A Weekend Workshop · Currumbin Valley

For the mind that won't switch off.

This isn't meditation as a wellness add-on. It's a weekend in Currumbin Valley for people who are tired of trying things that didn't work — and want to feel what genuine calm in the body actually feels like, then carry it home.

Always onYour mind doesn't stop, even when you do.
Quietly exhaustedYou're functioning, but underneath you're running on fumes.
Apps didn't stickYou've tried meditation. You bounced. You thought it was you.
Reserve a Place Max 8 people · Currumbin Valley
Assessed for fit before
Supported until it lands
Or your fee returned
Next Workshop 8–9 August 2026 · Saturday & Sunday · Currumbin Valley Limited to 8 places
Taught by Rich Muir
20 yrs
Personal practice
8 yrs
Teaching on the Gold Coast
500+
Students taught
BPsychSc
Honours · Psychological Science
A practitioner's commitment

I'm that confident this will work — I'll stand behind it both before and after.

Two things you should know about how I work — both unusual, and both deliberate.

Before
During our pre-course conversation, I assess whether this is the right fit for you. When I sense it isn't — whether that's timing, readiness, or alignment — I'll say so directly and refund your deposit. I'd rather have seven people in the room who are genuinely ready than fill an eighth seat that shouldn't be filled.
After
When you leave the weekend, you will have the lived experience of a deep state of calm in your own body — and the tools to find your way back to it on your own. If we're not quite there yet, my work isn't done. I'll continue working with you at no extra cost until it is. Or, if you'd prefer, the workshop fee is returned. Whichever you choose.

That's not a marketing guarantee. It's how I think this work should be practised — and what I'm willing to put my name to. — Rich Muir

Sound Familiar

The volume never quite goes down.

If you recognised yourself in any of those — you're not the problem. The thing you've been given to fix it is. There's a practice that does what apps and breathwork can't: no sitting cross-legged, no forcing quiet on the mind, no streaks to maintain. Just twenty minutes in a chair, twice a day, and a state of rest physiologically deeper than ordinary sleep.

There's a reason it's been this hard

It's not a behaviour problem. It's a state.

Most of what's marketed for stress treats it as a behaviour — something to fix with the right habit, the right app, the right ten minutes of breath. But chronic stress lives one layer deeper than that. It's a physiological state, sitting in a nervous system that's lost its ability to settle. And until something works at that layer, the rest is patching.

That's what this is built around.

What becomes possible

Six things that typically shift.

Not promises. The patterns we see, again and again, in the weeks and months after the workshop — when the practice is actually being done.

i.
Stress resolves at its root

Not managed — actually released. The body physiologically unwinds accumulated tension during each sitting. The effect compounds.

ii.
Sleep becomes effortless again

The nervous system calms so completely that sleep onset improves and night-waking decreases — often within the first week.

iii.
Mental clarity returns

Thinking becomes clearer. Decisions come with less rumination. Mental fog lifts. Most people notice this within two to four weeks.

iv.
Emotional steadiness grows

Reactions soften. The space between stimulus and response widens. You still feel everything — but from a more grounded place.

v.
Natural energy returns

When stress stops draining the system, energy is freed. Most people need noticeably less caffeine within three to six weeks.

vi.
The whole system benefits

The nervous system governs immunity, blood pressure, mood, digestion. Calming it consistently creates a ripple far beyond the twenty minutes you sit.

Rich Muir — Vedic Meditation teacher, Currumbin Valley
Taught by

Rich Muir

Twenty years of personal practice. Eight years teaching on the Gold Coast. Around 500 people taught the Vedic practice — hundreds more met in therapeutic and clinical settings.

Rich came to Vedic Meditation in his twenties after a long stretch of trying everything else — which is part of why he teaches the way he does. The technique itself is ancient. What he brings to it is an unusual depth of understanding of what's happening in the body when people sit, and why most of what's marketed for stress doesn't reach that layer.

His Honours degree in Psychological Science was specifically into the relationship between stress, the respiratory system, and wellbeing — which is rare for a meditation teacher. He's a Certified Breath Science Practitioner and Therapeutic Science graduate. He's the resident practitioner at Eden Health Retreat, sitting weekly with guests navigating burnout, illness, and recovery — clinical work that informs what's taught in this workshop.

"After twenty years of doing this and eight years of teaching it, the thing I'm most sure of is how much I still don't know — and how much the body keeps showing me."
Academic
BPsychSc (Honours)
Thesis on stress, respiration & wellbeing
Clinical
Resident practitioner
Eden Health Retreat · weekly client work
Practice
~500 Vedic students
Plus hundreds more in clinical settings · Vedic initiation

Independent of, and not affiliated with, the Maharishi Foundation.

