SPACE TO BREATHE
Lost in Giving
Found in France
A four-night women's wellness retreat in Carcassonne, southern France, for women in high-pressure, high-responsibility roles - Doctors, consultants, Nurses, and senior leaders - who have spent years giving, holding, and doing for others.
13–17 September, 2026
LOCATION Le Manoir d'Amiel, Carcassonne
SPACES 13 women
INVESTMENT from £1,150 (payment plans available)
THIS RETREAT IS FOR YOU IF…
You recognise yourself
in any of these.
"I have spent so long being what everyone else needs, that I am no longer sure what I need for myself”
"I am tired in a way that sleep does not touch. Not just my body, something deeper than that."
"I keep meaning to slow down, to breathe, to come back to myself. And then another month disappears."
"Something has shifted - children leaving, a chapter ending, a quiet turning & I don't know who I am on the other side of it."
“I take care of everyone. I am not on my own list, and I am not sure I remember how to put myself there."
"I have a sense there is more aliveness in me, than my life is currently letting me feel."
"I'm still showing up. Still doing the work. But the fire that brought me into it, I can't remember when I last felt it."
You are not lost, you are simply waiting to be re-found
NEW THIS YEAR
A day at the sacred waters of Rennes-les-Bains
We leave Le Manoir, for a day at these ancient thermal springs - bathing in waters that have called to women for centuries, and gathering in ceremony to honour the feminine power that brought us here together.
Underneath all of it, she is still there, the woman you were before the world asked you to be everything. She has been waiting for you.
It happens slowly. A little less of yourself in each room you enter. A little more given away. Until one day you realise you have become very good at being who everyone else needs and you are no longer sure who you are when nobody needs anything at all.
You have lost touch with your own power, your own knowing, your own quiet authority.
This is not a failure. It is what happens to women who give generously, for a long time, in a world that rarely makes space for feminine power to simply exist, unhurried and unapologetic.
Space to Breathe is five days in the south of France where the doing stops and a different kind of strength rises in its place. Where you move, rest, breathe and remember. Not who you should be.
Who you already are, underneath it all, a woman, whole, and in her power.
You haven't lost yourself. You have simply been waiting to be re-united.
This is not a workshop, it is not a programme, it is a reunion with your whole-hearted self. A reclaiming of the parts of you that have gone quiet, over the years. A reset for your body, your breath, your voice, your creativity and your feminine power.
You have spent years giving to others. Being needed.
Being capable. Being the one who holds it all.
WHAT AWAITS YOU?
Five days of unhurried, embodied feminine power
Not a programme. Not a course.
A lived, sacred slowing into the strength that lives in the feminine, held in a place that asks nothing of you but to arrive.
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Each day begins in the body, not the mind. The morning practice is Kundalini-based, but you don't need to know what that means, and you don't need to be spiritual, flexible, or experienced. This is the kind of practice that doesn't ask you to become something. It asks you to remember who you already are. People often find themselves moved, not from difficulty, but from recognition. A gentle, unhurried ritual of arrival. In France, and in yourself.
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Gentle, held circles, honest, open conversation among women. Space to be heard, to wonder aloud, and to be met exactly as you are, with nothing to perform.
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Sacred, unhurried and held with care, space to drop beneath the everyday and let something move.
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Yoga nidra, breathwork and long, slow afternoons by the pool and hot tub. The kind of rest that is not empty but full, the nervous system finally allowed to soften.
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A day given to the sacred feminine history of this land. We bathe in the thermal hot springs of Rennes-les-Bains, waters that have drawn women for centuries, and hold a ceremony there together, before visiting the mysterious hilltop village of Rennes-le-Château, long associated with feminine power and hidden wisdom.
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Free, expressive movement that reaches what words cannot. Kundadance and embodiment practice that is more joyful, and more liberating, than you expect of yourself. The part of the week women are most surprised by.
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Fresh, locally prepared food at long shared tables. Time with women who understand. The friendships formed here have a way of outlasting the week by years.
