7-day retreat
Stuck in the middle of a Life Crisis, have you realised that you need to take some time out to rest and relax, before your sky-high stress levels permanently damage your health?
Poor stress management may lead to conflict, communication breakdowns, and emotional distancing – the last thing we need when we feel insecure. Effective stress management techniques can make relationships healthier because such techniques help us communicate more effectively and navigate conflicts more constructively. Stress can impair our cognitive function, reduce our ability to pay attention, and impair our decision-making abilities, leading to decreased productivity and performance at work. Managing stress effectively during a life transition can enable us to stay focused, maintain mental clarity, and perform optimally in various areas of life.
Horses can help you to dramatically improve your ability to handle stress, especially during lifequakes.
This retreat is for you if
- you feel overworked, overwhelmed and exhausted, and close to burnout, and you want to avoid permanent damage to your physical and psychological health,
- want to develop effective coping strategies to use during and after this life transition that can be incorporated seamlessly into your personal and professional life and even empower you to make a difference in other people’s lives,
- aim to live a long, happy, healthy and fulfilling life, full of purpose and meaning – in alignment with your unique talents, values and ideals.
At the end of this retreat, you will feel:
Physically: Vibrantly alive, bursting with energy, fully rested, profoundly relaxed, rejuvenated, refreshed with all your batteries fully recharged
Mentally: Grounded and centred, confident in your ability to manage stress during this life transition, motivated to embrace the changes you’re facing, and clear on how to tackle challenges and find solutions to your problems.
Spiritually: Calm and serene, inspired and uplifted, with a renewed sense of purpose and inner peace as you move forward into your next chapter.
If you yearn to connect and communicate with horses, dramatically lower your stress levels during a life transition and walk a section of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, then this is the retreat for you.
The retreat is hosted at a picturesque farm in the south-west of France, surrounded by rolling hills, lush meadows, ancient woods, and the calming presence of my Friesian and Falabella horses. During this retreat, you will learn how to access a state of deep relaxation and inner calm, with horses as your guides. You will also discover the powerful connection between your own energy and that of the horses, learning how to harness this energy for deeper self-awareness.
Just being at Maison Meraki, in the presence of the horses, will enable you to let go, chill out and rest your mind, body and soul.
What you will get from this Retreat
The aim of the retreat is to empower you to use mindfulness and meditation – being present and fully engaged in the present moment, without judgment as demonstrated by the horses.
- Breaking free from the immobilising fear by mastering simple techniques to easily and effectively deal with stressful situations
- dramatically enhancing your ability to focus and concentrate by training your mind to stay present and resist distractions
- Becoming emotionally, socially and intellectually more resilient by developing a variety of problem-solving skills as well as crisis-coping skills
During this unique retreat, you will have the opportunity to:
- Walk part of the often life-changing Camino de Santiago de Compostela to gain clarity about your future while practising walking meditation helping you to focus your mind.
- The opportunity to connect with my Friesian and Falabella horses during equine-guided mindfulness and meditation sessions to benefit from their intuitive and authentic wisdom. If you have always been fascinated by horses, and longed to connect with them on a deeper level but have always been intimidated by their size, this will be an unforgettable experience.
- Enjoy the very best food and wine that Gascony has to offer – by eating mindfully: Paella with an African twist, Tagine à la Française, Ratatouille aux 7 Epices served al fresco…your taste buds will think they are in seventh heaven.
- Stay in an authentic half-timbered 200-year-old French farmhouse, on the edge of an ancient forest, surrounded by the peaceful sounds of nature, in a cool, light, airy room in the heart of the Armagnac and Cotes de Gascogne wine region in the south-west of France
All arranged activities are optional.
Enough free time is available for resting, relaxing and recharging your batteries. If you prefer to skip an activity, you are more than welcome. The program is not set in stone and might be adjusted according to outside temperatures.
Walking the Camino de Santiago de Compostela, through the noble vineyards, wild meadows, lush orchards and quiet woods offers you the opportunity to reconnect with yourself, review what matters to you most.
This farm stay retreat is led by Dr Margaretha Montagu, who is passionate about creating a safe, supportive, and transformative space for you to rest, relax, discover how to manage stress effectively and connect with her magnificent Friesian and mischievous Falabella horses.
So, if you are ready to embark on a journey of self-discovery, book your spot now and experience the transformative power of horses for yourself.
Have you always been fascinated by horses, and longed to connect with them on a deeper level but have always been intimidated by their size?
This exceptional escape to the south of France offers you the opportunity to make that connection and benefit abundantly from the horses’ intuitive and authentic wisdom. You will spend the whole retreat in the presence of these patient, caring, and generous animals. You will be able to breathe with them, touch them, talk with them, walk with them and share your most secret thoughts with them.
“I created these retreats with my horses to help you internalise how exceptional, powerful, gifted, beautiful, strong, generous, appreciated, valuable, talented, brilliant, admired, respected, courageous, special, caring and lovable you are.
My purebred Friesian and Falabella horses make these retreats UNIQUE. Friesians are a generous, patient, warmhearted and affectionate breed, par excellence, and often powerful, intuitive healers.” Dr Margaretha Montagu
Dr M Montagu MBChB MRCGP MedHypDip NLP Master Pract Cert Prof Life Coach Cert Counseling Cert EAGALA Cert
All activities happen with everyone’s feet firmly on the ground – there is NO HORSE RIDING during these retreats.
If this resonates, then this retreat, which fosters self-awareness, self-discovery and self-compassion during life transitions, facilitated by her Friesian and Falabella horses, might well be the perfect retreat for you.
Do you feel uber-stressed, overwhelmed and exhausted? Do you feel mentally and physically drained and unable to cope with the never-ending and ever-increasing demands made of you? If you are in desperate need of a break, then escaping to this 200-year-old French farmhouse, surrounded by horse paddocks on the edge of an ancient forest where you can rest, relax and recharge your batteries in the presence of these magnificent animals could change your life forever.
These retreats are the perfect way to get back in control, secure in the knowledge that you can handle any stressful situation, so that you can become the very best version of yourself, live your best life, and do whatever it is that you were put on the planet to do!
If you are ready, with the guidance of the horses, to discover an effective stress management strategy that you can easily incorporate into your daily life, that will allow you to deal with whatever challenges come your way, then this In Mindfulness and Meditation Stress Relief Retreat might be exactly what you have been looking for.
Your Self-Care Investment
Does this sound like the retreat of a lifetime? If it does, support yourself by investing in your future and attend this unique 7-day retreat for 2199 euros for a single bedroom and 4199 euros for 2 people in a double bedroom. These exceptional retreats are also exclusive: a maximum of 4 participants are allowed per retreat.
So seize this exceptional opportunity to attend a retreat here at Esprit Meraki now…a warm welcome awaits you amidst the Armagnac, Saint Mont and Cotes de Gascogne vineyards in the sun-blessed southwest of France.
Ready to make a reservation? To pay your deposit and secure your booking, please contact me with the date of the week that suits you at welcome2gascony(at)gmail.com. Retreats start at 18h00 every Saturday (except January and February) and end at 11h00 on Fridays.
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Description frequently updated.