Acting & Surfing Retreat in Ireland

Slow down, get outside, re-regulate your nervous system, and discover what it really means to be present in your acting 

How would your acting evolve if you were 

more present? 

How would your practice evolve if you were more inspired? 

How would your relationship with the other actor evolve if you were more receptive? 

How would your relationships on set evolve if you were more resilient? 

How would your presence evolve if you were more empowered?

What if you could navigate any circumstance creatively and with deeply empowered presence?

🏠 Great accommodations

🏄‍♀️ Surf lessons

(don’t worry, we learn together!)

🗣️ Voice & Breath Work

😌 Nervous System Regulation

🎭 Acting Class

🌅 Sunset Cliff Walks

🌠 Night Kayaking

🍻 Singing at the pub

🌎 Work with actors from all over the world

Oh -- and you'll be transformed. 

There's just no emoji for that one :)

Helena Walsh

Voice & Acting Coach | Human Empowerment & Resiliency Organic Intelligence® Consultant.

For over 25 years, I have been transforming personal and collective lives, as a voice, acting coach and empowerment coach in the international arts world. I studied voice through the International Roy Harte Centre in the south of France and trained in Fitzmaurice Voicework® at Central in London. I was appointed to the role of European director of the Fitzmaurice Institute and was the co-director of the Freedom and Focus Fitzmaurice Voicework® Conference in 2016 and 2018 in Dublin and London respectively.  

Over the years, I became more and more interested in trauma, PTSD and anxiety, which were coming up a lot during workshops with my clients. After burning out in 2017, I discovered Organic Intelligence®, and since then I have been training and working as a human empowerment and resiliency consultant. 

My work in Organic Intelligence® complimented the work I had embodied through Fitzmaurice Voicework®, Roy Hart and my mentor Andrea Ainsworth. I became more curious about how we could create a more organic and holistic approach to the actor's process. So, with my friend and colleague Benjamin Mathes of Crash Acting LA, we co-created a ten-week advanced acting process. This was inspired by the week-long retreats we regularly host in Clonakilty, West Cork, where actors from LA, Ireland and Europe come together for an intensive week of acting and surfing. "The Actor's Practice" is a compassionate and deeply transformative practice which moves both the actors process to a whole new level and changes their lives for the better. This leaves the actor confident, unshakable and inspired to feel more pleasure and curiosity in their life and art. 

Benjamin Mathes

Benjamin has been an actor for over 25 years. On film, television, and stage he has worked with artists such as Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood, Academy Award-winning actor Alan Arkin, Sam Raimi, Bradley Cooper, Andy Garcia, Chris Rock, and Academy Award-winning producer Brian Grazer. He received his MFA in Acting from the University of California, Irvine.

He served as Head of Production for Hollywood’s Seine Pictures, overseeing the creative development and production of each film. He Executive Produced the dark comedy Murder of a Cat (starring Greg Kinnear, J.K. Simmons, and Nikki Reed), and the biopic Pelé: Birth of A Legend (in partnership with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment). Both films premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and were released internationally. He also produced the documentary Listening is Loving about the power of listening to people with dementia, which was distributed internationally in 2018.

His acting studio, CRASH ACTING, inspires a Non-Dominant Approach to Acting that restores the actor's autonomy & brings them into greater equality with character. His students have won or been nominated for Tony, Emmy, Grammy, and Ovation Awards, and have appeared on Broadway, as guest stars and series regulars on television, and in major motion pictures. He has served as an acting coach for Warner Brothers, HBO, and currently for Netflix. Internationally, he runs acting retreats in Ireland, and has run Crash Acting workshops in Lima, Dublin, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. He is a certified Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework® and has served as a vocal and dialect coach for major motion pictures, network television, and theaters around the country.

Benjamin is also the founder of Urban Confessional: A Free Listening Movement. Currently in over 80 countries, their volunteers stand on street corners with signs that say "Free Listening" and provide compassionate, non-judgmental listening for anyone who needs to talk. Their work has been featured in over 40 national publications including the Huffington Post, The Atlantic, Fast Company, and The Big Think, as well as in over 30 international publications across 15 languages.

On arrival at Inchydoney Surf School, your instructor will allocate a wetsuit (boots, hoods and gloves if needed) and surf board, then guide you down to the beach where you will be briefed on equipment, beach safety and the basic surfing techniques.

Next it’s into the surf to practice these skills under the safe guidance of your instructor.

Students are required to be present at the surf school 10 minutes before the lesson begins to allow time to get suited up and to have maximum time in the water. Lessons begin and finish at the surf school building. All equipment Surfboards and Wetsuits are provided, so all students need to bring is their swimwear, towel and sun screen.

A beautiful, bright, charming, cozy, magical, spacious, warm yoga studio with real wood floors, traditional stone walls, high ceilings, and skylights on the top. The room itself is south facing on the 2nd floor, the penthouse, of a historic building. It is located on Spillers Lane, a quiet pedestrianised area in the Anahata (heart) chakra of Clonakilty, Ireland.

