Retreats in Mallorca – four of the bestApril 26, 2018

I wouldn’t be surprised if Mallorca is the retreat centre of Europe. Every year, thousands of people leave the island transformed after experiencing retreats in Mallorca.

Mallorca is easy to get to from all the major European airports. The landscape is gorgeous and the island magical. You’re never too far from an incredible beach. The possibility to enjoy a fantastic quality of life has also attracted all kinds of world-class bodyworkers, therapists and spiritual guides. No wonder there are plenty of retreats in Mallorca to choose from. But where do you start?

I either know the people involved or have heard great things about Deia Retreats, Peopletree Mallorca, Cal Reiet Holistic Centre and the retreats in Mallorca offered by Pernille Elvirose.

Deia Retreats – combining tranquillity with village life

The team behind Deia Retreats which launched this year is Jane Winterbottom, Monika Evans, Zari G Ferns and Libby Pickett. Jane is the founder and owner. She has lived in Deià for seven years and also created the wonderful Deia Holistic Centre.

Deia Retreats is a large and comfortable, traditionally Mallorquin house tucked away in a quiet part of the village not far from the main street. It’s about 180 years old and has been sympathetically restored and modernised to an exceptionally high standard. Spectacular Cala Deià is only a 20-minute walk away.

For Jane, the village is ‘the perfect place for a retreat. It has such magical energy. Deià holds this magical space where you can grow. The special energy of Deià really holds you to a commitment to explore yourself. Our retreat centre provides a mellow context in the heart of the village from which people can go on their journey of exploration.’

Giving back to this special village is important to Deia Retreats. People who rent the retreat space are invited to work with therapists, use various other services and become part of the precious Deià community. Also, retreats aren’t just held in the high summer season when residents of Mallorca get most of their work. Jane’s aim is to be able to offer employment to the villagers of Deià all year round. This helps support the community and is one of the principles that underpins all Jane’s businesses.

This commitment to integration is fundamental to the Deia Retreats philosophy. As Jane explains, ‘we want to really help people and educate them to incorporate things like detoxing into their everyday lives rather than these practices just being something they only do on retreat. It’s about going deep and living well all the time.’

Enhancing, nurturing and reviving creativity are also key. There is a studio in the retreat centre that can be used by people renting it. In time, Jane – a DJ, sound engineer and songwriter herself – would love to offer retreats specifically for musicians who would like to reconnect with their creativity. ‘These days,’ she says, ‘rock and roll is more about detoxing, yoga and Xi Gong and mindfulness than sex and drugs.’

We have a studio here in Deia, which can also be used while renting the house.

If you’re looking for retreats in Mallorca that combine tranquillity with the magical energy of a remarkable village in a breathtaking location, Deia Retreats is for you.

Peopletree Mallorca – enabling others to inspire

Charmingly named Peopletree is one of the most distinctive, popular retreats in Mallorca. It’s located near the twin mountains of Alaro. As founder Anna Skelton explains ‘according to some people who worked out the chakras of the island, the twin mountains represent the solar plexus – characterised by will, personal power and mental abilities. We’re fortunate to have that power flowing into Peopletree constantly through our tall glass windows.’

The concept of Peopletree came about in 2015 when Anna and her husband Andy decided on a dramatic change of lifestyle. After 20 years of working in the high-pressure world of television in London, they craved health and balance.

Anna has always been a fan of going on retreats so using her and Andy’s marketing and management skills to create a space for people to learn and grow was a logical next step.

As well as running Peopletree, Anna now teaches Kundalini Yoga and Gong healing. Andy plays many different instruments and is a keen collaborator with other musicians. He’s currently working on a second Peopletree album.

Most of all, the ethos behind Peopletree is to ‘enable holistic teachers, musicians and healers to take their gifts to the next level and run workshops, retreats and teacher trainings of their own while we seamlessly do everything behind the scenes. We get wonderful feedback from people that Peopletree has a beautiful calming clean energy and feels like a safe space in which to do The Inner Work.’

