Daeheungsa Temple in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, is presenting a wellness programme for the first time, bringing together running on forest trails, tea, music and meditation. The temple, the 22nd district head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, said it would hold the first Daeheungsa Laybul 2026: Run Through the Forest, Linger Over Tea from the 16th to the 17th at its tea culture experience centre and around Iljiam Hermitage.
Daeheungsa devised the event to help participants restore body and mind, and to showcase new value in temple culture, by adding modern wellness elements such as running, music and meditation to the nature, tea and practice traditions upheld by the temple.
A name inspired by alcohol-free morning parties
Laybul is Daeheungsa’s take on a tea party, inspired by the morning rave culture of starting the day with music and dancing, without alcohol. It has chosen tea instead of drink, and the forest of a thousand-year-old temple instead of a club.
The 80 participants include members of the public, foreign nationals and fire service personnel. They will be joined by 20 Daeheungsa staff, including those working on the event, bringing the total to 100.
Night trails on day one, running and meditation on day two
The first day, the 16th, will feature a night hike, lotus lantern-making and the Laybul experience. On the 17th, participants will wake up their bodies with 4–5km of trail running, meditate at Iljiam Hermitage, then round off the day with a tea experience accompanied by EDM music and yoga.
Before and after the programme, participants will undergo a uBioMacpa test measuring stress levels and vascular health. Daeheungsa plans to use the test to examine changes in participants’ mental and physical wellbeing and health indicators.
Daeheungsa will run a shuttle bus between Naju Station and the temple. It also plans to subsidise accommodation costs for 50 participants staying at the temple as part of a Temple Stay or at lodgings in Haenam.
Daeheungsa’s head of general affairs, Venerable Beobeun, said he hoped the programme would give people a chance to wake up their bodies by running along forest trails and let go of their worries over a cup of tea. He also said the temple intended to develop Laybul into a flagship programme, so that the thousand-year-old temple’s practice culture could offer respite to people living today.
Run before you sit
For modern people who spend all day in front of screens, taking in a constant stream of information, being asked to sit cross-legged and observe their breathing from the outset can feel like a tall order. Thoughts are not easily quietened when the body has barely moved. Laybul’s sequence addresses that. Participants sit at Iljiam only after running forest trails until they are breathless and sweaty, then hold a cup of tea in their hands. The stillness that comes after putting the body to work feels different from stillness imposed by force.
For younger people used to running-club culture, those curious about meditation but who find it difficult to sit still, and those looking for alcohol-free gatherings, this format could offer an accessible entry point to meditation. As an attempt to reinterpret an outside culture — the morning rave — through the tea and practice traditions of a Korean temple, it is also worth watching as an example of how K-meditation might present itself to a global audience.
Running and music do not suit everyone. Quiet seated meditation or tea meditation may work better for some. What matters is not finding one right answer, but experiencing for yourself how your body and mind can rest. Daeheungsa’s first experiment has widened that choice by one more option.
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