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A residential retreat in Somerton, near Glastonbury, U.K.

Five days of teachings, embodied practices, and community
with Lama Rod Owens & Friends

28th September - 3rd October, 2026

Sliding Scale & Installment Payments Available

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Important Info
FAQ
Your Teachers



"Activism + Non-duality. Multi cultural. Personal practices are centered! You show, not just tell." —2025 Participant 


Seasonal change calls to us all. The invitation is to remember the wisdom of the natural world — its cycles of growth, loss, and regeneration. Autumn is the season of harvest, when we gather what was planted and nurtured through spring and summer.

As we collect autumn's gifts, we also prepare for winter's arrival. This is a time to honor the light and abundance we've received as it yields to darkness, allowing the dark to teach us about balance, rest, and what can only be heard in silence. In a world weighted by political turmoil and collective grief, these quieter rhythms offer necessary ground beneath our feet.

Through our willingness to feel what must be felt, we begin to harvest what matters most: our clarity, our connection, and our collective freedom.

 

Join Lama Rod Owens & Friends for Autumn Moon: Gathering Freedom, a community retreat in the heart of the ancient Somerset Levels. Together we will experience practices and teachings to harvest what has been seeded in our personal practice and prepare to rest and reflect on balance, surrender, and stillness as Winter approaches.

Our time together during this community retreat will invite us through rest-centered iterations of:

  • Meditation
  • Movement 
  • Love and compassion practices 
  • Ancestor practices
  • Earth based rituals and practices 
  • Group dialogues and discussions 
  • Laughter and Joy
  • The werk and the work of getting free
     

If you have any questions about this retreat or about your registration, please contact [email protected].

Registration


Please review the registration options below and apply here.
  • Pay it Forward ÂŁ690 (ÂŁ138 per night)
  • Standard ÂŁ590 (ÂŁ118 per night)
  • Supported - (limited number of subsidised spots available)
 
Register Here

What Participants Have Said:

"As someone who holds a lot of space for others, it is so important to come to a space that is held and supportive where all I need to do is just be."
"I was at the retreat a year ago, and then this autumn. Each time there's a different assignment. I am at a point where I need to learn to trust my own connection to (the) spirit(s)... the retreat helped me and reinforced this trust and sensing of something out there and all around and learning to do the work of tuning in."
"It was important for me to come to this retreat, as I had some soul searching to do, and had been missing an aspect of community. Plus I had never seen such a retreat run by people of color, and this was something that I needed to see and experience."

Important Information

FAQs

Where is the retreat?
The retreat venue is called Earth Spirit Retreat Centre, and is a 25 minute Taxi ride from Castle Cary Train Station. If catching a train, please ensure your selected train stops at Castle Cary as not all trains do. A train from London Paddington takes approx 1hr 45mins.

Taxi information and additional travel details will be provided after registration.

 

Can I travel to the retreat by car?
The retreat venue is accessible via car and there is plenty of parking on site. 

Further details on travel and arrivals will be sent following registration.

 

Do you accommodate dietary requirements?
Food allergies and restrictions can be provided during registration. Should you have any questions around allergy and dietary requirements, please contact us at [email protected].

 

How will I communicate with the teachers in the space of supportive silence?
You will be invited to communicate with teachers and retreat coordinators using a written note system. Spaces each day are scheduled for questions with teachers, and discussions with yogi affinity groups are also an option, during which silence may be broken, if you wish.

 

What happens when all the retreat spaces are full? Is there a waitlist?
After initial tickets have sold out, we will open our waiting list. Registration for the waiting list will not require immediate payment.

Individuals on the waiting list will be invited to share their room sharing preferences and access needs. If you are on the waiting list, and your accommodation needs match a room that becomes available, we will get in touch so you can complete payment and confirm your space. All waiting list tickets are available at standard and pay-it-forward rates only. 

 

Refund Policy: 
Should there be health related travel restrictions preventing Lama Rod Owens traveling to the UK, the retreat will be postponed to a later date and all yogis will have the option of receiving a refund or their funds being held for the future date. 

If you cancel more than 8 weeks before the retreat start date, the cancellation fee will be 50% of your deposit.

If you cancel between 8-4 weeks before the retreat start date, the cancellation fee will be 75% of your deposit.

If you cancel 4-2 weeks before the retreat start date, the cancellation fee will be 50% of the total retreat cost.

If you cancel less than 2 weeks before the start date, we cannot offer a refund. Your registration payment will go towards further supporting those unable to pay the full amount and administrative costs. 

Any applicable cancellation fees can be partially waived in exceptional circumstances.

 

Do you have any advice on choosing my registration option?
If you are able to meet your monthly outgoing costs with spaciousness, we invite you to lean in and consider this opportunity to be a benefactor to our community. This Pay-It-Forward option allows those who have the material means to support those who would not otherwise be able to attend due to financial constraints. The generosity of our community allows us to offer a limited number of supported spaces. 

