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Greetings everyone.

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I hope this update from me finds you all well.

I am writing to you to tell you about our plans for the summer ahead and to announce the opening of 'Brahma Vihara', our beautiful and magical new retreat centre in North Portugal.

It has been my aspiration for many years to one day be able to create a dedicated "Seat of Dharma" that could become the centre point of the work we do at AoM to give people an authentic opportunity to immerse themselves in Dharma practice and meditation.

We opened Brahma Vihara last winter with our first long retreat since the pandemic. Eighteen of us gathered to immerse ourselves deeply in practice and it was a truly magical experience.

Beyond being an idillic place to come and meditate we have also set up a wonderful new programme at Brahma Vihara which is based on the principles of Spiritual self-care called “The Reset”. The idea behind the Reset programme is to offer refuge and rehabilitation at an energetic, neurological, physical and spiritual level to support you in your efforts to bring the best of yourselves to your life, work and spiritual practice. We will be launching our curated programs later in July.

Join us in June for our next retreat in Portugal

We have just finished our first ‘Art of Concentration’ 7day in-person Retreat here. It was a really special week giving a smaller number of people the opportunity to practice in a more intimate environment. Our next retreat will run from 20th to 27th June and we will limit the group to no more than 12.

Practicing like this in an intensive supported retreat environment with such a small group is a unique opportunity to deepen our practice and experience with these subtle teachings beyond what we might achieve at home in the daily life.

So if you are really inspired to work more deeply on your practice you might like to consider joining this retreat. This will give you the opportunity to receive the teachings from Session 2 from our year long online course, in-person while practising them intensively without distraction.

The retreat will run from Friday 20th - Friday 27th June 2025.

All rooms are ensuite, with a choice of single (£700) or twin share (£500).

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We will also be re-running our "Spiritual Self-care" online weekend retreat again on Saturday 28th - Sunday 29th June. Those joining the retreat in Portugal may wish to stay a little longer and follow this weekend with us.

Or if you would like to participate online, either for the first time or to re-visit these teachings, information and registration can be found on the following link.

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Summer / Autumn in Portgual

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There are a few ways for you to come and participate in what we are offering in Portugal this summer /Autumn

Firstly, a simple opportunity to come and take time out at your own pace on a self-managed retreat in a supportive and held environment. You may want to do this just to take time out and rest, or to do your own practice.

Secondly, we will soon be offering an opportunity to come and follow our comprehensive Detox programme to focus on your physical healing and rejuvenation. This is based on the programme I was offering at my retreat in Bali over the last 15 years. And also the new “Neurological Reset” programme which focuses on re-establishing neurological equilibrium and wellbeing.

Thirdly, as we continue to setup and establish and develop our facility here in Portugal, we have a limited number of co-living / volunteering opportunities for those of you who might like to come and help out with the ongoing work here. More details coming soon.

The Reset and the Detox programmes will be available later this summer.

From November we will be offering up the space for those wanting to do longer retreat. Our winter retreat program will run from November until March. More details on this also coming soon.

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Sending you all much metta and have a beautiful Sunday afternoon

with love

Burgs

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