Practice of Peace is a four day long silent retreat where we introduce gentle meditation techniques, offer yoga for increased embodied presence, invite you into the stillness of nature and lovingly take care of you. With plenty of opportunity for your own rest, relaxation, creative pursuits and self practice, we create precious quiet space, for you to rediscover yourself.

Step away from the outside noise - reduce the static; the over stimulation; the disturbances, distractions and intrusions. Take four days from the frenzy of modern life. Slow down, become silent and find your inner guide. Re-centre, regenerate, and practice peace.

Start the day in the therapeutic warmth of our hand-built Siberian sauna, gazing at the panoramic riverside view, before a refreshing dip in the sparkling waters. Flow from this into a morning yoga session with restorative movement and extended relaxation. Learn the mindfulness of breathing, a simple but astonishingly effective technique, and fundamental to all meditations which followed. Have afternoons free and full of time for yourself - rest, have a massage, create, practise, move as you please. Be guided into the emerald embrace of the native woodland for forest bathing. As evening falls, gather for heartwarming metta, meditation of loving kindness.

All of this with plenty of time in between for a slow, gentle pace to calm the mind. Freedom to dip in and out as you choose. Nourished with organic, locally sourced wholesome and delicious food to cherish your body. No interruptions, no responsibilities and no expectations. Just the Practice of Peace.

For those who need a break, a pause and a reset.

For those who have never practiced mindfulness before and would like a soft introduction.

For those who want space to focus on their creative endeavours in quiet solitude, without distraction.

For those who would like an accessible foundation course towards sitting a 7 or 10 day Vipassana retreat.

For those with a strong personal practice who would like the chance to engage with it deeply on their own terms.

Practice of Peace is a retreat that we have honed through our decades of experience organising events, and from our seven years as Sadhama, running wellbeing retreats at Hardwick.

Over the years we have learned what really delivers - what is effective, accessible and profound. The program we have developed for Practice of Peace is a blend of all the best bits of our other retreat offerings - the serenity of silence, the softness of gentle guidance from authentic, mindful techniques that really work, space to breathe and be present in nature, calmness and tranquility away from digital devices - all rooted in traditional wisdom and proven ancient practice.

We know that what hinders people most on the path to personal wellness is simply not having the opportunity to focus on themselves without the interferences and obstructions that come with everyday living. We know that people find it hard to take time out from their lives and responsibilities to sit long Vipassana retreats. We also know that even the retreat environment can be overwhelming - when there's lots of new people to meet, new experiences, challenging practices and high expectations.

That's why we've created Practice of Peace - a four day getaway over a bank holiday, low commitment, easy to make to the time. No expectations of advanced yoga abilities, or the requirement for you to sit for hours of meditation - but if that's what you want to do - you're free to do it on your own terms. No pressure to socialise or put yourself out there. No phones, no emails, no social media.

Just you and your silence. Elegant, nourishing meals. Simple and effective meditation techniques taken straight from the sutras, ready for you to assimilate and put into practice. The forgiving wild of the English countryside - rivers, forests, ancient trees. Siberian sauna and skilled therapists. Embodied movement to restore your body and relax your nervous system. Space held for you to reflect, create and belong.

Low stakes, but super high reward.

Join us for this brand new retreat for 2026.

A journey of personal self care and deep stillness, and a culmination of all our work so far.

To embark on a silent retreat means committing to a pause in your everyday. A weekend where you learn to see clearly - breathe in a calm reality, without the distractions and disturbances that usually clutter the mind. 

The practice of mindfulness quietens the mind, improves concentration, develops memory and attention, and develops the skill of awareness and presence in the moment of now. 

Coming on a retreat like this can facilitate:

• Reduced stress and anxiety levels

• Fewer fears and obsessive or compulsive thoughts

• A clear and calm mind

• Renewed sense of purpose and clarity of direction

• A feeling of increased energy, vitality and excitement towards life

• A refocus on your deeply held interests and life's calling

• Improved awareness and consciousness of the body

• Developed presence in the moment and attentiveness to everyday activities

• Less habitual and mindless reactivity to your environment

• Cultivation of patience and thoughtfulness of action

We will be eating fresh, organic, locally grown plant based meals lovingly prepared according to the Ayurvedic principle of food as medicine. We serve three meals a day: breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ayurveda views food as both nourishment and a primary tool for self healing, essential for balancing the mind, body, and spirit. 

