Seeking calm after the storm

Go Retreats:The stress of preparing what the adverts refer to as 'the perfect Christmas' can leave your spiritual batteries depleted. If so, what better than to plan a little rest and renewal for mind, body and spirit, writes Sandra O'Connell

Bible tour of Holy Land

For Christians nothing could be more apt at Christmas time than the thought of a trip to the Holy Land to see where it all began.

Joe Walsh Tours has a pilgrimage programme which, it says, allows you follow in the footsteps of Jesus. It takes in all the big religious sites of Jerusalem, including the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site most Christians believe to be the location of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus.

Also included is the Mount of Olives, which Jesus visited on the night of his betrayal by Judas, the Garden of Gethsemane, where He came to pray the night before his crucifixion, and the Cenacle on Mount Zion, believed to have been the site of the Last Supper.

The tour also takes in the Qumran, hiding place of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Mount of Beatitudes, from where Jesus delivered the “Sermon on the Mount”, and Cana of Galilee, site of the wedding chapel where Jesus turned water into wine.

You’ll see Nazareth, childhood home of Jesus, including the Church of the Annunciation, and, finally, Bethlehem and the Church of the Nativity.

The fully inclusive eight-night tour takes place in October and costs € 1,249.

joewalshtours.ie

Lake Isle Retreats

For something completely different, how about a spiritual retreat at Inis Rath Island, a peaceful 22-acre sanctuary – and a former hunting lodge – on Lough Erne.

Peaceful, non-denominational retreats here cover all sorts of soothing subjects, including meditation, yoga, spirituality, Eastern philosophy and even vegetarian cooking.

An alcohol- and drug-free zone, the full-time residents who live here would prefer if you didn’t smoke or eat animal products either.

There has been a Hare Krishna temple here since 1986 and retreat visitors are welcome to attend morning ceremonies and meditation, either at 4.30am or 7am. Among the forthcoming programmes is a Candlelight Kirtan – Chants of the Soulretreat, taking place from March 25th to 27th.

Kiran is sacred mantra music, a call-and-response tradition involving one lead singer, some musicians, and the entire audience participating in what it promises are calming and melodious chants. No previous knowledge, experience nor even a note in your head required.

The retreat costs €175 per person in shared accommodation, or €200 for two sharing a suite. This includes return ferry crossing to the island, breakfast, lunch and dinner each day.

While you are there, sign up for optional extras such as an aromatherapy full body massage, an Indian head massage, reflexology and Reiki energy healing therapies, all of which will cost €29 for 55 minutes.

lakeisleretreats.com

Yoga and meditation

For a variation on an Eastern theme, US travel firm Sacred Earth Journeys has a two-week journey to enlightenment in India, departing on February 20th.

Join your tour leader, Padma – a yoga teacher – on a tour of northern India, from the deserts of Rajasthan to the western Himalayas, beginning each day with gentle yoga and meditation classes.

Starting and ending in Delhi, geographical highlights include the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort, Jaipur and Jodhpur, plus the chance to stay a few nights in luxury tented accommodation in the Great Indian Thar Desert.

From there it’s on to Kullu Valley – known for its bount-eousness as Valley of the Gods. There you’ll meet and practice with a genuine Himalayan meditation guru, as well as hike and visit temples, including a 5,000- year-old Krishna temple.

From there it’s on to Manali and Dharamsala, where it’s time to meet a Buddhist monk for his take on the best route to Nirvana. Finish up by joining in the festivities of the Tibetan New Year.

The 14-night tour, including domestic flights but not air fare to and from Dehli, is $4,335 (€3,313), based on two sharing.

sacredearthjourneys.ca

Pilgrim’s progress

The Gyreum, an eco-friendly lodging and event space, organises a nine-day spiritual wandering in Sligo, touching base with an eclectic mix of faiths.

Welcoming those “of all faiths and none”, the walking tour covers nine counties and all kinds of terrain, over hills, through bogs and round lakes. It travels through all kinds of weather too, so come prepared.

The trip takes place once a month throughout the year, and covers 250km in all. Included along the way are the Carrowkeel megalithic cairns, camping on the lakeside ruins of Temple House, the most westerly Knight Templar preceptory in Europe.

There’s Lough Derg, a Viking boat trip down Lough Erne, sandwiches at the Presbyterian Church in Enniskillen, a stay in a Hare Krishna centre and meditation at the Jampa Ling Tibetan Buddhist Centre near Bawnboy.