What you're being offered

A three-stage programme — not a workshop you turn up to.

Pre-course personal assessment. Two days of teaching in Currumbin Valley. A follow-up session two weeks later.

You learn Vedic Meditation: an ancient technique that doesn't ask you to sit cross-legged, doesn't ask you to force quiet on the mind, and which settles the body into a state of rest deeper than what most adults have experienced as awake. After this programme you have the practice for life — no app, no subscription, nothing to maintain. The weekend also includes two additional teaching hours on reading your own nervous system and working with breath and stress patterns. Eight people maximum, in person, in the bush.

3 stages
Pre · Weekend · Follow-up
4 + 2
Sessions · Deeper hrs
Max 8
Per workshop
Real people, real shifts

What it's like on the other side.

These aren't testimonials in the usual sense. They're notes from people who came in carrying something heavy, and stayed with the practice afterward.

"I wish I could get everyone to do this. Totally life changing. Zero anxiety for the last 8 weeks. My husband's new catch phrase for me is 'You've changed'!"
Vanessa Barron
★★★★★

"Significant improvement in sleep and managing high stress."

My work means managing a large team in an always-on environment with constant curve balls. I've found a sense of calm to handle it — along with sharper creative thinking and better decisions on the fly. I don't do this to be good at it; I do it to be good at life.

Renee SoutarMarketing Manager
★★★★★

"We're calmer, clearer and better leaders."

My wife and I are business owners and parents up against the usual stresses and deadlines. Even early on, we feel calmer, clearer-minded and a general sense of greater wellbeing. Anyone in a leadership role, responsible for others, would benefit.

Joel & Sarah MartinBusiness Owners
★★★★★

"I'm calmer and don't explode at the kids anymore."

I definitely feel a lot calmer and more relaxed. I haven't snapped at the kids nearly as much, and I seem to think with more clarity. I liked the scientific approach and the evidence — and that it's a normal person teaching it, not someone playing a part.

Alex RamsayConsultant
★★★★★

"A calmer, sharper thinker. Anxiety has naturally decreased."

The results are tangible. Imagine you get 100 emails a day and 92 are spam — this trains your mind to delete the junk and deal only with the 8 that matter. It unclogs your brain and focuses your energy where it needs to be.

Sam Perrin
★★★★★

"It kept me grounded through divorce and job loss."

2023 threw curve balls I never anticipated — a marriage breakup, then redundancy two weeks before Christmas. My daily practice let me grieve in a safe space, then gave me the clarity to forge ahead. I haven't ruminated or worried about the future since.

Sue ScottThrough divorce & job loss
★★★★★

"Research-backed and practical. I'm calmer and less reactive."

The research and scientific backing was highly important to me, and it's explained in a very user-friendly way. I've found I'm calmer, more responsive, less reactive and more considered in both my personal and professional worlds.

Dr Kirsty Sloan
★★★★★

"Life has been the best it's been in years."

I came to the course managing fibromyalgia — chronic pain, persistent fatigue, a nervous system running in constant alert. I'd tried many things. I wasn't expecting much. My practice is now a non-negotiable, no matter where I am.

MichelleLiving with fibromyalgia
★★★★★

"It's taken the stress out of meditation."

I'd tried other meditation approaches and found them effortful — concentrating, focusing, trying to quiet my mind. I didn't know meditation could be this effortless and this powerful at the same time. The simplicity is what makes it work.

Amy DoyleHolistic Counsellor
★★★★★

"Very helpful with my depression — now I look forward to it daily."

I'd tried to teach myself a couple of practices before and found it very difficult. This course and the follow-up support have been genuinely helpful with my depression, and the group sessions help me fine-tune it. It's now something I look forward to each day.

Geoff Hardiker

More accounts — at student stories and theartofcalm.com.au/testimonials.

If you're recognising yourself in any of this — there's a seat for you.

Reserve a Place 8–9 August 2026 · Currumbin Valley · Max 8 people
How it actually works

Three stages. Not one weekend.

This isn't a course you turn up to on Saturday morning. The personal work begins before, runs through the weekend, and continues two weeks afterward.

Aerial view of Rich's property in Currumbin Valley
Rich's property — Currumbin Valley, Gold Coast hinterland
i.
Before · Zoom

30-minute personal assessment

A private call with Rich a week before the weekend. We look at what's actually going on for you — what you're carrying, what's already been tried, what your nervous system has been doing. The teaching is shaped by what comes out of this.