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You wake up in a four-poster bed. You journal, you join the kundalini yoga class and after a nourishing breakfast you connect with yourself and the other women through curious conversation.
What do you need to be ok?
A dip in the pool.....
Lunch at the long table, followed by free time to explore or just be.
As the light shines, your heart is filled with a sense of peace, stories of strong women, tranquility and laughter fill your day.
Relaxing in the garden, reflecting, maybe a glass of wine in hand. Your feminine power has been ignited, your vision is clear, your boundaries are set and you know what you believe in.
Love, laughter and lingering sunlight
Meditation before sleep, perchance to dream….
Tomorrow you will wake, be present for yoga and experience more nourishment for the soul.
THIS RETREAT WILL GIVE YOU..
A body that feels like home again
Deep, unhurried rest - the kind sleep alone doesn't reach
Restored connection to your own intuition and power
A quieter mind, with more space inside it
The felt experience of your own strength, not just the idea of it
New friendships with women who understand without explanation
A felt sense of who you are, beneath every role you carry
THE PLACE
Le Manoir d'Amiel,
Carcassonne
You are in the Land of the Cathars and in a region long held to be sacred ground for feminine power. Languedoc-Roussillon, where the light turns gold by four and the stone walls hold the warmth of centuries. The scent of jasmine. The particular quiet of a place that has no interest in rushing you.
Le Manoir d'Amiel was home to Augusta Amiel. a philosophical, poetic woman whose avant-garde memoirs are woven into the very walls. A place already shaped by a woman who refused to diminish herself. It suits this retreat perfectly.
Luxury accommodation, a pool and hot tub, chef-prepared meals at long tables, and the very particular freedom of being somewhere nobody needs anything from you, in a landscape that has held women's power for centuries before you arrived.
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Carcassonne, Toulouse and Beziers
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Free group transfers can be arranged from Carcassonne airport and train station and back to the airport or train station.
There are trains from Toulouse to Carcassonne.
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Private and shared options - see details below
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All Food and drink (3 meals per day except Tuesday lunchtime). We will be offering a nourishing, healthy diet and all specific needs will be catered for with advance notice.
There will be a limited amount of alcohol available.
THE DIFFERENCE
This isn't a yoga holiday with a nice view.
Most retreats give you a schedule and a teacher. This gives you a small group of women, one teacher who has spent years guiding others into their own power through movement and breath, and a host who has lived through exactly the kind of giving that brought you here.
Not a big retreat centre. A maximum of thirteen women, in one house, around one table.
Not back-to-back activities. Long, genuinely open afternoons, because rest needs room, not a schedule.
Not generic wellness spirituality. Real ceremony, held with care, at one of the most storied sacred sites in the whole of France.
Not a teacher reading from a manual. Naomi has spent years guiding women into their bodies and their power through Kundalini and Kundadance, this is her depth, not a script.
Not forced sharing. Conversation that's invited, never extracted, you stay as quiet or as open as you choose.
This is not a holiday from your life. It's a return to the woman underneath it all.
YOUR HOST
Dr Becs Winterborn
Who she is, and why she created this space
Becs has spent nearly three decades in medicine, much of it as an NHS surgeon. She knows, what it is to give yourself so completely to a role, that you slowly lose touch with the power and the woman underneath it.
She also knows the turning, the moment you stop performing the version of yourself the world expects, and begin the slow, real journey home to your own feminine strength.
That journey is the foundation of everything she now creates. Space to Breathe is the retreat she once needed and could not find: a place to stop, to be held, and to remember the power that was never lost, only quietened.
"The qualities that made me good at my work, sensitivity, compassion, the refusal to accept harm, were the same qualities the culture kept asking me to suppress.I am done shrinking myself to fit. And I am done watching other women do the same."
Becs is joined throughout by Naomi Newlan who leads the daily practice and movement at the heart of the retreat, holding the space with a gentleness and depth that the women from previous retreats remember long after they return home.
YOUR GUIDE
Naomi Newlan
Who she is, and why she said yes!
Naomi is a yoga teacher and spiritual guide.
