The Healing Power of A Solo Wellness Retreat

I trudge across winter fields under drizzle and a cloud-puffed sky. In the empty, static orchards, their spent apple trees still crowned in headdresses of faded leaves, the dark shape of a deer startles me. When I arrive at a bridge overlooking an ancient church, it seems familiar. I’ve been in this part of Somerset before, I realize, in the hot, sticky summer, searching for a place to swim while staying with a friend. Then we crawled through dry grass between picnicking families, slid into stone-cold water and swam to the small river dam while teenagers dive-bombed from the bridge. This time there’s not a soul about, not even a duck. But the stillness is as inviting as the summer was convivial. I walk back to the small converted barn I’m staying in, cosy and warm with its wood-burning stove, candles, vases crowded with lilies and roses, and sheepskin rugs. The fridge is stocked with vegetarian dishes delivered by a lovely lady, Cecilia, who popped in this morning to make my breakfast (smoked salmon, seven-minute egg, Greek yogurt, berries). I first did the Arrigo Program solo retreat seven years ago: now I’m back for my third go. While psychodynamic heavyweight Fiona Arrig