Peopletree is an excellent year-round option for retreats in Mallorca, workshops and classes. It’s a great place to visit if you’re already holidaying on the island or live here.

Cal Reiet – Mallorca’s south-eastern luxury retreat

Cal Reiet opened as a holistic retreat in summer 2015. Today, according to hotel manager Johanna Schinker, it ‘combines a retreat centre with the amenities of a luxury resort, offering our guests an oasis in which to destress from their busy lives and reconnect with themselves.’

Yoga, mindfulness and meditation, personal development, body movement and detox/cleansing retreats are all offered. These are held in English, German, Swedish, Norwegian and Danish.

The guiding principle of Cal Reiet is to ‘plant a seed…and feel the difference’. Visitors are invited to experience themselves in a new way, rest and regenerate, learn and grow.

Joanna has plentiful first-hand experience of the Cal Reiet effect. ‘I love to see how guests can change within such a short time,’ she says. ‘They arrive with a tired look on their face but start to glow during the retreat when they’re beginning to look after themselves. I’m honoured to be part of a healing process that leaves them physically, mentally and spiritually profoundly changed.’

In 2018, Cal Reiet will host 35 retreats. Of these, 24 are repeats from previous years. The next retreat starts on 29 May when the centre will host Australian entrepreneur, author, filmmaker and wellness advocate Joe Cross. Joe is best known for his documentary movie Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead which tells the story of his 60-day juice fast. He’s the founder and CEO of Reboot with Joe.

The south-eastern part of Mallorca is especially peaceful and Cal Reiet the perfect combination of luxury and a commitment to enabling holistic rejuvenation.

Pernille Elvirose – going away to come home

 Pernille Elvirose’s studies at the Royal Danish Ballet School transformed her as a human being and instilled in her a hunger to explore this marvellous world in which we live. In her lifelong exploration of the healing arts, she’s gone deep into mindfulness, gestalt therapy, Xi Gong and 5Rhythms dance among other practices.

For the past six years, four to six times a year, Pernille has held retreats in Deià. Like Jane and Deià Retreats, she works with the community and supports local farmers. She has, she says, ‘come to know these super-powerful mountains as if they were my own garden’.

In Pernille’s opinion, ‘retreats are a way of using all my experience as a mother, adventurer and soul searcher and the nuances of the practices I’ve learned to explore holistic healing in a protected yet open space. Embodying the art of presence with its constant creative flux, I have put together an incredible team of diverse talents who design experiences for holistic healing, transformation and developing awareness.’

Nathanial Dainty Stewart shares his divine creativity through Asian therapeutic healing arts, sound healing and contemporary art. Robin Johnson offers 25 years of healing expertise combined with a deep TM practice. Veronique Mandoline creates ‘food for thought and well-being to live for’. Luise Enevold, Danish founder of Transformational Touch, manifests energy and sound for body healing.

Together with guests on the retreat, the team becomes one from sunrise to sunset, as they ‘follow a variety of sessions that are clearly defined but spontaneous in nature. The person having the experience is left with a set of available doorways through which they can enter into a new life of healthier, more focused living.’

Guests often come from the corporate world but they can also be people simply looking for peace and tranquillity. Pernille also works with small groups wanting to do activities together. One guest, company director Carsten Lassen, told her ‘Suddenly I came into my body, a feeling I hadn’t experienced for many years. I came home with some brand new and very specific tools and experiences that I use daily when I need to perform or be extra present.’

This year, Pernille will be holding retreats in Deià between 7 to 12 May and 27 May to 1 June. Contact her at info@core-living.dk to find out more.

Pernille’s retreats offer a space for you to come into your body, open physical, mental and spiritual doorways you never knew existed, and grow through experience.

Because there are so many retreats in Mallorca, I’m sure there are plenty I’ve never heard of. If you’d like to share your wonderful or not so great experience with us, please email holzer.david@gmail.com.