ENCOUNTERS 2026:
Seasons of the Soul
Rooting – Shooting – Flowering – Fruiting
This year, we invite you to a series of four seasonal encounters in the beautiful Haut Languedoc natural park, Southern France. Each encounter lasts a week from Saturday afternoon to the following Saturday morning.
This is a chance to journey through, and deepen into, the wisdom of the outer and inner seasons and connect with a kinder, more organic, cyclical and soulful way of living.
In an intimate group of up to eight, we will work with embodied, soulful values and practices to take into your daily life, offering tools and inspiration for you to thrive.
These will be spaces to slow down and explore our cyclical, seasonal natures in a nurturing environment, stepping away from the disconnect and exhaustion of hustle culture.
Instead, we will look for what brings us truly alive and gives us meaning – becoming ‘soul activists’ through practising values of containment and depth, healing, beauty, imagination, gratitude, resting, animal sensing and connecting to ourselves, each other and the natural/ancestral realms.
Each week will be a journey and a process that embraces that seasonal time of year, engaging with its archetypal energies through creativity, ritual, sitting in circle, delicious meals, time spent in nature, and other ‘primary satisfactions’.
Together these four encounters will make up a complete annual ‘life cycle’ – and you are welcome to attend all of these, or as many as you are called to:
SHOOTING: 4th - 11th April 2026
FLOWERING: 20th - 27th June 2026
FRUITING: 12th - 19th September 2026
ROOTING: 27th Dec 2026 - 3rd Jan 2027
‘A place of wonder, filled with discoveries; of self, of the land, of community and friendship.
A place out of time, filled with the rhythms and beauties of living in harmony with nature.
A place to retreat, reflect, learn and emerge as something new. A place to laugh, and love, and live.’ Carl, participant September 2025
ROOTING: 27th Dec 2026 - 3rd Jan 2027
A time of slow emergence from winter, time to find our bearings, connect with our fundamental values that nourish our souls for the year ahead.
Endings and Beginnings – Receptivity and Reverence – What do you belong to, where are you rooted? – Sit spots – Finding your Bones – Rest and Surrender – Cocoons –Tending the soil, Sowing Seeds – Gestation in the Dark – a Silent Fast – Reflective Thinking – Non-doing –Trusting Change – Filling the Well
NOW is the time… to unfurl tenderly, to reach towards potential and welcome in the bright green irrepressible energy that is abundant Spring!
Birthing Courage – Playful Mistakes – a Shrine to Innocence – Planting out the potager – Foraging – Cherishing – Natural Mandala – Plunge in the Gorge – Hearing your Soul’s Call – Opening to desire, risking Eros – Putting out Tendrils – Self-regulating and pacing – Exploring the sensual world: a meal, blindfolded!
SHOOTING: 4th - 11th April 2026
FLOWERING: 20th - 27th June 2026
We gather in golden midsummer: a chance to celebrate and play, take delight in the myriad colours and fragrances of our inner gardens, whilst learning to give voice to the basic goodness within and around us.
Radiance and Expanding – Showing up for your Soul’s call – Light and Shadow – Wild swimming – Manifestation – Tending your garden – Gratitude and conscious nourishment, seeking Shade – Abundance and Inter-being – Declaring your Legacy – Your Voice in Prayer and Song – Dancing – Collecting Flowers, Celebrating Ourselves – A Midsummer Feast!
FRUITING: 12th - 19th September 2026
After the fullness of summer, we pause to take stock, to draw in the sweet fruits of in-sight and wisdom, and learn the art of Eldership.
Pruning – Discernment and Priorities – Taking Stock –Gathering Fruits – Preserving what is Precious – Wisdom and Eldership – Embracing Intricacy and Complexity – Praying into Discomfort – Holding the Tension – Far Sight and Alchemy – Unlearning and Letting Go – The Truth-Teller: Saying What you Mean – Savouring: a Harvest Festival – A Crowning Ceremony!
Payment Options
Encounters last seven nights and six full days, and typically run from Saturday afternoon to the following Saturday morning. The payment includes full half-board and lodging, as well as all the course costs, facilitation and materials.
Discounts are available if you would like to book more than one Encounter within the same year - please ask for details.
Payment plans are available to help spread the cost over the year - on the Thrivecart booking page you have the option to pay in instalments over 1, 2, 4 or 6 months.
If you have any questions, please get in touch.