This approach blends flavourful ingredients with health benefits, creating meals that satisfy your senses while enhancing your vitality with culinary richness and balance. We use a palette of sattvic ingredients to ensure that your food supports your yoga, mediation and cleansing practices, leaving you feeling nourished, balanced and strong. Here we move beyond calories and macronutrients to embrace food as a tool for creating harmony, balance, and optimal health.

As much as possible of our gorgeous fruit and veg will come from Tolhurst Organic farm, based on site, who use stock free farming to produce the lowest possible carbon footprint, cruelty free food. Their work is truly inspiring and aligned with our ethos of re-connecting and re-aligning with mother nature to live in more harmony.

We have various accommodation and ticket options available. Participants are welcome to bring their own tents, campervans or caravans, or choose from one of our pre-erected tents. 

From deluxe glamping experiences to basic tent packages, we have a range of options to suit every need. All accommodation is in our gorgeous riverside campsite, with fresh water, outdoor hot shower cabin, riverside sauna, composting toilets and a sparkling river to swim in! Flushing toilets are available at the entrance to the camping field, all surrounded by lush green forests and wildflower meadows.

Camper vans & caravans are welcome at no extra cost, dogs must stay at home! 

This retreat is free from drugs, alcohol or intoxicants which cloud the purity of mind.

Our retreat takes place in a secluded and serene riverside setting on a community run rural estate in the Thames Valley. Surrounded by lush green forests with ancient oaks, rare wildflower meadows with astounding biodiversity and the glistening waters of the upstream Thames, this unique location is easy to get to, yet feels deeply held in wild nature.

All accommodation is in our secluded riverside campsite. There is fresh water available, hot shower cabin, riverside sauna, composting toilets, and a sparkling river to swim in! Flushing toilets are available at the entrance to the camping field.

Workshops are held in an open structures, and out in the meadows and forests to truly experience immersive nature.

Hardwick estate is only 40 minutes by train from London (Paddington), and just 20 minutes by car from Junction 12 on the M4.  Easily accessible from the main transport hubs at Reading, yet set in the rolling countryside of the Chilterns AONB, Hardwick is ideally located for a weekend getaway of peace and tranquility.

By Train/Taxi

Search for trains to Pangbourne, our closest village. There are direct trains to Pangbourne from London (40 minutes) , Reading (7 minutes) and Didcot Parkway (20 minutes). From Pangbourne it is a 40 minute walk or a 10 minute taxi or car ride to the retreat venue. We give out some local taxi numbers in our booking confirmation, and we recommend you make a reservation with them for your journey if you plan to travel this way - we are in a rural location so availability of Uber is limited.

By Car

The retreat venue is just 20 minutes by car from Junction 12 on the M4, halfway between London and Bristol.  If you have a spare seat in your car and are happy to share a ride, or if you need a lift to the gathering, join the link to the our retreat community WhatsApp group.

By Air

The closest airport is London Heathrow - LHR - which is only a 1 hour car journey from the retreat venue. There are direct train and coach services from LHR to Reading, our closest city. From Reading it is a seven minute onward train journey to Pangbourne, our closest village or a 20 minute taxi or car journey to the retreat venue.

Is this retreat suitable for those with limited mobility/ongoing physical health issues?

The campsite we stay in and hold the meditation sessions is in a grassy field which is made of uneven ground. Pathways are not paved. Parking is available within the campsite and the distance between the vehicle and camping area is about 50 metres.

The compost toilets in the camping field are accessed up a set of three steps and have narrow doorways and cubicles. There are flushing toilets available at the entrance to the camping field, accessed by two steps. To preserve the rural nature of the environment we minimise any electrical lighting at night. You are recommended to bring along a torch or headlamp if you require extra light when moving around after dark.

The accommodation is all camping which requires a certain degree of mobility to negotiate low doorways and camp beds etc. You are welcome to bring your own tent, equipment, camper van, caravan etc which meets your needs. The deluxe glamping option available on our booking page is in a pre-erected bell tent which has plenty of headroom inside and a framed bed with proper mattress at a standard height. The doorway to these requires bending to enter.

If you are going to partake in the seated meditation sessions, this will require sitting for at least 45 minutes - you are welcome to adjust your posture during this as you wish. Participants are usually required to sit on the floor. You are recommended to bring with you a meditation cushion or stool or whatever else you need to be comfortable. We are able to provide a chair if needed.

