“The mind can go in a thousand directions, but on this beautiful path I walk in peace. With every step the wind blows. With every step a flower blooms.”

Do you also need intense peace, a powerful sense of connection and genuine joy? Come to the meditation weekend of Bezielen op de Veluwe and experience the power of meditation on a deep level. Meditation is a valuable tool, teaching you to deal lovingly with thoughts and feelings. See how meditation, yoga and mindfulness come together in this weekend. It lays the seeds for a lasting, healthy relationship with yourself and your environment.

What: Meditation, mindfulness and yoga weekend; retreat with Meditation, yoga, mindfulness and participating in life at the ashram.
When: from Friday to Sunday
Dates 2023: August 11 – 13 / October 20 – 22*.
Where: Ashram Sada Shiva Dham in Loenen, Gelderland / *Tibetan monastery Maitreya in Loenen
Experience: We organize this weekend 6 times a year since 2007
What is the weekend not: whole day on pillow meditating in silence
Participants: approximately sixteen (mixed).
Cost: €395,- / *€545,-.
Sign in: Bottom of page
Other: the meditation weekend is good preparation for the trips to the Himalayas in India that Bezielen regularly organizes.

*Please note:
Aug. 11 – 13: Ashram Sada Shiva Dham in Loenen €395, – p.p.
Oct. 20 – 22: Tibetan Monastery Maitreya in Loenen €545,- p.p.

Introduction

We are no longer used to following the voice of our hearts in Western life. Our minds drown out the whispers of the heart. We react from our judgments and expectations. Engage in an open encounter with yourself on this meditation weekend. You gain insight into learned patterns so you can allow love back in. With a little effort, it becomes a spiritual experience that has a deep impact.

Meditation

Meditation is probably as old as man himself. It is practiced in various ways all over the world. It is a form of thought training that teaches you to experience the now more consciously: your thinking, sensory impressions, your physical feelings and emotions.

There are many forms of meditation, with as many different techniques and connected rituals. They are all aimed at arousing and training a particular feeling or state of mind: this may be concentration, love, or compassion. Scientific research has now proven that meditation has numerous positive effects on the body, mind and your state of mind.

The meditation weekend

On the meditation weekend in the Veluwe you will be able to experience this for yourself. On the meditation retreat, you will experience the difference between living on autopilot and living with open attention.
Sensations, feelings, thoughts; they come and go. You will learn to look at this in a friendly and interested way during this weekend.

We practice different forms of meditation; active in conscious physical exercises, walking meditation or chanting mantras. And, of course, the most familiar form: sitting meditation. Body, mind, heart and soul are all addressed.

Location meditation retreat

The meditation weekend will take place at the ashram Sada Shiva Dham in Loenen (Gelderland). The ashram is located on the Veluwe as an oasis of tranquility. The ashram is built on a large plot of land at the edge of the forest, with a beautiful garden. An herb and vegetable garden are also available. You can help sow and reap here through karma yoga. In recent years, the complex was expanded to include a larger temple. This was partly thanks to the help of participants in our weekends, who did their part with karma yoga.

Monastery Activities

We participate in a number of regular monastic activities, such as the havan (meditation by the fire), and the aarti (meditation with mantras). Another regular part of the meditation weekend is karma yoga. This consists of physical work at the ashram, such as helping with ayurvedic cooking and work in the herb and vegetable garden. The goal of karma yoga is to achieve meditation through activity. We divide the day into two so that afternoon rest can be taken. You are always welcome to do your own thing, provided the ashram is not disturbed. If you prefer to skip a workshop or the meditation one time, this is possible by mutual agreement.

Surroundings

Location of the meditation weekend is Loenen, a village on the Veluwezoom. There is plenty of nature in the area. Take one step outside the ashram and you are in a beautiful forest. Of course, we will also go hiking here. The waterfall found in this forest is, at 15 meters, the highest in the Netherlands.

Another attraction is the steam train, which runs between Apeldoorn and Dieren and also calls at Loenen in between. So you could even come by steam train! (look here for the schedule) Finally, a stone’s throw from the ashram is the stately 16th century Castle Ter Horst.

Supervisors

Linda Koeman is a yoga teacher and certified instructor in the Wim Hof Method. She also found depth in a 10-day silent retreat in vipassana meditation and attended a 21-day Ayurvedic body cleanse in the Indian Himalayas. Linda creates an authentic, loving and safe environment that makes the activity you take with her an unforgettable experience for you.

Linda trained as a yoga teacher in India. This traditional Indian yoga training gave her an authentic foundation in all facets of yoga. Combined with the many insights the 10-day silence retreat in vipassana meditation gave her, this provides valuable depth.

Anjani de Bie is daughter, sister(s) mother and grandmother. Her roots are in India and she came to the Netherlands as a 1-year-old. Thanks to her wonderful parents, she was introduced to the path of Yoga as a child. At age 7, she first met a Guru and there the seed was planted.

In 1979, a Guru came and organized a yoga camp. There they first learned Dhyana (meditation) and Pranayama (breath), for Anjani today still the most important parts of Patanjali’s 8-fold path.

Years later, she started my very first yoga teacher training in 2005 and got much more in touch with the physical part of yoga. Through Yoga and Meditation classes, workshops, courses and yoga teacher training, among others, she enjoys passing on her knowledge and experience to others. She herself has been practicing Yoga and Meditation off and on for many years and still does so with great pleasure and love. Still there is a lot to learn. Each time she discovers a new layer, a deeper meaning. Yoga, Dhyana and Pranayama has become an important part of her life and has shaped her into the person she is today.

Lara from Roest is a lawyer and yoga instructor. A beautiful combination, in which she can give full scope to her curiosity and interest in what moves people, what they need and what can help them. She knows better than anyone how important it is to keep your balance (and that it is sometimes difficult). Yoga and meditation help Lara with that, in addition to walking on the beach and traveling.

Lara finds theinterplay of body, head, breath and energy, balance and imbalance and what you can do in that with yoga and meditation incredibly fascinating. She is trained in yin yoga, yoga nidra, restorative yoga, among others. She also specializes in yoga for stress and burnout, chair yoga and yoga for Parkinson’s and yoga for cancer, among others. She has been teaching group classes and workshops for several years, and Lara also teaches private classes and online corporate yoga. Her classes are down to earth with depth.

The ashram’s amazing team supports this yoga, meditation and mindfulness retreat.