To complement our recent blog on Rural Retreats in the UK here we are specifically focusing on retreats in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty or ANOB, to use the acronym. Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are designated to protect these areas of particular natural beauty including conserving both the rural landscape and the lives of those who live and work in them.

In these spaces characterised by peaceful pathways, sweeping downs, wild meadows and ancient woodlands we can find a sense of tranquillity and be at one with nature. Lovely at any time of the year, our ancient countryside comes alive in summer with trees and flowers in full bloom.

Here at Neal’s Yard Holidays, we love to indulge our senses in one of our relaxing retreats in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where the surroundings and the restorative treatments, food and environment provide the perfect combination to help you fully unwind. These retreats in truly outstanding and sensory-rich destinations offer meditation, yoga, earthing (*see below), all with delicious locally-sourced food to nourish us inside and out.

Here’s our selection of wonderful retreats in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty:

Ayurveda and Yoga Retreats in south Wales

The secluded retreat on the Gower Peninsula is surrounded by acres of private land and ancient forest not far from the unspoilt coast where seals can be spotted. This peninsula is a haven of rich and varied wildlife, castles, medieval churches set against an awe-inspiring, natural backdrop of hills, valleys, beaches and woodland. (See also photo at top of blog, copyright USp/Neal’s Yard Holidays.)

The combination of yoga and Ayurveda allows you to completely unwind and relax with optional detox and juice-fasting. In between treatments and yoga sessions you can go for walks in the forest of dwarf oaks on the private grounds, filled with bluebells in May, or bliss out in the infra-red sauna and outdoor hot tub (ideal for star-gazing).

Three nights from £570 for a single ensuite room, full board including Ayurveda treatments and yoga. Available anytime, choose midweek or weekend.

Wellbeing Retreats in Surrey

Claridge House is a Victorian mansion in Lingfield close to the Surrey Hills with a long-standing reputation as a healing centre. The midweek or weekend retreats offer either yoga, mindfulness, meditation, Tai Chi or creative arts. Well-known sites include Box Hill, Leith Hill and the Devil’s Punch Bowl and landscapes with open commons, sunken lanes and picture-perfect villages.

Two-night retreats from £220pp sharing room, full board, including retreat activities. Massage treatments are available for a separate fee. Open year-round, choose from selected retreat dates and themes.

Detox Cleanse Yoga Retreats, Cotswolds

Holycombe retreat is set in a wooded valley on the edge of the Cotswold village of Whichford, surrounded by fairytale villages lined with honey-coloured stone cottages, rare limestone grassland habitat and ancient beechwoods with rich flora. Important grasslands such as Cleeve Hill have survived due to their status as ancient common and a National Nature Reserve protects the finest ancient beech complex. Idyllic natural features include a stream rising from a holy well in the nearby wood.
Practice morning breath work, yoga and meditation with Rina Golan, followed by a silent walk, soaking up the serenity of this wonderful part of the UK. Holistic treatments are also available.

Two nights from £295 twin share in the Lodge; or £345 in the main house, single supplement of £100. The price includes daily yoga sessions, guided meditations, woodland walks, organic food, healthy shakes, and lifestyle and nutritional advice. Treatments extra. Select dates through the year include 15-17 June.

Lakeside Wellbeing Retreats, Somerset

Within easy reach of one of the original Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Exmoor National Park and the Dark Sky Reserve, Holworthy Farm sits on the edge of Wimbleball Lake where ‘True Nature’ hosts wellbeing retreats close to spectacular coastal views, deep wooded valleys, high sea cliffs and famous sites such as the Quantock Hills. Stay in refurbished cottages and practice daily yoga. Wellbeing workshops include singing bowl baths and shibashi (Tai Chi / Qigong), plus *earthing (sometimes called grounding and explained in this article by the Chopra Centre), which harnesses the age-old old power of the earth to improve health.

Two nights from £249 twin share; single room supplement £10. The price includes full board with vegetarian food and retreat activities. Treatments extra. Next dates: 27-29 July 2018. There are also selected day-retreats throughout summer and autumn.

For more retreats set in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty see the collection on our website.

We hope you found these destinations inspiring and helped you to choose your next retreat!

Jo Fernandez is a leading UK travel journalist, with much of her career spent working for the London Evening Standard where she was Travel Editor until 2015. Now a freelance travel journalist and copywriter, she lives in Essex and has one daughter. As a travel expert, she still enjoys jetting off to write travel pieces, with favourite destinations including Mexico, Croatia and, of course, Essex.

