Connect with Life weekend retreat
12th Sep 2025 - 14th Sep 2025
start 18.00, end 16.00
Tuition & food £350 - £250, camping, glamping or non-residential options
Led by: Clare Palmer | Contact Clare


Transform the way you communicate at this weekend countryside retreat. A small friendly group, learning and practicing how to connect with ourselves and others to bring more joy to life.
Would you like to:
Understand what your needs are, and how to meet them better?
Learn how to really hear other people – and how to be heard better yourself?
Change habits and patterns that make relationships harder?
Resolve conflicts in ways that work for everyone?
Bring more peace and compassion to your relationships and your life?
Based in the proven principles of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a globally recognised approach developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, inspired by Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
This weekend workshop with accommodation options is suitable for all – if you’re new to NVC or want to dive deeper and get more practice with support from an experienced trainer.
Interactive learning sessions are combined with time to relax and be in nature, with delicious food and the nurturing surroundings of an organic smallholding in Essex.
Outcomes:
Practical tools and methods to help you connect with your underlying needs and values and those of the people around you
Greater confidence to tackle those difficult conversations
Insights from internationally certified NVC trainer with 20 years’ experience, Clare Palmer
Certificate in Foundation in Nonviolent Communication (NVC) qualifying you for higher level training
Large communal indoor sitting room. Private garden with firepit. Woodland, organic orchard, beautiful and peaceful permaculture environment to enjoy. Come on your own or with friends or partner. Delicious veggie / vegan food included. Camping, glamping or stay off site. Hot showers, loos, phone charging available. Two full days of workshop sessions, all optional.
Topics covered:
Origins and philosophy of NVC; The power of feelings and needs; The four aspects of empathy; From conflict to connection; Why accurate observations matter; Asking for what we want; Self empathy and mourning the past; Language that disconnects; Expressing what’s underneath our anger; Responding to a painful message; NVC ‘Dance Floors’ – spatial exploration of a difficulty, with one-to-one coaching
Led by Clare Palmer, certified trainer in Nonviolent Communication. Clare has hosted dozens of gatherings and been offering training in NVC for more than 2 decades. She has a particular interest in integrating nonviolence with our lives and in living with grief and loss. She loves being in touch with the changing seasons and being with other people in warmth and friendship.
Hosted by Ian Warder, owner of Peach and Pippin organic fruit farm See peachandpippin.com for more on our venue.
Who is this weekend for?
All are welcome with or without previous experience of Nonviolent Communication or similar approaches. We intend to offer a space where people of all backgrounds and life experiences are accepted, have a voice and take part. Maximum group size 12 people.
Main meals will be vegan with vegetarian and some gluten-free options. Hot and cold drinks, fruit and snacks are included and will be available throughout the day. Participants will be asked to contribute to supporting our physical needs during the weekend, whether by chopping veg, making coffee or breakfast, washing up or taking care of the fire. For the comfort of all, we ask you not to bring alcohol for consumption on site or to smoke where other people may be affected.
Ticket prices – attendance
Including dinner Friday & Saturday, breakfast & lunch Saturday & Sunday, hot drinks and snacks, 2 days teaching, firewood (accommodation optional & charged separately)
Friday 6 pm – Sunday 4 pm – £350/ £300 / £250 per adult sliding scale, choose what you can afford. Arrival from 2 pm Friday if you wish, event starts with circle at 6 pm and dinner.
Accommodation options on booking form
Feedback from retreat held in June 2025
‘I felt very safe during the workshops and knew that they would be balanced and well handled. Clare doesn’t let talkative people dominate and she encourages participation from quieter people too, if they want. She is very good at reliably managing timings, in a kind way, that really helped me feel secure and that I could trust I knew what was going to happen, and when.’ J
‘I’m feeling so good. The week at [retreat] was a life changer’. O
‘Thank you so so much – a transformative and helpful time for us both’. W
‘I just wanted to repeat my gratitude for [the retreat] and for you being such an able facilitator and manager of the space all with a very welcome stable neutral energy. Quite a feat given the ever changing numbers of people each day’. H
‘I was away from here for a whole week, making home […] amongst the trees in the beautiful established orchards . It was an incredible week meeting new people and having time for deep connection with long time friends. Learning more about how to communicate with people and connect with my own needs and feelings and how to value other people’s feelings in a safe and held beautiful space.’ W