This is your invitation to a magical weekend of heart-opening connection with the Earth, ourselves and each other. Together, we will share uplifting, empowering and fun practices, delicious food, space to talk and listen, sing and dance and play with an amazing team of facilitators. Don't miss out. All welcome!
Resting together in a beautiful rural retreat in amongst the hills of Derbyshire, we will experience the simplicity and beauty of heart community. Sharing simple practices for deep heart connection, sharing delicious meals together, and sharing in celebration of this sacred Earth, we have this opportunity to experience what real life can be.
We will also have quiet spaces where you can reflect on your own, taking the time you need for you. Many of us who feel the call of the Earth are very sensitive and need space as well as connection. At this heart-centred gathering, we aim to celebrate unity in diversity, to recognise that each of us is like a beautiful flower in the garden of Life. We are all wonderfully different, each contributing our unique gifts for the benefit of all, including ourselves.
All funds raised go to support the valuable community work of Sacred Earth Activism and the charity work of the Heart Of Living Yoga Foundation supporting underprivileged children in Sri Lanka, Brasil, India & the U.K. This event is volunteer-powered for the benefit of all.
“I give. You give. We all receive.” ~ Padma Devi, Founder of Heart Of Living Yoga
Outline Programme (see below to meet the team)
Throughout the weekend we will be creating a collaborative wish tree with cards to write your poems, prayers and wishes for our world. Tickets are available for the whole gathering (Thurs-Sun), weekend only (Fri-Sun) and day passes. If you would like to discuss other options for attending, please get in touch.
Thursday 16th July
4pm Arrive and settle in in your own time
6pm Dinner
7:30pm Welcome Gathering with introductions and heart connection
8:30pm Heart Song around the fire
10pm Heart Meditation before bed
Friday 17th July
7am Morning Heart Meditation with Vishwam
7:30 Earth Heart Yoga with Vishwam OR Extra Gentle Heart Yoga with Nati
These Heart Of Living Yoga classes are light-hearted and adaptable. You’re invited to listen to your own body and enjoy the peace and joy that come with heart connection. Please bring a mat & blanket.
9am Breakfast
10am Shamanic 'Walking Meditation' with DK Green OR Permaculture with Paula Moses
Walking Meditation: Enter a different kind of shamanic journey, receive wisdom from spirit through nature. Note: very gentle, minimal movement, no fitness required! Bring something to sit on outdoors.
Inspired by indigenous cultures, Permaculture is a way of working in harmony with nature to help create beautiful systems to support humans and other beings to thrive.
11:30am Tea Break
12 noon Midday Gathering for heart connection and sharing
1pm Lunch
2pm Sound Bath OR Heart Rest
Having a nice lie down after lunch is a great way to support digestion, increase energy and help us feel rested and alert for the rest of the day. Choose either a healing sound bath or heart-centred yoga nidra.
2:30pm Tea break
3pm There Are No Wrong Notes: Making collective joyful noise with Nimue Brown OR Sound Bath with Darren Clarke
Joyful Noise: Explore the sacred nature of sound and discover that anyone can sing!
4:30pm Free Time or
4:45 - 5:30 Divine Disco - come dance to some favourite tunes
6pm Dinner
7:30pm Special Kirtan with Matt Fox
Kirtan is a form of devotional chanting from the yoga tradition.
8:30pm Stories, songs & poems around the fire
Bring your own stories, songs and poems to share. We can either be outside for a big fire or around the fire place in the beautiful lounge upstairs.
10pm Heart Meditation before bed
Saturday 18th July
7am Morning Heart Meditation
7:30 Earth Heart Yoga with Vishwam OR Neigong (like chi gong) with Stef
Earth Heart Yoga is grounding, expansive and playful, helping us deepen our connection with Mother Earth and with the Heart of Life Itself.
Nei Gong: Internal arts of China from the tradition of Master Yang Zhuen Hua. With Love, Wisdom & Compassion, we redirect the Qi cultivated energy to organs as one of the central the focus points in this practice.
9am Silent Breakfast
10am Herb Walk & Herbal Tea Tasting Ceremony with Willow OR The Essence of Freedom with Nati & Vishwam
A former resident of Unstone Grange, Willow will introduce you to the local plants and help you to connect deeply with their gifts.