We are an off-grid campsite, close to nature, so the weather may be damp and cold at times. Participants need to be able to be comfortable camping in this weather.

Can I miss sessions if I want to or follow a timetable which I feel better suits my requirements?

Participants on this retreat are welcome to engage with the program as much or as little as they like. The only requirement is that participants adhere to the principle of noble silence at all times once it has begun, and commit to following a digital detox by not accessing their devices during the retreat.

Can I read/journal/draw/play instruments on the retreat?

You are welcome to use your time on the retreat to engage with personal creative practices, as long as they do not cause disturbance to others. Journalling, writing, and drawing are all permitted. If you would like to bring a musical instrument to practice, we ask that you walk a little away from the main retreat area to choose a spot to play where you will not disturb others. We can help you find a good place when you arrive.

If you are bringing reading materials, we ask that literature be agreeable to the dharmic principles of sila, or morality. This means books which do not contain descriptions of violence, harm towards living beings, sexual acts, stealing, lying, intoxication or heedless acts. The tone of reading materials should be loving, kind and calm in nature. The aim of the retreat is to cultivate peace and mental clarity, and it is important that your sensory inputs support this.

Will my friends/family be able to reach me during the retreat if there is an emergency?

We recommend that participants hand their phones in at the beginning of the retreat for safe keeping. Alternatively you can keep your devices in your possession, as long as they remain off for the duration of the retreat. We will give participants a mobile phone number from the organising team, which can be passed on to friends or family for them to contact if need be. Any messages from family or friends which need to reach participants will be communicated directly by a member of the organising team.

If you are at a point in your life where it is likely a friend or family member will need to reach you during the retreat, we ask that you wait until a calmer time to undertake your Practice of Peace retreat.

Can I share my accommodation with my friend/partner?

On this retreat in particular, sharing accommodation between partners or friends is not permitted. All pre-erected tents we have available to book are for single occupancy only, and we ask that if you are bringing your own accommodation, you ensure that each participant you are booking for has a tent or equivalent for their own personal use. We do this in effort to give every participant the best chance of succeeding with the precept of noble silence, and reduce the risk of disturbance to others.

This is a silent retreat. What happens if I have an issue I need to communicate?

Noble silence on the retreat begins on the evening of the first day, after all the orientation and induction talks have been given, and after participants have been given opportunity to ask any questions that have arisen since their arrival. Silence continues until the morning of the fourth day. There will be opportunity to share and discuss your experience with your fellow participants on the final, fourth day.

If you have any issues come up during your retreat which relate to your accommodation, food or other domestic arrangements you can communicate them to a member of the organising team and we will do our best to address them. The organiser and retreat crew are here to help you, but at the same time it is expected that communication with them is kept to its absolute minimum, and that during the retreat you do your best to move through any issues you are having by yourself, without unnecessarily involving others.

Talking between participants is strictly prohibited. Please be aware that you will be asked to leave if we learn of this precept being broken, for the sake of the peace of others.

We will welcome you to our beautiful location between 3-5pm. There will be time to settle and orientate, put up your tents and relax into your space before we gather. 

On the first evening we will talk a little bit about your ayurvedic self, and how that will help shape your practice over the retreat. We will then enjoy our first meal together before holding the opening circle around the camp fire.

As we settle in, grounding deeper into ourselves and the land surrounding us we will take the opportunity to understand the techniques we will be encountering over the weekend, and practice our first session of loving kindness meditation

*You are welcome to participate in the program as much or as little as you would like. This is a sample itinerary and subject to change. 

We start with a morning gong to awaken, and then there is ample time for slow rising, riverside sauna and wild swim in the sparkling Thames waters.

Refreshed from the river we will flow into a morning yoga practice, focused on coming into the body and bringing stillness with extended savasana.

Breakfast follows, and then have a session of Anapanasati meditation. Here we introduce a simple, breath-focused meditation technique to help bring your awareness into the present moment.

We gather for lunch, and then the afternoons are free for you to rest, meditate, walk in nature, engage in self practice, or undertake creative pursuits, as you prefer.

Late afternoon we embark on a guided walk into the welcome green of the forest. Enjoy reconnecting with the divine life force in this space of vitality, using the Japanese art of Forest Bathing. Rest in the tranquil vibrance of the tree-biome, teeming with life and serenely peaceful, restorative in its rich essence, blessed with bountiful prana, and a fertile ground for meditation and deep spirit work.

