Summer Solstice Lake District Retreat — June 2025 🌞
What a gorgeous time we had!
We spent 3 days nestled in the hills just outside of Grasmere village, over the weekend of the summer solstice, which in the northern hemisphere this year fell on 21st June, when we celebrated 16 hours and 37 minutes of sunlight!
We had 18 wonderful guests that joined us, some familiar faces, some new, some came together, some alone, all leaving as friends.
Friday
On the eve of the solstice, the guests arrived, settled into their rooms and explored the grounds and enjoyed snacks courtesy of our incredible chef Aimee (Earthly Feasts - she’s amazing, check her out!) and then we opened the weekend with a welcome circle, introducing ourselves to the space and each other and setting our intentions.
We further grounded ourselves with a earth element meditation and yoga practice, followed by a hearty grounding meal from Aimee and she also made a beautiful cake for one of our guests who was celebrating her birthday, based on all her favourite flavours! After a delicious dinner and lots of chats, we had our first mindful art session, where Caroline introduced us to to the practice of mindful art and we explored some techniques using charcoal.
Saturday
On the morning of the solstice we got up at 04:30 to catch the sunrise. We walked through the country lanes and through the village of Grasmere, down to the lake. On the way we passed sheep, a deer, many birds and even an army of baby frogs! (yes that is the correct collective word for frogs - I looked it up, ha!)
When we arrived at the lake the sun was yet to appear over the hills and the water was so still and peaceful. We did a short meditation and welcomed in the solstice before taking a dip.
We then took a slow walk back to the house where we were greeted with snacks and ginger shots & we got showered and ready for yoga, which was a fire element practice to celebrate the sun!
Following yoga we treated to a breakfast feast - freshly baked breakfast muffins, tomatoes, tofu ricotta and more! Aimee created a menu that was based around our weekend agenda and the solstice, the produce that she used for all her dishes was seasonal, local and much of it foraged. She took us on a real journey with her menu and it was obvious to see the love, care and attention to detail that went into every dish.
Look at her smiling face! Not only is she an incredible retreat chef, she is also an absolute joy to be around!
We spent the majority of the rest of the day outside, enjoying the abundant nature around us.
Caroline lead a mindful art session where we foraged for our materials. Using leaves, flowers, petals, twigs, carefully lifted from the earth and through the cyanotype process, we used the shapes from nature and light from the sun to create unique pieces.
We also used nature as not only our inspiration but also as our brush — creating interesting textures and shapes with twigs and leaves & ink!
After a delicious lunch we had free time to rest, explore, be creative, or join us on a hike. We hiked to a nearby tarn (a mountain lake) for a swim, which was breathtakingly beautiful!
After a very full day of time enjoying nature, we got ourselves ready of a solstice feast in the grounds of our venue. We used coloured ink to paint runners for the tables, creating a fun and colourful setting!
Aimee created the most stunning meal for us and we also toasted the solstice with an alcohol free natural elixir made from foraged herbs and fruits!
After being blessed with dry weather all day, the heavens well and truly opened during our meal, leading us to grab plates and dash inside where the feasting and the chats continued.
The rain continued well into the night, as did the thunder and lightening that came with it! We all settled in for an early night, with Aimees special moon milk (iykyk!) and was soothed to sleep by the sound of the rain.
Moon milk (iykyk!)
Sunday
We started Sunday with an air element meditation and somatic yoga practice, exploring fluid, embodied movement. Followed by a delicious breakfast from Aimee including eggs in her amazing vintage egg cup collection - how fun are they?? Tag yourself, I’m the smurf.
After breakfast we had a lino printing session, using inspiration from our time in nature over the weekend to create our own unique prints followed by a gorgeous lunch (featuring stunning pea panna cotta, see below — wowee!)
The afternoon was free time — to continue playing with any of the mindful art practices from the weekend, to rest, to go for a walk to the lake, or to the village, to journal, to pull a card from the tarot deck — whatever out heart desired!
This may be the best dessert I have ever had! Chocolate & strawberries and each of those little domes — wow! Think strawberry cream Quality Street x100!
It’s safe to say Aimee kept us incredibly well fed and the surprises from her kept coming, she even created little farewell snack boxes for us to take home on our final day!
We rounded off the day with some restorative yoga and a nidra practice to get us ready for sleep!
Monday
On the Monday morning we gathered for our last practice together and our closing circle. During the short time we spent together, it felt like we all got to know each other so well. That’s the magical thing about retreats, it strips back life to it’s simplest form - connection to ourselves, to nature and to each other and with the pressures of every day life removed, we create space for beautiful connections to happen, for awe, for self discovery, for joy, for creativity and for healing.
I’ll never forget this special solstice weekend and the special people we shared it with.
Forever grateful.
Emma + Caroline x
Sunrise crew x