Sound and Silence Retreat

A weekend of sound, silence and rest in the Tipperary countryside.

We arrive on Friday afternoon and finish on Sunday afternoon. In between there is sound, there is good food, there is a sauna, and there is a full day of silence on the Saturday. The instruments change across the weekend. Gongs, singing bowls, drums, chimes and voice.

Why February

February is a quiet time of year. We're into the new year, and it's a good time to shake off the heaviness of January and take a weekend to reflect before the year really gets going.

It will be cold. The fires are lit, but the nights are cold, so wrap up. There are blankets for every session, and the sauna is there when you want to warm through.

Why sound, and why silence

Sound gives your attention somewhere to rest. A gong or a bowl fills a room completely, and once it does, you stop having to hold yourself together with thinking. That is most of what a sound bath is. You lie down, the sound arrives, and you don't have to do anything to meet it.

Silence does the other half of the work. Most of us produce words all day long, and a great many of them are for somebody else's benefit. Take the words away for a full day and it goes quiet on the inside as well as the outside. The first hour feels strange. After that, most people stop wanting it back.

A silent meditation is not a harder version of a guided one. It is an easier one. Nobody is talking you through it, so there is nothing to follow and nothing to get right.

So the weekend has both, the whole way through. Sound in every session, and a full day of silence around them on the Saturday.

You don't need any experience with sound or with meditation. You need to be able to lie down and rest, and you need to be willing to set your voice down for a day.

Where and when

• Hollyford Retreat, Hollyford, Co. Tipperary
• Friday 19 February 2027, arrive from 1pm
• Sunday 21 February 2027, finish at 1pm
• Residential. Two nights, all meals included.
• Eight places.

Book your place

Your room

• A room to yourself. €650. Four places.
• Twin-share. €570. Four places.

Twin-share means sharing a room with one other person on the retreat. If you're booking with a friend and want to share with them, email me after you book and I'll put you together.

Rooms of your own are limited and they tend to go first.

Book a room to yourselfBook twin-share

Friday

We meet in the afternoon from 1pm. Introductions, a cup of tea, and some sound to settle everyone in.

Dinner in the evening. Later on, a sound bath.

That sound bath is where the silence begins. When it ends, nobody speaks. Go to bed, or sit up a while by the fire. All of it in silence.

Saturday, the silent day

Saturday is silent from the moment you wake until you go to sleep. Nobody talks. Not at breakfast, not on the walk, not in between sessions.

The day opens with silent cacao. Across the rest of it there is a mix of:

• Silent meditation
• Silent gong meditation
• Silent bowl meditation
• Silent walking in the fields and lanes around the house
• Silent lunch and silent dinner
• The sauna, if you want it

In the evening there is a sound bath, and after that you are free. The sauna is lit. Stay up, go back to your room, sit and do nothing. Still without speaking.

The order of the day is not fixed in advance. It gets shaped around the people who are in it.

You can step out of any session and go back to your room. Leaving quietly is part of the day, not a failure of it.

Sunday

Sunday morning opens with a cacao meditation, and that is where the silence lifts.

Then we sit and share. What the day was like, what came up, what you are taking home with you. That is usually the part people remember most.

Lunch, and we finish at 1pm.

About the silence

A day without speaking sounds harder than it is. Most people find the first hour strange and then find they don't want it to end.

• Bring a notebook. Writing is allowed and most people do a lot of it.
• Leave your phone in your room for the Saturday if you can.
• You are not being tested. If you need something, come and find me.

What's included

• Two nights' accommodation
• All meals from Friday dinner to Sunday lunch, plus tea and snacks throughout
• All sound sessions, meditations and walks
• Cacao on the Saturday and the Sunday
• Use of the sauna
• Mats, blankets, bolsters and pillows for the sound sessions

What to bring

• Warm, loose clothes and layers. It's February and you will be lying still.
• A warm coat, a hat and gloves. The walks are outside and the nights are cold.
• Thick socks and something to wear indoors
• Boots or shoes you don't mind getting muddy
• A towel and something to wear in the sauna
• A blanket of your own if you like your own
• A notebook and a pen
• A water bottle

Booking

• €570 twin-share, all inclusive
• €650 for a room to yourself, all inclusive
• A €240 deposit secures your place, whichever room you choose
• Balance due by Friday 22 January 2027

Book a room to yourselfBook twin-share

You pay the €240 deposit now. I will send you the link for the balance closer to the time.

If the cost is the thing standing in your way, email me and we'll work something out.

Cancellations

• The €240 deposit is non-refundable.
• The balance is refundable in full up to Friday 22 January 2027.
• After that date, if you can't come, your place can be passed to someone else. Let me know and I'll help sort it.

Questions

Email harmony@revival.ie and I'll answer you myself.