Updated 20 June 2018.

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Some of our cherished Neal’s Yard Holidays devotees recently told us they’d like to browse our new wellbeing holidays without too much fuss.

And why not? If you’ve been on a few of our retreats already, or if you’re simply pushed for time and want to know the latest destinations on offer, being able to see our new wellbeing holidays at a glance sounds like a pretty good idea. Of course, we couldn’t help but listen.

So, here are our latest worldwide retreats. Could one of these new wellbeing holidays be your next getaway?

From sunny Croatia to the jungle in Costa Rica, and from sub-tropical gardens in south Spain to a peaceful country retreat in Surrey – what appeals to you?

Costa Rica

Yoga and Soul Wellness Retreat near Montezuma
Stay at a peaceful jungle lodge set in beautiful flowering gardens within a private reserve next to Cabo Blanco National Park on the pacific coast with its wonderful beaches. This oasis has a swimming pool, jacuzzi, and hammocks to relax in.
Selected dates between 1 March and 6 December
From £890 per person for 6 nights. Single rooms available

Spain

Yoga Retreats in Almeria
“It’s location to the airport, beaches and walking distance to the local village all add to the sense of ease and let go.” Week-long yoga retreats for all levels organised by Huzur Vadisi.
Year round – in Almeria in South Spain
From £775 pp pwk in twin/double shared room. Single rooms available

Sri Lanka

Seaside Ayurveda Yoga retreat, Bentota
Newly built, nestled between the river and the Indian ocean, with lush green surrounds. Stay in individual cabanas, swim in the sea or pool. Personalised Ayurveda treatments, yoga, river cruises and Sri Lankan hospitality at its best.
Open year round – near Bentota at Sri Lanka’s west coast, 100km from airport.
From EUR1190, approx £1067 pp pwk in single room.

England, UK

Wellbeing Retreats in Surrey
Come for Yoga, mindfulness and meditation, Tai Chi and/or creative arts, weekends or midweek. Their massage therapist is offering a variety of treatments onsite. Find rest and renewal at Claridge House.
Year round – near Lingfield in Surrey
From £189pp for 2 nights, or £365 for 4 nights hb single ensuite room

Detox Yoga Weekends in the Cotswolds
Rest and rejuvenate on this idyllic English countryside retreat. Learn to prepare both raw and cooked food. Rina Golan teaches powerful yoga and breathing techniques, and offers nutritional and lifestyle advice to rediscover your wellbeing.
Selected dates throughout the year at idyllic country house near Stratford-upon-Avon.
From £295pp for 2-night weekend, shared room. Single rooms available

Remember – these are just some of our new wellbeing holidays. For more activities, retreat destinations, offers and old favourites, take a look at our website.

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Last year’s wellness trends included the Danish concept of hygge, using coconut oil for pretty much everything and our old friend mindfulness.

This year’s trends focus on food, both as medicine and nutrition, better sleep and an awareness of the environment as we nurture ourselves. Read on for the key wellness trends to watch in 2018.

Nourish yourself and help the world
Protecting the planet will become an integral part of our wellness routines, meaning we help the environment as we help ourselves. Stock up on homegrown healthy foods such as linseeds, broccoli and pumpkin that don’t require air miles. Similarly, include sustainable and health-benefiting crops in their traditional forms such as chickpeas and lentils. This wellness trend goes hand in hand with…

Health and beauty outside and in
Vitamin C, for example, found in berries, sweet potatoes and dark leafy greens such as kale contains strong antioxidants that can help protect you from disease and slow the ageing process. When applied to the skin topically, vitamin C can reduce inflammation, suppress free radical activity and prevent the appearance of visible ageing.

Food used as medicine
Healing spices are increasingly being recognised as healthy alternatives to pharmaceuticals. Turmeric, which has been used in food and Ayurvedic medicine in Eastern cultures for centuries, will continue to be a key wellness trend in 2018. The fragrant golden spice’s anti-inflammatory properties are due to a compound called curcumin and early research has looked into the potential effect of curcumin on a range of conditions from pre-menstrual tension to Alzheimer’s disease. Wellness retreats with a strong focus on nutrition will continue to allow guests to find the best food for their needs.

