For most of us, living in the industrialised, automated, pre-programmed world might be productive, but it is also a drain on our vital energy. We get exhausted, sick, depressed, anxious, listless.
We perpetually look elsewhere for that magic ingredient that will return us to the natural joy we remember from childhood – films, music, art, shopping, other people’s output.
By contrast, the meditative practice of calligraphy brings our focus back to the beauty and harmony around us, while diving into our poetic depths reminds us of the beauty and harmony within.
Our worried, chattering minds are stilled. Without hardly noticing it, we achieve a state of tranquility and centredness that so much of our ordinary lives combats with caffeine, to-do lists, and social whirl.
Zende Creative Retreats are a specially formulated treatment for the condition of the modern human, administered in deliciously palatable, intensive dose over the course of four days.
We will be drawing on the deeply transformative Islamic arts of calligraphy and ecstatic poetry and combining them with intellectual enrichment, performance, yoga and a spectacular natural environment to give you the ideal opportunity to find your inner calm again.
We are currently devising a schedule for our first retreat, which will take place from the 24th to the 28th of April, to be held at the Hotel Taray, set amid luscious botanical gardens, in the Alpujarran mountains.
The Alpujarras – land of plenty
So far the programme will include calligraphy workshops daily with Asghar Alkaei Behjat (Nastaliq style) and Abd al-Lateef Whiteman (Andalusi style), ecstatic poetry workshops with Nimah Nawwab and Medina Tenour Whiteman, talks and performances from Abd al-Hayy Moore, Nimah, Medina and others, a seminar on Andalusi thinkers and writers by historian Tahira Larmore, a qasida (Andalusi traditional poem) singing workshop, yoga at dawn and lots of opportunities to take long walks in the Alpujarran mountains, discovering rivers, waterfalls and ancient Moorish sites with Ahmed Zaruq Summers of Granada-based tour company Al-Andalus Experience.
Click ‘follow’ to receive updates as we finalise the program and complete the web shop to book your place on the retreat!
Zende Creative Retreats 