Every summer since 2013 the Middle Way Society has held a summer retreat in Worcestershire, UK, and this summer will be no exception. This is an opportunity to deepen your understanding and practice of the Middle Way, as well as to relax and make friends with others on the path. This year, the retreat will be focused on five basic principles of Middle Way Philosophy, and you will be able to come for either an initial weekend or the entire week. 

Dates: Fri 18th Aug 2017 (6pm) to Fri 25th Aug 2017 (10am). You can also book the initial weekend from Fri 18th – Sun 20th Aug (2pm).

Venue: Anybody’s Barn, Storridge, Worcestershire, WR13 5EZ, UK. See their website for more details.

Cost: £200 for whole week, £90 for initial weekend. This includes all food and accommodation. To encourage early booking for the entire retreat, a 10% discount is available for those booking before 15th April, reducing the whole week cost to £180. If the cost prevents you from participating for financial reasons, please contact us to discuss concessions, giving brief details of your financial position.

Who is the retreat for? Anyone aged 18 or over who is interested in learning more about the Middle Way and practising it. We welcome people from any background or tradition, as the Middle Way begins wherever you are now and leads on from there. You will need to be fluent in English. You do not necessarily have to be a member of the society, though we hope you will consider joining. If you have a physical or learning disability, or other health issues, please contact us before booking to discuss whether or not the retreat can meet your needs.

Retreat Leader: Robert M Ellis, who is the founder of the society and author of ‘Migglism’ and the ‘Middle Way Philosophy’ series. Robert will be giving a series of talks followed by discussions on each of the 5 principles. If you’d like to get a sense of the atmosphere in the talks and discussions of previous retreats, please see the recordings on this site of the 2014 or 2013 retreats. Other retreatants may also be invited to lead meditation, arts or practice sessions according to their expertise and experience.

Retreat Programme: We normally start the day with meditation, often an open sit where you can engage in any type of meditation practice, or sometimes a specific practice led by a participant. If you have not previously practised meditation but are willing to learn, basic instruction can be given, but this is not an intensive meditation retreat. Talks and discussions take place in the morning, and the afternoons are usually free (e.g. for walks, socialising, sleeping, or whatever else you wish), apart from a second meditation in the late afternoon. In the evening we usually have an arts or practice- focused session, e.g. a musical jam session, Tai Chi, a discussion of Renaissance art, haiku writing. These depend very much on what different people on the retreat want to offer, and are often great fun. Meals are taken communally, and everyone on the retreat is asked to contribute to cooking and washing up (unless they have physical difficulties with this).

Accommodation: This is in small dormitories or between 3 and 5 beds, which are normally allocated on a single-sex basis. We can often meet requests for couples wanting to share, and individuals who have a particular reason for needing a room to themselves, but cannot guarantee to do so, as it depends on how many other people book on the retreat. If the dormitories are a big problem for you, another alternative is to camp on the grass outside.

Retreat conditions: To help maintain a retreat atmosphere without distractions, participants are asked not to use mobile phones or other electronic devices on the retreat, except for urgent personal reasons in private or for the purposes of the retreat programme. You are also asked not to initiate new sexual relationships with other people on the retreat.

To book: Please fill in the online form below, then pay a non-returnable deposit of £40 to secure your place. You can pay this either online, by bank transfer or by cheque. The balance of your payment is due before the retreat begins.

• To pay online, please use the Paypal facility that should load automatically after you have submitted the form. This Paypal facility also allows you to pay by credit or debit card.
• To pay by bank transfer, close the Paypal facility page and pay through your bank to Account: Middle Way Society, Co-operative Bank, Sort Code  089299, account number 65711376. Please use your name as a reference. For international transfers, use IBAN GB50 CPBK 0892 9965 7113 76, BIC CPBK GB22.
• If you need to pay by cheque, please contact barry (at) middlewaysociety.org

To pay your balance online please go straight to the retreat booking deposit page and select the appropriate option from the dropdown menu. If paying by bank transfer, please see the details above.

Contact: For all questions about the retreat please email robert (at) middlewaysociety.org. For any questions about payment please email barry (at) middlewaysociety.org. Substitute @ for (at).

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