Be still, listen, silence speaks.
Reconnect with your true nature.
― Leonora Carrington
Imagine a warm golden light flickering on the bay at sunrise.
Imagine you have arrived at this one-of-a-kind self discovery retreat, dedicated to exploring the ancient mystical celtic landscape.
Imagine your mind quieting with meditation and truly listening to the whispers of your soul.
Imagine starting each day immersed in the tranquil sound of silence and surrendering to a simple schedule of meditation, gentle yoga by the fire and qigong in the garden.
Experience the Wild Atlantic Way with refreshing wild sea swims, and warming wood fired saunas.
Imagine yourself at the Silver Birch Retreat where you will unwind, relax and discover inner peace and tranquility amidst the rugged beauty of West Cork, Ireland.
Mystical Adventures & Retreats 2024
Journey to the Silver Birch Spring Retreat
With Suzi von Mensenkampff, Sarah McLean and special guest Brent BecVar as your guides.
Some exclusive highlights to expect:
- Rewild yourself in a stunning natural landscape, with a supportive, open hearted community.
- Notice the synchronicities as they emerge organically guiding you to decode your intuition.
- Tune in to the mystery, the mystical and imaginal realms with virtual medicine and guides assisting your unfolding.
Seven Restful Nights & Seven Glorious Days
On arrival you will receive a warm, friendly, Irish - "Cead Mile Failte" - a hundred thousand welcomes!
All you have to do is book your flight to Ireland, and arrive at our very special retreat house in Glengarriff, West Cork on the 11th May and let us take care of everything else. The schedule commences at 5pm on Saturday 11th May and completes at 10am Saturday 18th May 2024.
Relax after your journey and settle in to our private secluded property. The Silver Birch Retreat House is set on its own exotic wild woodland, a native temperate 90 acre rainforest on the shores of Bantry Bay, offering beautiful sea views, with direct private access to the sea and every modern comfort you can imagine. We include plenty of down time during our retreats so you can explore the beautiful surroundings and truly rejuvenate in the local natural environment.
Each morning we will rise with the sun to meditate together, do some gentle yoga to warm up by the log fire and simple pranayama practices to start our day in the best possible way. After a leisurely breakfast of fresh local produce, you can take some quiet time to journal, swim in the sea or explore the surrounding woodland. This retreat offers you an opportunity to relax and unwind as you reset your body and mind. Connecting with the silent witness within, you renew your spirit and begin to follow your intuitive guidance, this helps to develop and strengthen your intuition.
Afternoons will include spiritual discourse with Brent and Sarah and some short journeys to explore the rugged, beautiful landscape of the celts and nearby ancient sacred sites. Imagine spending a day in silence, immersed in nature and experience merging with the subtle realms. You will be supported throughout the week by our experienced team as you learn new meditation techniques with sutra practices and deepen your connection as you listen to the gentle whispers of your soul.
All of your meals will include seasonal produce in vegetarian dishes, which we prepare together daily. The emphasis is to lighten your diet whilst providing complete nourishment to rekindle your digestive fire. Taste a prana rich diet comprising of a rainbow of colours and all six tastes to enliven your tastebuds and nourish your body. There will also be opportunities to eat out at local cafes (not included) when we are off exploring some of the local towns and villages.
Expect short hikes in nature, wild sea swimming, and an outdoor wood fired sauna experience. Evening activities will include a sacred fire ceremony and live music with Brent playing guitar and leading us in chanting and kirtan. We will play games and have cosy chats by the fire, maybe try something new and we will definitely lighten up, not taking ourselves so seriously with lots of laughter!
Breathe & Live the Wild Atlantic Way
Throughout the week we will meditate at least twice a day to help reset and establish your meditation practice and take time to do some deep soul writing and tune in to what wants to be seen and heard. On Friday evening our week together culminates with a celebratory dinner as we reflect on our mystical week together. On Saturday, May 18th the retreat ends shortly after breakfast so you can check out of our accomodation by 10am. Please arrange your local transport to take you back to Cork which is approx. 90 km. The journey takes just over an hour so plan your onward travel arrangements for that afternoon.
