Take ONLY memories.
Leave only FOOTPRINTS.
For when you need to realign, SOLE offers accessible Yogic RETREATS in dream-like destinations that guide you to LIVE simply, slow down and WHOLEHEARTEDLY reconnect, to come back to yourself ~ rediscovering the JOY in your EVERY day.
We all desire, need, and deserve reconnection time. This modern world is beautiful but the pace of it isn’t sustainable. Not without intentional time to restore and practices that dissolve the layers of stress and tension that our body stores in our heads and hearts.
You might have that call to retreat solo and we are absolutely here for that and welcome you. Or maybe you’re retreating with a friend? There’s always the option to share your room and retreat experience. Our retreats are accessible for absolutely every single sole. Our ethos is simple - slow, conscious moments that bring you back to yourself.
NOURISHMENT FROM HEAD TO SOLE
Accessible Yoga
Whether you’re a complete beginner or somewhere along your yogic path. We use yoga as movement to nourish your physical body, to unravel and to unwind.
Breathwork
Using breath as a gateway to what is going on internally. Nourishing our nervous system and reestablishing inner balance. With balance we can think and see clearly. There is so much wisdom we can learn through yoga, from this ancient living tradition which is arguably needed more in this modern day world than ever before.
Teachings
Teachings that transpire into everyday life. Simple practices you can take home with you and continue as rituals in your everyday life, post retreat.
Sound Healing
Every one of our retreats has a Sound Journey. Traditional techniques used for thousands of years all over the world. The sound frequencies experienced in sound healing slow down brainwaves to a restorative state, which activates the body’s self-healing system. These vibrations allow you to restore on a cellular level. There is nothing for you to do other than get cosy and comfy and bask in the sounds from the singing bowls and instruments. Pure, blissful magic.
Food
Nourishing you inside out. Eating local, seasonal food, lovingly made by our retreat chef. Good food, good company.
Connecting
Connecting to where you’re retreating. Our retreat locations are intentional. Whether you choose to stay at our private venues or explore what the countries have to offer.
“Nature teaches us simplicity and contentment because in its presence we realise we need very little to be happy.”
~ Mark Coleman
Slow, conscious retreats to re-remind you that slowing down ISN’T weak. When things are slower, we can be truly PRESENT. The time and MOMENTS on retreat are what we have, so lets make them conscious and FUN!
Your RETREAT will take you out of your HEAD and back into your BODY.
Meet Maria
Sole’s Founder & Your Retreat Host
Sole has been a long time in the making, and even longer in my heart and head. Without sounding too cliche… yoga saved me. Honestly. I was in high paced sales roles for 10 years which I gave my all to. But this was 100% to the detriment of my health, my relationships and my soul. The 6am HIIT classes fuelled by an espresso en~route were far, far from nourishment. For so many years, movement was a form of punishment, either striving to lose weight, get the endorphins going before sitting down at my desk, ‘exercising’ because I should, not necessarily for my self or because I wanted to.
So, zero surprises that I was initially drawn to the physical side of yoga. I saw so much on social media and my ego told me it would be cool to learn how to headstand (I still can’t by the way). But how naive was I? I had these moments on the mat and yearned for more. I couldn’t really put into words or articulate why, but I just knew that I felt ‘better’ in my day-to-day, in my conversations, my routine and in my body. I started to establish this awareness of myself, and an appreciation for my body which I had never had before. I think when you experience that, when you get a taste for it, you prioritise it. It becomes sacred and your boundaries start to really protect it.
From practising to studying, I started to delve into different styles of yogas and went down the rabbit hole of breathwork and day retreats. Then one day, the studio that was like my Mecca closed down. I knew I wasn’t alone in those classes. The room was always packed and we were all on our own unique paths that yoga was integral to. I had this calling to open a yoga studio and create a space that continued to support each and every single one of us. So I honoured the calling and did exactly that. I opened Joie Yoga Studio, in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham City Centre in 2022.
It’s surrounded by City Centre apartments and offices, all home to high achievers but also ‘high-doers’ - we are ALL part of this modern, busy, ever evolving world. A world which is beautiful, but absolutely wild and disconnected and at times. The studio offers a space outside of your 9-5, your home away from home where you can go to simply be. The community is growing month by month and I know this is just the start.
YOGA has taught me SO much and continues to,
BUT what I CELEBRATE from it, is the simplicity.
It doesn’t matter what’s going on externally, what I’m wearing, how many things are on my to do list or what my brain has told me I should be doing instead of rolling out my yoga mat. Within minutes I feel like I’ve caught up with myself. My body with my mind, my head with my heart. And this is where so much of our suffering ultimately comes from. Life can seem so serious, so heavy, so constant and so relentless at times that it detracts us from finding joy. From having simple, honest fun. Our retreats reignite that. Those belly laughs. That morning sunrise. That simple joy.
An hours yoga class goes by in an instant and I am here for those pre/post class chats and moments of connection. So much so that I felt called to create Sole Retreats. There’s this common thread with yoga that draws you together with like minded souls. I feel so very grateful for the connections and friends I’ve made through the practice, and continue to make through the studio and now, on our retreats. It’s this coming together of like minded souls which is sacred. I know we will all meet someone from our retreats that will become a life-long friend, and who will play pivotal parts in our own, unique journeys.