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Soul Sanctum Retreats

Matrescence - ‘The process of becoming a mother.’ Nourishing Mama + Child Retreats in Sussex, UK.

16/12/2024

I - Alix, Soul Sanctum’s founder - have been trying to write this post for months. It is a deeply personal one.

On 28th July my husband, and 6-year-old daughter’s father, tragically and unexpectedly died. This was the last photo taken of them together, just a couple of weeks before.

We are still waiting on the post-mortem results, and it is an open police investigation. We were initially told 8 weeks for some answers, then it was extended to 12… we are now at 20 weeks, living in this limbo, this twilight world of unanswered questions, with nowhere to anchor our grief and start processing this unthinkable loss.

In time I will write more.

I wanted to address the months of silence on this page, and to apologise to those who have emailed about 2025 mama + child retreat dates. For now, my focus is solely on this mama, and my child.

Alix 🧡

25/04/2024

“You’ve always got your head in the clouds.”

I’ve heard this a lot in my life. I’m Alix, Soul Sanctum’s founder, and when I saw this picture of me it made me laugh.

I take leaps of faith, in people and projects. As a result, in my life I have experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. And when the clouds turn grey, I can get depressed, sometimes debilitatingly so.

When I became a new mother I believe I had undiagnosed PND. Desperately in need of a break, but not wanting to be away from my child (ah, the contradictions of motherhood!) I found Holy Mama, a retreat for mums and kids in Ibiza. It was my lifeline. Kind, joyful women played with my one year old each morning while I gently gathered all the parts of myself back together. I left the retreat a completely different woman. So transformed that I trained with Holy Mama’s founder Claudia Spahr to set up mama + child retreats here in the UK.

I know, from my own experience, how important it is to have this time in new motherhood to pause, to be taken care of in this unique way, with no judgement, no expectation, no unsolicited, well intended advice, just acceptance and space to find what I truly needed within myself.

That leap of faith - taking a flight to Ibiza terrified me when I struggled to even get outside my front door most days - changed my life. And when I returned, and I told people I was going to start a new business running retreats while continuing my 15 year career in freelance music PR - I was met with familiar raised eyebrows and head shakes, “here she goes again!”

We are now into our 4th year of retreats. I have brought together a team of outstanding women to look after our guests and their children. These women are my tribe, and our community grows with every retreat.

In the 90s it was called daydreaming, nowadays it’s visualising the life you want. It’s not always easy, but it’s worth it.

📷 .space

24/04/2024

On our mama + child retreats, we provide 4 hours of holistic morning childcare. Once the children are settled mums are invited to join a yoga class that is tailored to each group via a pre-retreat questionnaire, so that all levels of experience, preferred style and stage of post-natal recovery are taken into account when planning each class.

Yoga is a wonderful way to reconnect with our bodies after childbirth, to feel into unfamiliar spaces and places with curiosity and kindness.

Yoga is also a great way to release trapped energy and emotion from the body. Mums tend to put themselves last a lot of the time. As well as experiencing feelings of overwhelm and exhaustion, they absorb all the emotions of their children too. These feelings can become trapped in our muscles and tendons, and yoga can help to gently release them, leaving us feeling lighter, stronger and more equipped to face life’s challenges.

10/04/2024

NOW BOOKING: MAMA + CHILD RETREATS SUMMER 2024, EAST SUSSEX, UK

Join us on retreat this summer for 4 hours of holistic morning childcare while you relax with yoga, a treatment (such as a massage, a facial or chakra and energy healing), a dip in the heated pool, a leisurely brunch, a walk in the woodlands, a game of tennis or whatever takes your fancy.

In the afternoons we offer mama + child sessions like playful yoga, crafts and foraging, so you don’t have to plan a thing. You could also head out and explore one of the many beautiful beaches a short drive away.

In the evenings we provide a listening service so you can enjoy a sound bath, yoga nidra or guided stargazing while the little ones sleep.

We provide 3 meals a day plus snacks and all stages of weaning are catered for.

Friday 21st - Monday 24th June - Weekend Retreat
Monday 22nd - Friday 26th July - Mid-Week Retreat
Monday 19th - Friday 23rd August - Mid-Week Retreat

Book now via the link in our bio 🧡☀️

01/03/2024

After 3 successful years hosting residential Mama + Child Retreats, we are excited to launch our first day retreat on Thursday 11th April at Alfriston Gardens, East Sussex, from 9am - 4pm.

Join us for a day to nurture yourself during holistic morning childcare, and spend some magical time with your child/ren in the afternoon.

