Need an incentive? Try one of these luxurious yoga retreats

BLAME it on our fastpaced lives, but yoga retreats have become increasingly popular in the past few years.

In fact, yoga is the perfect antidote to hours spent craning at screens in the office.

Here, JENNY COAD shares our pick of the best retreats on offer . . .

CALM IN CUMBRIA

FOR the first time this September, the Malabar Hotel on the edge of Sedbergh is offering a retreat run by Radhika Vachani, an expert who teaches in the Himalayas, Ladakh and Goa.

DON’T MISS: The barefoot walk with local shepherdess Alison O’Neill, and silent breakfasts.

DETAILS: September 21-25, from €725 per person (based on a double room, sharing). Includes all (vegetarian) meals, daily yoga and tuition, themalabar.co.uk.

GREEK RETREAT

START your day with yoga on the terrace at Villa Vager, in the village of Levidi in the mountainous central Peloponnese region, followed by a massage in your room (from €49).

DON’T MISS: Home-made breakfasts. DETAILS: Five-night retreat from €1,000, including two yoga sessions a day and breakfast, hotelvager.gr..

RAW DETOX

RAW Horizons aim to give you an overhaul with yoga and a raw food diet. Their two-day women-only retreats at Split Farthing Hall in North Yorkshire offer Kundalini yoga, meditation and plenty of relaxation time. There’s an outdoor hot tub, too.

DON’T MISS: The ‘cord-cutting’ meditation, available for an additional €84, as are massages (from €39).

DETAILS: A two-night break is €385 per person (in a shared room) or €500 (single). Includes gourmet raw food, yoga and meditation. Next available retreats September 22-24, raw

horizons.co.uk, further dates in November.

MED MEDITATION

WITH acres of gardens and an infinity pool, La Serrania in Mallorca is blissful. Yoga is led twice daily in the garden studio.

DON’T MISS: Views of the Serra de Tramuntana mountains.

DETAILS: The first retreat led by Zoe Knott is August 26 to September 1; from €1,110 per person based on two sharing. Includes full-board and yoga,

destinationyoga.co.uk. Airport transfers arranged by Destination Yoga, €25 each way.

HYGGE ESCAPE

HYGGE, the Danish concept of cosiness, is still in vogue and now you can do ‘Hygge yoga’ at an 18th-century manor house, Combe Grove, Bath. After a vinyasa flow yoga session, you meditate in a woodland setting. DON’T MISS: The hand-knitted socks given to all yogis. DETAILS: The half-day retreat, including use of the hotel’s pool, sauna and steam room before or afterwards, is €70; combegrove.com, next available on September 10.

CORNISH CALM

THIS three-day break at the Scarlet Hotel in North Cornwall will be even better if the weather allows yoga on the clifftop or beach. The four-hour spa session includes a therapeutic massage.

DON’T MISS: The Ayurvedic consultation.

DETAILS: Yoga Breaks start from €1,075 per person, based on two sharing a room for three nights;

scarlethotel.co.uk. Includes breakfast, 90 minutes of yoga each morning, dinner on two evenings and a spa session.

SOULFUL SRI LANKA

MIX yoga and surf sessions in a stunning villa near Ahangama on Sri Lanka’s south coast. On offer are daily vinyasa flow classes, yin yoga, plus pranayama and meditation. Surf in sheltered coves or on the open sea.

DON’T MISS: The local stilt fishermen perched on poles.

DETAILS: Villa (sleeps eight) €256 a night, including breakfast and morning yoga at a hotel five minutes’ walk away. You can book for lunch, dinner, extra yoga and surf lessons (€28) here, too, soulandsurf.com. Find return flights on srilankan.com.

BEND IT AT BAMFORD

STRETCH yourself in the Cotswolds at Bamford Haybarn Spa on the Daylesford Farm, near Kingham. There’s sunrise Hatha yoga, massage, mindfulness, meditation, farm walks and lessons in nutrition.

DON’T MISS: The tasting menu by Daylesford Cookery School.

DETAILS: September 15-17; from €835 per person, (two sharing),

bamford.co.uk. Includes cottage, full-board, one-hour deep tissue and one-hour de-stress massage, and afternoon tea in the spa.

INDONESIAN BLISS

MAGICAL Sumba island in eastern Indonesia is famous for surf. This October, the Nihi Sumba Island Hotel is hosting a retreat run by yogi Sjana Elise Earp and movement practitioner Rod Cooper. There’s daily yoga, as well as movement practice and lessons in holistic health.

DON’T MISS: Hiking to the Blue Waterfall and bathing in its iridescent lagoon.

DETAILS: October 7-12, from €4,338 for single occupancy including transfers, full-board, waterfall adventure, NihiOka trek, organic chocolate-making, snorkelling. Find flights to Sumba (via Dubai and Bali) with Emirates and Garuda Indonesia Airlines, nihihotels.com

NEW YEAR, NEW YOU

START the New Year with a retreat near Stonegate in East Sussex. Your days begin with a silent countryside walk and end with a vegetarian dinner. There’s morning and evening yoga and a guided walk at Bewl Water.

DON’T MISS: The New Year feast, dancing and meditation.

DETAILS: A three-night retreat from December 30 to January 2 from €570, based on two sharing, including cottage, full-board, two yoga classes a day and yoga workshop, adventureyogi.com