Dinner is served on our return, and our evening session introduces light dharmic wisdom as a context and fundamental support to your practice. We round the day off with a practice of Metta, loving kindness meditation.

*You are welcome to participate in the program as much or as little as you would like. This is a sample itinerary and subject to change. 

Our Sunday starts with a morning gong to awaken, and then there is ample time for slow rising, riverside sauna and wild swim in the sparkling Thames waters.

Bring your beautiful body to morning yoga practice, with kind movement and meditative extended savasana.

After breakfast, our guided meditation sessions of Anapanasati continues, providing you with the opportunity to find another level of stillness within this ancient and fundamental meditation technique.

Lunch is afterwards, and then the afternoon is free for you to rest, meditate, walk in nature, engage in self practice, or undertake creative pursuits, as you prefer.

Late afternoon we offer the gentle strength of yin yoga. A session suitable for all levels that uses long-held, supported poses to deeply stretch the body, calm the nervous system, and encourage stillness and release.

When we have eaten dinner, our evening sessions continue with enlightening traditional wisdom to root and reinforce your practice. We finish the day with a practice of loving kindness meditation.

*You are welcome to participate in the program as much or as little as you would like. This is a sample itinerary and subject to change. 

The morning rhythm of the gong, sauna and wild swim heralds our final day.

The last morning yoga session allows for deep present awareness, using our bodies as a tool for mindfulness and our breath the anchor to the moment.

After breakfast we will reflect on our experience and intentions going full circle back to our daily lives. As the group gathers we explore a gratitude practice to help us re-enter our normal worlds with full hearts and clear purpose. A sharing circle follows, where you will get the opportunity to break your silence and share your journey with your fellow participants.

We expect the sharing circle to end around 11.30am, after which time you will be invited to pack down your belongings and begin your journeys back to your homes, resting in the freshness of your new self.

*You are welcome to participate in the program as much or as little as you would like. This is a sample itinerary and subject to change. 

Dmitry Glazkov

Co-founder of Sadhama, Dmitry Glazkov, will be leading our meditation sessions on Practice of Peace.

Sitting for extended retreats with meditation masters in Thailand, Russia, and the UK, as well as solo vision quests in Hardwick's forests, he brings a wealth of experience and years of personal practice.

Dmitry's classes are informed by training in Hatha yoga, Kundalini yoga and as an Ayurvedic Practitioner and Panchakarma specialist. He has a deep understanding and lived experience of Slavic, Vedic & Yogic traditions, techniques taught by Buddhas and a heartfelt spiritual connection with the innate wild wisdom of the natural world. These factors combine in personalised classes which are enlightening, holistic and transformative.

Chiara Lyons

Our dear friend Chiara Lyons will be joining us to hold morning yoga on Practice of Peace and afternoon yin yoga on the Sunday of the retreat. 

Born & raised in London, Chiara is a mix of English and Indian heritage. Originally a Human Rights Lawyer, she came to yoga through a search for tools to heal the life-changing post-viral M.E. / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that she developed in her late-20s. This lived experience of yoga as a healing tool gives Chiara's classes a gentle, subtle, energy-shifting style - perfect for our relaxed,  restorative and restful Practice of Peace.

Chiara has lived all over the world, and currently lives in Tenerife where she runs beachside yoga classes and retreats. more than anything, she loves to be outdoors, in the sunshine, close to lots of trees and water. She finds true joy in sharing tools of healing and transformation with others. 

Karen Buckland

Crafting beautiful, nourishing and heartfelt food is Karen's way of fulfilling her highest purpose. Serving people with joyful, nutritious meals made from earth-kind plant ingredients, is honouring the abundant and sensuous gifts of the planet's divine nature.

Karen spent many years at the top of the restaurant industry working as a Head Chef in London running fine-dining kitchens, and successful event catering businesses at large events getting top reviews in Guardian and other media. Using this experience combined with a keen interest in holistic health and environmental sustainability, along with an understanding of Ayurvedic approaches to cookery and diet, Karen weaves the alchemy of food to make your whole self feel more vibrant, more alive, and more healed.

Karen is a co-founder of Sadhama, running wellbeing retreats throughout the year and teaching online courses and classes.