Benefits of sleep
When public figures such as Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Google executive Jonathan Rosenberg admit they couldn’t function as highly as they do without eight hours a night (watch the video below for more on this) sleep becomes highly topical. Bedroom comfort and practices to help sleep range from smart mattresses that analyse REM cycles to sleep trackers but conversely the advice to power down all digital devices well ahead of lights out and using holistic relaxation techniques such as yoga nidra, restorative and yin yoga still remains sound advice. Look out for our upcoming blog on sleep.

Top Google exec shares his secret to a good night’s sleep from CNBC:

Healthy Ageing
Healthy-ageing holidays are also rising in popularity with spa-goers choosing spas and retreats which offer a combination of more pampering treatments such as facials with practices that aid menopause relief, all designed to help slow down the clock. Keeping youthful inside and out is key.

Try Tai Chi
Trend-led website Pinterest noticed a +189% rise in searches for Tai Chi in its top 100 trends for 2018. Naturally, Tai Chi will get more focus thanks to its potential to reduce stress, release pain and create harmony. Here’s a video that shows what this exercise can be like – in harmony with your body and nature.

Many of the wellness trends for 2018 are achievable and sustainable practices which you can find in our retreats.

Jo Fernandez is a leading UK travel journalist, with much of her career spent working for the London Evening Standard where she was Travel Editor until 2015. Now a freelance travel journalist and copywriter, she lives in Essex and has one daughter. As a travel expert, she still enjoys jetting off to write travel pieces, with favourite destinations including Mexico, Croatia and, of course, Essex.

The post Wellness Trends for 2018: Find out what’s hot appeared first on Neals Yard Holidays Blog.

Guaranteed warm weather in much of Europe and beyond, and still a chance to cheat the rush by getting away before schools close… What’s not to like about summer retreats in July?

And with a great line-up of summer retreats, we’re sure to have the perfect getaway to help you relax – and potentially escape yet another wet July in the UK.

We give you yoga escapes in the beautiful countryside of the Surrey Hills, creative holidays in Spain, and a variety of detoxing getaways for a fresh start. And among our hand-picked summer retreats in July there’s something for the time-poor as well as those looking for a longer holiday. Dig in!

The short getaway…

• South Wales retreat: A combination of yoga and Ayurveda to help you truly unwind and relax. From £570 per person, full board for three nights, including treatments and yoga.

… and our longer summer retreats in July

• Chillout Retreat in blissful Mallorca: yet another one-off opportunity, from 17-23 July. Enjoy the island plus yoga, Pilates, meditation, detox food and juices, art, massage treatments and pool. From £649 for 6 nights, shared room.
• Tai Chi in the mountains of Southern Spain: 9-16 July. Come to explore and play tai chi! You’ll learn moves that free your joints, relax your muscles, engage your mind and fill you up with creative energy. From £650pp p/wk sharing room (singles available). And there are other activity holidays throughout the year at Cortijo Romero.
• ‘Mini Eden’ in Turkey: Yoga at Suleyman’s Garden near Dalaman comes with accommodation in traditional thatched huts and stunning sea views. From £645pp for a week.
• Ayurveda retreat in Sri Lanka: A top-class holiday on the south coast of Sri Lanka, with full body massages, herbal baths and steams, and rejuvenating scrubs. From £747 pp per week.

Can’t find what you’re after? No worries – here are more ideas for summer retreats in July.

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In the recent BBC programme ‘Trust Me I’m a Doctor’, Michael Moseley tested Tai Chi and Zumba as forms of exercise to compare their effectiveness on our health. He asked can the slow movements of Tai Chi be as good for our health as the high energy activity of Zumba? – The result was astounding, read more in our blog on ‘What is Tai Chi?’.  Here we round up some of the best Tai Chi retreats for you.

For a sample of Tai Chi practice for health, see ‘Tai Chi 5 Minutes a Day for beginners’:

Note:
The old Western spelling is Tai Chi Chuan and Chi Kung. – In the early 1990 Chinese authorities decreed that the spelling in Latin characters should be Tai Ji Quan (or in one word Taijiquan) and Qigong. This more closely matches the Mandarin pronunciation and differentiates the two different ‘chi’ ­ – in Qi gong it means ’energy’, whereas Tai Ji Quan means the ‘Supreme Ultimate’ (‘Ji’ does not mean energy). So the modern spellings for short are Qigong and Taiji (but Tai Chi is still widely used).

Updated 7 November 2019.

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