Retreats NZ

06/10/2025

Online meditation weekend 29-30 November
Shamatha means ‘calm abiding.’
Join Susan for this weekend online Shamatha concentration course. Two days to review and to deepen your calm abiding practice.

The Saturday and Sunday program will be an opportunity to do some in-depth practice in the shamatha field. We will use different concentration objects and cover specific strategies for calming the mind and bringing the mind to equanimity.

Because the shamatha practice can always be deepened, this weekend will be suitable for all levels of practice – beginner to advanced.

Susan is fresh back from retreat in the Himalayas, India. There she attended a 10 day immersive shamatha practice and is freshly inspired to share this path with others.

21/06/2025

GIVEAWAY
Do you know an Aucklander that is in need of a five-day meditation and yoga retreat?

A friend, family-member or community hero that could do with a step back and supportive space to learn skills that will benefit them for life.

We are giving away one spot at our upcoming Ponsonby Tranquility and Insight Retreat to a deserving local. Dates: 23-27 July, 2025

To put forward your nominee:

Tag them in the comments section below.
Make sure you both follow our page.

This is a non-residential retreat where participants have the flexibility to find their own accommodation, coming together each day in this urban setting, for learning and practice.

Suitable for beginners and advanced practitioners.
Giveaway announced on 10th July.

To find out more

Retreat yourself in this urban sanctuary. We offer a collection of meditation and yoga retreats for every level and budget. Find the perfect retreat for you in Auckland NZ and invest in happiness.

10/06/2025

In need of a break?
The Big Delight happening this weekend in Wanaka! 13-15 June, 2025
$350 discount for last minute bookings - just message us to give yourself this treat.
Luxury yoga weekend of feasting, resting and yoga.
Stay at the lodge or find your own accommodation.
$1,150 for all included.
https://retreats.nz/wanaka-yoga-retreat
The Big Delight - Wanaka luxury weekend yoga retreat

04/06/2025

Mana magic.
6 days exploring the depths of meditation in the generous and beautiful hills of the Coromandel. We love New Zealand and the incredible spots it has for diving deep into these transformative Buddhist practices.
Thanks all for a wonderful and rewarding week together.
Still 4 spots left for our luxury yoga weekend in Wanaka 13-15 June. Love to see you there.
Suze

25/05/2025

GIVEAWAY
Do you know someone that is in need of a six-day meditation and yoga retreat at the stunning Mana Retreat Centre in the Coromandel. 28 May - 2 June, 2025
A friend, family-member or community hero that could do with a step back and supportive space to learn skills that will benefit them for life. Maybe it’s you! Feel free to nominate yourself.

We are giving away one spot at our Tranquility and Insight Retreat to a deserving local. To put forward your nominee:
Tag them in the comments section below.
Make sure you both follow our page.
6-days all included, food, accommodation, meditation, yoga.
ONLY 24HRS TO ENTER - closes Monday 26th May, 6pm
To find out more see our fb event or call Susan 021-222-6550
Coromandel Yoga and Meditation retreat

15/05/2025

The ever present web of interconnection.
Whether we are aware of it or not, interconnection is always present. Every experience has its unique causes and conditions that have given rise to it, cause and effect, action and response. Everything that we do, from what we think to what we say sets in motion something else. Nothing exists in isolation, everything is part of something greater.
Through meditation and yoga, when we become skilful at quieting the mind and our obsession with thoughts becomes much less, we begin to see things as they truly are. This web of interconnection not only becomes obvious but it becomes where we operate from. We experience our deep interconnection with others and with all existence. It’s not just a nice idea or an intellectual concept but a felt reality.
This experience of interconnection brings joy and frees us from the binding obsession with our own project. We consequently become less reactive to our own likes and dislikes and more compassionate and caring towards others. Through meditation, it is such a gift to cultivate this way of being.
If you’re interested to start this journey of understanding your mind then why not join us this year on one of our beautiful retreats around New Zealand. Might be the best decision you ever made.
In 2 weeks time!
Mana, Coromandel Retreat - King’s b-day long weekend.
28 May - 2 June. 4 spots still left!
https://retreats.nz/coromandel-2025/

15/05/2025

The ever present web of interconnection.
Whether we are aware of it or not, interconnection is always present. Every experience has its unique causes and conditions that have given rise to it, cause and effect, action and response. Everything that we do, from what we think to what we say sets in motion something else. Nothing exists in isolation, everything is part of something greater.

Through meditation and yoga, when we become skilful at quieting the mind and our obsession with thoughts becomes much less, we begin to see things as they truly are. This web of interconnection not only becomes obvious but it becomes where we operate from. We experience our deep interconnection with others and with all existence. It's not just a nice idea or an intellectual concept but a felt reality.

This experience of interconnection brings joy and frees us from the binding obsession with our own project. We consequently become less reactive to our own likes and dislikes and more compassionate and caring towards others. Through meditation, it is such a gift to cultivate this way of being.