- All you have to do is simply book your flights to arrive in Ireland before Saturday 11th May.
- Flights can be booked into Dublin or Shannon Airports and you can take a train or bus to Cork.
- Alternatively fly directly into Cork International Airport. (Transit through London, Paris, Zurich or Amsterdam)
- Rent a car, and enjoy driving through the local towns, take a local bus or book a private taxi.
- We can offer you support when planning your trip and making your travel plans.
Booking Options
- All inclusive price: $2720.00 per person based on shared accommodation.
- Single Room: $3,168.00 limited rooms available.
There are many magical, hidden, treasures that you can look forward to visiting and experiencing.
Drombeg Stone Circle is a circle of 17 standing stones which on excavation showed that there had been an urn burial in the centre. It has been dated to between 153BC and 127AD. It is locally known as the Druid's Altar, and is easily accessible as it is located on the edge of a rocky terrace overlooking the sea.
Glengarriff Nature Reserve the setting here is spectacular, the woods are nestled in the sheltered glen opening out into Glengarriff Harbour. Above the woods rise the Caha Mountains, with their dramatic layers of sheer rock creating a stunning waterfall.
Gougane Barra is a scenic valley and heritage site in the Shehy Mountains of County Cork, it is at the source of the River Lee and includes a lake with an oratory built on a small island by St. Finbarr, the Patron Saint of Cork. It’s said that when he first arrived at Gougane Barra he was so blown away that he decided to build a Monastery on its grounds. The ruins of his Monastery can still be viewed today on the island that’s adjacent to the Church. You can also find the Cathedral built in his name (St Finbarr’s Cathedral) in Cork City.
OUR TEAM
Suzi von Mensenkampff, Ireland.
Born to teach, travel & transform.
Based in Ireland and born to travel Suzi has always been curious to explore what lies beyond the boundaries of limited thinking and cultural conditioning. Destined to teach, she discovered her unique purpose and dharma in 2011 by tuning in and listening to her intuition and following her guidance. This experience inspired by her passion for Ayurveda, Meditation and Yoga led her to a synchronous meeting with Dr. Deepak Chopra at the Chopra Centre in California. She listened to the whisper of her soul and graduated in 2012 as Ireland's first Chopra Certified Vedic Educator. She is renowned in her field for her natural ability to share Ayurveda, Meditation and Yoga in engaging, interesting and thought-provoking ways.
Suzi takes a compassionate approach to teaching and mentoring, she is supportive and sparks her clients natural curiosity, having the unique ability to meet her students where they are. With great ease she connects with people of all skill levels, both beginners and experienced alike. Suzi developed her skills as a teacher by continuing her studies in Meditation and Mindfulness at the McLean Meditation Institute (MMI) in Sedona, Arizona. She also serves as a mentor to MMI teachers in training within the Meditation Teacher Academy. She has also completed the Mindfulness@Work training at the MMI facility in Santa Barbara, CA. USA.
Integrated Wellness and Global Community Engagement:
As an Ayurveda Consultant Suzi offers personalised online consultations, she is passionate about living the teachings, and has expanded her knowledge and experience of Ayurveda to offer support to her private clients as they consciously connect all of the dots in their lives to see the bigger picture. Suzi provides guidance and empathy along with simple practical advice and tools to support their health and wellbeing, transforming their lives on a deep level. Suzi continued her study of Ayurveda between 2014 and 2018 with Dr. Shivani Sood at the Shivani Ayurveda Clinic in Dharamshala, India.
Suzi volunteered for five years as Group Leader with Yoga for Hope based in Kolkata, India. Her passion for travel has inspired her extensive travels throughout India and Bhutan taking guests on an unforgettable, life changing journey. She has spent many years creating Himalayan retreats and taking groups to sacred locations in both India and Bhutan since 2018. In recent years her retreat setting has been closer to home. Suzi creates unique experiences in the land of the ancient Celts, in Ireland for small intimate groups from around the world, check out her retreat schedule for 2024 for more details.
