Finding Deeper Ground
A series of day retreats to support dropping into yourself during the winter period
Miserden Village Hall
In the Heart of the Cotswolds
(near Stroud)
With Lee Bolton and Richard Parker
As we all know, it can be easy during the winter to forget that this is traditionally a time of quiet, reflection and even hibernation. A season that invites us to slow down, to turn inwards, come home and meet ourselves.
To rest and find deeper ground.
In support of this, Lee and Richard would like to invite you to a series of Winter Day Retreats, where we will encourage the ‘do-ing-ness’ of things to unspool and fall away.
We will move through meditation, dance, walking the winter landscape, and the exploration of perception and qualities that support us in coming home, intimately and curiously, to ourselves. In doing so, we create space to bring more of who we are into our relational connections and the spaces we inhabit and live.
Deeper Ground, Wider Frame
21st November 2026
Tasting the landscape through resting bodies. Here we find ourselves, in the felt sense of our bodies, listening to space through our senses. Meeting each other and the landscape. Simplicity is a good beginning.
Silent Spaces.
19th December 2026
As we sit in the tipping point of the Winter Solstice, we invite you to Silent Spaces, coming inside. During this retreat, we will lean into the exploration of blindfold work, and how it is to rest back into felt experience and presence.
Shape, Gesture & Freshness
6th February 2027
Resting into and as silence doesn’t mean we lose aliveness; it brings contrast, which allows us to live our aliveness from rested ground. Shape, gesture and freshness all come as spontaneous unfoldings when we have the ground to allow them to unfold.
During these days, we will lean more into our sensory and felt experiences to guide our movement, rather than relying on technique or learned movement patterns. We will allow, explore and yield to what is, letting our deeper ground ultimately guide us.
We experience so much of our lives through our senses, each of us naturally leaning more into some than others, depending on our tendencies, abilities or gifts. By exploring, enhancing or inhibiting particular senses, we can soften some of our presumptions and even beliefs about who and what we fundamentally are. This can allow us to drop more deeply into a wider field of understanding and into our feeling bodies.
This series will be offered through a frame of Contact Improvisation-inspired movement and somatic practice, with a combination of individual and group practices. We will explore different qualities and elements of perception, inviting a deeper felt experience of embodiment, peace and presence.
These retreats are open to anyone curious to explore this work, while offering a particularly rich opportunity for those looking to deepen and develop their practice, and for those interested in exploring different textures of awareness and relationship in movement and life.
Each retreat will stand alone and can be attended as a one-off. At the same time, we would love for you to join us for a couple, or even all three, allowing the depth and richness of the practice and our shared exploration to grow over the series.
Each day will have its own emphasis, weaving together a range of practices including Contemplative Dance Practice, a meditation-based movement practice, blindfold work, somatic and relational movement, open movement space, and time spent moving through the winter landscape. Most of all, we will lean into the spaciousness of a long day, allowing time to soften and drop away, and giving rest, presence and deeper connection space to come forward.
Lee and Richard will each bring their own perspectives and curiosities, teaching individually while supporting and complementing one another throughout the retreats. Together, they will explore intimacy in movement, presence and relationship.
About The Facilitators
Lee Bolton
I have always been an explorer and researcher of life, someone who asks questions and is generally a little outside of convention.
For most of the past 17 years, my offering has been to facilitate and enable the exploration of movement and dance, mostly through improvisation, enquiring into the nature of relationship and what it means to be here. I have a deep interest in the unseen, in that which we are, and in what connects us all as the fabric of life.
Sometimes life is smooth and delicious, and sometimes it can be as clunky as hell. I’m constantly learning how to gracefully bring it all to the table.
Richard Parker
I have been exploring and facilitating movement and embodiment for over 20 years, with a deep curiosity about the human experience and what it means to truly be here. My work has always been an enquiry into relationship, connection and the ways we can find ourselves through meeting each other.
Through Contact Improvisation and other embodied practices, I invite people into a grounded exploration of movement, presence and creativity. I’m particularly interested in the subtle, unseen aspects of being human, and in creating spaces where we can discover ourselves, connect with one another and explore what becomes possible when we move together.
About The Venue
Miserden Village Hall sits at the heart of the beautiful Cotswold village of Miserden, surrounded by the wider Miserden Estate. The hall offers a warm and welcoming space for our days together, with a wooden dance floor, natural light, good heating and a fully fitted kitchen and seating area. The main hall provides a spacious setting for movement, meditation and shared practice throughout the day.
For the parts of the retreat that take us outdoors, we will have the wider landscape of Miserden Estate to explore. The estate covers around 850 acres of woodland, farmland and gardens, overlooking the Golden Valley within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The winter landscape will become part of our practice, offering space to walk, slow down, notice and explore our relationship with the natural world around us.
Parking: There is plenty of parking right outside the hall.
Lift Share: If you want to come and need a lift please get in touch so we can try and arrange this for you.
Food
Lunch is bring-your-own, so please bring something to eat for yourself. If you would like to bring something to share with the group as a potluck, you are very welcome to do so, but there is no expectation to share.
A simple soup and bread will be provided for dinner and is included in the retreat price.
What to Bring
As part of the day we will spend time outdoors exploring the winter landscape, so please come prepared for the weather. Bring warm layers, comfortable walking shoes or boots, and waterproof clothing suitable for wet weather. We encourage you to bring whatever will help you feel warm, comfortable and able to spend time inside and outside, whatever the conditions. We also recommend bringing a preferred meditation cushion or seat, and a blanket.
Timings & Costs
Each day runs from 10am - 9pm, and is programmed in a restful way, with a good number of breaks for food, tea and rest.
Cost: £90
We offer a limited number of reduced-price tickets for those on a lower income (more info). We also have a small number of volunteer places available; please get in touch to find out more.
Get In Touch
If you have any questions, please get in touch with Lee Bolton.