  • One-to-one with Rich
  • 30 minutes, on Zoom
  • Personal context for the weekend
ii.
The Weekend · In person

Two days in Currumbin Valley

The full Vedic Meditation course taught in person. Two additional hours go deeper — interoception on Saturday, breath and stress patterns on Sunday. Short cardiac and respiratory readings on the day so you can see what's actually shifting.

  • Four group sessions of meditation teaching
  • Two additional deeper teaching hours
  • On-the-day nervous system observations
iii.
After · Private

Two-week integration session

A private follow-up two weeks after the weekend. We review what's working, what isn't, what's surprised you. The practice continues to deepen for months — this session catches you at the point where most people would otherwise drift.

  • Private session with Rich
  • Reviewing technique and integration
  • Plus ongoing support beyond

"Eight years of teaching has shown me this: the workshop itself isn't enough on its own. What surrounds it is what makes the difference between learning a practice and actually changing the texture of someone's life."

What's actually taught

The full curriculum, plainly stated.

At this price, you should see what you're getting. Here's what the weekend actually covers — the standard Vedic Meditation course, then the two deeper hours.

The Vedic Meditation course

  • i.
    Your Personal Initiation You receive a personal mantra — a sound chosen specifically for you and your nervous system. The first sitting happens in the room, with Rich present.
  • ii.
    Deepening the Practice The mechanics of effortless meditation. Why this isn't concentration. What to do (and not do) with thoughts. How the technique actually settles the system.
  • iii.
    The Science of Rest What's happening physiologically — the rest state that is measurably different from sleep, the cascade through the nervous system, what changes in the body over weeks.
  • iv.
    A Lifetime Practice Integration: when to meditate, what to do when life intervenes, how to keep this sustainable over years rather than weeks. You leave self-sufficient.

Plus the two deeper hours

  • v.
    Reading Your Own Signals (Saturday) Interoception — the lost skill of feeling what your own body is doing. Heart rate. Tension. Breath. The small signals that precede the big reactions. Guided exercises to rebuild the awareness, gently.
  • vi.
    Breath, Stress & Triggers (Sunday) Functional breathing — what right looks like, what to fix. How your daily breath patterns either feed or interrupt stress. Identifying your specific triggers. Practical responses you can use the same week.
  • +
    Cardiac & respiratory observations Across the weekend Rich takes short, individual readings — looking at how your nervous system is responding to the practice as it begins to land. Not clinical work — observational, for you.
  • +
    Pre-course Zoom & two-week follow-up The personal assessment that shapes the weekend for you, and the integration session two weeks afterward that catches you at the point most people drift.
Where this happens

A bend in the road in Currumbin Valley.

The workshop is held at Rich's property — 15 minutes from the coast and 25 minutes from Coolangatta airport, in a quiet pocket of the Gold Coast hinterland.

You turn off the highway, the traffic noise fades inside two minutes, and by the time you arrive the only sound is the bush. Rainforest on three sides. Kookaburras louder than your phone. Light that comes in low through the trees in the morning and turns gold over the valley in the afternoon.

The teaching room itself is simple — chairs, warm light, water and tea — but the surroundings do real work. Stepping out of city pace for two days is not incidental to the practice. It's part of how it lands.

A horse by the pond at Rich's property, Currumbin Valley
What you'll notice

"Half the work happens before the first session even begins."

  • The drive in — the way the noise drops off as the road bends inland
  • The bush — cockatoos, kookaburras, the occasional pademelon
  • The light — low and gold through the trees, very Currumbin Valley
  • The quiet — the kind you forget exists when you live on screens
  • The smell of the rainforest after the morning damp lifts
Honest matters more than expansive

For people who take their wellbeing seriously.

At $1,250 with pre-work and follow-up, this isn't a casual decision — and it isn't designed to be. If you're not sure it's for you, the next two lists will help you decide.

This is for you if —

  • You're a thinking, analytical person and want to understand what's happening in your body — not just be told to trust the process
  • You've been dealing with stress, anxiety, or burnout for long enough that you know it isn't going to just "pass"
  • You're committed enough to do pre-work, show up for the weekend in person, and engage with a follow-up two weeks later
  • You've tried meditation apps, breathwork, journaling, supplements — and you suspect you need something more substantial
  • You want a practice that's actually yours for life, without needing an app or a daily subscription
  • You'd rather be in a small room of eight people than another large class

This is probably not for you if —

  • You want a quick fix or a hack that takes ten minutes a day
  • You're casually curious rather than ready to do real work on it
  • You'd rather attend a large class than be in a room of eight people
  • You can't commit to both Saturday and Sunday in full, plus the pre-work and follow-up
  • You're looking for medical or clinical treatment rather than education and practice
By Sunday afternoon

Three things. For life.

