Guidelines for Retreat Co-Ordinators

Community of Interbeing

Guidelines for Retreat Co-ordinators

Guidelines for a Retreat Co-ordinator

The main aspects of co-ordinating retreats are communication and reducing suffering. Looking deeply at these two aspects, you will see that the one contains the other: a good communicator will use loving speech and listen deeply as well as being well-organised, and someone whose priority is to reduce suffering will communicate well.

If you’re new to organising retreats, it will help you to talk to someone who has done the job before. Always ask if you’re unsure of anything.

1. Find venues and book events

Liaise with the Retreat facilitator (usually a Dharmacharya) to ascertain dates prior to booking venues. Endeavour to find venues in different parts of the country, if possible. (List of possible venues to follow.)

2. Select a team of people:

·  Bookings co-ordinator(s)

·  Guest Master(s)

·  Food co-ordinator(s)

·  Shrine room co-ordinator(s)

·  Work co-ordinator(s)

It’s always a good idea to have more than one person for each job; preferably someone experienced plus a second body who can learn and then pass on their knowledge. The bookings co-ordinators should ideally be selected early on in the process, before advertising, so that people who want to book early may do so. The others can be chosen from the people attending the retreat. Make sure you have all their contact details and those of the Dharmacharya leading the retreat.

Your main contact in the beginning will be with the Bookings Co-ordinators, who will pass on the details of the retreatants as they come in.

3. Advertise the Event

In the ‘Here & Now’ and Mindful Mailings. You can also approach Martin Pitt and Andrew Coleman to advertise the event on the two websites. It’s important to state clearly the venue, date and timings of the event so that people can book their transport, arrange time off work, childcare etc. in plenty of time.

4. Acknowledge Bookings

The Bookings Co-ordinator will acknowledge the deposit/payment and forward the details on. This information should be in an Excel spreadsheet and should include any special requirements (eg single room, ground floor room, special dietary needs). If these requirements are unclear, or if the need cannot be met, it’s important to contact the person regarding this. An acknowledgment of all bookings to say that further information will be available nearer the time, will be helpful. Again, it’s a good idea to include the venue (including post code), date and timings of the retreat.

5. Liaise with other Co-ordinators and Dharmacharya Leading Retreat

Ensure that each of the Co-ordinators have received a guideline sheet for their particular task.

Guest Masters: The Guest Masters should have a plan of the accommodation so that they can allocate rooms according to gender and special requirements. Check with them regularly to make sure everything is running smoothly. You may want to give names to the rooms based on the theme of the retreat, and also to the Dharma Sharing groups. It’s a nice touch to have gathas in the rooms and bathrooms (washing hands, brushing teeth, waking up etc).

Food Co-ordinators: They should know how many people to cater for and have the menus sorted a month before the event. Orders for food should be placed, preferably 2 weeks beforehand, for supplies either to be collected or delivered to the venue, to be sure of everything being available. Make sure they’re aware of the number of gluten-free people and any other food issues (we can’t always accommodate every need and it should be made clear that some people may want to bring their own special dietary foods). The food should be vegan. If the food co-ordinators live some distance from the venue, it’s worth identifying people who are closer who may be able to help with transportation of supplies. It is important that the Food Co-ordinators arrive early to sort out the food into boxes/bags for each meal, clearly labelled, and to cook the first evening meal. If someone can make some soup and freeze it (or do the initial cooking of the vegetables, freeze it and add stock on the day), it can really save a lot of time and keep the energy calm on the first day.

You may want to identify people to help with supper preparation on the first evening, prior to the event.

Shrine Room and Work Co-ordinators: Make sure they know what to do and what to bring. For working meditation, you may want to print out some rota sheets, or make sure the Co-ordinators do so. See also note regarding longer retreats.

Ensure there are plenty of bells being brought.

Ask all the members of the Co-ordination team to write down the items they bring to the retreat and check it when they leave, to make sure they take all their belongings with them.

6. Send out Joining Instructions

This can be done either by you or the Guest Masters and should be done about 3 weeks before the event. It should include address of and directions to the venue, including train stations and information about parking availability. If people have requested a lift from the train station, there should be people available to do this and a rota drawn up if people are arriving at different times. Also include in the joining instructions what to bring, and an explanation of our practice. An example is attached.

There may be some cancellations and if there is a waiting list, the Bookings Co-ordinator will advise you and you will need to send the information to the new attendees. At this stage you will need to keep in touch with all the Co-ordination team, making sure everyone is confident about their role and any wrinkles ironed out.

7. Arrive early at the Retreat! Remember to breathe in and out and carry the Buddha in your heart.

8. Feedback Forms

Have enough of these printed for each person on the Retreat and hand them out at the beginning, so that they can write things down as they come to mind. Then remind them on the last evening to hand them in and where to do so. You can collate the feedback afterwards. (Sample attached.)

Additional notes

For a longer retreat of 5 days or more, it’s helpful to have a rota for Working Meditation. You will need to liaise with the Retreat leader for this, so you know what the programme will be and how many people will be in each Dharma Sharing group. You can decide between you what to call the groups and then draw up a rota for each task and put each group together for their own tasks. This is a wonderful way for everyone to get to know the people in their Dharma Sharing groups much better, to work together in mindfulness, and also to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to participate in Working Meditation! (Example attached.)

