Join Emma and Sue as we embark on a very special journey through the winter months…

Over the past few years, we’ve really fallen in love with the winter, embracing its invitation to retreat, revelling in the joy of cold water swimming and immersing ourselves in wintry words during the long evenings. We wanted to create an experience to share our winter love and provide an opportunity to continue the journey together begun over the summer with our journey through the elements mini-retreat series.

The result is our Journey Through Winter, a unique opportunity to gather in person in Quinton Old Rectory over the early part of winter with a monthly mini-retreat morning, whilst at the same time deepening our experience and our connection to the season with recommended reading (we’ll be using Katherine May’s Wintering to inspire monthly discussions) , journalling prompts and weekly seasonal inspiration.

We’re looking for 14 like-minded souls to join our journey. We’ll be meeting at 10am on the following dates:

• October 10 - Orientation

• November 7 - Prepare

• December 12 - Embrace

• January 23 - Sustain

Our 90 minute October session will involve a swim and an orientation meeting under the willow tree in the garden as we outline in more detail the programme for the season. Each of the other sessions will last for 2.5 hours and begin with a seasonally attuned yoga practice in the village hall (a minute’s walk down the footpath from the garden) before we brave the cold water for a dip in the swimming pond. After that, we’ll warm up in the kitchen with tea or hot chocolate and home-made cakes for sustenance as we chat about our own experiences of wintering and other seasonal topics.

The investment in the journey is £100, to include the 4 in person gatherings, a copy of Katherine May’s Wintering (or, if you already have a copy, a brand new journal - please email us after booking if you’d prefer this second option), weekly inspiration and journalling prompts and optional inclusion on a Journey Through Winter WhatsApp group.

You can secure a place on the journey with a £50 deposit. To pay this and reserve your space, click on the highlighted date on the calendar below and you’ll be taken to a payment screen. The £50 balance will be payable in October prior to the start of the journey, and we’ll send a reminder email a few days before this is due.

We’ll be continuing our fund-raising for the women of Afghanistan throughout this Journey too, so by joining us, know you’ll also be supporting other women with none of the freedoms we currently enjoy.