She said yes because she already knows in her heart that it will be a beautiful gathering of women.
The nourishing Cathar land, which holds the vibration of feminine energy, is the perfect place to rest, remember and reset, at an incredible time in history.
FROM PREVIOUS RETREATS
"A beautifully curated few days to help unfurl from daily pressures, to nourish our bodies, minds and souls, and to connect with a group of really inspiring, courageous, fun women.
I would very much recommend it to any woman who needs to come back to herself."
The women who went to France
and found themselves there
★★★★★
"It allowed me a safe space to realign my values and dreams and begin to thrive again, instead of just survive as an NHS doctor. I am grateful and appreciate this so much."
Dr Unice Narty · Consultant Paediatrician
★★★★★
"Being introduced to a different way of thinking about power was really helpful and felt genuinely empowering. The yoga and dance introduced me to a new way of experiencing my body."
Dr Nickie Jakeman · Consultant in Emergency Medicine
★★★★★
"I feel more freedom, more connected to others and a new strength from the empowering process of just knowing who I really am"
Mandy Waldon - Consultant Practitioner
★★★★★
“I feel better mentally and physically than I have done in a long time. I would recommend this to anyone working in the NHS as a tonic for mind, body and soul.”
SAS Psychiatrist and Founder Young Goals Ltd - Dr Joanne Younge
One Retreat, your choice of room
YOUR INVESTMENT
One all-inclusive price for the full five days at Le Manoir d'Amiel. Every practice, every meal, every moment held. Every room includes everything. The only choice is where you would like to sleep.
Shared Rooms
From £1,250
Rest alongside others on the same journey
£500 secures your place. Balance by monthly instalments.
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£1,250 per person
3 places
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£1,450 per person
4 places
Private Rooms
From £1,450
Your own quiet sanctuary to come home to
£500 secures your place. Balance by monthly instalments.
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£1,450
1 place
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£1,650
1 place
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£1,850 per person
1 place left
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SOLD OUT
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You are more than your role, your title, your service. You have ripped off the mask and armour. France has given you space to remember who YOU are.
WHAT YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING
The questions we hear most
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Completely. The Kundalini yoga is beginner-friendly and led gently by Naomi. Nothing here requires prior experience. The only thing you need to bring is a willingness to arrive as you are.
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A swimsuit, a towel (provided), clothes that are easy to throw on and comfortable (you will be changing in nature!) flip-flops and comfortable walking shoes. We will bathe in the natural thermal waters at Rennes-les-Bains and hold a short ceremony there together, before visiting the hilltop village of Rennes-le-Château. The pace is gentle, no particular fitness is needed.
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Connection tends to come quickly here, a small group of women, all arriving for similar reasons, in a place that softens everyone. The women from our previous retreats still keep in touch. You could always come with a friend or 2!
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No. You do not need to be in crisis, or fixing anything. Many women come simply because they are ready to slow down, breathe and feel alive again. That is reason enough.
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Yes. You can choose a private room when you book, or share. Room preferences are taken at the time of booking, on a first-come, first-served basis.
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The Space to Breathe retreat is all about coming home to you. There will be ceremony, mantra, sound and ritual woven through the days, including a ceremony at the thermal hot springs of Rennes-les-Bains. It is sacred, but it is also grounded and warm. You do not need any particular belief to belong here. You only need to be open to possibility.
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That is built in. Every day holds open, unstructured time for the pool, the garden, or simply rest. There is no expectation to be present or social every moment. Solitude is part of the work here.
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This is not a holiday. It is five days designed to return you to yourself. Held, nourished and guided throughout. The women who came before tend to describe it as one of the most valuable and life-changing things they have done for themselves.
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The nearest airports are Carcassonne, Toulouse and Béziers, with flights from several UK airports. We arrange shared transfers from Carcassonne where possible, and you will have all the details in your welcome pack.
You have been giving for long enough.
It’s time to reclaim your energy
A discovery call is a conversation, not a commitment. Twenty minutes to talk about where you are, what you are longing for, and whether this retreat is right for you, right now.