Talk and …hike, cycle along The Brontes’ trail in Winter (with yoga & meditation) Haworth, West Yorkshire

“Often rebuked, yet always back returning
To those first feelings that were born with me,
And leaving busy chase of wealth and learning
For idle dreams of things which cannot be:

To-day, I will seek not the shadowy region;
Its unsustaining vastness waxes drear;
And visions rising, legion after legion,
Bring the unreal world too strangely near.

I’ll walk, but not in old heroic traces,
And not in paths of high morality,
And not among the half-distinguished faces,
The clouded forms of long-past history.

I’ll walk where my own nature would be leading:
It vexes me to choose another guide:
Where the grey flocks in ferny glens are feeding;
Where the wild wind blows on the mountain side.

What have those lonely mountains worth revealing?
More glory and more grief than I can tell:
The earth that wakes one human heart to feeling
Can centre both the worlds of Heaven and Hell.”

Emily Bronte

Join me and a small group of participants (up to 4) for a healing retreat in The Brontes’ sisters ‘country, in and near Haworth, West Yorkshire.

This part of West Yorkshire is a real gem and the whole area is very under-rated. Yet it inspired some of the most beautiful writing ever produced by all three Bronte sisters: Emily, Anne and Charlotte.

Known as ‘Bronte county’ this area of West Yorkshire is very close to what once was the textile capital of the world and so retained incredible Victorian architecture, museums, canals, and is close to all of Bradford, Leeds and to the West, Manchester. It is surrounded by unique fauna and flora, and the world famous ‘Moors’ landscape.

Source: Haworth where the Bronte family lived, West Yorkshire, 2024

What is Talk and Walk/cycle?

I am offering clients an opportunity to work intensively with me along various themes and honing on matters important to clients both one on one and with others in group therapy sessions mornings and afternoons. The particularity of my offering is that you will get to work in confidential places in nature, interspersed with movement and sight-seeing, connecting with nature, getting to know and respect the local communities hosting us.

How it came about

Talk and ….walk, hike, cycle, swim with Irena and Your Alchemists around the world is an integrative retreat offering I created to enable participants to work one on one with me and within a nurturing and open to learning small group of participants whilst also experiencing the local eco-system and moving.

Being a multi-disciplinarian with over 35 years of training, qualification and experience in each of Business, Arts and Stage, Yoga and Meditation and Psychology/Personal therapy, I distilled what I observed worked for most clients I worked with in retreats/workshops and other gatherings to offer something unique.

My team and I are calling this offering ‘Talk and …walk, hike, cycle, swim with Irena/Your Alchemists’. We offer evidence-based applied psychological intervention, findings from my own clinical practice over a five year doctoral training course, expert knowledge of each area I invite participants to retreats in and integrate respect of the local communities, their inhabitants, fauna and flora, their talented professionals, with connection to and (re)discovery of self, others, nature and and enjoyment of life.

When I worked clinically, whether it was assisting employees in organisations, or in the English National Health Service (NHS), whether it was in therapy rooms, psychiatric wards, charitable organisations, or private clinics/retreats, in Europe, Britain or anywhere around the world the one common factor which seemed to positively contribute to clients’ wellbeing, and change, were 1) building a strong working alliance and therapeutic relationship with the team supporting them, including myself as psychologist but also the wider medical team, as well as 2) connecting with each other and ourselves in living breathing spaces such as the real world and nature.

Whilst there is absolutely a space for work in the therapy room, our offering can be seen as an ‘adjunct’. We combine findings over three decades of training and practice. What I offer is an opportunity to encounter yourself your therapist and others in nature whilst moving to start a process of positive change.

These interventions are based on evidence-based concepts from Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) (for ex investigating irrational beliefs and exposure therapy), somatic work, green therapy, art therapy and integrative psychotherapy as well as my experience as a yoga and meditation teacher.

My team of local collaborators (tour guides, athletes, sailors, mountaineers, professional hikers, sports masseurs, local cooks, biologists, botanists etc.) and I take our retreat participants to world that we’re passionate about, know intimately, where we have been ourselves, have the knowledge of and contacts. Together with you we create unique and unforgettable experiences with an opportunity for you to work through any matters you have not been able to open about before.

HAWORTH along the Bronte trail…Talk and….walk and cycle (with light yoga/meditation)

Dates:

• Retreat in November 2024 is full.
• Regitration open for February, March, May and October, November 2025 and 2026 (TBC).

What is included: Facilitation, travel schedule/details and personal therapy sessions (five x 1-hour individual therapy sessions. Guided walk in Haworth and nearby areas, yoga, stretching and meditation instruction. Questions & Answers throughout the event on all elements offered during the event, an opportunity to work in-depth on issues and to experience body/mind/spirit connection.

What is not included: Travel, transfers, hotels, bike hire, out of hours support, morning, lunch and evening meals, cycling and bike gear, personal, health and travel insurance.

Minimum requirement to be considered for the retreat:
Good overall physical condition, no pre-existing medical conditions preventing you from walking gently uphill (and for up to two to four hours a day), an ability to cycle short distances (and willingness to hire a bike), no pre-existing acute mental health conditions and active addictions, a medical certificate. Some experience of counselling and/or psychotherapy, an openness to learning and if working in group a capacity to work with others. (Please note venues are identified and might be booked should it be too cold/inappropriate.)

You might Also be interested in:

• Talk and cycle along the Canal de Bourgogne (with yoga and meditation, 26-29 October 2024, FULL). Next retreats: July, August, September, October 2025.
• Talk and walk in the Champs Elysees and along the Seine to the Eiffel Tower, France (13-15 December 2024, 4 places left). Next retreats : January, February, April, June 2025.
• Talk and Walk along the Bronte’s Wuthering Heights trail (with yoga and meditation. 22 to 24 November 2024 FULL) Next retreats: February, March, May, September, October 2025.
• Talk and sail, snorkel, hike, cycle in St Tropez and the Cote d’Azur, France (25 to 29 June 2025, FULL).Next retreats: July, August, September, 2025 please connect with me HERE to register your interest.

New offerings Coming Soon:

• Talk and Hike in the Alps, France (Open for expressions of interest, maximum 4 places from July to end September 2025). Next retreats details: tbc. please connect with me here to register interest.
• Talk and Hike in Colorado, USA (Open for expressions of interest, maximum 4 places from September 2025 and Spring Summer 2026). Please connect with me here to register interest.

We offer these retreats to small groups of 4 or individually where you can hire me (and/or any accredited guides such as the Alps mountaineer or sailing staff) privately one on one . Costs vary and retreats include usually two full hour individual therapy sessions per day or one individual and one group session per day.

If you are interested in learning more, please connect with me here OR CLICK ON RETREATS.