In a tumultuous global economy, we continue to negotiate the expenses of producing these retreats with our commitment to financial accessibility in support of a diverse community of retreatants. Currently, the Pay-It-Forward rate reflects the true cost per person for our retreats. The Standard rate reflects our intention to minimize the barrier of cost for as many as possible. 

We freely invite anyone who needs the Supported rate to choose this option and contact [email protected] to request a booking link. We are mindful that even the Supported rate cost of the retreat remains inaccessible to some, and we continue to consider ways of resourcing and support for our community. Please note, when contacting us for a Supported space you are not expected to provide details about your financial situation.

 

Access Information
For information about the venue and accessibility, please visit this link and contact [email protected] with any questions.

 Registration


Please review the registration options below and apply here.
  • Pay it Forward ÂŁ690 (ÂŁ138 per night)
  • Standard ÂŁ590 (ÂŁ118 per night)
  • Supported - (limited number of subsidised spots available)
Register Here

Your Teachers & Support Team

At the end of the retreat you will be invited to offer donations in recognition of the generosity of the team that collaborates to offer teachings and care.

Lama Rod Owens  

 Lama Rod Owens is a Black Buddhist Southern Queen. An international influencer with a Master of Divinity degree in Buddhist Studies from Harvard Divinity School. Author of The New Saints: From Broken Hearts to Spiritual Warriors and Love and Rage: The Path of Liberation through Anger, and co-author of Radical Dharma: Talking Race, Love and Liberation, his teachings center on freedom, self-expression, and radical self-care.

A leading voice in a new generation of Buddhist teachers with over 11 years of experience, Lama Rod activates the intersections of his identity to create a platform that’s very natural, engaging, and inclusive. Applauded for his mastery in balancing weighty topics with a sense of lightness, the Queen has been featured by various national and international news outlets. 

Highly sought after for talks, retreats, and workshops, his mission is showing you how to heal and free yourself.

sĂ­ofra jackson

síofra jackson (she/they) is a student of liberatory practices: she lives in her body and vacations in her mind. She is a black nipmuc embodied liberation teacher. She works with individuals and groups in the United States and Europe who do healing and education work. sister sadada has earned two masters: in Indigenous Tradition from Harvard Divinity School and  in Secondary Education from UMass Boston. Her work centers clarity, creativity, freedom, and radical self-love.

Since 2015, sĂ­ofra has her own business provided guidance and mentoring services to individuals and groups in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. From development and deepening leadership practices to instructional guidance, she helps those she labors with to curate the causes and conditions for liberatory practice and liberated practitioners. She also co-founded Dharma Queens, a series of conversations on Instagram Live along with Lama Rod Owens, to help people get freer faster.

Fairooz

Global Retreats Manager

Marinated in London and a seasoned global spirit, Fairooz moves between borders, weaving together practices of community building, creative education, and embodied wellness. Their work spans event curation and management, DJing and music production, radio host, yoga instruction, and creative mentorship for young migrants—all guided by a commitment to intersectional social justice and decolonial frameworks for the global majority.

Fairooz draws inspiration from their travels, infusing their work with global perspectives and cultural exchange. Beyond their professional endeavors, they find joy in feline companionship, making hot sauce, tapping into mycelium networks and exploring the spice-rich culinary traditions across the global south. 

Their practice remains rooted in fostering collective liberation and nurturing spaces where transformative connections can flourish.

Mo

Accessiblity Coordinator

Mo (he/him) is a creative producer, curator, facilitator, and community organiser whose work bridges gaps and amplifies the voices of marginalised communities within the arts and healing spaces.

As Art Director of Shangri-La at Glastonbury Festival, Mo is driving cultural change by shaping programming and spaces that create genuine opportunities for people often excluded from the mainstream festival industry. He also serves on Glastonbury’s Diversity & Inclusion Board and its Accessibility Advisory Board, where his collaborative approach has helped influence festival-wide policies on accessibility and equity for artists, crew, and performers.

Mo’s life’s work—as both an activist and community organiser—has always been rooted in access: access to space, opportunity, and representation. His efforts at major events like Glastonbury have expanded accessible camping options, improved infrastructure, and fostered a more inclusive festival culture.

Holding an MA in Art and Politics, Mo’s research explored intentional spaces for queer empowerment, identity exploration, and spiritual connection through art, ritual, and archiving. He has worked with organisations such as Good Chance, mentoring and facilitating projects led by displaced artists.

Mo’s practice is also deeply informed by a long-standing spiritual journey. Guided by Buddhist philosophies and enriched through learning with plant medicine communities since 2012, he has studied plant medicine facilitation alongside Indigenous elders, integrating this wisdom into his creative and community work.

Liz

Retreat Coordinator

Liz (she/her) is based on the Isle of Wight, has attended our previous Spring retreats and is a volunteer facilitator of groups at Southsea Sangha. Liz spends her time working as a freelance artist / flagmaker / event producer, reading, writing, cooking vegan food for family and friends and learning to grow vegetables.

Stay tuned for more information on the retreats team.