The Essence of Freedom is an exploration of the transformative power of honesty, compassion and love. The session will include practical skills and space to discuss spiritual practice and social change.
11:30am Tea Break
12 noon Midday Gathering for heart connection and sharing
1pm Lunch
2pm Sound Bath OR Yoga Nidra (deep guided relaxation)
2:30pm Tea break
3pm The Heart of Chanting with Chandhini OR Seeking Sacred Inspiration with Nimue
Sacred Inspiration: A bit of Druidry, some guided contemplation, some invitations to create, should be very chill.
4:30pm Free Time OR
4:45 - 5:30om Heart Yoga
6pm Dinner
7:30pm Heart of Thrutopian Writing with Vishwam
The Heart of Writing is a simple practice for inviting words to flow from a quiet, meditative space. Thrutopian fiction explores moving from where we are now towards our utopian dreams. We will have space to write whatever might come to us: poetry, short fiction, memoir, or any other form or formless writing that flows.
8:30pm Stories, songs and poems around the fire
10pm Heart Meditation before bed
Sunday 19th July
7am Morning Heart Meditation
7:30 Heart Flow Yoga OR Sun Veneration Yoga with Stef
Heart Flow Yoga is a beautiful way to let our hearts breath and our bodies flow in ways that feel good for each of us.
Standing Sun Salutations with chanting, chakras & internal energetics. There will be the suggestion of accessible versions of sun salute postures and movements for those who wish to skip the 8limbs and down dog poses.
9am Breakfast
10am Heart Chanting with Chandhini or Herbal Ointment making workshop with Willow
11:30am Tea Break
12 noon Heart Blessing of the Waters Ceremony
1pm Lunch
2pm Heart Rest OR Yoga Nidra with Kerrie
2:30pm Tea Break
3pm Closing Circle
4pm Floating Home with Happy Hearts
Meet the Team
Vishwam Gurudas Heckert is the founder of Flowing with Life where he offers Heart Of Writing, wellbeing coaching, permaculture teaching and men’s circles. Additionally, Vishwam serves the Heart Of Living Yoga Foundation as a heart minister, yoga teacher & trainer, and volunteer. Before diving so deeply into yoga and permaculture, he was a sociologist at the University of Edinburgh, among other places where he started his work on the Revolution of Love which continues to develop and evolve.
Vishwam also works in a primary school in Shetland which is great fun for him and all the children he works with. He loves to listen, learn and laugh. You can find out more about Vishwam by exploring FlowingWithLife.org
Nati is a Heart Of Living Yoga Teacher with a focus on extra gentle, seated yoga. They have been teaching yoga for 2 years and practising druidic shamanism for the past 7 years. Nati is also a writer of poetry, creative fiction and memoir. Her self-published book has touched many hearts and is used in spiritual gatherings in Alabama. They have a heartfelt commitment to social justice and have been involved in Women in Black, Trident Ploughshares, and other peace movements. Nati lives in Cambridge where they support others living with disabilities and small bookkeeping projects. She is also the bookings coordinator for Flowing with Life.
DK Green is a shamanic practitioner & celebration, holistic psychotherapist and writer based in Derbyshire. He was part of the organising team for Oak Spirit Shamanic Gathering held at Unstone Grange over the course of four years, which was one of the key inspirations for the Earth Heart Gathering. He has also run annual shamanic circles for self development, both in person and online. You can find out more about DK and his work here.
Willow is am a medical herbalist in the UK having completed a 3 year diploma in medical herbalism. She have a background as a medical doctor (Dr Jane Thompson ) and worked in the NHS for many years as a GP and in mental health and also in Jamaica where she lived for 7 years. Willow has always adopted a holistic approach to health care believing that the physical emotional social and spiritual aspects of our lives are interlinked. She found that lifestyle, social and personal stresses and nutrition were important root causes of chronic ill heath best addressed by identifying root causes and working with the body’s own healing abilities with natural and herbal care rather than pharmaceuticals. Willow believes that we are our own best healers and self empowerment and the reawakening of our often lost traditional knowledge of herbs is the key to regaining health. She is currently studying the effects of astrology on people and plants to connect more with ancient knowledge.
