over the centuries and how are we to inhabit that place as Friends today? This retreat will be a mix of learning from our Quaker past and equipping ourselves to be agents of peace in the present day, with plenty of time for discussion and reflection.

Boot, Boat and Goat

13 places, £650
Monday 27th September – Friday 1st October Led by the Glenthorne Team
See June listing for course information.

Circle Dancing

This course is now full,please, contact us to add your name to the waiting list £420
Monday 4th – Thursday 7th October Led by Anne-Lise Kryger
See May listing for course information.

Moments of Stillness: a Meditation Retreat

14 places, £315
Friday 8th – Sunday 10th October Led by Adam Dacey
As autumn arrives, this retreat offers space to step back from the busyness of daily life and connect with the stillness of the mind. In the quiet of retreat, we discover a natural sense of calm and ease often missed in busy lives. Through meditation, reflection, and time in the beauty of the autumnal Lake District, we create the conditions for deep rest and stillness. As the mind settles, there is a softening in which wellbeing and balance arise, and we gently restore. We return home with stillness in the heart, a strengthened sense of resilience, and an intention to sustain our meditation practice.

Mixed Media Painting

12 places, £450
Friday 15th – Monday 18th October Led by Sue Ford
See July listing for course information.

William Blake – Poet, Prophet – as Radical Now as Ever

12 places, £505
Monday 18th – Friday 22nd October Led by Barbara Windle
Born in the ‘Age of Reason’, Blake was always extraordinary – exploring, seeing the world freshly and envisioning its transformation. He was appalled at society’s ability to turn a blind eye to evident evils. His poetry and art were a means to open eyes, hearts and minds to the wonder of creation and the urgent need to challenge accepted patterns of behaviour. His vision of the world is as fresh now as when he was writing. We shall range across his poems, from Innocence and Experience to The Everlasting Gospel, touching on The Marriage of Heaven and Hell and reading a couple of his letters. Barbara Windle, a York Quaker, spent much of her career opening up literature to pre-university teenagers. In retirement, she continues exploring some of her favourite poets with adults for the sheer joy of it.

Quietly Wild

15 places, £530
Monday 1st – Friday 5th November Led by Ruth Harvey and Nick Austin
Drawing on the beauty and simplicity of Glenthorne’s setting, we’ll craft a week together joining gentle explorations in the outdoors with stillness and reflective practice. We’ll tailor the programme to suit all needs and gifts. We look forward to sharing a week of simple community living, creative space, outdoor explorations, reflective practice, good food, good company and the great outdoors. Ruth and Nick are Quakers living in Cumbria, NW England. Nick has been an outdoor instructor in the Lake District for 30+ years. Ruth is a Church of Scotland minister, a Quaker, mediator and facilitator, and recently completed her term as Leader of the Iona Community. This course will start after dinner on Monday and finish before lunch on Friday.