Guest Master

·  You will need to provide your contact details to the retreat organisers for distribution to those who may have accommodation queries before the retreat.

·  Try to contact someone who has been a guest master at this location before, to give guidance and advice.

·  Contact venue for site plan of rooms and number of beds.

·  Communicate with bookings person to find out if some retreatants will have mobility requirements. If this is the case contact venue to make sure provisions are made for those with disabilities.

·  Find out what kind of bedding requirements will be met by the venue. Will guests need to bring their own bedding or sleeping bag? Will towels be provided? Will there be the option to pay for use of bedding, if someone has forgotten to bring theirs?

·  Allocate rooms, with consideration to: Disabilities, Male/female privacy, snores, light sleepers, proximity to bathrooms and families with children.

·  Set up sign posting if the venue is hard to find.

·  Optional Creativity, you may also wish to make your guests feel welcome by: Placing simple flowers in the rooms, giving the rooms names by making door signs, or placing welcome cards on the beds.

·  Set up a tea station for the arriving guests close to where you will meet them and show them to their rooms.

·  Find out the emergency procedure, in case of fire, and announce these during the retreat introduction session. This is also a good time to make house-keeping announcements.

·  Be sure to make yourself available during the retreat to attend to any issues that may arise from the retreat participants concerning their rooms.

·  When packing up, check all the rooms for left over belongings and take note of anything broken.

Food Co-ordinator (creates recipes, purchases food, organises food preparation. Tenzo is the cook during retreat)

·  Try to make contact with someone who has led this role in this location before, for guidance and advice. Also find out who will pay your expenses and liaise with them.

·  Create a vegan menu. Try to be mindful of potential food allergies where possible. Consult with the retreat booking team on special dietary requests. Community members may suffer with gluten intolerance, for example. During family retreats we allow a small amount of dairy to be included, to help children feel comfortable with an alternative diet eg: milk with breakfast, cheese with supper.

·  Pasta is a useful staple for children.

·  Try to keep food simple - quiet foods lead to quiet minds! Avoid providing too many options, this tends to lead to anxiety. Minimise the use of onions and garlic, avoid using too many hot spices. Evening meals should be light, for instance soup and bread, followed by fresh fruit. Please only include beans up to once daily to avoid flatulence.

·  Recipes: feel free to use your own recipes. Be sure to get the weights and measurements right for large numbers, by double checking. Other options are to contact (vegan chef with lots of recipes) or look online at www.food.com (will magically calculate the amount of ingredients you will need when you tap in your number of heads to feed).

·  Keep recipes simple and easy to prepare, you will usually only have help from retreatants for one hour each day (during working meditation in the morning). If the recipes are simple enough, it’s possible to prepare both of the main meals during this time. This way you only need 30mins before each meal to heat the food and set up.

·  Usually it is good not to plan anything too extravagant for the last meal, as there are often quite a lot of left overs to use up. It is a good idea to leave this meal open to creativity and buy in some non-perishable food items for it (which can be saved for another retreat if they are not used).

·  Find local food suppliers where possible, organise food collection or pick up, with plenty of time allowed to prepare for the first meal and set up.

·  Think about utensils you will need for your recipes: will certain items be provided, contact venue to find out (hand blender for example).

·  Find out if tea towels, washing up liquid, cloths, bin bags, etc. will be provided?

·  When setting up take time to make sure you know where the first aid kit is.

·  Organise a system for recycling, rubbish and compost.

·  Set up a left over table with a donation bowl at the end of retreat, to distribute perishable foods. Non-perishable foods can be saved for another retreat.

Shrine Co-ordinator

Discover what kind of sitting comfort will be provided: cushions, mats, chairs, floor type (carpet or wooden floors). Have retreatants been asked to bring their own cushions or stools?

·  Ensure that retreatants are invited to bring something for the ancestors’ shrine, and informed about the type of floor they will be sitting on. They may like the option to bring mats and/or blankets if the floor is not carpeted.

·  Collect flowers from home or locally to the venue (with permission). Avoid buying bunches of flowers where possible (these are often air freighted to the UK). Feel free to be a little creative with your shrine set up. Consider complementing the theme of the retreat. The shrine area will be a focal point during the retreat. (You may want to put little notes of Thay’s insights all around the shrine. This has the effect of retreatants coming up to the shrine and engaging with it).

·  Bring enough decorative items, candles and incense for the Ancestors’ Shrine. Invite attendees to bring photographs of ancestors for this.

·  You may like to bring a photo of Thây, but please do not place this on the main shrine or on the ancestors’ shrine, rather somewhere off to the side.

·  Check with Retreat Co-ordinators and Facilitators that sufficient bells will be available. Retreatants may like to bring a bell also. You can never have too many bells!

·  Think about the ambient temperature and ventilation of the room and how this will affect general comfort.

·  Ensure that the meditation room is set up appropriately for each activity. It is good to ask for help at the appropriate times to shuffle things to their new position, for the next activity.

·  Check with the venue that candles and incense are allowed and that they will not set off fire alarms. Be certain that any candles and incense used are extinguished at the end of each activity.