Courses, workshops & retreats

Our curriculum is deeply experiential, drawing on your own rich and diverse life experiences, and using this to shape explorations in class. This leads to opportunities for deep self-reflection, opens us up to hearing diverse perspectives and allows us to continually meet others with love and respect. The world is our classroom, and for each of us to be in sacred service, however, this may look for you, our work must remain connected to the world in which we live.

At the heart of the curriculum is recognising the inherent worth and sacredness of ourselves, and being able to recognise this in others; allowing us to come into loving relationships with ourselves and others. We draw on the principles of nonviolent communication to see how we may engage with difference and continue to work with love. Deep empathic listening is the golden thread that connects each aspect of our curriculum.

The Cherry Tree Path follows both an inner and outer curriculum. The inner curriculum refers to our relationship with ourselves and the Divine. This aspect of the curriculum follows a self-reflective process for growth and development, whereby in deeply listening to ourselves, we become more attuned to our internal landscape and able to access our inner wisdom. This is an essential part of the work as we move towards the outer curriculum; who we are in the world. The outer curriculum examines our relationships with that which is not within us, how our inner work manifests in the world and in our relationship with others.

Deep Listening Skills: We emphasise truly listening – a practice that involves not just our ears, but also our hearts. By understanding and acknowledging the experiences and viewpoints of others, we develop our ability to communicate with empathy. This deep listening fosters a personal connection that transcends words, opening a gateway for genuine understanding and dialogue.

Self-Reflective Practice: We explore helpful models, theories and practices and encourage grounded, holistic forms of spiritual practice, including physical forms of energy and bodywork, which resource us in our self-development, nurturing and informing our self-care and self-awareness. A key aspect of this strand is the development of self-reflective practice, as we encourage reflecting on our own life experiences and the emotions tied to them.

Spiritual and Pastoral Service in Community: Born from a desire to bring people together after conflict, we work on ways to build peace within ourselves and our communities. We aim to contribute to a healthier society and a better planet by learning how to resolve conflict in a kind and inclusive manner.

Ceremony and Ritual: We reflect on the power of ritual and ceremony at the heart of family, faith and community, as we journey through the stages of life and death. We focus particularly on sacred elements of ritual and on the major rites of passage around baby blessings, partnership or marriage blessings and funerals and how we bring our own creativity to these timeless expressions of humanity.

Ministry of Spiritual Accompaniment: Putting our deep listening skills into practice by offering support just like a trusted friend would do. We learn to be truly present for others, holding space for heartfelt conversations, and walking alongside them without judgment.

Faith Paths and Worldviews: We explore core principles of the world’s religions faiths and spiritual traditions, cultivating respectful, hospitable attitudes to cultural and religious differences through empathy and an experiential willingness to ‘walk in the shoes of the other’; we practice empathy, and look to finding the common ground in the basic human capacity for love.