A Matter of Ice + Breath

04/03/2026

Stara and I will be back at Stratford St Mary Institute Hall for our next gathering on Sunday 29th March, 5pm-7:30pm. This session will celebrate the Spring Equinox as we say goodbye to winter and welcome in the new season.

We will begin with a cacao ceremony, before moving on to some gentle, guided breathwork and a restorative sound bath. We will end with some optional mindful walking outside and a fire ceremony.

Our sessions are always inspired by the themes of the season. You are invited to bring an offering for the altar (which you take back home with you full of good intentions). Come as you are, all are welcome.

We tend to book out quickly for these special gatherings, so please reach out to me or Stara to save your space.

Big love ❤️

27/02/2026

4 years ago I came to the end of my time on the Wim Hof Method Winter Expedition. It is difficult to describe how transformative this experience was for me. Struggling through burnout, wounded, and very broken, the Wim Hof Method gave me the chance to reconnect with myself. It taught me to lean into life, find comfort where I thought there was only discomfort, to trust myself again, and to heal. The week was life saving, and the beginning of finding my way back home, at long last. What began in my mind as a physical challenge to overcome, ended up being about reconnection; with myself, and with those I shared that precious retreat with. The end of our time in Poland, spent experiencing love, kindness and the deep connection that we all share as human beings, was made all the more poignant by the news that came at the crack of dawn, as we boarded our coach back to the real world, that the war in Ukraine had begun. I have many vivid memories from this time but 3 that I will share here; 1) REO Speedwagon's "Time for Me to Fly" playing at home as I realised I had nothing to lose by booking onto this trip, 2) Wim cutting to the core of my questions by telling me, "follow your heart" and 3) preparing myself to jump from a cliff into a freezing cold pool at the base of a waterfall, Wim said "aim for that black spot in the water...", "that spot there?", "yes", "...f*** the fear, Wim?", "F*** the fear!!!".

I did not know what I was looking for, but I left something behind on that mountain, and I found exactly what I needed. Have been on a journey ever since.

Thank you to Wim, to our incredible instructors Leandre, Ben & Sanjay for keeping us safe, to Hana who witnessed and guided me through my breakthrough during Wim's breathing session (who would, as fate would have it, end up being our co-intructor trainer at the academy when I certified). And especially to this beautiful group of people I shared this time with, who I think of often and have in my heart, always.

28/01/2026

A few freediving photos from our recent "Secret Sharm" trip with .

My first time to Egypt did not disappoint. Desert camping in Ras Mhamed

08/01/2026

Here are the upcoming breathwork classes for this month.

There is still plenty of time to book on for our class in Colchester tomorrow. This is part of a monthly series, shared with Laura from Oxygen Advantage, about all things breathwork!

On the 25th I will be hosting a taster session at our Drop-In Clinic. Please check out that page for a full list of what else is on offer. These are designed as accessible sessions with a real community feel to them.

We finish the month with our first session back at Panfield Village Hall this year. It'll be Blissful Breathwork this time; breathing that is gentle, slow, calm, kind. Everything that I love about the breath!

Booking for all my classes is essential as we can fill up. Reach out to book on.

Big Love ❤️

07/01/2026

Huuuuge thank you to the best host for having me aboard the good ship this morning!! To talk a little about my experiences with the cold and our community dipping/ice bath/sauna group, the Coggeshall Cold Water Dippers. Spreading the good word about befriending the cold!

Very excited that you've accepted the offer to join us, with your BBC Essex team, for an Ice bath and sauna session with me, the bright orange 🍊, and our open hearted Dippers at the beautiful !

Here is a taster of some of our chat! What a laugh (sorry for putting you on the spot at the end there Sonia!) 🤣🤣!

To catch the full episode please check out the BBC Sounds app/website.

As always, please put safety first when exploring cold dipping:
- Never dip alone
- Always check the weather/tides (know your spot!)
- Always enter slowly and adjust; beware of cold water shock
- Keep dips short (leave the water feeling good, not shivery)
- Come prepared with the essential kit
- Always have a plan to warm up safely; beware of afterdrop
- If in doubt, don't dip!

