Why join a mountain retreat?

What is a mountain retreat?

Our mountain retreats bring a unique approach to mountain guiding founded on a desire to help you become healthier, happier and more connected with yourself and your surroundings. We offer two styles of mountain retreat; Highland Wilderness Journeys which involve wild camping and Wild Mountain Retreats which are based out of hostel style accommodation.

Our personal experience has shown us that time in wild places is synonymous with well-being. We believe the potential for this is greatest when the physical challenge of adventure is balanced with purposeful engagement with surroundings. Our mountain retreats interweave both these things. The physical demands of hillwalking are balanced by moments of learning, about geology, nature and history. As well as mindful activities such as sit spots, nature connection invitations, self-reflection and sharing.

Will I fit in?

Embarking on a multi-day journey in the Scottish Highlands is a big thing to do. Especially, when you are amongst a group of strangers. Joining a group experience like this can be an intimidating prospect. It’s normal to worry that you’ll be the slowest, the least experienced, the one with nothing to say, or that you won’t fit in.

We often get asked ‘what type of person comes on a mountain retreat’? The answer is all types. Nature is a great leveller. We can come to it from all different places and find connection and richness in a shared experience. Most retreats have people from across the UK and beyond, from towns and cities, fresh out of uni and enjoying retirement, never camped before, seasoned hill goer, loud, quiet, funny, shy.

We start out as strangers and universally end as friends. So, if you’ve been thinking about joining but worried you won’t fit in, don’t be. You and all your uniqueness are welcome on a mountain retreat with us.

Creating meaningful connections

Most worries fade away when you step into the mountains with like minded folk. However, this doesn’t mean the experience will be all plain sailing. Spending time in a mountain environment is inevitably challenging.

It is likely that you’ll meet discomfort at some point during the journey. Rather than viewing discomfort as a bad thing treat it as an opportunity to grow in self-understanding and compassion. To build resilience for future challenges you might encounter.

If and when you meet parts of yourself that struggle, parts of you that historically you haven’t liked, our role is to help you navigate these and use the experience to gain a different perspective. We will support you to safely meet and explore emotions and parts of yourselves in new and productive ways. ⠀

One of the ways we do this is by creating opportunities for you to actively connect with your inner world and your surroundings. Nature mirrors a resource that can be found in each of us. This resource is sometimes referred to as the ‘self’ and it has several qualities. Taking time to recognise, connect, accept and spend time with these qualities can be transformative.

Exploring qualities of ‘self’ on a mountain retreat

Here are the qualities of ‘self’ illustrated as we met them during our last Highland Wilderness Journey through the Cairngorms:

Why noticing ‘self’ being mirrored is useful

Parts of us that feel distress may have to work hard to protect us from the perceived threat. They can pull us inward and close us down. By paying attention to the qualities listed above in nature we soothe our nervous system and support the distressed parts. We can meet the parts of us that struggle with care, compassion, calm and courage and with a wider perspective.

The stoic philosopher Epictetus is quoted as saying “You become what you give your attention to.” If we are able to pay attention to these qualities of self as mirrored in nature they will grow in us.

The language of Self in this context comes from the psychotherapeutic model of Internal Family Systems that Shona works with in her professional practice as a councellor. In a light way, she brings this lens to the work we do in our mountain retreats.

The power of sharing

Once a day we join in a circle and each of us is invited to check in, sharing how we are doing. It offers the opportunity to talk uninterupted and to be listened to non judgmentally and for each voice to be heard and valued. 

There’s no pressure to share . Some people prefer to say very little while others find it useful to share more. Whether we share or not doesn’t matter. Having a safe space to share and listen to each other can increase our own sense of safety and qualities of self such as compassion, curiosity and connection.

Join us on a Mountain Retreat

Our final Wild Mountain Retreat of 2024 will take place at Loch Ossian youth hostel from the 3rd – 6th October. You can find all the details for it here.

In addition, there are a few spaces left on our similar retreat:

Wild Yoga Retreat 31st October – 3rd November.

Details of 2025 retreats will be released in the autumn. Please submit your email address below if you would like to be added to our e-news letter to recieve details when they are announced.