SPACE TO BREATHE
June 7–12, 2026 · Carcassonne, France
Lost in Service,
Found in France.
THE five day RETREAT where senior women in healthcare finally unfurl - from the role, the responsibility, the relentlessness - and find themselves waiting.
LOCATION Le Manoir d'Amiel, Languedoc-Roussillon
DURATION Four days, five nights
SPACES Up to 10 women
You came into this profession to give.
You have given, and given, and given.
She is still there - the woman you came in as. She has been waiting for you.
Somewhere between your first day and today, it happened. Not all at once, you would have noticed that. Gradually. A meeting where you stayed silent. A corridor where you made yourself smaller. A version of yourself you performed so consistently, you almost forgot it was a performance.
This is not a failure. It is what happens when a deeply caring, deeply capable woman spends decades inside a system that was not built to hold her whole. You haven't lost yourself. You have simply been waiting to re-find yourself.
The Space to Breathe retreat is five days in the south of France where you stop performing and start remembering. Not a workshop. Not a programme. A reunion. With the parts of you that got quieter over the years. With your body, your breath, your voice, your creative self.
Not who you should be.
Who you already are.
THIS RETREAT IS FOR YOU IF…
You recognise yourself
in any of these.
"I have spent so long being what this job needs me to be that I'm not entirely sure what I need any more."
"I know what I'd say. I know what I think. But speaking feels costly, so I've stopped. I'm not sure when that happened."
"I've been told I'm too much. Too direct, too confident, too loud for the room. So I learned to dial it back. I'm still dialling."
"My children are leaving, or have left. Something that held my identity in place has shifted and I don't know who I am on the other side of it."
"I take care of everyone. Patients, colleagues, family. I am not on the list, and I'm not entirely sure I know how to put myself there."
"I'm still showing up. Still doing the work. But the fire that brought me into this, I can't remember when I last felt it."
You are not lost, you are simply waiting to be re-found
WHAT AWAITS YOU?
Five days of unhurried, embodied return
Not a lecture. Not a programme. A lived experience, in a place that holds you while you find your way back.
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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 what 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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Intimate group sessions using the Heart-Led Leaders Compass. For Pathfinders: six private sessions with Becs, threaded across the weeks before and after the retreat, so the work continues long past France.
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The heart of the five days. Guided, experiential practice using my 4-Part Voice Reclamation Process, to name what has gone unsaid, understand what silence has cost, and speak one truth that begins to change things.
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Afternoons held gently. Sound therapy. The pool. The hot tub. Long, unhurried meals. The kind of rest that is not empty, that is, in fact, full of exactly the right things.
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Embodiment sessions that move through what words alone cannot reach. More joyful than you're expecting. More liberating than you thought you still had in you. Chanting that opens up your heart to your voice. Not because it requires belief, but because something happens when a room full of women find their voice in unison. The mantra is simple. The effect, less so. Amrit will lead this on a drum she made, a gift she gave to herself at a turning point in her own life. It is that kind of retreat.
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The food is prepared by Cathy, an extraordinary woman who left teaching to follow a calling she didn't expect. She has been part of this retreat from its very first year, and every meal she creates is an act of care. You will feel that. Wholesome, healthy, chef-prepared with love, shared at long tables. Women who understand, because they have lived inside the same world. The connections formed here tend to outlast the week by years.
THE PLACE
Le Manoir d'Amiel,
Carcassonne
You are in the Land of the Cathars. 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.
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Carcassonne, Toulouse, Béziers
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Arranged where possible
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Private & shared options
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All included, three daily
YOUR GUIDE
Dr Becs Winterborn
Who she is, and why she built this
Becs has worked in the NHS for nearly 28 years. Eleven of those as a Consultant Vascular Surgeon. She knows this world not from the outside, but from the inside. The wards, the meetings, the culture, that asks you to lead with your head and leave your heart at the door.
She knows what it is to lose your voice in slow motion. And she knows the feeling in the moment when that stops.
When she could no longer perform the version of herself the system required, she had to find out who she actually was beneath the role. That journey, back to her own voice, her own authority, her own life is the foundation of everything she now coaches.
"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 suppressing them. And I am done watching others do the same."
The retreat is held by Becs alongside Amrit, another doctor, with her own hard-won understanding of what it costs to lose yourself in service, and what it takes to find your way back.
YOUR GUIDE
Dr Amrit Kaur Baura
Who she is, and why she said yes!
Amrit is a mama and a curious medic. She trained in kundalini yoga, kinesiology and lifestyle medicine all of which help her be a more holistic GP. Singing Kirtan from the Sikh tradition has been an anchor throughout her life. Her love for chanting mantra deepened whilst on a kundalini yoga teacher training in the mountains in France.
Amrit loves to sing, sauna, sew and ski. She recently took up learning to play the tenor steelpan.