07/01/2026

05/12/2025

Just two more sessions before the end of the year and I am looking forward to what will be surely be special.

21st December: Stara and I are teaming up again to bring our 4th and final ceremony of '25. We will begin with a cacao ceremony before moving on to some gentle, guided breathwork and ending with a healing soundbath. Subject to weather, we will also get out into nature and practice some barefooting, which is a lovely way to ground ourselves at this busy time of year. Our ceremony will be based on the Winter Solstice and what this represents; the shortest day, the longest night, the start of winter, and the hope that comes with the turning of the Sun back towards the North. Booking is essential as we are expecting to be busy.

23rd December: Our final breathwork session of the year will be our Wim Hof Method Breathing Class in Panfield. This class is suitable for beginners and more experienced practitioners alike. The Wim Hof Method is a powerful wellness tool that helps us to become happier, stronger and healthier. It is especially powerful at this time of year, giving us the chance to reset and build some resilience ahead of the Christmas period and all that entails. We are already 60% full; so please reach out to book on to avoid disappointment. (For more info on the WHM please visit www.wimhofmethod.com)

As always, come as you are - all are welcome.

04/11/2025

I will soon be back for 6 more weeks of breathwork at Stratford St Mary Institute Hall, Colchester, alongside Oxygen Advantage's Laura .

We had a great time sharing various styles and approaches to breathwork at our sessions earlier this year, and we have much more to share with you!

These monthly sessions are suitable for all, regardless of breathwork experience, and are safe for most people of at least average health.

Each session will have a slightly different emphasis, but you can expect a deep dive into the biomechanics, physiology, and functional health of breathing, including what it means to breathe well. We will also cover numerous styles of guided breathwork that you can implement at home to relax, refocus, reset, and more, depending on what you need.

Every session is different, so whilst it would be great to commit to the full 6 sessions, drop-ins are very welcome 🙏

We look forward to seeing you there! To book on, please reach out to me or .

health

02/11/2025

What a lovely day this was! hosted another of our Wellness Retreat Days - a day packed full of physical and mental wellbeing activities, workshops, and 1-2-1s.

The aim of these retreat days is to give the rare opportunity for people to join together and spend a day on "themselves"; to rest, reset, and reconnect, guilt free. But the Wellness Collective is also about bringing together the many talented practitioners working in our local community under one roof - and this is a seriously talented team!

One of the reasons Danielle and I are so passionate about this community of healers we are building, is because we noticed a disjointed and, at times, defensive aspect to the "wellness" industry, with minimal communication between those working in this space. We have felt strongly from the beginning that it doesn't have to be this way. Heart by heart, we are challenging this approach by creating a space for compassionate, professional, quality practitioners to enter into with an abundance mentality. We are building a group that supports each other, whether that is by working side by side at events, sharing recommendations, organising training workshops, or simply sharing ideas.

This Retreat we had such an awesome lineup of sessions. Pilates with Amy to warm us up, a very gentle breathwork session, and a fascinating Rakau Workshop from Nic and Carlos . (I can't wait to apply some of the techniques learnt from Nic's Maori Bodywork into my personal dry freediving practice!) After that we had a very soft, gentle, yoga-for-all class led by Judy from Judy B Yoga (thanks mum ❤️), and we finished with a beautiful soundbath by Stara .

On top of ALL that, our practitioner rooms offered sports therapy from Georgia .colchester, massage with Lucy, reiki from Sharon, vitali-chi from Maxine , spiritual readings from Penny and Indian head massage by Steven.

Thank you, thank you, thank you 🙏 to everyone in our hardworking team, and especially to our in-house team of caterers, who provided us with a beautiful breakfast, lunch and refreshments!

15/10/2025

'TIS THE SEASON! We are now officially in the cold dipping season which means we will be back to our usual cold water dips, every Sunday morning, at 9am!