This trip provides a unique experience of being on the water from dusk into darkness. There is always something to make you gasp on this trip, the sparkle of bioluminescence, the sounds of seabirds coming in to roost, the sunset, the rising moon, the aromas of honeysuckle and gorse on the breeze, the panoply of stars overhead, and the deep, dark peace and serenity of night. It is a trip which feeds body and soul.

Lough Hyne is a uniquely beautiful salt water lake, the only one of its kind in Europe, and Ireland’s first marine reserve since 1981.

All participants will be staying together in self-catering houses at Clonakilty Park Hotel, Clonakilty Village. 

Price includes accommodation of SINGLE ROOM with shared bathroom (shared between 2 or 3 people).

A 20m pool, sauna, jacuzzi & steam room is available to all residents. The extensive gym is also available.

Clonakilty is one of Ireland’s most culinarily diverse towns with numerous vegetarian, gluten-free, local and international lunch options. Plus, amazing coffee and award winning bakery is only around the corner!!!

Laurence O' Fuarain

Actor - The Witcher: Blood Origin

Cara Jade Myers

Actress - Killers of the Flower Moon

Daniel Sharman

Actor - Fear the Walking Dead

"[Helena's] work is extraordinary and drives you to build a world around your character through narrative and imagination. Her help & support is like no other. Highly recommend working with this master craftswoman."

"Ben is a wonderful teacher & mentor. Having met him three years ago, I can honestly say he has fundamentally changed how I view my career, my work, & the business. It's a relief to know that many actors will be transformed by his approach, experience, and insights."

"Because of Ben Mathes, I walked to my seat at the 2024 Oscar’s, just seats away from my director Martin Scorsese, & stars Leonard DiCaprio & Robert DiNero. It’s because of [the Non-Dominant Approach to Acting] technique that I booked the lead in 3 feature films just in 2024. I believe that the acting retreats unlocked the actress I was always meant to be."

“Most human I've ever felt. If you're ready to fully step inside yourself and rediscover what's been lost from the betrayals of pursuing a life of acting, this is the place. I found love, friendship and acceptance at this course and it brought back the simplicity of my passion and brought me back to the time when it was only about the joy of playing pretend without the judgement of getting it right. That to me is the art and you'll learn how to do that here. Get back to the joy and the rest is child's play. Literally“

— Jonathan Chirrona

"I had an incredible time on the Actors Retreat. It was so much more than I ever could have imagined. The environment was so empowering and creative. There was such a supportive atmosphere that gave you confidence to be a little braver and go beyond where you'd been before. I definitely left there changed and more of the person I was created to be.”

"I have done other retreats and classes with Helena, though there was something truly special about the surfing retreat. Not only did I have Helena and Ben, but I had the ocean as my teacher as well. Navigating the waves was an incredibly effective way to make me reflect on how I also navigate my craft, and it was beautiful to have such a supportive community with me through that process. I’m finally finding my way back to myself and to the joy in acting, and this experience played a significant part in that."

— Miriam Babooram

"I have done other retreats and classes with Helena, though there was something truly special about the surfing retreat. Not only did I have Helena and Ben, but I had the ocean as my teacher as well. Navigating the waves was an incredibly effective way to make me reflect on how I also navigate my craft, and it was beautiful to have such a supportive community with me through that process. I’m finally finding my way back to myself and to the joy in acting, and this experience played a significant part in that."

— Julia Faye Fisher

— Rachel Zapata

"The acting and surfing retreat was not only a week-long masterclass in acting but also an invigorating experience for the mind, body and soul with a group of beautiful people against the backdrop of a most charming town. What more could you ask for?"

— Conor O' Dwyer

Please fill out the following application. Spots are limited. 

While not everyone who applies will be offered a place, we give careful consideration to every application we receive. Tell us as much as you can about yourself, your experience as an actor, and your hopes for your career. We’re excited to know more about you.

The Details: 

5-Day Acting & Surfing Retreat 

taught by Helena Walsh & Benjamin Mathes

🗓 October 19-25th 2025

🏠 Clonakilty, West Cork, Ireland

Supported Fee: €2,250

(need-based, no questions asked)

Standard Fee: €2,500

If cash flow is an issue, we've got Payment Plans available too!

Includes: 

• 6-Nights accommodation at Clonakilty Park Hotel.
• 5 Days of Acting workshops with Helena & Ben. The work is inspired by Fitzmaurice Voicework®, Organic Intelligence®, Neurosystemics™ and Crash Acting’s Non-Dominant Approach to Acting.
• Surf lessons with Ireland's top surf instructors at Inchydoney Surf School. 
• Plus night kayaking in castle-surrounded, bioluminescent waters, and sing songs together in the Pub, Sunset Walks, Night Kayaking, Live Music... 
• BONUS: You'll get 30-day free-trial access to Helena's exclusive guided practices for artists.

Crash Acting & Helena Walsh Empowerment Studios