Taking an hour or two out of the week's shenanigans to squeeze in a meditation or yoga session is one of life's little luxuries. Now, hold that thought and imagine a whole 48 hours of such luxuries (and some) housed in landscapes that are the stuff of 19th Century poems, and you have yourself VERVE festival.
I'm writing this the other side of London Fashion Week, where a disconnection from technology and weekend of calm feels like a distant memory, but indeed that is what you get in the WiFi-free vast green out-in-the-sticks space that is Wiltshire's Broad Chalke. The inaugural festival for VERVE – a cunning and apt moniker – it brought together likeminded teachers, speakers and (mainly) women, who sought out some much needed respite from that thing called 'life'. 
How they went about it was a simple formula. Festival-goers were invited to dip in and out of a varied schedule of yoga and meditation, fitness classes like pilates, circuit training and farm runs, along with a roster of seasoned speakers, talking on subjects from confidence-boosting and habit breaking to lifestyle hacks for more energy. Elsewhere, when not holding tree pose or 'bathing' in the trippy sound of gongs, local kombuca drinks, watercress smoothies and Ayurvedic-inspired dahls were among the nourishing treats waiting to be devoured.
For me (and mum), Saturday began with a trip to the Ancient Woodland for 'Forest Bathing' – a Japanese tradition (shinrin-yoku), in which one basks in the beauty of nature to connect with the natural environment. Taken by healer Jasmine Harsonon of Emerald & Tiger – who I in fact recognised from Victoria-based meditation studio, Re: Mind studio – the class encouraged us to ground down in the present and take a moment of gratitude for being in the incredible spiritual and magical setting. From there, we jumped into an energising total body flow yoga class and a blissful chakra colour meditation, with the sun beating down on us, before replenishing with organic coffee, raw energy balls and fresh dahl and trout dishes and putting our bodies through their paces in a 45-minute Army-style circuit. Talk about feeling alive.
Saturday drew to a close with some healthy hedonism – think warm cider and organic pizza – before we climbed back into our tent ahead of Sunday's (busy-as-you-want-to-make-it) schedule. Much like the day prior, I began things with the sound of crystal bowls in the woodland overlooking the campsite (but not before an indulgent massage at the zest spa), while mum listened to the festival's yoga director and all-round wonder woman, Megan Romilly, discuss the principles of leading a healthy lifestyle. Among them, having a cut off time with devices before bed and taking one day a week to chill out and reset. After enjoying a breathwork class straight after, which implored us to breathe into our diaphragms instead of our chest – a weird phenomenon – mum and I tuned into a conversation by the wonderful speaker, Serena Evans. A discussion on confidence-building, we learned techniques to aid us in finding our calm in anxiety-inducing moments and focusing on getting out of our heads and directing our energy into our feet. Think grounding down.
To tie the day up, I jumped into another circuit session comprising kettle bells, planking, TRX moves and hefty 'battle' ropes, before rounding off the festival with yet another session with Jasmine (you can see a pattern here)...
Every inch the epitome of 'wholesome', particularly so with it being so geographically removed from the hustle and bustle of London, VERVE Festival offers a delicious slice of serenity that I look forward to returning to next year. Congrats, VERVE, on this year's success.
Gear up for yoga, meditation and all things fitness with our Vaara activewear edit:
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