Island Spirit Founder, Kirsty Barnby has been on quite the adventure around the UK with her cycle from Lands End to John O’Groats. The trip has inspired her to create our first wildcrafted wellness retreat in England. We couldn’t be more excited! This is what is on offer, starting in January 2023.

Leaflet – Wildcrafted Wellness Cornwall January 2023

Our first ever Wildcrafted Wellness Weekend in the UK

The master room

In January 2023, Kirsty will be welcoming visitors to Polzeath in Cornwall for a ‘Wildcrafted Wellness Weekend’ in aid of charity Seaful. During the trip, you will focus on body awareness, creativity and compassion on the cliffs of the Cornish coastline.

After a turbulent couple of years, the trip will provide the perfect opportunity to recentre oneself. We feel it’s the ideal chance to nurture the soul all within the beauty of mother nature and her soothing properties.

Activities on offer at our wellness weekend in the UK

The house of the cliff

This special weekend will include a number of the activities that we at Island Spirit are known for. To start the day, you can ease into the day with yoga and meditation sessions. It will then be followed by a clifftop and woodland walk and a rockpool photography workshop.

We will also have plenty of time to relax and enjoy the scenery. The days will be interspersed with communal, handmade fresh meals, an inclusive craft activities or wellness workshops. There will also be opportunities to take part in foraging and even a life drawing session.

Wellness and support for environmental protection

Baby Bay, Polzeath Beach

Our trip is made even more special as proceeds will go towards Seaful (being mindful of the sea). This British organisation is highlighting the plight of the oceans and the environmental impacts of climate change on our waters.

Seaful believe that mental health is inextricably linked to our connection to the natural world. And this is something we at Island Spirit also believe! They want to create ocean ambassadors and stewards by helping people find their own personal connection to the big blue. Of course, we hope this is something you will find or embellish upon during your time with us in Cornwall.

Seaful currently has two main projects. The Vitamin Sea project was inspired by the founder, Cal Major’s, paddle boarding journey that followed a similar route to Kirsty’s cycle ride. She used the journey to find proactive solutions to the cataclysmic ocean plastic problem. Then she realised that personal connection is the key, and there the idea for the charity was born.

To create a solid grounding for the charity, she investigated both the local stories and the academic research around the sea and mental wellness. Now they promote sea stewardship and for ocean citizens to contact their local parliamentary representatives to enact legislative change. They also encourage everyone to be a conscious consumer, take part in local beach cleans and raise awareness in their local communities.

A UK wellness weekend to fight against climate change

At Island Spirit, we believe that we all need to become ocean stewards and to protect the oceans that create half the oxygen we breathe. These actions will help stabilise our wider ecosystems and therefore are a pivotal part in the fight against climate change.

We pride ourselves on carbon-conscious travel, sensitive to the needs of the local communities in which we work. In line with this, we are offering free collections and drop-offs from Bodmin Parkway, the closest train station to Polzeath. This ethos permeates in everything we do, wherever we do it. Therefore, we invite you to join us on our first home-based adventure in Cornwall, to raise money for this amazing charity.

Included

 3 nights and 2¾ days of activities over a long weekend

6 studies of Hatha and ashtanga asanas (yoga postures)

3 guided meditations

2 local walks

Rockpool (mobile phone) photography workshop

Framed image of your best photo from the rockpool photography session

Life drawing, shell matchboxes workshops

Double bedrooms or twin rooms

Bodmin Parkway train station collection and drop-off

Homemade meals

Availability

2oth January 4pm – 23rd January 12 noon 2023

Our special launch prices:

1. Double front room two pax occupancy £460pp (two spaces available) NOW £410
2. Twin front room per person £460 (two beds available) NOW £410
3. Twin back rooms £410pp (two beds in one room available) NOW £370

Itinerary

Arrival – Friday 2oth January

Arrive at 4pm, relax

5pm Welcome ceremony

6pm Yoga in the Coach House

7.30 pm Dinner

9 pm Meditation

Day 1 – Saturday 21st January

8am – Wake up to a locally sourced smoothie and fresh coffee

8.30am – Foraging

10am – Communal breakfast

10.45am – A woodland and clifftop walk and talk

1.30pm – Communal lunch

2.30pm – Siesta

3pm – Craft and wellness workshop or activity

4pm – Relaxing tea time

5pm – Yoga in the Coach House

6pm – Free time / 30 min integrated therapeutic healing massages

7pm – Homemade dinner

8pm – Free time

9pm Meditation

Day 2 – Sunday 22nd January

8am – Wake up to a locally sourced smoothie and fresh coffee

8.30am – Morning meditation

10am – Communal breakfast

10.45am – Rockpool mobile phone photography workshop followed by a clifftop walk

1.30pm – Communal lunch

2.30pm – Siesta

3pm – Craft and wellness workshop or activity

4pm – Relaxing tea time

5pm – Yoga in the Coach House

6pm – Free time | 30 min integrated therapeutic healing massages

7pm – Homemade dinner

8pm – Free time

9pm Meditation

Day 3 – Monday 23rd January

7am – Earlier wake up to a locally sourced smoothie and fresh coffee

7.30am – gentle stretch yoga in the Coach House

8am – A hill walk and alfresco meditation

9am – Communal breakfast

9.30am leaving ceremony

10 am store bags and join an optional walk before lifts back to the station

Accommodation

A spacious, communal house perched on a cliff in North Cornwall on the iconic Cornwall coastal path. A variety of room types and a dedicated Coach House space for our meditation and yoga sessions make it a very special location.

Optional Extras

Surfing

Offers

Book you and a friend before December 15^th, 2022 for £20 discount per person.

If you want more information about our next Wildcrafted Wellness Weekend in the UK, please email kirsty@island-spirit.org.