Being with the Alpacas

The intention of these sessions is to offer time and space to practice the art of presence and simply being amidst the alpacas in their comfortable home environment. An opportunity to practice non-doing as we soak up some of that famous Camelid Calm.

Alpacas are gentle, calm and curious creatures making them a soothing accompaniment to a meditation or mindfulness practice.

The idea of these sessions is to co-create a state of calm with the alpacas. Their peaceful grazing and quiet presence can support us to become more relaxed and present, in turn allowing the alpacas to feel more at ease with us. As we tune into the subtitles of their behaviours through our quiet observations it often allows for deeper connections with these beautiful animals.

There’s nothing complicated or inaccessible about these sessions. All that is required is the capacity to sit and an openness to being quiet and present.

We understand that stillness and quiet can be disconcerting to some so please know that you are so welcome to move around as much as you need and if you feel more comfortable bringing along a hand craft such as knitting, crocheting or similar that is very welcome. We ask that phones and tablets are left off and away for the duration of this session.

What to expect:

We will gather down at The Hideout for a short welcome, introduction, health and safety briefing and opportunity to ask questions.

We will then head up to the paddock together to begin our session.

You will be introduced to each of the alpacas, getting to know their names and a little about each of their unique characters.

We will then settle into a brief and simple meditation together (sitting on a camp chair or rug on the floor) to help guide us into the present moment and settle our attention towards being present with our surroundings and with the alpacas.

There will then be time to simply sit quietly amongst the alpacas as they calmly and quietly graze and chew the cud.

Alpacas are incredibly curios creatures and our calm presence in the paddock often prompts a gentle enquiry from them. They may come over for a closer inspection and (if you’re lucky!) you might even get a little sniff or the initiation of a nose to nose greeting.

We’ll close out the session with some hand feeding before heading back down to The Hideout to warm up round the fire (winter sessions), grab a cuppa and share experiences for those who feel to.

Hand washing and bathroom facilities available at The Hideout.

We often have cria (babies) on the farm and you'll likely get to see them during your visit.

Session run by:

These sessions are run by our Herd Manager Carly, who has almost a decade of experience offering yoga and meditation practices out in nature.

Details:

Duration: 90 mins

Cost: £18 per person for group sessions / £60 per person for private sessions

Facilities: Composting toilets, hand washing.

Book

Please wear sturdy walking shoes/boot and long trousers and dress for the weather.

Rugs/camping chairs provided.

Whilst we hope someday to be a fully accessible venue, I’m afraid we don’t yet have accessible facilities and the land is uneven in places. Please let us know if you have any accessibility needs, so that we can work with you to decide if the walk is appropriate.

Biosecurity: as you'll be entering the paddocks for this session please ensure your boots and clean to avoid bringing any infectious diseases from other farms. We can provide shoe covers where needed, please ask.

WHAT PEOPLE SAY

Nicki Angell-Barrick

Absolutely loved this mornings ‘Being with Alpacas’ event. Today was my first visit to Hideaway Wood Farm, I’m pretty sure it won’t be my last. Thank you

Important information & terms and conditions

If you have booked an alpaca walk (10+), each ticket admits 1 person. If you have booked the family alpaca experience, your ticket is for up to 2 adults and 3 children - please do not bring extra people with you to the farm who do not have a ticket.
Please arrive on time, but no more than 10 mins prior to your scheduled experience time (to avoid traffic congestion between experiences). If you are more than 5 minutes late the experience will proceed without you and no refunds will be given.
Please drive slowly.
You will be shown where to park on your arrival.
Please note we are a working farm and the terrain is rough in places.
Please wear weather appropriate clothes and suitable closed toe footwear. We have some stinging nettles, so we also suggest long trousers.
No dogs please.
At present we don’t have accessible bathroom facilities or a baby change area. so our experiences aren't really suitable for wheelchairs or pushchairs.
Please ensure that you are medically fit and able to join the experience and discuss with a medical professional, if necessary. We have the right to refuse entry if we deem (acting reasonably) that it is not safe for you to join the experience.
Please do not leave the group and wander off - this is a working farm with hazards.
Children under 18 years old must attend with a paying adult.
We reserve the right to cancel, or postpone the experience in the event of adverse weather, or due to other unforeseen issues, or if we do not have the minimum number of people booked.
No alcohol or drugs to have been consumed prior to or during the experience.