Every Monday at 5pm Ireland time, Suzi hosts a live meditation on zoom that everyone is welcome to join, sign up on the landing page for the link. With a variety of monthly online programs on offer, why not sign up for the occasional newsletter to stay in touch. As a volunteer with Feast for the Soul, she is committed to making meditation free and accessible for everyone, check out her meditations on YouTube, Soundcloud and Insight Timer if you can't make it to the live sessions.
Empowering Visionary Leadership and Personal Transformation:
In recent years Suzi has developed an executive coaching style that inspires creative visionaries who are ready to Invest ~Invoke ~Inform, her corporate intuitive model has been rolled out globally in companies across multiple sectors based in Europe, Canada, UK, UAE, and Asia Pacific. This collaboration continues to expand; connect directly to schedule her for a keynote presentation and to discuss developing a strategy to take your organisation to a whole new level of health, wealth and happiness. Suzi has never stopped learning, she has been researching, writing and developing new programs and practices to facilitate living in a constantly changing world, these develop the sixth sense and intuitive response. They are practical, experiential programs, and include; Spirit Cafe, Living with Awareness, Timeless Travel, Trust Your Vibe and Explore Your Quest.
Suzi has a natural gift and she has developed simple practices to get you started. When one develops trust and learns how to live with pure awareness they confidently start following their intuition - synchronicities multiply and life becomes a lot more fun!. Suzi lives by these mystical principles and is committed to mentoring you to take your next steps, she invites all modern mystics to join her and her expanding global community who are ready to answer the call to wake up!
Sarah McLean, USA
“I am dedicated to doing what I can to create more peace on this planet for every living being. I believe that when people learn how to meditate and practice every day, their awareness expands and they are able to cultivate their own personal peace. When each one of us is peaceful, it creates a more peaceful planet for everyone. That’s the kind of planet I want to live on.” – Sarah McLean
Sarah McLean is a contemporary meditation and mindfulness teacher who has been inspiring people to meditate since 1993.
Sarah first learned about meditation while training in the U.S. Army as a Behavioral Specialist to help soldiers address Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. After the Army and graduating from the University of Massachusetts, Sarah took a nine-month mountain bike journey from Europe to Asia seeking secrets to peace and fulfillment. When she returned, she began her daily meditation practice and studied mind/body health with Dr. Deepak Chopra in Lancaster, Massachusetts at the Ayurveda Health Center, a Transcendental Meditation community. After Deepak moved to California, Sarah became the Program Director for the Chopra Center for Wellbeing.
Sarah's Journey and Meditation Teacher Academy:
After eight years of being immersed in the world of Ayurveda, ancient wisdom, mind/body health, and meditation at the Chopra Center, Sarah took a sabbatical to seek the origins of meditation. She lived in a traditional ashram in South India for six months and was a resident at a remote Zen Buddhist monastery for two years.
Life after the monastery consisted of working with Gary Zukav in Mount Shasta, followed by becoming the director of Byron Katie’s School for the Work. In 2001, Sarah then moved to Sedona, Arizona where she opened a destination meditation center.
In 2011, Sarah founded the Meditation Teacher Academy at the McLean Meditation Institute in in Sedona, Arizona in order to train her students and others how to become effective meditation and mindfulness teachers. The 300-hour teacher training program incorporates a variety of meditation and mindfulness techniques and practices from a myriad of traditions and lineages. At the Meditation Teacher Academy, teachers learn to become clear communicators who bring meditation and mindfulness to any population or setting. Sarah is personally involved with each and every person who is enrolled and helps them uncover their unique skills and develop their personal power so they can go on to effectively teach their students to meditate and live more mindfully.
