Compassion and Fearlessness - two day retreats near Totnes

How do we bring a more compassionate self to the conditions of our lives?

How do we cultivate more fearlessness in meeting the challenges we face as individuals and as a collective?

The Offer

We are offering two days exploring how we can bring compassion and fearlessness to live our lives more fully. These days will be a mix of guided meditation practices, facilitated exercises and short talks on understanding ourselves more deeply and cultivating these qualities in our lives.

These offerings will be based on the Buddha’s teachings, but you don’t have to be Buddhist or have any knowledge of Buddhism to join. You also don’t need to have any meditation experience. Just bring an open mind and heart 😊

You don’t need to come to both days, but they are designed to be complementary.

Everyone is welcome!

Format and Location

This group will meet for two Saturdays, 10-4.30pm, on 24 May and 31 May 2025.

The first day retreat, on 24 May, will be on Compassion. The second day retreat, on 31 May, will be on Fearlessness.

The days will have mixed practice sessions – sharings, short talks, guided meditations, and facilitated exercises.

We’ll have a break in the middle of the days for lunch, which will be a picnic if the weather permits. You can bring a vegan dish to share with everyone if you’d like (pot luck!) or you can bring your own lunch to eat if you’d prefer.

We will have the retreat days at The Barn Retreat Centre, and you can find directions here. The Barn is a beautiful 45 minute walk or a 15 minute drive from Totnes.

Who we are

Viren Jeram found mindfulness and meditation practice a decade ago and has practiced in a range of Buddhist traditions, primarily Insight meditation. Viren is spending the year up to September 2025 facilitating retreats at the Barn Retreat Centre, part of Sharpham Trust, supporting retreatants in their exploration of mindfulness and Buddhism. He co-leads Sharpham’s retreats for people of colour. Viren has spent the last decade in the NHS, in senior leadership positions and training staff in group coaching and facilitation, including guiding meditations for staff. He is passionate about the Buddha’s teachings, reading widely across a range of genres, and Indian classical music (playing the tabla - Indian drums). Viren is facilitating the day on compassion (24 May).

Tasha Bassingthwaighte has been practicing Buddhism since the mid-1990s in a variety of traditions, including Theravada (Insight), Vajrayana, and Zen. She has lived in Nepal studying Buddhism and in a Buddhist centre in France. Previous to moving to the UK, she facilitated groups of teens doing public theatre, helped families seeking asylum have safe housing, and worked as an ecologist. For most of the past decade she has managed a Buddhist meditation centre (The Barn Retreat, part of Sharpham Trust) and leads meditation retreats. She is also inspired by the natural world and leads nature retreats. Tasha is facilitating the day on fearlessness (31 May).

Cost

These days are offered for £10 for each day, which cover the use of the location (see below) and costs of running the day retreats.

Half of the money will go to The Barn Retreat Centre’s financial bursary (which subsidises the costs of retreats run at the Barn, giving access to those who might not be able to access the space otherwise). The other half of the money will go to costs.

Tasha and Viren’s time is being offered on a dana basis (offered freely), and there is the opportunity to contribute to them if you feel called to and are able to.

Feel free to email us any questions you might have at ZGhhcm1hICEgdG90bmVzIHwgcHJvdG9uICEgbWU=

With love,

Tasha and Viren

Also check out other Health & Wellness events in Totnes, Workshops in Totnes.