Past Retreats Home Spring Retreat, Hay-On-Wye, Wales (May 2007) Reclaim Your Self returned to Hay-on-Wye in Wales for its spring retreat. Our venue, as for the Autumn 2006 retreat, was The Globe, but with a revamped programme befitting the perky spring atmosphere. The Welsh countryside was so vividly green and alive that if you closed your eyes, you could almost hear the grass growing. With new life bursting everywhere around us, the focus of the retreat was radically different from the autumn and winter retreats. Lizzie, our wonder-chef, utilised the abundance of locally-grown spring produce to make a revitalising menu, including fresh nettle tea and wheatgrass shots to stimulate our livers into detox mode. Jools was joined again by James, energy healer extraordinaire and leader of our Chi Kung and meditation classes; the amazing Helen, who offered Chavutti foot massage and took Scaravelli yoga classes. New on the Reclaim Your Self scene was Ariel, newly arrived from Russia, who offered a powerful combination of massage, osteopathy, acupuncture and Tibetan healing. And of course Lizzie who due to popular demand took her first workshop on health and nutrition (and recipe swapping). Jools and her team demonstrated their experience in working together by running a smooth, seamless retreat, that was loosely planned enough to give us all free time, but gave us a range of great treatments and fun group activities. Mornings started with Helen's yoga classes or Chi Kung with James. We took advantage of the spring sunshine and took another silent meditation, guided by James, down to the River Hay. The retreat finished with an inspiring workshop with James on cultivating our Inner Child, where we talked about ways to release our creativity and we left feeling relaxed, rejuvenated and reconnected with nature. What a great way to start the summer… This was my third retreat with Reclaim Your Self and I am already booked onto the next one in France. I keep coming back because of the friendly, non-judgmental and relaxed atmosphere that Jools and her team create, for the skill and professionalism of the treatments, the sense of integration that each retreat has with its environment, and Lizzie's amazing food! John Forde   © Reclaim Your Self 2005