Detox helped my heartbreak over Tara
BEFORE last summer, I had never been on a wellness retreat. I didn’t think I needed to. I don’t drink much alcohol, I eat healthily and I work out. I love food — I hate the idea of starving myself and hardcore health centres leave me cold. As for emotional wellbeing, well, I meditate and talk about my feelings to friends and family.
However, my sister, Tara PalmerTomkinson, died last year and I hadn’t given myself time to process it. So when a group of girlfriends announced they were going to Yeotown, a five-day health and fitness detox, I decided to join them.
A cosy farmhouse in North Devon, with boisterous fires and squashy sofas in the kitchen/dining room where all ten guests eat convivial meals together, Yeotown is not a place of hair shirts and self-denial.
That said, it is a detox. The programme forbids dairy, meat, alcohol, caffeine, refined sugar and gluten — and lolling about inside. You are forced outdoors. Days are spent hiking, cycling, practising yoga and working out, but you are rewarded with meditation, a massage or shiatsu.
We arrived at midday and were anxious about the mouse-size portions at lunch. Although delicious and nourishing, I admit that on our first hike along the breathtaking coast, we talked a lot about food.
However, as I marched on (there is no ambling at Yeotown!), I realised how much I needed to get away from family and home and do something just for me. I took deep breaths and felt myself begin to relax. I hadn’t realised how much I needed to.
In the evening, we went to the studio for a yoga session. I’m a weights-and-intervaltraining kind of girl. But Mercedes Sieff, who, with her husband, Simon, founded Yeotown, is one of Britain’s leading Vinyasa teachers. I felt so inspired afterwards. During the five days, there were core workouts, cycling (in the rain) and circuit training (also in the rain), punctuated by breaks for herbal tea in bright yellow cups.
We all enjoyed two massages and shiatsu. The shiatsu was extraordinary — the practitioner put her hand on my heart and told me I was holding onto a lot of grief. And then, just like that, out it all came.
I not only lost weight, water retention and acquired a healthy glow, but I learned how to live in the moment. Back home I haven’t given up alcohol, but I’m now gluten and dairy-free. My clothes are loose and my skin and energy levels have never been better. As for my heart, thankfully, that is a little better, too.