Returning to Presence - Lessons from a Buddhist Monastery in France

La Source Guérissante, Verdelot Francia

The hollow sound of two wooden sticks echoed outside my window, pulling me from sleep. It was 5:30 a.m. at La Source Guérissante, a Buddhist monastery in the French countryside, and the monks were summoning us to the meditation hall.

I had come here for a weekend mindfulness retreat - but the journey began much earlier.

I grew up familiar with Buddhism through my parents and later deepened my understanding by studying Eastern philosophies in university, where I completed a religious studies minor. Still, I knew I wanted to explore these teachings beyond books - I wanted lived experience, and to practice with a community.

This spring, while planning a trip to visit family in Reims, France, I received an email that felt like a sign: La Source Guérissante, part of the Plum Village network founded by Thich Nhat Hanh, was hosting a weekend retreat for educators. As a teacher and yoga instructor, I knew this was my chance to deepen my connection with mindfulness practice. 

So, that week in April, after several beautiful days in Reims and Paris, I embarked on my journey on a train through the verdant green countryside to La Source Guérissante. The monastery was small and serene, on a plot of land filled with trees with bells hanging in their branches that sang in the wind. At the top of the property’s garden, stone statues of the Buddha gazed serenely from amongst the weeds and flowers at the monastery below. Inside, the hallways were quiet, the atmosphere warm and simple.

The tranquil French countryside on the journey to the monastery.

Throughout the weekend, we moved through our days in mindfulness. Vegan meals were eaten in silence, each bite a meditation. The mindfulness bell would ring every half hour, inviting us to pause, take a breath, and return to the present moment - no matter what we were doing.

One of my favorite moments was a barefoot walking meditation in the forest with the monks. I removed my shoes before the walk, so I could be fully present with the earth beneath my feet. The monks walked slowly, leading us up a dirt path into a grove of trees. The sun filtered through the leaves of the trees overhead, casting dappled shadow on the ground as we advanced forward.  

Drawing my mind to my feet, I focused on the sensation of the wet grass beneath my bare feet. As I encountered small rocks along the path that caused unpleasant sensations, instead of reacting, I remembered a teaching we’d heard that morning about the insight of impermanence.

Everything changes — pleasant, unpleasant, neutral. Attaching to good sensations or resisting bad ones only creates suffering. In that moment, I accepted the discomfort, knowing it would pass, just like everything else.

By the end of the retreat, I realized mindfulness isn’t just about formal meditation or spiritual spaces. It’s a way of meeting ordinary moments with full attention. Back in Madrid, I have found myself slowing down - savoring the meals I cook, walking more mindfully, bringing a deeper presence to my yoga practice, and showing up with more patience for my students.

In a world full of noise and distraction, there is something profoundly liberating about training your mind into the present moment and accepting it for what it is. Mindfulness, for me, isn’t about perfection or constant peace - it’s about living intentionally and finding joy in the simple rhythms of life.