Green juices, 6am wake-up calls, zero wine: it’s all standard territory on a wellness retreat, right? But the road to feel-good doesn’t have to be through hardship and deprivation. The breed of retreat to know about in 2024 ditches self-flagellation in favour of fostering one simple emotion: joy.
‘Why wouldn’t you want to experience joy?’ says Margaret Reckitt of Manoir Mouret, a specialised wellbeing retreat in the south of France. ‘It’s not an everyday thing for most people. It can be hard to find when you have a busy lifestyle or high-pressured job, but you know it when you feel it. Stepping out of your normal environment and giving yourself time to explore things that make you joyful is a privilege.’