When you arrive our childcare team will greet your little one/s in our warm and welcoming childcare barn. There will be some time for settling in, before you take a short walk across the pretty garden to the sanctuary of our beautiful barn for a welcome circle and nourishing yoga practice, designed especially for women on the journey of matrescence with Brydie Rowan.

A delicious, nutritious, plant-based lunch will be served by our hearth holder Sharon Smith at 12.30pm, before you collect your child/ren at 1.30pm (children will have a morning snack at 10.30am and lunch at 12pm, served by our childcare team).

will be hosting a magical afternoon session for mamas and children to enjoy together between 2pm-3.30pm.

Our day will end with tea and cake.

Cost per mama + child is £295. There are just 11 spaces available.

We are offering a 10% discount on bookings made before midnight this Sunday, just add the coupon code ‘soulsanctumapril’ when checking out.

Book via the link in our bio.

🧡

02/02/2024

Our Mama + Child Retreats have just been included in (AGAIN! 😃) in their ‘The best retreats you can attend with your children’ piece. You can read all about our guest’s first hand experiences on retreat in Grazia and Sussex Life Magazine in the link in our bio.

Our new home for 2024 is the stunning Eastwood Observatory in Herstmonceux, East Sussex, UK. It feels so aligned with the essence of our retreats. Inspired by Christopher Wren’s magnificent observatory building in Greenwich, it was built to record the position of the Moon and the stars.

We offer carefully curated childcare each morning, while you head off to the beautiful Orangery for yoga. There’s an outdoor heated pool for a morning swim or an afternoon splash about with the little ones, a hot tub, a tennis court, a children’s tree house play garden, a large extended kitchen where we serve 3 delicious, nutritious meals per day (plus home-made snacks like cakes, muffins and energy balls), a huge communal lounge to chill out in and inglenook fireplaces to light and keep us cosy if the British summer rain sets in. In the afternoons we offer mama + child sessions like yoga, crafts and foraging, so you don’t have to plan a thing. In the evenings we provide a listening service so you can enjoy an evening session like a sound bath or guided stargazing.

This stunning venue is the perfect place to retreat from day-to-day life and experience a different way of living inside ‘The Village’ with other women and their children, while being looked after by our fabulous team. Yes, it’s beautiful, but you come as you are, squashed bananas and all. We’re here to look after you, and do all the cooking, cleaning and tidying up.

Bookings are now open for three retreats this year -
Friday 21st - Monday 24th June (Summer Solstice Weekend!)
Monday 22nd - Friday 26th July
Monday 19th - Friday 23rd August

You can pay in full, or we can arrange a 30% holding deposit, and discuss a payment plan that works for you.

Join us? 🧡💫

26/01/2024

Thank you for featuring us in their article ‘The best retreats you can attend with your children’, alongside my soul sisters .retreats and

I love being a part of such an uplifting, supportive community of fabulous entrepreneurial women.

Read the article via the link in our bio 🧡

10/01/2024

INTRODUCING OUR NEW VENUE FOR 2024 MAMA + CHILD RETREATS

The Eastwood Observatory is a beautiful 32-acre East Sussex country estate in The High Weald, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It was apparently inspired by Christopher Wren’s magnificent observatory building in Greenwich. Wren’s original building was built in 1675 and the observatory was built to record the position of the Moon and the stars at set times. This is what inspired the ball and mast situated on the turrets of both buildings. In Eastwood’s case, these double as lightning conductors.

Step into your own Jane Austen novel, come and experience a different way of living, with other women and their children. Yes, it’s beautiful, but you come as you are, squashed bananas and all. We’re here to look after you, and do all the cooking, cleaning and tidying up.

We offer carefully curated childcare each morning so you can relax with some yoga, a dip in the heated pool, a treatment, a leisurely brunch, a walk in the woodlands or whatever takes your fancy!

In the afternoons we offer mama + child sessions like yoga, crafts and foraging, so you don’t have to plan a thing.

In the evenings we provide a listening service so you can enjoy an evening session like a sound bath or guided stargazing.

We provide 3 meals a day plus snacks and all stages of weaning are catered for.

We are currently taking bookings for:
Friday 21st - Monday 24th June (Summer Solstice)
Monday 22nd - Friday 26th July
Monday 19th - Friday 23rd August

For more details and booking, head to https://soulsanctumretreats.com/

11/10/2023

Inspirational writer and mother joined us on retreat this summer, and she wrote about it for via 💕

Address

Alfriston Gardens, Alfriston Road
Berwick
BN26 5QS

Website

http://www.soulsanctumretreats.com/

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