Not promises. The actual outcomes of the two days.

i.

A practice that's yours

Your personal Vedic mantra and a technique you can do for the rest of your life. Twenty minutes, twice a day, in any chair. No app. No subscription. Yours.

ii.

The language of your own body

An education in reading your own nervous system — the signals you've been missing, and what they're actually telling you. The skill of interoception, which most adults have largely lost.

iii.

Ongoing support, not a handover

A follow-up session two weeks after the weekend, and ongoing access to Rich beyond that. The point at which most courses end is the point at which this one continues.

Firepit at dusk on Rich's Currumbin Valley property
By Sunday afternoon — and into the weeks that follow.

Reserve a place.

Saturday 27 & Sunday 28 June 2026, in Currumbin Valley. A $300 deposit holds your seat. The balance is due two weeks before the workshop.

"I've been a Police Officer for 18 years and live with PTSD. I'd tried guided meditations, sound, breath work and more. The simplicity of this is what finally helped, where I'd always struggled to quieten my mind before."
Jay ProtheroPolice Officer · 18 years
The Holistic Wellbeing Workshop
$1,250
or $980 concession

$300 deposit reserves your place. Balance payable two weeks before. Concession available — no questions asked — for students, healthcare workers, single parents, or anyone for whom the standard rate is a barrier.

  • 30-minute pre-course personal assessment with Rich (Zoom)
  • The full Vedic Meditation course (4 group sessions over 2 days)
  • Two additional deeper teaching hours
  • Cardiac and respiratory observations on the day
  • Maximum 8 people in the room
  • Two-week private follow-up session
  • Ongoing support afterward
Reserve My Place  ·  $300 deposit

Not quite ready? Book a free 20-minute call with Rich first.

Just want to learn Vedic Meditation — without the deeper assessment work and follow-up? The standard four-session course is $980 — see the course page.

Practical questions

What you might want to know before booking.

What are the session times across the weekend?

Saturday: Session one runs 1:00–2:00pm, then a short break, then session two from 3:00–5:00pm. Sunday: Session one runs 10:30am–12:30pm, then an hour break, then session two from 1:30–3:00pm. Please plan to arrive 10–15 minutes before each start time. You'll receive a detailed schedule a week before, after our pre-course Zoom.

Do I need to attend both days?

Yes — both Saturday and Sunday in full are required. The Saturday-to-Sunday arc is how the practice actually lands. The two days build on each other, and the technique can only be properly transmitted when you're present for the whole sequence. If you can't commit to both days in full, the standard Vedic Meditation course (four sessions, more flexible scheduling) is a better fit. Rich can talk through which one makes sense on your pre-course call.

Is the workshop residential, or do I travel each day?

It's non-residential. Most participants stay locally — Currumbin, Burleigh, or the hinterland — and drive in each day. The property is 15 minutes from the coast and 25 minutes from Coolangatta airport.

Are meals provided?

Lunch isn't provided — there's a one-hour break between sessions with several good cafés a short drive away, which most people enjoy as part of the day. Snacks and herbal tea are on hand throughout, and you're welcome to bring your own food if you'd prefer. Dietary requirements aren't a constraint — bring what works for you.

What do I need to bring?

Just yourself, comfortable clothing, a notebook if you like to take notes, and a water bottle. Everything else — chairs, materials, the practice itself — is provided. Wear layers; the room is warm but the bush gets cool in the morning.

Is parking available?

Yes — free, on-site, plenty of room. The driveway is a short unpaved track from the road; a regular car handles it without issue.

Can I bring my partner or a friend?

Yes — and at a reduced rate. Both participants pay $1,000 each. Doing this work alongside someone close to you often deepens both experiences. Each person still completes their own pre-course Zoom with Rich, and books their own place separately. Mention it on the booking form and Rich will coordinate the assessment calls.

What happens if I need to cancel?

If something genuinely prevents you from attending, contact Rich as soon as possible. Deposits are transferable to a future workshop, and refunds are handled case-by-case. If Rich determines on the pre-course call that the workshop isn't the right fit, the deposit is refunded in full as part of the practitioner's commitment.

Will I keep meditating after the weekend?

Yes — this is the point of the design. By Sunday afternoon you'll have a personal mantra and a technique you can do for the rest of your life, in any chair, anywhere. The two-week follow-up session catches you at the point most people would otherwise drift, and ongoing access to Rich is part of the programme. You leave self-sufficient.

"I don't promise you a transformed life. I promise you a practice that works, an understanding of your own body, and the company of someone who's been doing this for twenty years and still gets it wrong sometimes."

If that's the conversation you want, this is the right page.

Rich Muir · Currumbin Valley