Naikan comes from Japan and works on facts rather than feelings. You pick a person and a period from your past, then answer the same three questions about them. You do this chronologically through your life, and about nine times a day you sit with your guide for a short interview where you give two or three concrete examples for each question. The guide does not rate or validate the answers. The point is to see what actually happened, without the story you have been telling yourself about it.

The classic week is the closest thing here to a monastery retreat or a sesshin. You stay on site, you keep silence apart from the interviews, and you do not handle anything outside your own reflection. Meals and a short working meditation are the only breaks in the day. The centre describes Naikan as a self-therapy and crisis management tool, and says that used regularly it changes your perspective.

Naikan in Nature suits people who think better outdoors. Depending on the weather you walk the less-used forest trails of the national park, sometimes for several hours, sometimes most of the day when it is fine. You walk slowly and in silence, reflecting on one person and one period at a time, stopping at intervals to summarise what you have worked out and prepare for the interview with Sabine. If it pours with rain you stay in and practise in your room.

Path of Change is the group programme and the odd one out. You live in the guide's house for the week, cook vegetarian food together, and work through sessions and exercises in Naikan, Morita and Zen, plus an introduction to Kaizen, the path of small steps. Mornings have exercises, evenings have self-reflection, and there are individual conversations about your own questions and goals. There is forest bathing, Shinrin-Yoku, and access to books and materials on the topics. The centre also runs it as a shorter four-day version. Music, games and a lot of laughter are listed as part of the week.

The setting is the Bavarian Forest, in Germany, and the centre says the quiet surroundings are chosen to support the process. Companies and departments can book adapted versions of the three-question method, and Path of Change is offered for team building and incentives.

What's included

- Accommodation for the programme - Meals - Short interviews with your Naikan guide (classic and Naikan in Nature) - Sessions and exercises in Naikan, Morita and Zen (Path of Change) - Introduction to Kaizen (Path of Change) - Individual conversations on your questions and goals (Path of Change) - Forest bathing, Shinrin-Yoku (Path of Change) - Access to materials and books on the topics (Path of Change)

What's not included

- Travel to the centre - Personal expenses - Anything not listed as included

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