Belonging: Manchester Urban Retreat

 Booking deadline extended to Wednesday 24th June, 15:00 UK time (BST).

Discover our urban retreat: an accessible, beginner-friendly way to experience the magic of in-person mindfulness practice.

🔹 Event Type: In-person retreat (non-residential)
🗓 Dates: Friday 26th & Saturday 27th June
📍 Location: Luther King House, Manchester (UK)
🎟 Tickets: £320 (meals included) with reduced rates available
✳️ CPD: Yes, plus we're a BAMBA-approved organisation
🙋‍♀️ Suitable For: Anyone who has been practising mindfulness for 3+ months. 

Jump to Booking

Enjoy a restorative meditation retreat in the heart of the city of Manchester

Our annual Manchester Urban Retreat returns for 2026 with a fresh new theme. Led by experienced mindfulness teachers MJ and Andrea, this 2-day retreat offers the depth of immersive mindfulness practice, but with the flexibility to arrange your own accommodation or return home each evening.

It’s the ideal format for busy lives, those juggling responsibilities, and new meditators who may feel a bit daunted by a fully residential retreat.

Details

Start time: Friday 26th June, 09:30

End Time: Saturday 27th June, 16:00

(UK time; see this Time Zone Converter for your time zone)

Booking deadline extended to Wednesday 24th June, 15:00 UK time (BST). 

This Year's Theme: Belonging

We spend so much of our lives in our heads — rushing, planning, existing in our own worlds. Perhaps we forget to take time to connect with what it feels like to be truly present; with our bodies, our emotional landscape, and with those around us.

This weekend retreat is your opportunity to press pause on daily life and come back home – to ourselves, our mindfulness practice, and the community surrounding us. Through loving kindness practice, mindful movement, poetry and creativity, we will explore what we mean by ‘belonging’ and how we can recognise and harness it in daily life.

There will be lots of space for meditation practice, stillness, authentic conversation, laughter and celebration of our innate connection to ourselves, each other and the life around us.

And if it’s true we are alone we are alone together,

The way blades of grass are alone but exist as a field

— Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer

Unpacking 'Belonging'

Across two days, we’ll explore the theme of belonging in two phases:

1. Finding home in your body 💟

Exploring what it means to come home to yourself, even when the body feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar. Practising bringing kindness and care to your inner landscape, and settling deep down into the home you’ve always lived in.

2. Deepening connection with others 💬

In the safe intimacy of shared practice, we'll experience what it’s like to truly connect with others – not just at a cognitive level, but how it feels in our hearts and body. Remembering that it’s not ‘just us’ out here in this world – we all have our stories, challenges, fears and wishes – and how remembering this can ease a sense of isolation. 

Pictured above: Andrea Cygler (right) teaching at the 2023 Urban Retreat

What You'll Practice

During this retreat, you'll experience:

• Loving Kindness Meditation – A foundational Buddhist practice adapted for all faiths and none. We'll move through five stages: offering kindness to yourself, to a loved one, to a neutral person, to someone difficult, and finally to all beings. These guided meditations create felt experiences of warmth, connection, and belonging in your body and heart.
  

• Mindful Movement – Gentle embodied practices that help you sink deeper into physical sensation and presence, exploring what it feels like to inhabit your body with curiosity and care.

• Poetry and Creativity – Reflective practices that open pathways to insight and expression, helping you explore the themes of separation and unity, disconnection and belonging.

• Stillness and Quiet Reflection – Space to simply be, without distraction, allowing integration and rest.

• Authentic Conversation and Companionship – Opportunities to share, listen, and connect with others in meaningful ways.

All practices are guided by MJ and Andrea and will last between 10-25 minutes, with choices offered throughout so you can honour what feels right for you in each moment.

What You'll Take Away

• A tangible, felt sense of belonging to yourself and to others, that lives in your body, not just your mind
  
  

• Practical tools for bringing kindness to difficult physical and emotional experiences
  
  

• The lived experience of connection, held in your nervous system and heart, that you can return to long after the retreat ends
  
  

• Recognition that you're not alone and the embodied knowing of what that truly feels like
  
  

• Renewed possibility and faith in your capacity for growth, connection, and joy
  

Pictured left: 2024 Urban Retreat attendees participating in guided meditation practice

Who Is This For?

As a guide, we recommend attendees have 3+ months experience of mindfulness and meditation practice. This might look like a regular formal practice (e.g. guided meditation), but it could also be bringing a mindful awareness to daily life in whatever way works for you.

