Retreat with Shamil Chandaria: Energy, Awareness & the Nature of Mind

An intimate gathering for 24 people with Shamil Chandaria, translating awakening into liberation and human flourishing. 

Shamil is a meditation researcher and thought leader in consciousness studies at both Oxford, Cambridge, Google's Deep Mind and Imperial College London. 

Drawing on the most recent scientific perspectives on how our minds construct experience, Shamil offers a clear framework that demystifies spiritual awakenings and a path towards greater human flourishing. His approach reveals how you can harness practices like meditation to systematically reshape your brain’s predictive processes, reduce suffering, and reconstruct a whole new experience of reality. 

For a complete guide to Shamil's approach, his "Rewiring your Reality" course is recommended for a complete guide to the philosophy & neuroscience behind it: https://dandelion.events/e/m9nea

Venue & Logistics:

Nestled in the heart of Dartmoor, Brimpts Farm boasts access to ancient woodlands and monuments, and has wonderful wild swimming spots on its doorstep.

There is very little reception there, so its an excellent chance to switch off!

Getting there: 
 

You are welcome to arrive and enjoy the land from 3pm, you'll get access to your room from 6pm and our first gathering will be for dinner at 7pm. 

Brimpts Farm, Dartmeet, Dartmoor, PL20 6SG, UK

Public Transport: Train or bus to Newton Abbot (30 mins away) then taxi or car share. (We will connect you in a Whatsapp group to arrange lifts.) 

Driving:

• From London - Go to Exeter, then follow directions.
• From Exeter - (40 minutes) take the A38 towards Plymouth:
  Take 2nd Ashburton turn off onto the B3357 to Two Bridges/ Princetown. Follow the road for 7 miles, past Dartmeet, up the hill, we are the 1st drive on the right.
• From Plymouth - (40 minutes) take the A386 towards Tavistock:
  Take B3212 at Yelverton to Two Bridges (via Princetown). At Two Bridges turn right onto the B3357 towards Dartmeet. Follow the road for 5 miles, turn left immediately after the Hexworthy turning.

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Your Booking Includes:

• 4 nights accommodation
• 3.5 full days of workshop (playshops)
• A life time of being headless!! (What more could you ask for? 🙂)
• Breakfast, lunch, dinner + snacks
• Access to hot tub and sauna
• Access to wild nature in the heart of Dartmoor, Devon
• Some people get enlightened, but there's no money-back guarantee 
  (Richard says everyone gets enlightened...🙂)

(Does not include travel to and from site)

• £200 of your ticket is non-refundable after 1st of March. This is to cover any admin costs if you choose to cancel and to support participants to be sure they can attend before purchasing a ticket. If we manage to find someone to fill your spot we can transfer your ticket to another retreat.
• We cannot offer any refunds after 1st May. With such short notice we are usually unable to fill your spot. If we (or you) do manage to find someone to fill your spot we can transfer your ticket to another retreat or refund you.
• Please be sure that you are able to attend the whole retreat before booking. We request that participants join with the intention of staying until the end of the retreat unless this has been discussed and arranged with us before booking your ticket and prior to the start of the retreat.

Accommodation:

All Rooms are en-suite

Private Room - You will have a room to yourself - £676
Shared Room - You will be sharing with one other - £575
Dorm Room - You will be sharing with three others - £474

Outdoor hut - On your own, unheated so consider weather conditions and how thick your skin is! - £474

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Facilitators

Shamil Chandaria

Shamil is a meditation researcher and thought leader in consciousness studies at both Oxford, Cambridge, Google's Deep Mind and Imperial College London. 

Drawing on the most recent scientific perspectives on how our minds construct experience, Shamil offers a clear framework that demystifies spiritual awakenings and a path towards greater human flourishing. His approach reveals how you can harness practices like meditation to systematically reshape your brain’s predictive processes, reduce suffering, and reconstruct a whole new experience of reality. 

Shamil offers an empowering synthesis of disciplines ranging from computational neuroscience and predictive processing to the nondual traditions of Buddhism, Vedanta and Kashmiri Shaivism. Shamil draws on 38 years of meditation and academic experience, having collaborated with some of the world's leading scientists in Bayesian brain theory, perception, artificial intelligence and psychedelic research. He is sought after by institutions such as the Centre for Eudaemonia and Human Flourishing at Oxford University and Google's DeepMind.

You can sample Shamil's work in the recent paper ‘A Beautiful Loop,’ or in podcast conversations with Sam Harris and FitMind.

