A couple of weekends ago, I went to a “Simply Self Love Day Retreat” which was held at Loudwater Farm in Rickmansworth, run by Hannah Kern who heads up a beautiful initiative called the Happiness Project.

As soon as I saw the flyer for this retreat, I knew I had to go, and in the excitement of what the day entailed, I managed to make it happen somehow and my husband looked after the kids for the day. This day retreat was and is everything I dream of doing and have been working towards over the past 3 years especially, and it was being offered to me on a platter – the whole day was jam-packed with a large dollup of TLC and absolute bliss.

The day started with drinking cacao which is like a very rich, fragrant, and somewhat bitter hot chocolate, but as I love dark chocolate and am used to the taste of it, the cacao wasn’t such a shock to my system. We drank it very slowly, and before even drinking it, we inhaled the gorgeous aromas of the chocolate mixed in with orange aswell – a great combination – and then gently and mindfully sipped it, appreciating each and every sip as we slowed down our pace in escaping our busy, and often chaotic, noisy everyday lives.  It was a great way to set the scene and get us all feeling relaxed and more energised at the start of the day.

The singing and musical improvisation which we started with, using drums alongside the guitar, was great fun. Also, I stepped out of my comfort zone and instead of singing during a couple of chants, I thought I would play my native American flute which I haven’t picked up for a few months. It sits comfortably on my windowsill at home along with my other bits of pieces (books, flowers, ornaments, card decks, candles) but I haven’t made use of it as much as I would like recently.

This retreat gave me the opportunity to ignite some light back into this special flute I bought during the pandemic whilst being inspired by American music therapist Christine Stevens. I also brought with my silver flute gifted to me by my Mum (whilst I was testing it out in the shop!) as I wasn’t sure if I would want to use it and which flute I would decide to use. I was playing it by ear, and was very grateful for the opportunity to play one of my flutes. There were over 20 in the group so it was a bit brave of me to just come out and play, but listening to my intuition, I went and just did it out of my comfort zone – and the joy and peace I felt in the moment overtook any fear or nervousness, and even better, the others enjoyed it too.

The food on display was amazing and so delicious, made with such love and care. Everything was gluten-free and vegan, so I was safe there and could eat everything which is unusual these days. It’s not always easy to get gluten-free food and I do have to plan my day carefully and always check the menu before I go anywhere. Saying that, there is much better choice of gluten-free food than there used to be, so all is good. Most of the time I don’t feel like I’m missing out and have gotten used to this diet that keeps my gut feeling happier and healthier. The frozen fruit dessert was absolutely sublime, so yummy, I will find out this recipe as I would love to make it for myself and my family. It’s something the kids might even eat – it’s always a miracle when I find meals all five of us in my family will eat, or even just the four of us. There was also Israeli salad on the menu too which you can’t go too wrong with.

We picked cards, went for a walk outside and chilled and talked with people from all walks of life, of all faiths and beliefs, with a wide range of ages too. We drank lots of interesting, healthy, detoxifying flavoured waters with three different blends containing ginger, orange, lemon, cucumber and grapefruit, and more. The setting was perfect, it was local and a lovely place to relax as there were multiple rooms and the kitchen and lounge. It was like a home away from home. The location of this farmhouse meant that we were surrounded by nature, including a lake, lots of trees and lots of birds singing away freely and happily. We were lucky with the weather as although it was cold, the sun was out for the whole day in our favour.

It was so lovely to do a Qigong class in person with Hannah Kern as until now, I’ve only really done Qigong in person at the Chakra dance retreat by Lizzie Clifford I attended almost two years ago, which is the place I was also introduced to sound baths, and in particular, a gong bath, which was one amazing sound bath! That was when I knew I had to do more of them, and this is what I’ve been doing as part of my self-care.

Self-care generally has to be planned and squeezed in – it’s a nice “to do” to add to the list instead of all the other heavy-going endless set of “to-do’s”. They don’t always have to drag you down and stress you out or overwhelm you – “to-do’s” can be fun, relaxing and energising too!

I practice Qigong online at the moment with Sheli Berger from A Daily Cup of Qi whenever I have a little bit of time here and there, and the flexibility of it being online makes it easier to fit it into my busy schedule – normally it’s the 20 minute routines that I’m drawn to and there is a short 12 minute bedtime routine too which helps me wind down after a busy day and helps to clear any anxiety or overwhelm or negative energies I might have picked up during the day too.

Back to the retreat I went to on the weekend, they then had a soundbath in the afternoon which included something different I hadn’t experienced properly before with my eyes closed shut, which was called a soundscape. I would love to know how to do this. Though I was in a deep state of relaxation and so immersed in the healing sounds of the instruments being played, crystal bowls, Himalayan bowls, chimes, drums etc, I was so tempted to open my eyes at that point to see what they were doing as there were at least 3 instruments being played that I heard at once and all the sounds sounded so beautiful blended together into one. However, I did manage to resist temptation and stay asleep as it felt so good and relaxing too; I could have stayed in that dreamy state for longer but at some point, I did have to wake up.

I was asked at the end how my experience of this day retreat compared with my expectations, and I said what I knew to be true, which was that I knew this would be an amazing event before I even got there, and especially after getting to know Hannah, her work and all that she represents.

I won’t forget this retreat in a hurry 

Photo credits to Rick Harrop