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.

Jayaraja has been a practicing Buddhist and meditation teacher for over 25 years and he has been part of the team on several four month ordination retreats. He has a diploma in Gestalt psychotherapy and has studied interpersonal neurobiology, attending workshops and conferences with Dan Siegel amongst others. He trained over a number of years with Marshall Rosenberg in Non-violent Communication. He is also a co-author of the Yellow book of Games and Energizers and "Live" life skills for teens. 

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.