This will be our 3rd Winter season of cold dipping at the lake and will mark my 3rd year since starting this community group 😮!

We are a warm and welcoming group passionate about the many benefits that the cold water can bring. Since founding this group, I have kept it free to join, with a free induction from me for all those brave enough to start their Sunday in the right way (with a win!). I'm very happy to watch how this group has grown over the years.

Whilst I am a certified WHM instructor (which was life changing for me), our group is open to all those drawn to the cold and ALL are welcome - whether you wear skins, a wetsuit, prefer to dip or prefer to swim. Many of us tend to approach our dips from a more meditative perspective, with no need to actually swim, whilst others love a more dynamic swim in the cold.

I encourage all who join us to develop a practice of cold dipping that is safe, fun, fulfilling, and supported by a beautiful group of like-minded individuals. In my opinion, there really is no better way to dip than with the changing seasons (and temps!) of nature.

In addition to our free group dips on a Sunday morning, I also host community ice bath and Sauna sessions every Thursday evening 7pm-9pm with at the stunning .

If you would like more info or want to join us, please reach out! Booking is essential 🧊

18/09/2025

Very excited to be collaborating with Laura from for this two week breathwork program. Please swipe to read a little about us!

The reason I'm so looking forward to this workshop double bill is because of the sheer breadth of knowledge on offer; we are covering breathwork from so many angles here! Teaming up with another breathwork teacher from a different school of practice means an opportunity to share different perspectives on breathing in a supportive, open, and inquisitive environment.

As we have so much to cover, we have two evenings on offer on the 3rd and 10th October. Each evening session is then broken into two parts. Part one, led by Laura, will draw on her training as a functional breathwork instructor through the Oxygen Advantage. We are talking breathing for improved wellbeing and performance, with a number of exercises and explanations around how and why breathing well really matters for each and every one of us.

Part two, guided by me, includes a breathing session that teaches numerous styles of breathwork that we can use to relax, refocus and restore. This is about reconnecting with the breath, with ourselves, and learning some practical tools along the way to help deal with stress day-to-day.

It is exceptionally rare to find a breathwork class that combines so many varied trainings with this level of expertise. Both Laura and I are fascinated by breathwork and, for those curious about the breath, I feel we are a good example of just how many avenues to this practice there are! Crucially, we are both also committed to learning, having already trained (and continuing to train!) with some of the breathing world's leading experts including Wim Hof, Níall Ó Murchú and Patrick McKeown.

Booking info in the pictures above or contact me or Laura directly.

Come as you are - all are welcome 🙏 ❤️

11/09/2025

A few highlights from our recent cacao ceremony, breathwork, and soundbath event . I think these photos summarise much of the energy in the dome that night. What a special evening spent with truly warm people.

It was a privilege to be able to share this space with . Stara so brilliantly led us through a cacao ceremony that invited us to open our hearts, to foster compassion for ourselves and for the wider world (and don't we just need a bit of that at the moment), and to set intentions as we approach the autumn equinox - traditionally a time of reflection.

Cacao has a terrific ability to open the heart space. In my experience, blending cacao with mindfulness based activities like meditation, breathwork, and sound journeys can really help us to deepen the practice. In essence, this plant medicine can help us to feel and connect more with ourselves and with those around us.

It was a pleasure to guide a breathwork session in what remains a special place for me, with such wholesome, kind, genuine people. Everyone showed up exactly as they needed to, and for that, I am deeply grateful.

In a particularly special moment, yet again, our coherent breathing was felt by the nature on our doorstep; a muntjac deer barking along with us, after only a few short minutes of conscious breathwork!

This was mine and Stara's first ceremony held together, and I feel that we complimented each other's energy well. When the heart is full, the intentions are pure, and the knowledge matches the enthusiasm... that's when the magic happens.

Our equinox event on the 24th of September has fully sold out, but we will definitely be coming together again for future sessions, so please watch this space!