seasonal retreats for those who want to feel more alive in the natural world
Cold water, firelight, weather, movement, conversation and time outdoors: our elemental retreats are shaped by direct experience of the natural world. They offer warmth and challenge, solitude and company, exhilaration and calm.
Come to test your edges a little, pay attention to your body, and enjoy the feeling of being fully here.
Some retreats at Oakhill Ponds unfold over a few days on the land; others are spacious day gatherings, sometimes with the option to stay over. You’ll see the set-up for each date clearly on the booking page.
upcoming retreats
at a glance
who they’re for
- people drawn to water, fire, weather and the physicality of being outdoors
- those who want to feel more awake in their bodies and more alert to the natural world
- people who enjoy quiet company, outdoor ritual, contrast and reflection
- anyone who comes alive through cold water, heat, fresh air, movement and shifting light
- no prior sauna, cold-water, yoga or movement experience required
why elemental retreats here
Oakhill Ponds lends itself naturally to elemental retreat. With 25 acres of woodland, marshland and ponds, and the remnants of an Arcadian wilderness garden and 18th-century grotto, it is a place where water, weather, firelight and birdsong are strongly felt. Tucked away on the edge of the village, with a country pub up the lane, it offers both seclusion and connection.
It’s a landscape that invites participation rather than passive escape — somewhere to swim, warm up, walk, breathe deeply, notice more, and feel more alive.
what’s here
There are two large spring-fed ponds, an outdoor sauna and spa area, hammocks and fires, with shepherd’s huts and Lotus Belle tents dotted lightly around the land. An atmospheric old grotto separates the ponds. There are also three wood-fired hot tubs.
Depending on the retreat, the rhythm may include movement, cold-water swimming, wood-fired sauna, walking, simple seasonal food, quiet time, conversation and fire-lit evenings. The emphasis is less on switching off than on arriving fully — in body, in place and in the moment.
A place to feel the contrast between cold water and hot skin, stillness and movement, solitude and shared experience.
where you will stay
- a mix of spaces: shepherd’s huts, Lotus Belle tents in an off-grid setting,
- the Walled Garden
- Upper Beeches — a three-bedroom apartment adjoining the land
- all spaces are warm, comfortable and beautiful; retreats are intentionally small and light-touch
collaborations
We co-create with practitioners who work with care, creativity and a strong connection to place. We host a small number of in-house elemental retreats each season, alongside collaborations with like-minded practitioners.
If this feels like you, you’re welcome to introduce yourself.
previous retreats
Sunday 1 February 2026 · 10am–5pm . limited to 10 guests
This second elemental retreat is an invitation to embrace deep winter stillness – a day of yoga, saunas, fire, good food and good company, and a chance to pause, breathe and rest while the trees stand bare and the ponds lie clear and cold.
Sunday 16 November 2025 · 10am–5pm · limited to 10 guests
As autumn deepened and the land turned toward rest, this first Elemental retreat was a day of warmth, movement and gentle preparation for winter – yoga, saunas, fire and good food, with time to breathe and notice the shift in season.