About Dr Montagu - Dr Margaretha Montagu

Dr Margaretha Montagu

Basically, I’m a cartographer, a map maker, a path lighter, a get-through-a-crisis guide. I help people struggling to find their way through life transitions like career changes, starting new businesses, moving to different countries, getting divorced, losing loved ones, empty nests, debilitating illnesses, retirement – any substantial change – planned or unplanned – in their circumstances.

We go through the same major life changes repeatedly, until we learn the lessons each change offers us. What I do best, is to help people learn that lesson with as little collateral damage as possible and move on.

Sometimes we go through more than one transition at the same time: after a relationship/situationship break-up, we may need to move house, change jobs, or even move to another country to find a new job. Other times, we realise that we are stagnating where we are, and decide to initiate the transition ourselves.

Without a map.

I’ve been there. I understand how challenging life transitions can be, especially transition pile-ups, both personally and professionally. I know what it feels like—the uncertainty, the insecurity, the overthinking, the gut-wrenching fear. In the last 30 years, I have been through several pile-ups, I can’t say it has gotten any easier, but I got better at coping with it, and at learning the life lessons faster, with the steadfast support of my horses.

So if you feel lost in a life transition, I’d like to hear from you.

You’ll find loads of useful suggestions in the 100+ articles I have published on my Savoir Vivre blog, and on my Free Resources page, but if you need help putting these suggestions into practice, you are very welcome to escape to the southwest of France to attend a Camino de Santiago walking retreat here at my little French farmhouse, or maybe enrol in my Road Map to Resilience online course – you can choose to add some one-one-one coaching to it – or by reading my book Embracing Change – in 10 minutes a day.

Send me an email

I reply personally to each one I receive.

I put the essence of who I am, and everything I have experienced that makes me who I am, with great enthusiasm, into my retreats, courses and books. Dr Margaretha Montagu

Dr Margaretha Montagu (MBChB, MRCGP, NLP master pract cert, Transformational Life Coach dip, Counselling cert, Med Hyp Dip and EAGALA cert)

Esprit Meraki Retreats

My business is called Eprit Meraki Retreats. In short, “meraki,” μεράκι, is a Greek word that means “made with love.” It is about putting the essence of who you are, joyfully, into your work – a true and pure labour of love. I am, in essence, a medical doctor with decades of experience in treating people with stress-related diseases. In addition, because of a stress-related disease, I have lost one eye and a large part of my sight in the remaining eye. This is what makes my retreats different from all other retreats.

The Past

I may have a fair number of letters after my name, but that is not what qualifies me to lead retreats, create courses or write books. It is the strategies that I had to develop to cope with what happened to me during the last 30 years that make me good at what I do.

More than fifteen years ago, my life changed completely. I got divorced, I gave up my job as a medical doctor, I sold my house, I moved to another country, I remarried, I retrained in an entirely new discipline, and I started my own business.

In the last decade, the debilitating eye disease that threatens my sight got dramatically worse. Several unsuccessful operations have left me completely blind in one eye and with limited sight in the other eye.

Somewhere along the line, during the last ten years, I started writing.

Writing was my salvation. I started small, by keeping a journal. I wrote all the pain, doubt, fear and suffering out of my system and onto the pages of my journal. Searched, and managed to find something to be grateful for every day. Eventually, I distilled the content of my journals into books: five books so far, all equine-inspired, life-enriching and subtly French-flavoured.

I wrote these books because I felt an urgent urge to share with as many people as possible how I managed to survive these insufferable years, in case what I have learned can help others cope with equally difficult circumstances.

En plus, there is a certain satisfaction to be had from putting nearly thirty years of knowledge, training and experience down on paper.

During the last 30 years, I have learned how to cope with the stress generated by insecurity. Working as a medical doctor already gave me a fair amount of insight, but it was the fear of going blind that was my most merciless instructor. Stress can do severe damage to our mental and physical health. I was no exception. Despite my eye problems, I want to live a long, happy and fulfilling life, full of purpose and meaning. To do so, I realised that I was going to have to find an effective way of coping with stress.

By trial and error, I did.

