Intensive Yoga & Mindfulness Retreat in the Lake District

High Holme sits in an elevated position above the Wasdale Valley, and the lounge and dining room have large windows looking out over the garden towards the Wasdale Screes. There is a telescope for stargazing, a hot tub with views to the Wasdale Fells, extensive gardens with a patio, a lower lawn and a bamboo garden, plus a games room, Sky TV and internet access. Because the house is up a hill and has both internal and external stairs, it is worth being comfortable on your feet.

Check-in is 17:00 on the Friday and check-out is 09:00 on the Monday. The house has five bedrooms — one king-size, one double, one single, one twin and one family room with a double and a single — and the ten places are sold on a room-sharing basis, so you will most likely share. There are three bathrooms: an en-suite shower room with WC, a shower room with WC, and a bathroom with a bath, separate shower and WC.

A typical day starts at 07:45 with 90 minutes of yoga, alternating between Yin, Kundalini and Vinyasa. Breakfast is at 09:15. From 10:30 to noon there is a mindfulness workshop or lecture on a set topic. Lunch is at 12:30, followed by a sound bath at 14:00, a short break, and a shamanic ceremony at 16:00. Meditation runs 17:30 to 18:30, dinner is at 19:00, and the day closes with group kirtan chanting at 21:00. It is a full day with limited free time.

The teaching deliberately mixes styles that usually sit apart. A single day can move from a physical Vinyasa flow to a Kundalini set to a silent gong bath to a shamanic journey, and the workshop sessions give the theory behind the practice — yoga philosophy alongside mindfulness, meditation and spirituality. Emma has trained in all of these separately and brings them together here rather than running a single-style retreat.

The wider point of the week, as the organisers describe it, is to step off the treadmill, log off and turn inward. Breathwork and meditation are used to surface emotions that people habitually suppress, and the group is treated as the support structure for that process. The retreat is clear that this can bring up personal material, trauma and difficult feelings, and that letting go of what surfaces is part of the work. Anyone booking should read that honestly and decide whether they want that kind of week.

Meals are vegetarian, freshly cooked and served three times a day, with water, coffee and tea included. Alcohol is not permitted for the duration of the retreat. Travel to and from the venue and personal expenses are not covered.

What's included

- 3 nights full-board accommodation at High Holme - Daily yoga sessions (Yin, Vinyasa, Kundalini) - Breakfast, lunch and dinner (vegetarian) - Water, coffee and tea - Different meditation techniques - Shamanic journeys - Pranayama breathwork techniques - Shamanic ceremony - Gong sound bath - Group kirtan mantra chanting - Yoga philosophy workshop / lectures - Daily tuition from Emma Newham

What's not included

- Travel to and from the venue - Transfers - Personal expenses - Alcohol (not permitted during the retreat)