Daeheungsa Temple in Haenam, South Jeolla Province, is introducing a wellness program that brings together running on forest trails, tea, music and meditation. Daeheungsa, head temple of the Jogye Order’s 22nd district, said it will hold the first Daeheungsa Laybul 2026, “Run Through the Forest, Rest with Tea,” from the 16th to the 17th at its tea culture experience center and around Iljiam Hermitage.
Daeheungsa planned the event to help participants restore their bodies and minds and highlight new value in temple culture by combining the temple’s long-standing traditions of nature, tea and spiritual practice with contemporary wellness elements such as running, music and meditation.
A name inspired by alcohol-free morning parties
Laybul is Daeheungsa’s take on a tea party, inspired by the morning rave culture that welcomes the day with music and dancing, but no alcohol. The program swaps tea for alcohol and the forest of a thousand-year-old temple for a club.
The 80 participants include members of the public, foreigners and firefighters. They will be joined by 20 Daeheungsa staff members, including event personnel, bringing the total to 100.
A night hike on day one, running and meditation on day two
The first day, the 16th, features a night hike, lotus lantern-making and the Laybul experience. On the 17th, participants will wake up their bodies with a 4–5-kilometer trail run, meditate at Iljiam Hermitage, then wrap up the day with a tea experience accompanied by EDM music and yoga.
Before and after the program, participants will take a uBioMacpa test to measure stress levels and vascular health. Daeheungsa plans to use the test to examine changes in participants’ mental and physical well-being and health indicators.
Daeheungsa will operate shuttle buses between Naju Station and the temple. It also plans to subsidize lodging costs for 50 participants staying at a temple stay or accommodations in the Haenam area.
Daeheungsa’s director of administration, Venerable Beobeun, said he hoped the event would give people time to awaken their bodies by running forest trails and set down their worries over a cup of tea. He also said the temple plans to develop Laybul into a signature program, so the thousand-year-old temple’s spiritual practice can offer rest 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 watch their breathing from the outset can feel like a high bar. When the body has barely moved, thoughts in the mind do not easily settle either. Laybul’s sequence is designed with that in mind: participants run until they are out of breath and sweating, then sit at Iljiam Hermitage and hold a cup of tea. The quiet that comes after putting the body to work feels different from quiet imposed by force.
For younger people accustomed to running-club culture, those curious about meditation but unable to sit still, and those looking for gatherings without alcohol, this format could offer an accessible entry point to meditation. The event also offers an example of how K-meditation might reach a global audience, adapting the outside culture of morning raves through the tea and spiritual traditions of a Korean temple.
Running and music do not suit everyone. Quiet seated meditation or tea meditation may be a better fit for some. What matters is not finding a single right answer, but experiencing firsthand how one’s own body and mind find rest. Daeheungsa’s first experiment has added another option.
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