Day Retreat
PORTAL TO JOY
WHAT'S IN STORE
Yoga & Mixed Movemen for Expansion & Joy, Community, Farm to Table Lunch, Sacred Song, Restorative Yoga
We’re so looking forward to welcoming you to Portal to Joy, our next seasonal gathering — a full day to move, rest, connect, and soak in the abundance of summer.
As the season reaches its peak, there’s an invitation to expand — to celebrate the light within and around us. This retreat invites you to honour the fullness of summer through fiery movement, playful exploration, voice activation, and deep rest — a whole-body celebration of joy and vitality.
We’ll begin the day by stoking our inner fire with an energising, breath-led yoga practice with River, inviting strength, clarity, and vitality into the body. From here, we’ll move into a playful mixed movement workshop with Paula — a chance to explore new patterns of movement beyond the familiar. Rolling, sliding, spiralling, and flowing, we’ll open to new possibilities in how we relate to our bodies and the space around us. (We had so much fun with Paula on our Cornwall retreat I had to invite her back for more!)
After a nourishing, seasonal lunch prepared by our incredible private chef Hannah from Herbs & Wild, we’ll drop into the heart through our voice — Sarah will be guide you through simple, soulful practices to connect to your voice as a portal for joy, resonance, and raising your vibration — no singing experience needed you are welcome to soak up the beautifull sounds.
We’ll close the day with a deeply restful restorative yoga practice, gently grounding the energy and allowing space to integrate everything that’s moved through.
Held in the peaceful surroundings of Batheaston, just outside Bath, this is a day to step away from the noise and return to the joy of being in your body, in nature, and in community. There’ll be time throughout to rest, journal, or explore.
Whether you're coming solo or with a friend, this day is open to all who feel the call to move, express, reconnect, and be part of something real.
Spaces are limited, and early booking is recommended to secure your place.
THE PRACTICES
Yoga with River Mace
We’ll explore backbends — but not as you know them. Through fresh techniques, intelligent mapping, and supportive hands-on assists, you’ll be guided to move in ways you may never have experienced before. Together, we’ll decode new movement patterns through a circular peak flow — repeating, refining, and building fluency in your body with each cycle.
Mixed Movement with Paula Jankowska
Paula is a professionally trained contemporary dancer (Laban) and a passionate movement teacher who invites you to explore your body beyond familiar shapes. Her workshops are playful, grounded, and creatively liberating — blending mixed movement, yoga and floorwork to help you slide, roll, spiral, and flow with ease. Paula guides with care and enthusiasm, encouraging curiosity and confidence as you expand your movement vocabulary and connect to your body in new ways.
No dance experience is needed — just a willingness to explore and enjoy the ride!
Sacred Song with Sarah Devereux
Our sacred song workshop will be guided by the wonderful Sarah Devereux, her voice and presence creates a space of deep connection and joy. With a passion for the transformative power of sound, Sarah will weave together vocal activation and mantras to attune us to specific layers of consciousness to unify and purify our energy fields.
No prior singing experience is needed—just a willingness to explore and express.
Restoritive Yoga with River Mace
In the afternoon, we’ll shift into a slower rhythm — a practice centred on restoring, reframing, and refining your ground of being. Through thoughtful hands on assists ( optional), you’ll be guided into new relationships with familiar postures, offering a fresh frame of reference for how you inhabit your body. This final session is an invitation into deep release and embodied integration — a soft landing to close the day. Utter bliss.
THE SCHEDULE
How we will spend the day together..
9:15 am Arrival Tea
9:30 am Dynamic Yoga Practice Guided by River
11:30 Mixed Movement Workshop with Paula
12:45 Two Course Farm to Table Lunch By Herbs & Wild
14:15 Sacred Song Workshop with Sarah Devereux
15:30 Restoritive Yoga Guided by River
16:30 Closing and good byes!
Schedule subject to change
PRICE
Includes everything shared above + tea and coffee throughout the day
£139
What to bring:
We have yoga mats, but feel free to bring your own if you wish. Please bring a notebook and pen, a yoga blanket and wear comfortable clothing.
Last retreat sold out quickly so early booking is advised!
MEET YOUR HOST
RIVER MACE
River has always been guided by her curiosity to explore the body in new ways, a journey shaped by movement, connection, and a deep relationship with embodiment. A foundation in gymnastics sparked an early love of physical exploration, further refined through professional training as a dancer. River’s yoga path began with traditional Hatha training in Bali, complemented by 100's of hours of advanced study in Embodied Yin, Katonah Yoga and Somatic Stress Release.
Her teaching blends dynamic flow, strength, and meditative stillness, helping students cultivate adaptability, courage, and joy. Inspired by a fully embodied approach to life, River embraces movement as a path to vitality and play, drawing connections between fluidity on the mat and freedom in life.
River’s retreats are thoughtfully curated spaces of nourishment, transformation, and connection. Her approach is welcoming to all levels, offering personalized guidance in a supportive, nurturing environment. Whether you love exploring armbalances or finding a sense of peace, each retreat invites participants to cultivate courage, connection, and joy.
Past retreat guest have often described these experiences as "like receiving a warm hug" I hope you can come and experience the love for yourself!
"I feel incredibly fortunate to have found River as my first yoga teacher. Her knowledge, patience, and genuine passion has help me so much. I can't recommend her classes enough!"
CONTACT