Winter Retreat 2026
14 January 2026 - 01 April 2026
Leader: Ani Palden Zangmo
Cost Information: These include full veggie/vegan board. All accommodation for our Winter Retreat is in a single room:
Up to 28 nights @ £30 per night
29 to 56 nights @ £28 per night
57 to 70 nights @ £26 per night
Course outline
Winter Retreat 2026
We offer a supportive environment for those wishing to engage in Preliminary practices (Ngondro) and dedicated meditation practise. We welcome others from all traditions too. It is important however, that participants receive relevant instructions for their practice before commencing a period of retreat with us. This winter retreat will be facilitated by Ani Palden and Peter and Inge Hutchinson. They will each support the retreat, covering certain weeks over the 10-week period. You can book to stay for the minimum three-week period up to the maximum of ten weeks.
The retreat is designed for individual practise, with people following sessions in their own room. However this year we include some time each day, to practice together as a group, for those who would wish that. During the group session time, there will be opportunity for short talks, Q & A and dialogue. As with all Courses and retreats on Holy Isle, we include one hour a day for ‘Karma Yoga’. Karma Yoga is simply some community work in either kitchen (eg. helping cook with chopping veg), housecare (eg. helping clean the bathrooms) or garden (weeding, pruning, collecting compost, etc). We see this as an important way to engage with the environment, community and connect with the Isle itself. For those that want to do more than an hour, that would be appreciated, especially with cooking. Depending on the size of the group, we may include a rota for that.
Lama Yeshe Rinpoche, Abbot of Samye Ling and Founder of the Holy Isle Project, asks that everyone attending the Winter retreat take advantage of this opportunity to practice by making a firm commitment to follow the Retreat programme by keeping to the following scheduled times :
- 6am - 7am – Tara Prayers.. OPTIONAL
- 7.30am – 8.30am – Breakfast
- 8.30am - 9.30am – Karma Yoga
- 10 – 11am – Practice Session ( starting with group time - Talk)
- 11am – 11.30am – Tea Break
- 11.30am – 12.30pm – Practice Session
- 12.30 pm – 3pm – Lunch and Break
- 3pm – 4pm – Practice Session
- 4pm – 4.30pm – Tea Break
- 4.30pm – 6pm – Practice Session (starting with Q & A/ Dialogue)
- 6pm – 7pm – Soup
- 7pm – 7.45pm – Chenrezig Prayers.. OPTIONAL
The retreat will be partially silent. Silence starts from 7pm until 1pm Lunchtime, the following day.
Other than food/accommodation costs, there is no fee for the Winter Retreat. You are welcome to give donations.
Facilitators:
Ani Palden meet Akong Rinpoche in 1982, whom she took guidance from throughout her life. She worked in Youth centres, Children home, Rudolf Steiner hostels for Young adults with learning disabilities and for many years in Mental health. She qualified as one of Akong Rinpoche’s Psychotherapists in Tara Rokpa therapy. She has two daughters and grandchildren. For 21 years she worked at the Lothlorien Therapeutic Community for people with mental health problems. After taking her life vows as a nun, she went into two closed long-term women’s group retreats on Holy Isle. Both retreats were under the guidance of Drupon Karma Lhabu Rinpoche. Currently she is the Representative for Lama Katen for Holy Isle. (During the winter retreat, there will be the opportunity to engage with some of the therapeutic exercises from Tara Rokpa Therapy).
Inge is a trained linguist who took refuge with Akong Rinpoche in the early 2000s. She has spent many years in retreat, both on Holy Island and at Sekhar Retreat in Nepal, under the guidance of Drupon Karma Lhabu Rinpoche. She is a member of the Marpa Translation Society and is actively involved in both written and oral translation. There will be an opportunity to study Tibetan for those attending the retreat.
Peter became a student of Akong Rinpoche and Lama Yeshe Losal Rinpoche in the early 1990s. He has spent many years in retreat both in the UK and with Drupon Karma Lhabu Rinpoche, in Sekhar Retreat in Nepal. He currently divides his time between the Isle of Arran, Samye Ling, and Sekhar Retreat.
HOW TO BOOK
Please do not use the ‘Book now’ button!
Send an email to reception@holyisle.org and please provide some information about your background and retreat experience, plus your proposed dates. If you are new to Holy Isle or the Winter Retreat, we may ask for further information from you or arrange a phone conversation.