RETREAT INTO YOURSELF

Allowing yourself time to retreat from the everyday can have a powerful impact on your mental wellbeing. Joe Minihane investigates

- Joe Minihane

I think there is a growing awareness of our need to be connected to nature. And to also remember that we are nature. Everyone's valuing the importance of it.”

Jenny Clark knows better than most. She's the founder of The Wild Times, which has been offering retreats across the UK and Europe since 2021, when she emerged from lockdown with an urge to bring people together after so much isolation. With options to paddle board, hike, swim and practice yoga, Clark's getaways centre on putting the individual first and creating space to boost health and mental wellbeing in the process.

Retreats are just one part of a UK wellness industry which was believed to be worth a colossal $223 billion in the UK alone in 2022, according to Statista. And while that includes everything from fitness devices to gym membership, there's no escaping the concept of breaks that are centred on reawakening our connections with something bigger, whether that's spending a week in the woods without our phones or half a day's hiking in the company of others struggling with their mental health.

What's more, there's proof that such breaks work. A 2017 study in the Journal of Alternative Complementary Medicine found that a week-long retreat in Queensland, Australia involving therapy sessions, time outdoors and eating a largely organic, plant-based diet delivered boosts to overall physical health and an easing of psychological distress. Guests were found to have lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol six weeks on from the retreat.

Best intentions

Of course, you could just take a holiday. But, says Clark, there is a subtle difference with a retreat, where you are often an individual joining a wider group for a specific set of activities.