The Present

I have finally made the dream come true that inspired me to make all those changes ten years ago. I developed a whole arsenal full of tried-and-tested strategies to cope with the challenges that came my way, challenges I often have to face with a severely limited number of resources.

In my books and courses, and during my retreats, my horses and I share these strategies with you. I always wanted to own a horse or two, so when I could no longer work as a doctor, I bought Belle de la Babinière, a stunningly handsome Friesian mare. As a companion for Belle, I bought Beau de la Babinière, a drop-dead-gorgeous Lusitano stallion. I retrained in equine-assisted personal development and now host retreats here at my little farmhouse in the southwest of France.

Blog

As I mentioned, I discovered that I liked writing, so I started a blog called Savoir Vivre Vignettes. I intended the blog to be a shop window showcasing our region, my horses and my retreats. It quickly became much more. Browsing my blog is indeed a bit like visiting me virtually, but it is also a library filled with articles about confidence building, problem-solving, strengthening relationships, conflict resolution and much more.

Latest Savoir Vivre Vignettes posts

Books

My first book is called Self-Confidence Made Simple: 16 Frenchwomen Share Their Self-esteem Secrets. I wrote a second book called Mindfulness and Meditation Options. I also wrote a book for horse riders who have lost their horse riding confidence: Horse Riding Confidence Secrets. My best book ever has to be Embracing Change, 2nd edition. My latest book is called Make the Most of Your Next Retreat.

Online Action

Living here in deepest rural France is pure bliss, but one has to be careful not to become too isolated. Social media is my connection to the world beyond all these glorious sunflower fields, vineyards and woods. When I researched books, I collected a considerable number of quotes, articles and blog posts that I share on BlueSky (@MMontagu.bsky.social) and Instagram (RetreatsSouthofFrance) but my favourite social media haunt is LinkedIn (MargarethaMontagu.) I’d love to connect there. I waste a LOT of time on Pinterest (Margaretha Montagu’s Retreats.) I have a Facebook page that I use as an aide-memoire. It is called Margaretha Montagu’s Retreats.

If you decide to come to one of my potentially life-changing retreats, don’t forget your fur coat, your highest heels and your tiara! If it sounds as if I have lost the plot, click here.

There is one more thing I want you to know.

Despite all my experience, knowledge and qualifications, I am no different from you. I am far from perfect. I do not always practise what I preach. I do not have the answers to all my questions, and I do not have the solutions to all my problems. Like you, I sometimes feel confused and overwhelmed. I am, however, convinced that mindfulness, gratitude and generosity can make a massive difference in your life.

Interview with Melissa Volpi
Interview with Hélène T. Stelian downloadable pdf
Interview with Liz Boulter from the Guardian Newspaper(UK)
Interview with Jennifer Rochette Koshack

One of my favourite Quotes

“No matter how many scars we carry from what we have gone through and suffered in the past, our intrinsic wholeness is still here: what else contains the scars? None of us has to be a helpless victim of what was done to us or what was not done for us in the past, nor do we have to be helpless in the face of what we may be suffering now. We are also what was present before the scarring—our original wholeness, what was born whole. And we can reconnect with that intrinsic wholeness at any time because its very nature is that it is always present. It is who we truly are.” Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living

Discover the Art of “Savoir Vivre” in the Picturesque Southwest of France!

Are you ready to embark on a captivating journey through the idyllic landscapes of the Southwest of France? Join me as I share the enchanting tales of life in this picturesque region. Each month, I pour my heart into crafting the Savoir Vivre Vignettes newsletter, a window into my world and the soul-stirring experiences that unfold here. To receive this monthly dose of inspiration, simply subscribe to Savoir Vivre Vignettes by clicking the link below. As a subscriber, you’ll be the first to receive exclusive stories, insightful articles, and early-bird/last-minute special offers on upcoming online and onsite retreats. Subscribe to my Savoir Vivre Vignettes Newsletter – and start my eye-opening, mind-altering and entirely free How to Survive a Life Quake course and download my Top 10 Tips to Making Your Next Retreat Your Best Ever e-guide.

Subscribe to Savoir Vivre Vignettes

Medical Disclaimer