Seasonal programme · Founding group · 8 to 16 November 2026
A seven-day Ayurveda-inspired reset, from your own kitchen
Seven days of warm, simple food, a gentler daily rhythm, and time to notice what's been weighing on you. Planned for you, shopped for in one go, and written for women whose energy doesn't always keep up with the plans.
20 places · Bookings close Thursday 5 November
The winter reality
By January, a lot of us are running on toast, caffeine and willpower. It's dark when you get up and dark when you finish. The shopping, the cooking and the looking after everyone else still need doing, and whatever you're managing with your health doesn't take the winter off.
Then the January messages arrive: juice fasts, 30-day challenges, cut this, ban that. If you live with a long-term condition, you already know how that goes. You start strong, run out of energy by Wednesday, and end the week feeling you've failed at something that was never designed for you.
You don't need another diet. You need a week where someone else has done the thinking.
What this week is
In Ayurveda, winter is a time for warmth, nourishment and rest, when the body is traditionally thought to handle hearty food well and to need it. So the week is built around exactly that.
You'll eat three warm, cooked meals a day, with kitchari (a gently spiced dish of rice and split mung dal) as the base, dressed up with flavours you already know: roasted squash, rosemary, sage, leeks and thyme. You'll follow a short morning and evening routine. And each day there's a little time set aside to sit with a question about what's been draining you, and why.
It isn't a cleanse, a fast or a diet. Nobody will ask you to weigh yourself, give up everything you enjoy, or push through feeling awful. If a day goes sideways, you pick it up again tomorrow.
Inside the week
After the week
The seven days are a starting point. In Ayurveda, each season asks for something different: warmth and nourishment in winter, lighter food as spring arrives, cooling in summer, and grounding as autumn comes in. Once you've felt what a week of eating with the season is like, the rest of the year is about keeping the parts that suit you and adjusting as the weather turns.
At the closing call, I'll share what comes next for anyone who'd like to carry on, in a small group through the spring or one to one.
Who it's for
Written with you in mind if
Not the right fit if
If you take regular medication, especially for diabetes, blood thinning or your thyroid, please check with your GP or pharmacist before you start. The short health questionnaire you'll fill in when you book will flag anything I'd like you to check.
About me
I'm an Ayurvedic health and wellness coach based near Warwick, and I've completed health and wellbeing coaching training accredited by the Personalised Care Institute. I'm also a qualified meditation teacher, aromatherapist, and massage and marma point therapist, with a particular interest in gut health.
Most of the women I work with live with long-term, complicated health conditions. They're usually doing everything their doctors ask, and they're tired of wellness advice that assumes they have energy to spare. My approach is simple: Ayurveda as the ethos, Western science as the practice, and always alongside your medical care, never instead of it.
Ayurveda first came into my life through my aromatherapy diploma, which was taught with an Ayurvedic ethos and Ayurvedic tools. I'd been a qualified aromatherapist for many years when I was diagnosed with cancer. Alongside my hospital treatment, never instead of it, I leaned on those tools every day: nutrition, routine, warm oil, breathing and aromatherapy. Food in particular became a big part of how I looked after myself, and I had to find my own way with it. Those tools helped me feel more grounded and more cared for through a very hard time. As soon as I got the all-clear, I signed up to train as an Ayurvedic health coach.
I designed this week after seeing too many people try harsh January plans and end up more depleted than when they started.
The details
When you book, you'll fill in a short health questionnaire so I can flag anything worth checking with your GP first. Once you submit it, you'll see the details to pay by bank transfer, and your guide arrives within one working day of your payment, so you have plenty of time to shop and plan.
Questions people ask
A one-pot dish of basmati rice and split yellow mung dal, cooked with gentle spices. It's the traditional Ayurvedic comfort food, similar in feel to a thick, savoury porridge or a mild dal. The recipes pair it with flavours you'll recognise, so it never feels like the same bowl twice.
No. There's a short introduction to the doshas in the guide if you're curious, but the week works for everyone without it.
You can. The guide suggests cutting down gradually on the preparation day, because stopping suddenly often brings a headache. If one morning cup keeps you going, keep it.
Every meal is vegetarian, with an optional egg, fish or chicken addition at lunch. Dairy-free swaps are included throughout. The recipes are naturally gluten-free as long as you use a gluten-free asafoetida (most shop-bought versions contain wheat flour), and the guide shows you what to look for.
Yes, that's what it's designed for. The batch-cooking plan does most of the work in one session, and the recipes scale up easily. Plenty of families are happy to eat roasted squash kitchari with you.
Eat more. Portions are generous on purpose, and there's a list of warm snacks if you need them between meals. This week is about nourishment, not going without.
The week isn't designed for weight loss, and I won't ask you to weigh yourself. It's about warmth, rhythm and rest.
Then you pick it up again tomorrow. Nothing is undone by a takeaway or a missed meditation.
Because the week draws on Ayurvedic seasonal practice but is adapted for a British kitchen and a modern week. Where there's research that's relevant, I've included it. Where something is traditional practice, I say so.
Winter Retreat at Home is a coaching and lifestyle programme. It sits alongside your usual medical care, not in place of it, and it doesn't diagnose, treat or cure any condition. Please don't stop or change any prescribed medication or treatment without talking to your doctor. If you take regular medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are managing a health condition, check with your GP or pharmacist before starting.
If anything during the week feels wrong (dizziness that doesn't pass, palpitations, severe pain, or low mood that feels heavy or frightening), stop and seek medical advice. You can call NHS 111 at any time, or Samaritans on 116 123.
Booking and cancellations. Because the guide is digital, you'll be asked when you book to agree to receive it straight away and to confirm that you understand this ends your 14-day right to cancel. If something comes up before the week starts, you're welcome to move your place to the next group at no extra cost.
Your information. The health questionnaire is used only to check the programme is suitable for you. It's stored securely and never shared, and you'll be asked for your explicit consent when you fill it in. See the Privacy Policy.