Tried & Tested: Reviews
journey of self-discovery, see what the problems are, why they are occurring and how you can deal with them. Sadly for most of us on the
retreat, there was no real cure, as short of giving up work and living off foraged weeds, putting children up for adoption or winning the lottery, we couldn’t see a real solution as our stresses came from workload/careers and life balance. But of course, Morris would have
us believe it’s more a case of how we respond to all these demands and how we allow ourselves the time to focus on what we need as individuals, rather than others. And I needed to reignite an “inner energy and light” that was getting zapped away over time, she said.
Zest for life The only light I saw was the one I groggily reached for at 6.50am so I was ready for my 7am delivery of hot water and lemon (said to be the best way to start your digestive system off in the morning). Stretching out of the enormous four-poster bed – yes, I did feel like a princess, there was even a stool to reach it – I was psyching myself up to totally engage in the retreat, starting with yoga, followed by a healthy breakfast and then into the workshop, which takes
place in Lucknam’s dedicated Well-being House, a standalone accompaniment to the already brilliant spa, which is cocooned within a walled garden. “Whether you want more energy,
a new job, better relationships or a greater sense of self-awareness and life purpose, the retreat is designed to help you connect with a new vision for your future and make positive change in all areas of your life,” was the opening gambit given by Morris to the group. We stared back blankly. To engage us in the mission she started on some art therapy. We continued staring blankly. But you soon warm up to it.
Techniques include drawing a picture of yourself – it’s funny what comes out. Not funny ha ha. But actually meaningful, once you analyse it with Morris afterwards. You also draw around your hand and write inside the five digits how you feel about the physical (your life surrounds), body (health), time (what you do with it), relationships and thoughts (controlling them). At the end of the retreat, you do the same to see how things have shifted – how your mindset on what is important has actually shifted and I wrote differently inside each digit.
One of the other techniques
involves those toys. What seemed like a hundred little toys were messed up together on a table and you must choose just three, supposedly drawn to them on a deeper level. The toys are then supposed to “speak to you” (I subconsciously picked Woody from Toy Story, a pink-spotted teapot and a panda) – I haven’t lost the plot, this was what happened. I won’t get too personal and tell you what they said, as what happens between a girl and her teapot should never be disclosed. I also reeled off some poems
that will never, ever, see the light of day, but they did provide an expressive outlet. And I coloured – a lot. Sometimes with my god- daughter we do actually spend a good time together colouring-in and whether it’s the repetitive movement of shading, or the relaxing sounds of pencils on paper, you can see why adult colouring has become “a thing” to help us all chill out, with elaborate and beautiful books now dotted around any self-respecting Oliver Bonas-type shop. I knew myself that my inner
light had dimmed, that I relied too much on what others thought of me and had to “put a face on” a lot, that I felt under pressure against deadlines all the time and
that I worked too hard. So after the retreat, and for a
few days, maybe even a couple of weeks, I started saying no (in very small ways). I made fewer work commitments. I cleared out a lot (but still not enough) clutter and reorganised a few areas at home. I tried to get to an exercise class. I tried to get to bed before 1am. I even left my mobile phone downstairs and let my cats be my alarm; they are usually anyway. In the past few weeks however, I’ve slipped into old ways. Deadlines have encroached, work has piled up, sleep has reduced – I’m almost begrudging ever taking a few days off for the retreat, no, I’m not really. Some of the techniques I picked
up are obvious – yoga, more sleep (perhaps aided by a spot of light colouring-in). But some I’ll just never get to grips with –“look in the mirror and tell yourself how much you love you”, or the “power shout”, or keeping a gratitude diary in which you write each evening what you have been thankful for. I spend my whole day writing, so my brain cannot focus on any extra writing when I get home. But what I do keep trying to
remember is that you have to give your inner critic the day off and I came away thinking I needed some new habits and hobbies and that I needed to enjoy life a bit more. Heck – at Lucknam Park, if I hadn’t been so busy searching for my inner light switch, I could even have checked off one of the things on my life-long to-do list – learn to cook – as the hotel has a full-on cookery school under Ben Taylor. Maybe next time. But for now, I’ll keep colouring in.
How to book it The next two-night group retreat is May 3-5, from £930pp (single occupancy) or £1,330pp (two sharing), including breakfast, lunch, dinner in The Brasserie (informal all-day dining restaurant in the spa), group sessions, Ila Kundalini massage, sunlight therapy session and dry flotation session. Other retreats include Deep Discovery Yoga Retreat with Ben Parkes (April 20-22) and Energise Pilates with Vanessa Pearce (June 6-8). Tel: 01225 740570,
lucknampark.co.uk,
jaynemorris.com
TRIED & TESTED SPRING 2016
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Wellness break
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