At Breathworks, we aim to keep mindfulness accessible. Practices on this retreat will be between 10-25 minutes long, and you are always invited to adjust position or even simply rest if you ever feel uncomfortable during a practice. Our experienced teachers are there to support you. 

We also welcome experienced meditators and mindfulness teachers who are looking to experience a period of undisturbed practice, in a way that slots into busy lives. 

How Does An Urban Retreat Work?

With an urban retreat, you benefit from the depth and connection of an in-person retreat, but with greater flexibility. The retreat days take place at Luther King House, Manchester, and your evenings are free to spend however you choose — whether that’s heading home, reflecting quietly at your accommodation, or exploring the city.

It’s also become tradition to enjoy an optional group meal on Friday evening for those who’d like to socialise. Please note: this is not included in your ticket price.

Pictured above: Retreat attendees enjoying the sun and provided lunch at the 2023 Manchester Urban Retreat (Castlefield Hotel)

What to Bring

Chairs and yoga mats will be provided. We invite you to bring along anything else that supports your mind or body. For example, you may wish to bring: 

• Blankets 
• Yoga blocks
• Meditation cushion or stool
• Eye mask or eye bag

We recommend comfortable, loose clothing — something you can move freely in. You may also wish to bring layers, as body temperature can drop slightly when meditating or resting. 

Lunch & Refreshments 

Lunch and refreshments on both days are included within your ticket price. Luther King House are able to cater to many dietary requirements (e.g. vegan, gluten free). If you have any dietary requirements, please let us know in your booking form (completed after payment). 

Accommodation

Accommodation is not included in our urban retreats and must be organised and booked by the individual. Click here to browse our suggested accommodation options. 

Pictures above: Luther King House grounds, with blooming cherry blossom and guests relaxing on outdoor benches.

Schedule

We carefully design all events at Breathworks to be as accessible as possible, and we know that frequent breaks are particularly important for those navigating health challenges. Please see the schedule below as a guide for what to expect across the weekend. 

Friday 26th June

Please arrive by 09:15, ready for a 09:30 start.

Saturday 27th June

Meet Your Retreat Leaders 

MJ Stephens

MJ Stephens has been an Accredited trainer with Breathworks since 2013 and has a wealth of experience teaching mindfulness. He particularly enjoys teaching the 8-week courses, helping people with both chronic health conditions, and those suffering from anxiety.

He is a Buddhist and has a personal practice of more than 30 years. He is also a qualified Alexander Technique teacher, with a particular interest in movement, so loves leading the Mindful Movements events run by Breathworks.

MJ enjoys working with people and has a broad range of workplace experience, which include Macmillan Cancer, Physiotherapists at Sussex Community NHS, Teacher Training at Sheffield IAPT as well as Everyturn Mental Health,  Maggie’s Cancer charity, and Cheshire Fire and Rescue. This year he has particularly enjoyed working face to face with Royal Devon Hospitals, leading 2 days of mindful movement for their pain specialists, and ran a community Moving Well course for Versus Arthritis.

As part of the senior training team MJ is frequently involved in the BW training events, supervision of practice courses and one-to-one work.

Tickets & Financial Support

Breathworks is a UK registered charity with a mission to make mindfulness accessible to everyone. When you purchase a ticket for one of our events, you are not only investing in your own wellbeing, but helping to sustain our reduced-rate and free mindfulness services to people worldwide.

We're offer three different pricing options to those wishing to join us. Please consider choosing the Standard Rate if you possibly can.

🍏 All tickets include lunch & refreshments provided by Luther King House on both days.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss your situation, please contact us here.

10% Discount for Accredited Breathworks Teachers

If you are an accredited Breathworks Teacher, you are eligible for 10% off your place (bursary places not included). Details of how to access your discounted rate are on the Community of Practice Teachers & Trainee's Group.

Spread the Cost - Interest Free Payment Plans

Spread the cost with interest-free monthly instalments - request a payment plan here. Please note, the full balance must be paid 7 days before the retreat start date. 

Cancellation Policy

If you need to cancel, you can get a refund (minus a £100 admin fee) or transfer to another event up to 7 days before the start date. Unfortunately, we can’t offer refunds within 7 days of the start date. For details on our cancellation policy for retreats, please click here. 

Contact

If you have a question about this event or wish to speak with a member of our friendly team, please find details on how to contact us here.