THE Pilates Retreat

You don’t need to leave the country to get some time to yourself, but it helps…

I’m heading home from my first pilates retreat. For the real deal of relaxation, expert pilates tuition and understated luxury I think I’d struggle to find 4 days to match those I’ve just had.

I had very high, yet simple expectations from this retreat and it didn’t disappoint in anyway whatsoever. For all its promises, it delivered.

• I spend so little time alone these days and my world is a noisy one. I’ve been craving some quiet and solitude for a long time. Tick ✅
• I think about my family and my work all the time. Each day, my business and my kids get all my attention and everything I do is focused around them. I wanted just a few days of this nurture all for myself. Tick ✅
• The more I learn, the more there is to learn and it will never end! I want to learn about pilates from the best of the best, from those with vast experience, humour and kindness. Tick ✅
• Most importantly, I wanted to feel pilates in my own body, in every movement and every breath, evenly and aligned. And to fall in love with pilates all over again. Tick ✅

The setting for the retreat was divine. I was at Sublime Comporta in Portugal where I was looked after from the very moment I arrived. These retreats are the brainchild of Donna Pourteymour from Cobham Pilates who has made it her mission over the last decade to organise the ultimate pilates getaway. With her inspiring team of Lisa Bradshaw, Kate Fry, Mandy Penalver and Karen Mowry she certainly achieved that.

I’m already saving up for next year…