Within the quiet walls of immaculate quads, skylined by dreamy spires, join me for a weekend yoga retreat with a twist: in 2024 we will be escaping to the inspiring serenity of my alma mater, Magdalen College, Oxford. Combining College calm with the delights of one of England’s most ancient cities, we will take a trip through the imagination for a nervous-system reset.

Expect morning meditation under the archways of the historic New Building (pictured below) - which, of course, is anything but new, by anything other than Oxford standards. Immerse yourself in pranayama under the boughs of the same tree that J.R.R. Tolkien pondered many hours. Hike along the same river as Lyra Silvertongue as she made her night-time escape in Phillip Pullman’s Northern Lights. Relax around Addison’s Walk, punt along the river with strawberries and cream (weather permitting!), stroll through the Botanic Gardens across the road, or just stay put, and watch the herd in Magdalen’s very own deer park.

My intention is to stretch and expand both mind and body, so everyone will be given plenty of opportunity to shape their own retreat as they please. For the more active, there will be walks, historic city tours with yours truly, cultural visits to the Pitt Rivers’ or Ashmolean, and a meal out at one of Oxford’s’ oldest restaurants. For those less inclined, options to go deeper into stillness will include Tibetan Sound Bowl Healing, a Cacao Ceremony, Yin and Restorative Yoga, and Yoga Nidra. For the intellectually curious, we will have guest speakers on yogic philosophy, such as Dr. Athamos Stradis from King’s College London.

My years at Magdalen were some of the most transformative, difficult, and happy of my life all at once. I would be absolutely delighted to share the magic of its quadrangles with you, enjoying an uniquely British setting to calm the nerves, expand the heart, and open the mind. Floreat Yoga.