18th - 21st April 2025

Returning to the Queer Heart

This retreat will be a reverent offering of love, drawing upon devotional practices for our queer hearts.

Love & Full Feeling

Queer folks for generations have had the fullness of their humanity denied. The divine heart of queerness is often obscured by societal oppression. Queer folks are pushed to the margins, fed the lie of inferiority, and taught to internalise a sense of insufficiency — this risks disconnecting us from our holy bodies, and our truest nature: love.

You are warmly invited to join Sanah and Daniel as we gather and tend to the wounds of unlove, seeded by society and cultivated by the pervasive climate of I, me and mine. 

Together, we will be paying loving attention to processes of heartbreak, queer drama, community rupture, grievance and grief, with the loving company of remembrance, stillness, awakened care and spiritual practice.

This is an invitation to rest the tiring costume of performance, and welcome each other into full feeling. Our gathering is less interested in the catchphrase psychology of “healing”. We are instead making space to be with what is, radically welcoming the rich and messy landscapes of our emotional, political and spiritual worlds. 

This retreat is a queer invitation to return to the fullness of one’s humanity, building altars to the messiness of being alive, and opening up to a collective sense of we, us and ours.

Drawing on sacred containers: the land, ritual, relational exercises, touch, embodied movement, meditation and periods of silence — we will commune in the work of loving ourselves back to ourselves.

Your Teachers

This retreat is curated by our guest teachers, Dr Sanah Ahsan (they/she) and Daniel Sutton-Johanson (he/they) and is inspired by their own queer lives and work integrating psychospiritual approaches within the world of clinical psychology, psychotherapy and devotional spiritual practice.

The Retreat

Returning to the Queer Heart is a unique opportunity to enter into the necessary weavings and work, of fuller feeling, aliveness and shared freedom.

The shared vision of this first Returning to the Queer Heart retreat, marks a beginning of a broader vision and intention, to scaffold more accessible kinship retreats for marginalised and racialised bodies into the stream of what we do and hope towards, here at The Dreaming.

The retreats themes of Love and Full Feeling are intended to trouble the normative views of healing and the populist pilgrimages towards the “fix” of ‘the insufficient self’. We will practise returning to the forgotten fullness of our queer hearts.

The offerings within this retreat are an infusion of queered ritual, prayer, ceremony and practices of the body, the land and spirit, in community.

The retreat structure and practices offered are designed to suit all levels of experience and curiosity, and you don’t need to have any pre-existing spiritual or meditation practice in order to consider attending.

During your time at this Love and Full Feeling retreat, there will be periods of noble or supportive silence, small group work, interactive practices, guided meditation, gentle movement and plenty of opportunities to rest into ourselves.

The land and use of ritual will crucible the gentle variations throughout each day, with particular attention to practices of remembrance of our queer ancestors, so we reconnect with who we are through the queer sainthood of those who dreamt this future for us, into being.

This unique offering is a significant addition to the young and exciting life of The Dreaming and we are very pleased to have the chance to work with both Dr Sanah and Daniel in bringing this retreat to life.

We look forward to sharing this programme with you!

The Details

Dates : Friday 18th - Monday 21st April 2025

Check In : 3pm

Check Out : 10am

Location : Rhydoldog House, Rhayader, Wales, LD6 5HB

For more info on how to get here, click here.

Pricing

Pricing is on a sliding scale based on your room choice, starting from £652 for the entire retreat. Head to our bookings page for more details.

What’s Included:

  • 3 night’s luxury accommodation

  • All of your nourishing home cooked food & drinks

  • Beautifully curated retreat programme

  • Access to 47 acres of ancient, breathtaking lands

  • Access to our natural plunge pools

  • Enjoy our tranquil home and gardens

“Words can’t describe the energy that this place holds, from the minute you arrive you can feel the magic. We had the most beautiful weekend with the most amazing people, I will cherish the memories for a lifetime.”

- Claire Wright

The Nurturer Guest, 2024

“I knew my time at The Dreaming would be a wonderful break in stunning surroundings but I was not prepared for it to be life changing. You leave The Dreaming wondering, "Was I dreaming?" but thankfully, it's all real.”

- Kiri Pritchard McLean

Comedian, Writer & Former Artist in Residence

The Location

Nestled in the heart of the Elan Valley, Wales. Our retreat offers a serene and rejuvenating environment, away from busy work life, whatever the weather.

Set within forty seven glorious acres of ancient land, The Dreaming is a rural wonder which offers true serenity and blissful tranquility. Once a 15th century Cistercian monastery, this fabulous property passed through Georgian and Victorian aristrocratic families to the designer Laura Ashley and her family in the 20th century.

Laura Ashley directed her multinational interior design company from Rhydoldog House and then, in 2020, our founder Charlotte Church, with the help of talented collaborators, reimagined, refurbished and reconfigured it.

Our Rooms

Luxurious rooms with modern amenities awaits you, each designed by award winning designers to provide comfort and tranquility.

Each rooms interior reflect our passion for other cultures. Natural materials and tactile draping create den-like spaces, whilst original floorboards and textured walls give coherence and a cosseting feel to the seven rooms, each with its own distinct name and character.

The essence of connection thrives through our shared rooms. Our distinctive approach assigns beds individually rather than by room, encouraging meaningful interactions with fellow guests.

Embracing shared living is ingrained in The Dreaming’s values, creating an environment where bonds flourish.