Fast fix with a detox break
A weekend juice retreat in Sussex sets Bernadette Fallon up for better eating habits
I’m not a huge fan of detoxing. There – I’ve said it. Despite this I’ve tried all sorts of detox diets in the interests of research and journalism, including a liquid booster programme that involved drinking three litres of water a day for three weeks, leaving me feeling bloated, fat, miserable and tired. Plus, I once ended up in A&E after taking Chinese herbs on a prescribed sevenday detox programme.
So why, then, am I standing at the door of the Simply Healing retreat in Sussex, about to put myself through a detox weekend? It was the promise of meeting a shaman that did it.
The Simply Healing retreat offers detox juice diets and weight-loss programmes over five, seven and 10-day stays, as well as two-night weekend taster sessions. The programme includes juice five times a day, vegetable soup in the evening, cleansing herbs, daily meditation, holistic treatments and colonic hydrotherapy.
It’s run by Vivien Kay, a trained British healer and shaman who has worked all over the world, starting in California where she introduced her juice retreats 30 years ago after using the approach to heal her own health issues. She’s run healing clinics around the UK and Ireland, led pilgrimages to sacred sites in Peru, Egypt and Mexico and still takes tours to meet the shamans of Machu Picchu every year.
While shamans are said to treat illness by healing the soul and traditionally have a connection to the spirit world, there’s nothing “otherworldly” about Vivien’s no-nonsense approach to health. Working to cleanse the gut with her programme of treatments, juices and herbs, she explains that without a healthy gut, we can’t have a healthy mind.
The retreat has a 68 per cent visitor return rate and regularly hosts celebrities and royalty. Guests can book a one-to-one session with Vivien during their visit and the nurturing support of all the staff is frequently mentioned in comments in the visitors’ book. Groups are kept small, 12 guests are the maximum the house can hold but 10 is the average – the weekend I visit, there are just eight of us.
It’s a lovely red-bricked house in rolling countryside, there are sunloungers in the garden and a hanging swing under the trees. Juice is served in the communal dining room and we have afternoon (herbal) tea every day in reception, a quiet peaceful space with couches. Bedrooms are large and light-filled with beautiful
views. It’s fine to pad around between treatments in your robe, hang out in the book-filled sitting room or return to your room – stocked with magazines, a DVD player and cosy throws and cushions – for a nap. Two of my fellow-guests say they did nothing but sleep for their first retreat day and I think, good on you.
There’s a nice social aspect to the retreat but it’s also easy to have as much time as you want to yourself, as everybody has their own schedule of timed treatments. There’s an exercise room with power plates and a chi machine, which works by moving the legs gently from side to side to circulate blood efficiently around the body, helping cells absorb oxygen and remove toxins.
I can’t say I’m not hungry during my three-day stay but nobody else appears to be affected, claiming the cleansing herbs – mixed with juice or water to produce a dense, cloudy liquid – make them feel full. But I enjoy the daily juices – all freshly made to a different recipe each time. I love our guided meditations in the evening, followed by tasty soup. And my treatments are great; a deep detox massage and a body scrub, a manual lymphatic drainage massage that is so relaxing it practically sends me into a coma and reflexology that leaves me looking “blissed out” according to a fellow guest.
By the end of the weekend I feel lighter and more relaxed and my skin looks better. But mainly I’m very happy to be able to eat again. Strict detox diets might not suit me, but I come back to my everyday life with a renewed sense of healthy purpose. Keeping up my retreat routine, I carry a bottle of water with me to drink from throughout the day. I make fresh juice every morning and introduce more fresh vegetables into my dinners. I cut back on bread, avoid caffeine and get back into herbal tea.
I also become more mindful. I’m certainly more mindful of what I am putting into my body and more grateful for it. I’m grateful I can eat when I want and grateful to have access to fresh healthy food. Of all the things I’ve taken from the weekend, this is the one that stays with me. ■ Bernadette Fallon is a travel writer and editor; you can read her travel stories at Travellingwell.net
By the end I feel lighter and more relaxed and my skin looks better
Simply Healing is in Rudgwick, West Sussex; prices start from £1,475 for the five-day Simply Healing juice detox retreat, Monday to Friday, Simplyhealingcentre.com, 01403 822117 or info@simplyhealingcentre.com