Autumn: Where The Wild Heart Lives is a one-day, nature-led retreat open to both men and women on the Knepp rewilding estate. As autumn starts to settle in and the diminishing light pulls resources back into the trees and plants, it’s an invitation for us once again to to connect with the restorative powers of breath, forest, water and fire.

We gather as a small group in the yurt at The Yoga Garden, on the edge of a wildflower meadow within Knepp Estate’s 3,500 acres of rewilding. As the oak unfurls and the year begins to warm, this retreat offers a welcome antidote to the relentless pace of modern, technology-fuelled life. Expect space to unplug, soothe your nervous system, recharge, and open your senses to the natural world around you.

This is a day for embodied healing: positive lifestyle shifts, practical tools for wellbeing, and a deeper relationship with nature. You don’t need prior experience (although please note the contraindications for the Breathwork), just curiosity and a willingness to explore.

What we’ll explore:

1. Conscious Connected Breathwork
Breathing is a forgotten tool for healing and optimising your physical and mental health. This morning session of Conscious Connected Breathwork is a powerful and safe way to infuse the body with oxygen and energy and recharge your system to its maximum healing capacity. It can lead you to optimum health, mental and emotional clarity and experience an ever-deepening relationship with yourself. This session is a gentle, simple technique that will help open up the full potential of your breathing system for better physical and emotional wellbeing. The many benefits, include increased energy, better immune response and increased ability to deal with stress in a healthy way.

2. Shinrin-yoku (Forest Bathing)
After lunch we’ll head out into the nearby woods where you’ll experience the Japanese-inspired practice of Shinrin-yoku, translated as Forest Bathing. You’ll feel incredible, just hanging out in the forest together in this beautiful month of early Spring, but we’ll do so much more than that. You’ll learn techniques to open up your five senses and experience how being in the forest soothes our nervous system, balances our blood pressure, helps us to sleep better and enhances our NK (Natural Killer) cell activity, which boosts our immune systems. It’s a deeply calming, reconnecting and balancing experience.
 
3. Wild Bathing
Have you ever had the experience of feeling utterly revived by bathing in wild water? It’s a magical experience and now is your chance. This session is based on the principles from the book Blue Mind by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols - written about the remarkable effects of water on our health and wellbeing, along the myriad of evidence that cold water immersions improves our energy levels, calms our nervous system, boosts our endorphins for a feel-good factor that’s hard to beat, and improves circulation. Cold showers are all the rage, but they’re a second-rate substitute to wild bathing where you really feel part of the natural world as you bob about! This is a supported, gentle way to experience how being in wild water helps you deeply connect to your body. You’ll be delighted by the flow of positive feelings and find yourself coming firmly into the present, letting go of life’s frustrations and gaining a greater sense of clarity.
 
4. Fire Circle
We close the day as our ancestors once did: gathered around the fire for reflection, story and poem. Fire has long been a companion for transformation, letting us release what no longer serves us and honouring what we’re stepping into. It brings warmth, connection and the gentle alchemy of being witnessed.

The Wonderwoods ethos
Community is at the heart of every Wonderwoods experience. We arrive as strangers and leave as kin. This small-group retreat is designed to reawaken inner power, restore balance, nourish the body and uplift the spirit.
 
To learn more about the beautiful Knepp Estate, you might like to watch the movie about this incredible rewilding project. For more details go to: https://www.wildingmovie.com/