Creative Retreats

Lifestyle retreats, where you can recharge your batteries ready to face the year, are no longer the preserve of the rich and famous. Lucy Etherington meets two smart young women running creative arts and yoga based retreats here in Suffolk, as well as in Ibiza and Spain

- Lucy Etherington

WITH its eerily beautiful landscapes and endless sky, Suffolk is the perfect retreat locale. I’m amazed more people haven’t already tapped into its potential. However, next month, the founders of Circle Retreats are running a four-day Spring Healing retreat in Butley Barns, on the edge of the breath-taking reed beds on the Suffolk coast. There will be yoga, meditation and healthy Ayurveda based meals, and on top of that, creative arts workshops and journal writing.

I head out to Snape to meet Circle Retreat founders Gabriel Marshall and Krysia Howard, childhood friends who decided to turn their holistic and creative lifestyle philosophy into a business. Even though the Circle Retreats website is refreshingly down-to-earth, and the profile photo is of two lovely women grinning away in dungarees (not Lycra), I was still expecting to meet a couple of earnest Gwyneth Paltrow types who would judge me for my leaky toxins. How wrong I was.

I am ushered out from the cold into Gabriel’s lovely, bright flat, overlooking woods and fields and fragrantly warmed by a wood burner. With cosy sofas covered in cushions and throws and the smell of fresh coffee, I already feel like I’ve arrived at a retreat.

Gabriel is buzzing around making coffee and chatting, while Krysia, who lives in Madrid, is serenely curled up in an armchair. She has a deep, infectious chuckle. They both laugh and talk a lot, and it’s very easy to get swept up in their enthusiasm and lively energy. Their conversations swing from deep and serious one minute, hilarious the next.