7-Day Yoga & Ceramics Retreat in Pelion, Greece

A typical day starts around 7:30am with tea and fruit on the terrace before a 90-minute yoga and somatic movement session. The yoga here is gentle-to-moderate — breath-led, floor-based work with some standing sequences, plus somatic exercises like body scans and slow articular movements. It's not a vinyasa power class and it's not restorative-only either; the aim is to get you back in touch with what your body is actually doing, rather than pushing toward a pose. Fiona adjusts for injuries and for people who haven't practised in a while.

After breakfast there's a gap of a couple of hours. Some people walk down to the village square for coffee, some read in the garden, some nap. Lunch is around 1pm, then the ceramics studio opens at 2:30pm and runs until about 5:30pm. Over the week you'll work through hand-building, coiling, pinch pots and slab work, plus wheel throwing if you want to try it. Fiona demonstrates each technique, then works alongside you. The studio is at the property, so you can leave pieces to dry and come back to them.

Evenings are free apart from two group dinners and one excursion. There's usually a fire in the outdoor hearth, and people tend to sit out with wine until late. Midweek there's a half-day trip — either down to the coast for a swim at one of the beaches below the village, or up to one of the mountain villages like Makrinitsa for a walk and lunch. On the last full day there's a small exhibition of everything made during the week, followed by a group dinner.

What makes this one different from a standard yoga retreat is the clay. Working with your hands for three hours a day does something that lying on a mat doesn't — it's focused, it's tactile, and it's hard to ruminate while you're centring a lump of stoneware on a wheel. Several people who come are not 'yoga people' at all; they're drawn by the pottery and end up surprised by how much they get from the movement sessions.

Fiona Baqai leads the whole programme herself, both the yoga and the ceramics. She's based in Greece and has run this retreat at Pelion Homes for several seasons. Pelion Homes is a small retreat centre in the village, with rooms across a couple of traditional stone buildings, a yoga shala, a ceramics studio, gardens and a pool. The village itself sits at about 600m altitude on the wooded slopes of Mount Pelion, roughly 25 minutes from the coast at Agios Ioannis and about 45 minutes from Volos, which has the nearest airport.

What's included

- 7 nights accommodation at Pelion Homes - 6 morning yoga and somatic movement sessions (90 minutes each) - 5 afternoon ceramics studio sessions with all materials, tools and firing - Glazing and international shipping of your finished ceramics - Daily breakfast, lunch and dinner (mostly vegetarian, local produce) - Wine with group dinners - One group dinner at a village taverna - One half-day excursion to Makrinitsa - Use of the pool, gardens and shared living spaces - Yoga mats, blocks, bolsters and blankets - Linen and towels, changed midweek - Studio aprons and clay tools

What's not included

- Flights to Athens, Thessaloniki or Volos - Airport transfers (can be arranged for an extra cost) - Travel insurance - Meals and drinks outside the retreat menu - Alcoholic drinks other than wine with group dinners - Optional spa or massage treatments - Personal expenses and souvenirs