You’ll climb Sliabh an Iarainn, where the Tuath de Danaan landed their ships, heading on to St James’s Church Geevagh, the traditional gathering point for pilgrims from the northwest going on to Santiago de Compostela, before finishing up with a therapeutic sweat lodge and grand finale banquet back at the Gyreum. The whole, enlightening, shebang costs €790.

gyreum.com

Biking the Camino

For more than 1,000 years, pilgrims have been closing their front door behind them and setting off on foot to Santiago de Compostela, in northwestern Spain.

The Way of St James, as it is called, leads them to the spot where, tradition has it, the apostle’s bones are buried.

In recent years, it has had something of a resurgence and one of the Irish firms to best capitalise on this renewed interest is Follow the Camino, part of walking tours group One Foot Abroad.

As well as offering a range of pedestrian options, it has a bike trail through part of the French Camino. The trip covers 231km from the mountain-town of Ponferrada over the magnificent O Cebreiro Mountains and across the north of the Iberian Peninsula through Galicia to Santiago.

Taking place over seven days/six nights, the half-board, year-round price is €730, excluding flights.

followthecamino.com

Hermitage in Sligo

If you’re in need of a total break from daily life, Holy Hill Hermitage is home to a community of Carmelite hermits dedicated to simplicity of life and contemplative prayer.

Founded in 1995 in a former Convent of Mercy, Holy Hill is now a well established centre of prayer and retreat.

The community here welcomes anyone who wants to make a private retreat for a day, a week or longer, staying in a private hermitage with bed and bath facilities, a chair, writing space and cooking facilities.

Basic foods are provided, including fresh fruit and veg, bread, eggs, milk, cheese and porridge. Spiritual sustenance is available on tap.

Those on retreat can join the community for a few hours of manual work, such as gardening, if they wish. All staying are welcome to join communal prayers and liturgies, and the chapel is always open, but everything is optional.

A donation of €55 is suggested for the first night, and €50 a night thereafter. A full week is €300. If you can’t afford to pay this much, it may be possible to work for part of your stay.

spirituallifeinstitute.org

Meditating

If you’re looking to start the year in a different place, mentally as much as physically, check out the Bobbio Retreat Centre in Maheramore, near Brittas Bay in Co Wicklow.

From December 29th to January 2nd, it is hosting a residential meditation programme designed to help you relax and unwind after the festive season.

Run by John Doherty of The Beehive School, which specialises in mindfulness and meditation courses, the event promises alternating doses of silence and dialogue, stillness and movement, relaxation and activity as well as group and individual work.

The aim, at the end of it all, is “to incorporate the very essence of mindfulness into your everyday life”.

It is also lining up a “ritual” on New Year’s Eve to ensure you let go of 2010 and fully embrace 2011, or some such. Far more tangible is the food which is all wholesome and freshly prepared to ensure mens sana in corpore sano.

The number of participants is limited to 10 and the cost of the five-day programme, including accommodation and all meals, is €495.

thebeehive.ie

Spiritual guidance

To avail of the restorative powers of nature, with the option of spiritual guidance while you’re there, Glendalough Hermitage in the country’s most scenic spot makes a beautiful option.

Go at weekends and it’s like Grafton Street, but on a midweek morning, while everyone else is back at work, you’ll have the ancient monastic site to yourself.

The hermitage, run by the Sisters of Mercy in conjunction with Glendalough Parish, is a series of cosy cottages, each with a bed, rocking chair and open fire. There’s not much else, and not much else to do, which is perfect if what you want is a contemplative break.

The nuns are on hand if you need them – as an anam cara or spiritual guide – but they’ll maintain a discreet distance otherwise so you can come and go as you please. The hermitage is open to people of all faiths looking to make a retreat.

Singles start at €45 and twin accommodation is available too, from €70.

hermitage.dublindiocese.ie

Monastery stays

For truly heavenly beds, a great option for a spiritual break is an Italian monastery. There are loads to choose from, many coming under the Rule of St Benedict, whereby all guests are as welcome as Christ.

Expect simple, no frills accommodation, modest – but often freshly-grown – food, and the opportunity, but not obligation, to join in prayers.

Between €30 and €60 will get you lodgings in some of the most historic buildings in Italy, often in stunning locations. Choose everything from the isolated splendour of a cliff-top abbey to a city centre convent.

One option is to take the Via Francigena, an ancient pilgrimage route from Canterbury to Rome. If you’re not up to the full 2,000km, just do the scenic Tuscan bit from Pisa to Siena, staying in convents and monasteries set a convenient 20km apart.

Finish up at the magnificent abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore, a Benedictine community 36km south of Siena. Visitors here stay in the old abbey farmhouse with prices starting at €30 per person, per night including breakfast, and all the Gregorian chant you feel your little heart desires.

monasterystays.com