8TH - 11TH NOVEMBER 2024
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.
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Dr. Sanah Ahsan (they/she) is an award-winning poet, writer, clinical psychologist and educator. Sanah’s work sits in the cracks; in the sacred falling apart, centering compassion and embracing each other's madnesses.
Their psychological practice is rooted in liberation and community psychology, drawing on therapeutics, embodiment and poetics as life-affirming practices, to support racialised and marginalised people.
Sanah’s teaching has allowed them to travel regularly; most recently to LA with Google, speaking to global majority tech leaders from across the world.
Some of Sanah’s media work includes presenting a Channel 4 documentary on the medicalisation of young people’s distress, delivering a TED Talk entitled ‘Rewriting my story with love and poetry as a queer muslim,’ and writing for wide-reaching platforms like The Guardian. As a poet, Sanah has been a recipient of the Outspoken Poetry Performance Prize, and shortlisted for the Queen Mary Wasafiri New Writing, The White Review and Bridport Poetry Prizes.
Sanah is working on a non-fiction book about the politics of distress, and society’s relationship with unruly emotions. Sanah’s debut poetry collection 'I cannot be good until You say it' was released to critical acclaim with Bloomsbury in March 2024.
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Daniel Sutton-Johanson (he/they) is the founder and Community Dharma Leader of Southsea Sangha, a small dharma community which is rooted in social justice and removing barriers to the dharma and community meditation, on the island city of Portsmouth, U.K, where he lives with his son, Oshan and their little dog, Stevie Nicks.
Daniel began dharma practice in 2004, encountering Vipassana at a time of addiction and clinical depression and now practices as a Psychotherapist, trained through the Metanoia Institute masters program. Daniel is a member of the Radical Therapist Network and member of the GSRD (Gender, Sexuality & Relationship Diversity) Special Interest Group for The Person Centred Association.
He is trained by L.A. based Mindful Schools as a mindfulness educator with young people, and has worked as a mentor for young people with iBme UK.
Daniel is also part of the organizing group for Beyond Patriarchy, a meditation space from Southsea Sangha and assists Lama Rod Owens in facilitating workshops and meditation retreats, and has assisted work around gender liberation and undoing patriarchy work with masculine and male identified folks.
He identifies as a Welsh, queer white cis male and is currently rooted in co-parenthood, spiritual social justice, exploring the intersections of ancestral celtic mythology, Buddhist psychology and understanding how a shared vision of spiritual community can be a tool for collective liberation.
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!
“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.
ACCOMMODATION
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.
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For 2 Individuals Sharing
Inspired by Luna herself, The Moon is designed to honour the lunar goddesses. Using handmade natural materials, it is a purifying and calming space, with soft flowing white fabrics. Luxurious beds with fabric privacy screens, a spacious seating area, and an ensuite with moon-shaped bath overlooking the Moon Garden.
It is south facing, overlooking the Elemental garden, with a breathtaking view of the Nant Caethon Valley.
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For 2 Individuals Sharing
South-facing with a balcony, to take in the breathtaking views of the Elemental garden and the Nant Caethon Valley, The Mystic’s furnishings have been hand-sewn using a collection of decadent Indian saris, drawing attention to the changing tones throughout the day in its spacious seating area, and luxurious beds with fabric privacy screens.
Perhaps the most magical of all, this warm room also has an ensuite with a golden tadelakt shower, surrounded by botanical plants.
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For 2 individuals sharing
The best place to experience the breaking of day, The Dawn is south facing with a balcony to enjoy the view of the Elemental garden and the Nant Caethon Valley.
The handmade soft furnishings were created using natural dyes to reflect the colours of sunrise, bringing a brightness to the room. With luxurious beds and fabric privacy screens, a seating area, rustic pine furniture, and an altar to honour the solar deities, a stay in The Dawn is an energy restoring experience. Its bathroom is across the hall, and has a Moroccan-inspired tangerine tadelakt shower.
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For 2 Individuals Sharing
Inspired by the wonders of mycelium (the network of fungal threads that connects all the plants of the forest together) The Mushroom is designed and crafted using rustic natural materials to achieve an earthy, grounded feel, dark antique wooden furniture and warm neutral tones in its spacious seating area, and luxurious beds with fabric privacy screens.
It is south facing, overlooking the Elemental garden, with a breathtaking view of the Nant Caethon Valley, and includes an ensuite bathroom, with a walk-in shower, and a bath with a view, surrounded by a selection of botanical plants.
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For 3 Individuals Sharing
A stay at The Wanderer is an immersive experience, with natural materials and artefacts from Africa, Peru and Mexico. This is the room for explorers, and has a spacious seating area, and luxurious beds with fabric privacy screens.
The room is south facing, overlooking the Elemental garden, with a breathtaking view of the Nant Caethon Valley, and includes an ensuite bathroom, with a shower and bath, and a window seat to take in the view.
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For 1 Individual or Couples
Honouring the design and forest reverence in Japanese culture, Forest Spirits is north facing and overlooks the ancient woodland.
With traditional Japanese tatami flooring, a spacious seating area, and a luxurious king-size bed, the room also has an ensuite bathroom with a black tadelakt shower and a porcelain lotus sink. Immersive Japanese experience for all of the senses, including the scent of traditional Japanese Tatami Mats.
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For 2 Individuals Sharing
North-facing to the deep forests, The Womb is a celebration of womanhood. With soft flowing fabrics, all handmade and dyed using natural ingredients, it has the nourishing, secure feeling of being swaddled. Luxurious beds with fabric privacy screens, a seating area, and a playful ensuite with a pink tadelakt shower.