Do WELLBEING retreats REALLY WORK?
After a difficult period, Charlotte Haigh set out to discover if a women’s health retreat, offering a unique mix of alternative and conventional medicine, could get her back on track
I couldn’t have read about the Alive Retreat at a better time. I’d just been through a tough few years – two miscarriages in quick succession, the second a late one, followed by the breakdown of my relationship. At 42, I found myself single and childless, when I’d always longed to have a partner and children. I’d been trying to focus on what I did have – a great career, lovely friends and family and basic good health. But I couldn’t quite pull myself out of the sense of hopelessness, which often seemed to affect me physically, slowing my motivation to do anything beyond the bare essentials. I knew I was probably slightly depressed, but I didn’t think medication was the right solution and had only recently finished a long stint of psychotherapy – there seemed nowhere else to go with that. I was starting to consider boosting my emotional wellbeing through diet and exercise – but being at a low ebb, it all felt overwhelming.