Sukhema was born in Illinois and has been living in Glasgow since 1981.  He has been leading retreats at Dhanakosa since the early nineties when it first opened. His day job is teaching tai-chi in healthcare settings including the Maggie Cancer Care Centre  where he also facilitates a therapeutic writing group.

His passions are poetry,dance, drama, gardening and wild swimming. He's the editor for Playspace Publications , a published poet and researcher for Art in Health.

Ratnadevi joined the Triratna Buddhist Order in 1982 and has been leading retreats at Dhanakosa and other retreat centres since then, on a regular basis.  Originally from Germany, she spent 5 years at Taraloka retreat centre for women and now lives in Glasgow where she teaches Yoga.

Since 2004 she has been facilitating MBCT courses and retreats; training and supervising healthcare professionals; teaching  mindfulness skills at Caledonia University to social work and psychology students, as well as offering one-to-one sessions.  

She is also a writer, visual artist and musician, holds an arts-based PhD and tends an allotment.  She seeks to bring an attitude of playful enquiry to all aspects of her work. Her website can be found at www.livingmindfulness.net

Linda France is based close to Hadrian’s Wall, near Hexham in Northumberland. Since 1992 she has published seven poetry collections with Bloodaxe, Smokestack and Arc, including The Gentleness of the Very Tall, The Toast of the Kit-Cat Club, book of days and You are Her. She has worked on numerous collaborations with visual artists and musicians, as well as public art projects. Linda also edited the ground-breaking anthology Sixty Women Poets (Bloodaxe 1993).

She is also a practising Buddhist, and has led retreats at Dhanakosa several times. She recenly won the National Poetry competition

http://www.poetrysociety.org.uk/content/npc30/npc2013/npc2013firstprize

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/mar/29/linda-france-national-poetry-competition-maggie-sawkins-ted-hughes-award

Open to all, these retreats are suitable for both beginners and those with more experience, but no previous experience is assumed. All these retreats include introductory meditation teaching and periods of silence.