Amrit is happiest when using her voice in the pursuit of connecting with joy.
YOUR CHEF
Cathy Elms
Who she is, and why she said yes!
Cathy is the creative force behind Bakehouse Bespoke Catering and Bespoke Creative Retreats. With a background in textile design and years leading art and design in primary schools, Cathy has always been drawn to expression, craft, and connection. In 2017, she channelled that creativity into food, launching her own café and deli in rural Lincolnshire, where her two worlds beautifully collided.
Today, Cathy designs and leads soul-led culinary experiences across the UK and beyond, weaving together her love of seasonal cooking, artistry, and heartfelt hospitality. She has collaborated on women's wellness and cookery retreats in Lincolnshire, Ibiza, and France, and brings to every table the same simple belief: that joy is always best served when shared.
Her mission is as warm as it is clear, to help people reignite their inner spark, and to remind them that it is never too late to begin again.
FROM PREVIOUS RETREATS
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 power in my own 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 am"
Consultant Practitioner (Nurse) Specialist in Older People & Frailty
★★★★★
“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. I think Dr Becs Winterborn may have found the antidote to NHS burnout - I certainly feel revived and more ready to meet the challenges that will meet me again next week and beyond with all the tools and tips I have learnt this week!”
SAS Psychiatrist and Founder Young Goals Ltd - Dr Joanne Younge
Choose your path back
Both paths include the full five-day retreat at Le Manoir d'Amiel.
The Pathfinder adds six 1:1 coaching sessions with Becs, held before and after the retreat, so the reunion doesn't stop when France does.
YOUR INVESTMENT
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Seeker
Begin the return to yourself.
Five nights luxury, full-board accommodation
All retreat activities:
yoga, chanting, embodiment, sound bath, meditation,
Group and peer coaching sessions
Voice Reclamation Practice toolkit to take home
Heart-Led Leaders Compass assessment
Early Bird: £1,800 - £2,100
(Until 15th April)
Standard: £1,950 - £2,250
(16th April - 15th May)
Final Release: £2,100 - £2,400
(16th May Onwards)
Depending on room choice
£500 deposit, then 5 monthly instalments
£500 secures your space. Balance spread over five months.
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Pathfinder
Go deeper. Go further.
Five nights luxury, full-board accommodation
Everything in Seeker, plus:
6 × private 1:1 coaching sessions with Becs
Sessions held before and after the retreat
Continued support throughout your integration
Early Bird: £3,575 - £3,875
(Until 15th April)
Standard: £3,725 - £4,025
(16th April - 15th May)
Final Release: £3,875 - £4,175
(16th May Onwards)
Depending on room choice
£500 deposit, then 10 monthly instalments
£500 secures your space. Balance spread over ten months.
Complimentary gift worth £500
Reserve your place before 15th April 2026 and receive a complimentary Golden Thread Mapping 1:1 session. Becs' Kintsugi framework for tracing the thread of gold that runs through your whole story and understanding what it is telling you now.
Available for both Seeker and Pathfinder.
WHAT YOU MIGHT BE WONDERING
The questions we hear most
I've never done yoga or anything like this , is it right for me?
1
Absolutely. The morning yoga is kundalini-based and designed for beginners. No prior experience is needed for anything at the retreat. The only requirement is a willingness to arrive as you are.
What if I just want time alone?
2
That is built in. Every day includes unstructured time. There is no expectation that you will be present or social every moment. Rest, Unfurl, Reconnect and Reset.
What if I don't connect with the other women?
3
Every attendee is a senior healthcare professional. The shared context creates a depth of understanding that forms quickly. The women from our retreats keep in touch.
I'm not sure I'm "spiritual enough."
4
This retreat is grounded, joyful and life-affirming. Rooted in real experience from real careers, always. It is about honesty, embodiment, and reconnection to yourself and the women beside you.
This costs more than a holiday. Is it worth it?
5
"The best personal development opportunity I have had in my 27-year NHS career." We will let the women who came before answer that!
What if I feel no different afterwards?
6
Change from this kind of work is rarely instant, but it is real. Many women find the shifts emerge over the weeks and months that follow. The tools, the relationships, and something quieter, a remembering, tend to travel home with you.
Yes. A range of room options is available, private rooms, en-suite doubles, and shared arrangements. You get to choose and if you want to come with a friend, that works too.
7
Can I have my own room?
The nearest airports are Carcassonne, Toulouse, and Béziers. Flights from UK airports from approximately £126 return. We arrange shared transfers from Carcassonne airport and train station where possible.
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How do I get to Carcassonne?
You have been lost in service
for long enough.
France is waiting.
A discovery call is a conversation, not a commitment. Thirty minutes to talk about where you are, what you're looking for, and whether this retreat is right for you, right now.