If you're interested to start this journey of understanding your mind then why not join us this year on one of our beautiful retreats around New Zealand. Might be the best decision you ever made.

In 2 weeks time!
Mana, Coromandel Retreat - King's b-day long weekend.
28 May - 2 June. 4 spots still left!
https://retreats.nz/coromandel-2025/

07/05/2025

Loving the rat race?
Make a different choice.
Meditation cultivates a stability and poise that is all abiding, that is not buffeted by the busyness.
Come and learn this age-old practice.
Seek out the peace of mind that is always available.

Join us for 6 days of immersive learning over King's B-day weekend at Mana Retreat Centre, Coromandel. 28 May - 2 June.
Invest in happiness.
https://retreats.nz/coromandel-2025/

20/04/2025

All the insightful masters encourage us to look inward. How much lasting happiness is to be found in the external? We each can definitively answer this question. Meditation and the practice of working with the mind, to change the mind, to see life through a different lens - this is a path that builds a foundation that we can rely on. The quietness of mind and the inner trust that we build through meditation can profoundly change our lives. No longer being subject to the fluctuations of our life situation, relationships, material possessions or lack of. Meditation is such a path, its promises of freedom are accessible to all.

If this promise interests you then we would love to share these age-old practices with you at our next retreat in the Coromandel. 28 May - 2 June, King's b-day long weekend. All info here.
https://retreats.nz/coromandel-2025/
Coromandel Yoga and Meditation retreat

08/04/2025

- invest in happiness -
through meditation we change the lens through which we perceive life.
rose-tinted glasses anyone?!
the lens through which we perceive life is not set in stone. somedays are easier when we have a positive, light-hearted lens, some days are harder when we feel stuck in negative thinking or fear or worry.
one of the greatest gifts of meditation is coming to understand that the mind is malleable. in meditation we cultivate different lenses, or ways of looking, where our default becomes a spacious awareness that is not limited by negative thinking or restricted by conditioned habitual patterns.
we see, we learn, we come to deeply know - that we can cultivate and make our reality an awareness that is grounded in ease, kindness and openness. every day, every moment.
oooohhhh lala what a realisation.

you are warmly invited to come experience one of our life-changing retreats this year. from the ocean breathed coromandel to the mystical mountains of the himalaya, india, we have the perfect retreat for you.
CCoromandel Yoga and Meditation retreatAAuckland meditation and yoga retreat - non-residentialTThe Big Delight - Wanaka luxury weekend yoga retreatIIndia yoga retreat - experience mystical India with us

05/03/2025

GIVEAWAY
Do you know someone that is in need of a five-day meditation and yoga retreat on the stunning shores of Lake Hāwea?

A friend, family-member or community hero that could do with a step back and supportive space to learn skills that will benefit them for life.

We are giving away one spot at our Tranquility and Insight Retreat to a deserving local. To put forward your nominee:

Tag them in the comments section below.
Make sure you both follow our page.

This is a non-residential retreat at The Camp Lake Hawea where participants have the flexibility to find their own accommodation, coming together each day in this one of a kind setting, for learning and practice.

To find out more see our fb event or call Susan 021 222 6550
Wanaka meditation and yoga retreat

MEDITATION RETREAT WANAKA 2025 Tranquility and InsightMeditation and Yoga Retreat (non-residential) with Susan Allen Dates: 26 – 30 March, 2025 Join us in this epic setting on the shores of Lake Hawea. The dramatic mountain lake background is the spacious backdrop for this immersive meditation lea...

01/02/2025

a day in the life of a meditator -
a morning walk down the clutha river, early
the mind is calm and expansive. the heart and spirit open to the wonder of the world and its beauty
a merging
back in the car and the news is on the radio, downer! i remember my resolve not to indulge so i turn it off.
breakfast in the kitchen, coffee tempting me but my inner sensitivity can already feel the nervous system twitching; i manage to have a fennel tea instead.
a day on the computer narrows my attention. admin, emails, chats…
i remember to sit back now and then, widen my awareness, full arena, mountains, sky, air and space! there is peace in the vast open field. i hold that as i attend back to the computer. ease.....
an annoying email, i recognise the reactivity, i choose not to go there.
an arvo break to water the garden. i skilfully park my admin brain and effortlessly enjoy what the garden offers.
dusk, my favourite time. i indulgently retreat to the meditation room upstairs. some incense, a candle, some memory of my recent trip to india. gratefulness.
i settle onto the cushion, decide it’s too hot, do a wardrobe change, sit, start again.
settling, settling, no rush.
i roll into a familiar pattern, setup stages, calming stages, wide awareness. the mind knows this. so sweet. meditation with open arms offering me all the gifts. the magic of the evening, of sitting in stillness, of being, of experiencing, this is......so sweet.