Nimue Brown is a Blind druid, writer, musician, folky, community orientated creature. Nimue completed the three levels of training with OBOD (Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids) and was involved for many years with The Druid Network. She is the author of numerous works of essays, poetry and fiction including Spirituality Without Structure: The Power of Finding Your Own Path, How to Fall in Love (poetry), and Druidry and the Darkness. Nimue is an accomplished singer and viola player who plays with the band Carnival of Cryptids as well as accompanying individual musicians. She has observed the power of singing together to nurture a sense of community and harmony — so needed in these times! — and is delighted to share her rich experience at Earth Heart Gathering. You can find out more about Nimue here.
Matt Fox is an aspiring Kirtaniya based in Bournemouth, where he has been sharing Kirtan (the chanting of mantra) locally since 2017. His journey into the unfamiliar world of Bhakti began through yoga teacher training and the profound inner experiences that followed. This sparked a deeper search across various spiritual traditions, ultimately leading him to fall in love with the practice of Kirtan—singing sacred mantras in community as a path of joy, devotion, and connection. You can hear his angelic voice on his Bandcamp page here.
Stef Podolczuk has taught Synergy since 2018 & hatha/vinyasa since 2014. He first started practicing in 2007 whilst studying music at university. Following a spinal injury which demanded daily practice for pain relief in 2010 to overcoming the pain of the injury, turns out it was a blessing.
Stef is a passionate healer and unstoppable believer in discovering the simple joy of moving through life greatly enhanced by our ability to prosper and overcome obstacles, physically, situationally, physically, emotionally and beyond the mind. Though his teaching takes the frameworks of yogāsana, he recognises yoga as a mental, ethical and physiologically focussed set of practices. He offers regular sessions to benefit his students new and old & he expresses that Synergy 5D flow approaches make the energetic possibilities of yoga available to anyone. You can find out more about Stef at his website here.
Chandhini is a Heart Of Living Yoga Teacher specialising in extra gentle heart yoga and meditation. She is a dedicated student of the sacred language of Sanskrit and her chanting and singing of mantra transports listeners directly to the undivided experience of Love Itself. Chandhini is a gentle soul who melts hearts everywhere she goes and she does find herself travelling more and more these days. She is not so easily found on the internet, but if you feel drawn to connecting with her, you can drop us a note and we’ll happily share it with her.
Darren Clarke is a well loved and experienced sound healer and Reiki Master whose sound baths are incredibly popular throughout the Midlands. We’re very lucky to have him joining us for this second annual Earth Heart Gathering. Darren has a huge heart and a warm and thoughtful presence. You can find out more about him and his work at CongeriesOfSound.
Kerrie Plowman is a yoga and meditation teacher based in Long Eaton and Nottingham. She loves sharing Hatha, Restorative, Yin and Body Balance practices. With nearly 20 years as a holistic therapist, she creates heart-led, nurturing spaces where you can relax, heal, and grow. You can find out more at her website here.
Dr. Paula Moses is a teacher educator and researcher with a background in primary teaching, senior leadership, and community education. She is also a qualified Introduction to Permaculture teacher and an apprentice teacher for the Permaculture Design Course which is offers a foundation in the permaculture approach to design and to life. Paula works with schools and community organisations on projects related to sustainability education, creativity, and enquiry-led learning as well as training new primary school teachers in her post at Goldsmiths University in London.
Pricing
Residential (shared room in the house with 2 or 3 beds): £350 for full gathering or £275 for weekend (Friday 4pm-Sun 4pm)
Residential (camping in the field): £320 for three nights or £245 for weekend
Non-residential: £250 for full gathering or £165 for weekend
Day Visitor: £80
Need concessions? Please ask. Maybe we can help. Have extra to give to support others? Donations welcome.
Bringing children? Please speak with us to make arrangements for your family.
Meals are included. We ask everyone to bring either a veggie pasta dish or curry dish to help keep the costs down and to enjoy the spirit of sharing together. If you have particular dietary needs, please bring sure to bring any special foods you might need.
Please note we have a strict no drugs/alcohol policy.
Click here to find out more about getting to Unstone Grange.
If you need help with transport, please let us know. Maybe we can help.
If you have any queries about anything at all, including payment plans or applying for bursaries, please get in touch here.
And if you have extra and would like to support those applying for bursaries, please let us know or purchase your angel ticket here.
This is a non-profit, volunteer-powered, community-nurturing event. Everyone is welcome!
