Pottery and yoga, East Sussex
Just outside Brighton, in the South Downs, Luna Wilds is a new, off-grid wild spa and retreat built with reclaimed materials by local yoga teacher Laura Brown and her partner Mike Lord. As well as regular day events with spa treatments and time in the wood-fired sauna and outdoor tubs, there’s a choice of weekend options. On a Wild Creativity break, guests learn pottery and practise yoga and meditation. Food is plant-based and plentiful, there are evening campfires, time in the spa and a guided South Downs walk. Book a basic pre-pitched tent with blow-up mattress (£30) or bring your own.
Next Wild Creativity break 13-15 May, £325 (£300 if booked by 31 January), lunawilds.co.uk
Breath and resilience, Wiltshire
Newly launched by breathwork practitioner Natalie Keany and yoga teacher, sound therapist and breathworker Sarah Marten, Resilience Retreats are held several times a year at Sarah’s Georgian home in Wiltshire. Combining breathwork, yoga, nature walks and sound baths, the focus is on relieving tension, reconnecting and learning resilience-building techniques. Retreats run year-round, with the option of staying off-site.
Next retreat 18-20 February, from £490,
studiobritford.com
Women-only wild weekend, Lancashire and Kent
Love Her Wild, a women-only online community, will run two Wild Weekends in 2022. Camping in beautiful settings, they offer a chance to destress with yoga and meditation, and learn new skills (workshops range from astronomy and navigation to bushcraft). There are also inspirational speakers on subjects from planning big adventures to conservation. The venues are Waddow Hall, a lansdcaped estate near Clitheroe, Lancashire, and an outdoor centre near Tunbridge Wells in Kent.
Lancashire 1-3 April, Kent 27-29 May, both £105, loveherwild.com
Holistic wellness, Pembrokeshire
Opened last June by coach Emma Hooper, the Retreat at Old Lan Farmhouse in Login village, outside Narberth, has views of rolling Pembrokeshire hills. Weekends run year-round, from “singing and music for health” to a men-only retreat, for a maximum of eight guests. The popular Holistic Wellness Retreat offers everything from movement classes to aromatherapy workshops, with a packed itinerary tweaked to suit the group. On-site chef Fern prepares healthy feasts and accommodation is in rooms in the main farmhouse and annexes, some with private hot tubs.
Next retreat 21-23 January, from £550, oldlanfarmhouse.com
Slowing down, Cornwall
On Bodmin Moor, on a farm with 100 acres of magical temperate rainforest, Cabilla Cornwall’s retreat choices include Wild Calm: the Power of Slowing Down, which runs several times a year. As well as yoga and meditation, there’s a guided nature walk, a sound bath, a visit to the on-site beaver enclosure, dips in woodland pools and a plant-based cookery workshop. Chef Kate Munro-Boot whips up colourful vegan meals and accommodation is in new triangular wooden cabins with skylights (Cabilla is in a dark sky park), micro-woodburners and thoughtful touches, from sheepskin rugs to poetry books.
Next retreat 14-17 April, from £675, cabillacornwall.com
Foraging and yoga, Dartmoor
Adventure Yogi has a new, four-night summer Walking and Foraging Yoga Retreat. Guests stay in a comfortable country house on the edge of Dartmoor, and take a deep dive into nature with a guided hike and a day’s foraging to learn about edible and medicinal plants. Yoga is a mix of energising morning and relaxing evening sessions, and meals are colourful, nutritious and plant-focused. Other UK options include the Peak District and Norfolk.
15-19 August, from £645, adventureyogi.com
Wild yoga, Scottish Highlands
Wild Roots Highland Guiding is a new company launched by mountain leader Anna Danby last year. Options include a three-day Wild Yoga Journey with two nights’ wild camping. Yoga practice and nature-based mindfulness meditation sessions are woven into the day, led by teacher Lindsay Warrack. Weather will dictate routes, but guests will walk an average of six miles a day. All equipment is provided, as well as delicious food from local providers.
10-12 June, £395, wildrootsguiding.scotland
Yoga and swimming, Lake District
Yoga and swimming are a perfect match, offering plentiful physical and mental benefits, and a new, two-night trip to the Lake District with Swim Trek combines them brilliantly. It includes two guided swims a day in lakes and tarns surrounded by breathtaking scenery – with fell walking between locations. Yoga classes top and tail each day, to limber up or unwind, and accommodation is in the lovely Glenthorne Guest House in Grasmere. Swimmers don’t need open water experience, but should be capable of a 1.5km swim.
Three dates from June to September, starting 27-29 June, from £510, swimtrek.com
Spa hotel, Richmond, London
Atop Richmond Hill, with views over the Thames, 18th-century Richmond Harbour Hotel has an all-new spa, with hydrotherapy and plunge pool, gym, 13 treatment rooms, 20-metre pool and juice bar. Classes range from Hiit (high-intensity interval training) to yoga. The Zen garden and Scandinavian hot tubs add to the calming ambience, and The Gate restaurant serves wholesome dishes in stylish surroundings. Guided meditation walks or running sessions take place in Richmond Park, which is next door.
Small doubles from £95, half-day spa entry with 30-minute treatment and £20 lunch credit from £95, harbourhotels.co.uk
Activity retreat, central Scotland
Based in Drymen village – near Loch Lomond and 14 miles from Glasgow – Retreat Scotland offers flexible stays and activities year round. Filling their days with anything from yoga and fitness classes to mountain hikes and life coaching, guests can stay for as long as they like and join in as much or as little as they like, adding local excursions and extra treatments as they please. Food is a healthy detox mix of juices, soups and vegetarian stews (with a non-detox option of continental breakfast). There’s a choice of accommodation, from bunk rooms to a spa hotel.
Retreats £100 a day, including activities and all food, with accommodation extra, from £30 a night in a shared bunkroom, retreatscotlanduk.co.uk
