Zen & Circling

We want to see what happens if we combine Japanese zen buddhist meditation with Circling, a facilitated relational meditation. Zen teaches us the depth of awareness. Circling teaches us the wilderness of human relations. We have 12 spaces for this the November 4-8th, 2026 in the Lake District, UK.

Circling is…

A relational practice where you reveal what your experience is

And attune to what is happening for others

Vulnerable and radically honest

Intense and wild, deeply confronting

At times tender, subtle

Conducive to deep connection, love, presence

Paradoxical, confronting

Fun, unpredictable, emergent

Circling might sound like

“I notice I feel completely lost”

“How do you know you are lost?”

“I feel excitement in my belly when I look at you”

“I’m curious about that smile, how is it to be here with me right now?”

“I have this story that ee are in this weird boat and neither of us is willing to take the oars”

“I imagine that you are imagining that I’m bored”

“I am holding back and I feel ashamed of not knowing what to say”

Zen is…

A traditional and simple form of Buddhist meditation

Everything and nothing

Pointing directly to the heart

About not knowing

Humbling

At times blissful, at times stormy

About compassion

About stillness, discovering what it is like to be you

A practice of appreciating your life as it is

Undefinable

What will happen on the retreat?

There will be a daily routine with a combination of sitting (Zen meditation) and Circling, first days with more sitting, last with most Circling.

We will eat breakfast and dinner in silence. The lunch and the break afterwards is an unfacilitated social space where we invite you to take a walk with someone and share your experiences.

We will eat simple vegetarian food, and cooking and cleaning up together is part of the schedule.

There will also be guided meditation and you will have an opportunity to do “interviews”. These are short 1:1 sessions where you can ask questions and get support from a Zen teacher (in this case Steph). Interviews are a core component of Zen retreats.

We invite you to turn your phone off and leave it in the allocated phone prison for the duration of the retreat.

How much does it cost?

In the spirit of inclusivity we price the retreat like the following:

£300 is the price for the full retreat, including food, accommodation and travel for the teachers.

If this price means that you are not able to attend, please write an email explaining your circumstances.

If you would like to make a donation, we welcome eg. £100 on top of the minimum price which will either go to the centre, or to a person who is otherwise unable to attend.

To secure your place (we only have 12), you will be asked to pay a non-refundable deposit of £100 at signup.

Where will it take place?

At StoneWater Zen’s retreat centre in the Lake District in England.

The address will be shared after you sign up.

The nearest airports are Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh, Liverpool and Newcastle.

The nearest train station is Penrith, where one of us will come and pick you up.

Arrival day, Wednesday, starts from 1 pm, latest arrival 5 pm. Departure 11 am Sunday.

What if I don’t like it?

Both practices can at times be profoundly lonely, scary or confronting. We expect that all of us will get somewhat triggered and facing our shadows, and we are here to support you. All facilitators are there for a conversation or check-in the breaks.

We are also trying to build this into the structure of the retreat itself, and encourage you to take breaks, ask for help, or have a conversation with the person or people who challenges you. In daring to have such conversation, it is possible that you in the process discover both some of your own projections, some of theirs, and what may be beyond these projections; that both you and they are more than these constricted images. This can be very liberating.

And, if your experience of this goes far beyond your stretch zone and you decide that you don’t want to stay until the end, we support you in following your own leadership and honor your own boundaries.

Who are you, “facilitators”?

We have trained in Zen or Circling or both and give our time and energy to share these practices, because they have been transforming for us. Facilitation here means that we do not come with finished, well-packaged learnings for you, but that we hold space for you as a group and as individuals to understand yourselves — and to take leadership for your own processes.

Anezka Marie Sokol has been in the game of process facilitation, meditation & education for 10+ years. She is educated in biochemistry, mindfulness & Circling, and are combining these in different ways. She has been running a center for relational practices, worked as a high school teacher, had coaching clients at a monastery and at the moment she is researching alternative medicine as a Ph.D. fellow.

Stephan Shozan Sundermeier Sensei is a Buddhist priest & zen teacher in the lineage of Taizan Maezumi Roshi.
A Buddhist chaplain, a chef & restaurateur by trade.
He is now the resident teacher & administrator of Stonewaterzen’s retreat & training center in the Lake District.

Sofie Meyer has been going on Zen retreats for 10+ years, trained academically in neuroscience, and has since worked in mental health and social impact tech. She also trained for two years as an existential psychotherapist. A few years ago she started circling with her partner, then certified in one six-month circling facilitation training, and immediately did another one because it was so rich. She has co-facilitated several weekend circling retreats and led daily circling for a month in an AI safety community. She loves the boundlessness of both Zen and circling, and finds them useful for reaching deeper layers of her otherwise hidden shame, doubt, grief, fear, vulnerability, and love.

How do I get more information and/or sign up?

If you know Sofie, Steph, or Anezka already, you can sign up for the retreat directly here: shozan.mountainzen@gmail.com – please include any dietary restrictions.

If you do not know any of us, please reach out to Anezka: anezka.sokol@gmail.com for a short call where we explore if this retreat is a good match.

With love,

Stephan, Anezka and Sofie