WILD WELLNESS


lockdown, spending time outdoors is vital for our mental and physical health. “You don’t need to visit a spa. Just go outside


for 20 minutes,” says Pip, as she leads me along a rough moorland track before turning uphill into the woods. “We very rarely engage all our senses, which is why being outdoors is so good for us — looking at what’s around us, listening to the birds, feeling the air on our faces.” And tasting. The woodland floor is blanketed


with wild blueberry bushes and we snack on nature’s bounty as Pip unpacks a small mat from her backpack and instructs me to find a “sit spot”. For 15 minutes I’m to sit with my back against a tree, empty my mind and focus on nature. Wandering off I find a gnarly trunk, balance the


mat on the springy vegetation and still my mind. I listen to birds singing, the wind rustling through branches, I touch damp earth and experience a deep stillness and connection. I could happily have stayed under the tree for


hours but there is more to do. Meandering back to the rustic open-sided camp kitchen where the food demos are held, we light a fire with a flint and steel, brew a pot of dandelion root coffee (it has an earthy, nutty flavour and is said to be good for the liver) and prepare to make a pine resin balm. Melting a few nubs of beeswax over a small stove we gradually stir in olive oil infused


with pine resin. The balm is antimicrobial and increases circulation, and can be used for scrapes, scratches and dry skin. Adding an essential oil (I choose sage for muscular aches and pains) can turn it into a muscle rub or decongestant. Glen Dye’s cottages and cabins each have


a private hot tub, but North Lodge, where I’m staying, also has its own river cabin along with a wood-fired hot tub (bath-shaped with a chimney) hidden among the trees on the water’s edge and for the aſternoon’s activities I’m experimenting with DIY wellness. Just preparing the tub is an exercise in


mindfulness, as it takes time (read hours) to heat it. You need to fill it with a hose, fetch kindling and logs from the wood store, light the fire and feed the flames until, eventually, steam starts to rise from the water. Undressing in the cosy wood-burner-warmed


cabin, I pad across a carpet of fallen leaves, slip off my robe and sink into the water for a warm woodland soak while gazing out onto the river rushing peaty red like oxtail soup beneath the fir trees’ feathery fronds. The next day Pip has chillier water-based


activities lined up. It’s been raining all night and the river is too dangerous for wild swimming, but not cold water therapy. However, first we head to the river cabin for a dynamic breathwork session.


RIGHT: The dramatic rock formations of the Highlands can make for scrambly hikes


BELOW, LEFT TO RIGHT: The gate to the estate’s private organic vegetable garden; cooking outdoors with foraged herbs and produce


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