The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
Change for the better
Whether it’s meditation in Portugal or couples’ counselling in Devon, get ready to ‘upskill’ your holiday, says Suzanne Duckett
Desperate to escape from that inner voice telling you how unfit and wobbly the pandemic has left you? Need a balm and some overdue lessons in soothing those ever-more-regular relationship rows? Or perhaps it’s time to take your health into your own hands and tackle any mental and physical issues holistically? Whatever the reason, now is the season to learn how. Here are the places and the people to upskill you for the new year ahead.
UNWIND IN THE ALGARVE
Start the new year with a clear head by taking a January trip to Portugal for a meditation holiday led by London Meditation Centre co-founder Jillian Lavender. Enjoy vedic meditation sessions, yoga and massage in the glorious surrounds of historic townhouse Casa Fuzetta, then meander through the fishing town of Olhao and return home a lifelong member of the meditation club. From £2,800 per person, excluding flights. jillianlavender.com
ROCKET YOUR RELATIONSHIPS A few days with clinical therapist Sarah Tilley may be the equivalent of years of counselling – and so much more fun. Her bespoke private “couple consciousness” and group therapy retreats take place in the UK and the Netherlands, with more hot spots to follow. Couples learn how to communicate with openness and honesty, take lessons in “erotic intelligence” and learn how to create their own “erotic map”. All packages are adapted to the participants, but her website includes everything from weekly therapy sessions for £630 per month to a three-month programme including three private one-day retreats for £4,500. beautifulspace.uk
BREAK OLD BAD HABITS
The award-winning north Devonbased health and wellness retreat Yeotown has opened a second venue in a 16th-century farmhouse on the Portuguese island of Madeira. Enjoy incredible coastal and mountain hiking, daily sunrise yoga, “breath and movement” at sunset, fitness sessions, meditation, healthy cooking workshops, nutritional talks, “bio-hacking” discussions, swimming (both ocean and pool) and muscle-melting daily mas
sages. The five-day signature wellness programme starts at £2,500 per person, excluding flights. yeotown.com
POWER UP YOUR POTENTIAL
Two practitioners with 65 years of expertise between them are offering a transformational two-day meditation retreat next month at a Georgian rectory in Somerset. “Realising and Releasing the Power & Potential of the Mind” takes place from December 3-5, cohosted by psychotherapist Fiona Arrigo, founder of the Arrigo Programme – a mix of therapy, healing and clinical work – and meditation teacher Cornelius O’Shaughnessy, founder of the Bodhimaya retreat. From £1,520pp.
BACK TO NATURE
Wild Wellness mindfulness retreats at Gleneagles in Scotland have nature at their heart, combining yoga and mindfulnesss with Tata Harper beauty and spa treatments plus a host of activities taking place in the Scottish estate’s 850-acre grounds. Now, leading naturopath and nutritionist Rosemary Ferguson is hosting three-day holistic retreats at the Perthshire hotel, focusing on three key areas essential to your health: the liver, gut health, and reenergising through the power of nutrition and the great outdoors. The retreats are set to take place from November 22-25; January 17-20 2022 and March 21-24 2022, costing from £2,955 per person.