• Senior research fellow at the centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, University of Oxford.
• Research fellow at the Institute of Philosophy, London University, where he focuses on philosophical issues in neuroscience and well-being
• Research fellow at Imperial College in the neuroscience of psychedelics
• Bye-fellow at Fitzwilliam College, Cambridge University.

“weaves together the latest ideas emerging in computational neuroscience, active inference, predictive processing, and the free energy principle into a compelling narrative of how our minds construct reality and indeed our ‘selves'.”

Constructing Self and World: A Conversation with Shamil Chandaria (Episode #320)

Amir Giles

"Amir had a beautiful facilitation style that created a really safe space and edged us all closer and closer to the edges of our existence to help us explore our connection and understanding of them more."

Amir runs several popular events exploring the nature of reality, perception and consciousness, drawing on the non-dual to the non-sequitur. He regularly facilitates meditation sessions, and is an avid practitioner of enquiry techniques inspired by non-dual and wisdom traditions from around the globe, as well as scientific studies that give validity to these experiences. He was a facilitator on The Finders Course, trained as a practitioner of Internal Family Systems Therapy, and in Vortex Healing. He has a background as a performer, movement coach and facilitator in work spanning cinema, TV, stage and festival.

TESTIMONIALS FROM PREVIOUS EVENTS

★★★★★ “I’ve never been on any meditation course (of any type) that involved so many smiles and so much fun - but that was also helpful and fascinating and profound.” - Talulah M.

★★★★★ "This is like studying Non-Dual meditation but without the pain in the butt of long sitting meditation as many of the experiments are active and interactive. Well worth attending…"

★★★★★ "As a vipasana "student" i found this workshop very useful and enjoyable. Will be recommending to all my headed friends :-)" - Mark J.

★★★★★ “I loved it - so simple and transformative, really an incredible gift of instantly changed perception offered through a quick and fun and funny workshop! Thank you Richard and Amir!” - Megan O'Hanlon

★★★★★ “The glimpses of what I experienced were revelatory. I felt very supported in the fellowship and in the experience and compassion showed by Amir. The Psychedelic society is much needed. Thank you” - Erika

★★★★★ “Amir created such a friendly, open atmosphere and guided us to explore lots of fascinating states of mind. He also has a good balance between facilitating but not being too dominant; it felt like a shared journey. Lovely bunch of people and it was also nice seeing the same people every week. Can't wait for further courses like this.” - Alice

★★★★★ “It was my first course with The Psychedelic Society and it didn't disappoint. It certainly opened doors to me and I really enjoyed many of the exercises and subjects. The group discussion and Amir's knowledge and leadership of the course was first class. The emails and content sent for each week were great and really insightful, also the social media communication and sharing and the Thursday night follow ups were excellent and appreciated. It's definitely something I would consider repeating in the future, because with all these courses they are easy to forget and require on-going attention.” - Robert

★★★★★ “Hugely enjoyed this course. It was the second PS course I'd attended, and the first one that was fully virtual, and I was impressed by how well organised the Zoom sessions were compared with many I've attended in more 'professional' settings (credit is due to Amir for being the only host of such an event who was able to actually use breakout rooms successfully!). The course topics and exercises were fascinating, the delivery was good natured and engaging, and it covered a huge amount of ground in a short space of time.” - Abi

★★★★★ “Great, deep stuff. Amir was a great facilitator and the space was peaceful and inclusive. I'll definitely come back” - Rupert

★★★★★ “Another stimulating and really well constructed course - thank you Amir! I am so grateful to have come to these practices this way, and to have had the chance to begin learning them amongst and from such lovely and supportive people” - Melanie

★★★★★ “This was a beautiful, beautiful event. It was peaceful and liberating, although surely some people might have felt other emotions. I appreciated a lot the fact that aside from nice words and a space, we were actually taught techniques and discussed them. Amir is a wonderful presence. Recommended!” - Giuseppe

Please Note: 

This retreat is not a replacement for personal therapy. We will be engaging in a range of exercises. If you are experiencing significant difficulties with your physical, emotional or mental health please contact us in advance of booking so we can explore if this is the right environment for you. We will invite you to share only what you feel comfortable expressing and encourage ongoing personal development following this retreat. 

Most of the food will be Vegetarian with Vegan options. If you have specific dietary requirements please let us know. 

We will be encouraging the retreat to be a no phone zone. Please arrange as much as possible to be free of communication commitments. If you need to be on your phone before and after sessions, you can be, but phones will not be allowed in the workshop space. 

REFUNDS: Please note that we do not arrange refunds or exchanges. We welcome swapping or reselling your tickets with people you know.