At this season of Samhain (Halloween), when the veil between the worlds of the living and the dead is lifted, we turn to our ancestral roots - blood, spirit and land - to acknowledge influences that feed our creativity.

We are all naturally imaginative, creative and curious beings.This three-day online retreat is for anyone who wishes to get in touch with that vital energy.

Led by Dharma Teacher Teri West and Order Member Sarah Hymas.

"In each one of us is an artist" — Thich Nhat Nanh

As we grow up we can develop a belief that it is only professional writers, painters or musicians for instance, who can make work that is considered worthwhile. This retreat is for rediscovering the freedom in creativity that exists in us all as children.

Perhaps we need to be even more creative in finding ways to negotiate a world in which we are being manipulated. The digital revolution and the use of AI is causing more and more separation from our creative selves. Scientists and researchers now agree that to have outlets for creativity is essential in maintaining our mental and physical wellbeing.

We all have the capacity to express ourselves. Through words, dreams, thoughts, and actions. Over the weekend we will enjoy exercises and games to develop writing, drawing, making, and storytelling, focusing on spontaneity, imagination and what is important to each of us.

We’ll also offer talks, meditation practice and group sharing, along with space for being offline and outside.

Retreat Leaders

Sarah Hymas

Sarah (Dharma name True Sharing of Benefits) is a writer, maker, facilitator and collaborator whose work circles her personal, cultural and environmental ecologies. Her focus begins where she stands, then grows outward, upward, down and in. Published in print, as audio work and artistbooks. 

Her work as a mentor and coach spans decades of working with writers, artists and other creative practitioners, and has been specifically channelled through online and in-person creative programmes. Sarah draws on Buddhist philosophies, Nonviolent Communication, and the principles of permaculture design to explore how individual creativity intersects with larger systems.

Sarah’s individual and collaborative work is presented in print, multimedia exhibits, dance videos, lyrics, pyrotechnical installations, stage, improvised opera, and in site-specific audio walks, soundscapes for performance, and participatory sculptures from found objects. 

Sarah’s work has been recognised with a Hawthornden Fellowship, AHRC funding, ACE awards and commissions from The National Oceanography Centre and national arts organisations. Her publications include melt (Waterloo Press, 2020), shortlisted for the Ledbury Munthe Second Collection Prize, the hispering, which won the Black Sunflowers Poetry Prize in 2020, and artistbooks such as Lune (2013), runner-up in the Sabotage Awards, and Recovery, housed at the National Poetry Library.

Her mentoring practice spans years of coaching writers, artists and other creative practitioners, and has been specifically channelled through the online and in-person creative programmes of the Imaginarium, which she founded in 2016. Through both one to one and group work, Sarah supports the unfolding of the creative process from imagination to manifestation, celebrating curiosity, uncertainty and collective wisdom.

Teri West

Teri (Dharma name True Door of Virtue)was ordained by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in 2000 into the Order of Interbeing and as a lay Dharma teacher in 2016.

Teri has been a student of Thay’s since 1988 and is a member of the North Devon Sangha. She is a storyteller, singer, musician, part-time poet and sometime clown. Teri was ordained into the Order of Interbeing in 2000, receiving the Dharma name ‘True Door of Virtue’ (chan duc mon) and the Lamp Transmission as a Dharma teacher in 2016.

Teri has pursued various occupations since leaving home as a teenager. By her mid-40s she began working as a professional storyteller and singer and as a member of an improvising clown group in the Nose to Nose school of clowning. She currently takes to the stage at every opportunity, using song to take a Dharma message into the unlikely environment of the world of cabaret and co-led in February and March 2018 two sold-out weekend courses ‘Clown and the Art of Mindfulness’ at the European Institute for Applied Buddhism in Germany.

Teri was fortunate enough to be invited to Plum Village in 1988 as a guest, with friends of Thay who had worked with him in the ’70s on founding a charity for Vietnamese refugees.

The 1988 experience was powerful; Teri bought ‘Breathe, you are Alive!’ which, together with ‘The Miracle of Mindfulness’ brought Buddhism into a grounded, practical form that Teri could relate to, having previously read somewhat intellectual, complicated theories. She has been a student of Thay’s ever since, working on organising retreats, particularly those that welcome families, founding the westcountry sangha, becoming a member of the Core Community (Order of Interbeing) in the year 2000, and ordained as a Dharma teacher in 2015.

Practical Information

Schedule

Thu 29 Oct 6 PM: Retreat begins
Sun 1 Nov 4 PM: Retreat ends

Pricing

We are offering tiered pricing to allow accessibility. Please pay as much as you are able to to support this retreat.

£150 - Generosity
£75 - Standard
£30 - Supported 

All surplus, after Sarah’s travel to Devon and meeting Plum Village UK’s costs, will go to the Order of Interbeing Bursary Fund.

We If you are unable to pay the Supported rate, please get in touch as some bursary places may be available. 

Refunds

We can offer a full refund minus the Ticket Tailor fee for cancellations made up to two weeks before the retreat. After that no refund is available other than in exceptional circumstances - please contact the organisers if you feel this applies to you.

Contact Us

Email admin@plumvillage.uk

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PARTICIPANT AGREEMENT

Please read the Participant Agreement carefully. It is important that you understand and agree to these fully.

Images by Sarah Hymas