After having a baby, there are some things you likely put on the back burner for a few years. A retreat is usually one of them. Generally pretty expensive, the opposite of child friendly and in exotic locations miles away from family life, they aren’t the most compatible with #mumlife.
Thankfully, several mums have cottoned on to just this and have designed fitness and yoga retreats with parent life as the central focus. Packing up your small people with you might sound like the least Zen thing ever, but with listening-in services, post-natal focused classes, special weaning menus, plus creative activities for the kids during designated childcare sessions, it could actually be quite relaxing. Here’s our round up of four of the best weekend and week-long retreats out there…
Best Retreats With Children
& Breathe Wellbeing Retreats
Offering retreats for new parents, multi-generational families and menopausal women from a rural French location, & Breathe has all bases covered and is well aware that fitting in workouts after having a baby is actually pretty difficult. The family and postnatal retreat, for example – running 17 to 23 June this year, £2,500 for a family of three – includes two mums' fitness classes a day with master trainer Caroline Bragg, a daily fit club for dads, massages, a nanny service and personalised fitness plan, in the cost. It’s not cheap, but probably a lot more relaxing than the average all inclusive.
Soul Sanctum Retreats
Parenthood leaves many people time poor – but Alix’s Mama + Child Weekend Retreats (June 21-24, July 22-25 and August 19-23, prices start at £2,300 for a mother and child) are designed with this in mind. The East Sussex-based bite-sized weekends of reconnection offer yoga, sharing circles and treatments (one is complimentary), as well as crafting, foraging and evening yoga (with a useful listening-in service), all across beautiful country houses with pretty gardens. The well-thought-out meals are plant-based and will fit even the fussiest kids’ food needs. Phew!
Theta Retreats
After a sold-out retreat last summer at a picturesque off-grid forest location just outside Bath last August and a blissful retreat in the Menorcan wilderness the following month, mum of two, yoga teacher and birth worker Jocie is bringing her much-needed service to motherhood on some fresh retreats this year. She's returning to Campwell Farm in April – offering a forest school, foraging walks and pizza nights, as well as the opportunity to bring a partner or sister with you included in the price – and Tuscany in June for an exclusive retreat for just eight mums and children. Set in picturesque Italian countryside accommodation, among woodlands, a vineyard, olive groves and mountain streams, the aim is to reconnect and revitalise away from regular mum life. Mornings can be spent doing yoga and relaxing by the pool while the babysitting team cares for your little ones, then afternoons include singing circles and pasta making for the children. There's even a listening-in babysitting service too. All meals are included on both retreats, with a menu designed for even the fussiest child's preferences. Heaven.
Mind The Mom Retreats
With Montessori-style child focused activities that take place while you’re doing the yoga, this seven-night retreat in a stunning location in Portugal’s Algarve (31 March to 6 April, from £2,326 for a private room for mum and child) is as creative for the children as it is for the mums. Organiser Juliana rightly recognises that you ‘can’t pour from an empty cup’ and to fill that cup, she offers yoga for mums as well as parent and child/baby sessions, sharing circles, mediations, plant-based meals and breathwork. The venue is also just a handy seven-minute drive from the beach. That would definitely help with feeling more chill.