The summer holidays are in full swing. If you don’t have children or your children have grown up, the summer holidays might be a time to relax and have fun, but as a parent of three young children, it’s a period of time where anything other than looking after your children has to fall by the wayside and your every focus is on entertaining them. For the children it’s idyllic, 6 weeks of no school, but for the parents it’s another endurance event. It can honestly start to feel like quite a strain.
So, that being said, this year I planned ahead and booked lots of exciting things for the children and a family nature retreat was one of them. I am not a camper and never will be, but when someone offers a glamping bell tent in exchange for teaching morning yoga, I thought it rude not to take such an opportunity. I normally wouldn’t have the confidence to teach in an unknown space, at an unknown location, but after hosting a great week’s retreat in the Lakes earlier this year, I had a wave of positivity which inspired me to accepting this gig. How glad I am that I did.
Every morning began rather creakily as I woke from my futon, but sitting on the deck in peace overlooking the hills of North Wales with coffee in hand (for five minutes) made it all worthwhile. There were only a few tents so it was a wonderfully intimate retreat in a stunning rural location. In the centre of the field they had a covered open-air deck and it was such a joy to teach outside with the sun beaming in from all angles. A few hearty campers joined each morning and by the third morning we had a full house complete with children.
One of the joys of this retreat was that it was fully catered. I honestly think that was what swung it for me, three meals a day that I didn’t have to shop, plan or cook for. That in itself is a retreat. It was homemade, tasty and wholesome; one night was wood-fired pizza which was incredible, so we felt very nourished. Workshops were included every day from bush-craft to beekeeping, to foraging and veg growing, that the whole family got involved in. The absolute highlight though was an adults-only wild swimming pond and sauna that was fired up each evening. It was the perfect way to wind down after a long, full-on day of parenting.
The children had such fun running around late into the evening, as us parents chatted around the campfire. It felt such a gift to be able to give them this freedom and opportunity to make new friends. They never wanted to come in to sleep which meant no evening downtime for me, but nevertheless it was worth it as no one ever goes camping to catch up on sleep. That being said, it was a very nurturing environment and I would love to go again.
It made me think a retreat is not always time away from family, and that maybe a family retreat from Zest Life might be on the cards, who knows. But for now I’ll continue to work with adults, at least they go to bed when they’re told!