Brent BecVar, USA
Jyotish, in Sanskrit translated as “Science of Light,” is a profound and mathematically sophisticated form of astrology that originated in the ancient Vedic tradition of India. It describes how planetary patterns at the time of our birth give valuable clues in helping us understand our life’s journey. Through careful analysis of these cosmic influences, Jyotish Astrology can help us realistically evaluate our strengths and weaknesses in order to optimize our full potential.
By forecasting the changing trends and periods of our lives, Jyotish Astrology can enable us to make more evolutionary choices. It can help provide participants with valuable information in all areas of their lives and can offer practical remedial measures to help alleviate areas of difficulty, giving the confidence to manifest our true destiny and create success, happiness and harmony on all levels.
Birth charts are calculated and fully discussed by Vedic Counseling Program Director, Brent BecVar, M.S. Mr. BecVar has practiced astrology and counseling over the past 35 years, and has studied with respected teachers in this country and in India. He has worked directly with Dr. Deepak Chopra and the Chopra Center for Well Being as an administrator, teacher, and therapist for over 33 years. Brent is trained as a psychotherapist, certified yoga/meditation instructor, Ayurvedic educator, and is a longstanding member of the American Council of Vedic Astrologers.
Jyotish consultations last one hour and may be conducted in person but are typically given over Zoom.us, a free video conference platform. All sessions are recorded for participants and remain completely confidential.
Silver Birch Spring Retreat - West Cork, Ireland with Sarah McLean - May 11 - 18, 2024
Photos from Our Last Trip
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Things to Know
- International Flights (either side of tour).
- Tipping & gratuities
- Personal Expenses / Optional Activities
- Travelers Insurance
- Laundry services
- Any additional/optional services or tours not mentioned in the itinerary above.
To secure your booking, full payment for the reservation will be required at the time of booking. Please note that your booking will only be considered confirmed once the payment has been received.
Given the complex nature of coordinating travel, we understand that cancellations may occur.
- All cancellations must be made in writing.
- Cancellations made before February 7, 2024 will receive a full refund.
- Cancellations made between February 8, 2024 and February 22, 2024 will result in a refund of 50% of the full cost per person.
- Cancellations received between February 23, 2024 and March 8, 2024 will incur a refund of 25% per Person.
- Cancellations made after March 8, 2024 will not be eligible for a refund.
Please note that no refunds will be provided for unused services, including but not limited to transfers, city tours, accommodations, meals, or transportation that are not availed voluntarily.
We understand that unforeseen circumstances can arise, and we highly recommend that travelers consider travel insurance to safeguard their investment in the event of unexpected changes. Thank you for your understanding of our policy, as it ensures the smooth operation and the satisfaction of all parties involved.
By signing up to the Tour you agree to our Terms (as detailed in the "Things to Know" section herein), Cancellation and Refunds policy and Waiver. Guide of Egypt & its agents Saba Tours have worked diligently to make all the arrangements for our journey together in Egypt. However, Guide of Egypt & its agents Saba Tours and Gaia will not be held liable for delays, theft, damage, injury, or any other irregularities that may occur during the journey. We will not be held liable for any changes or delays in airline schedules or missed connections; injury, loss, or damage to persons or property; additional expenses resulting from changes in exchange rates, tariffs, or itinerary; any transportation issues or problems with vehicles utilized on the tour; additional expenses incurred due to illness, weather conditions, protests, war, terrorism, quarantine, or other causes; and losses due to cancellations not subject to our Terms and Conditions.
This Itinerary is subject to changes to adapt to possible alterations in domestic flight times or other unforeseen circumstances. The content will remain the same, barring any unanticipated complications, and will include many delightful “extras” and surprises.
We highly recommend that all participants obtain travel insurance. Travel Insured International offers insurance for trip cost, trip cancellation & interruption, and pays for loss due to unforeseen circumstance, death, injury, or illness to you or a member of your family. It also includes coverage for missed connections due to weather, pays for lost deposits due to the financial default of the airline, the tour operator, or cruise line. It pays for baggage delays, travel delays, medical expenses and emergency assistance.