“Once they overcome their preconceived ideas about tree hugging and, more worryingly, the view that work should not be enjoyable, we have consistently achieved great results. Working in this type of environment seems to give people a much more balanced sense of perspective on what is important.” Sony Mobile’s Head of Human Resources
It has been years of Zoom and gloom and the silent pandemic is stress, burnout and loss of connection. Put simply, this retreat is to help you hit the refresh button and to start again with a renewed energy that nurtures, connects and inspires possibility. We will provide an opportunity to:
Each participant will have their own space in their personal luxury bell tent, have dinner with their colleagues under the shimmering stars (or in a Giant Tipi when the weather is less forgiving), eat local food prepared onsite by our local chefs and experience workshops that are not only fun, but that enhance productivity, improve wellbeing and boost creativity.
Welcome to The Life Adventure in Godstone, Surrey and at The Grange, in Hampshire. It’s time to restore, reimagine and tell a new story.
Day 1
3pm: Arrival at the camp
Check in and camp orientation and relax into the natural environment
4.30pm: Gather round the firepit or in the Giant Tipi for a 2hr Storytelling workshop
6.30pm: Relax with drinks around the fire
7.15pm: Dinner
Day 2
7.30am: 1hr Sunrise Yoga
8.30am: Showers/get ready for the day
9am: Breakfast in the Giant Tipi or outdoors on long tables
10.15am:1.5hr Vision Building session outdoors or in Giant Tipi
11.45am: Relax/break
12.30pm: 1hr Lunch at the camp
1.45pm: 45 mins Journaling session
2.30pm: 1hr 15 mins Conscious Connected Breath session outdoors or in Giant Tipi
4pm: Leave camp for 2 hrs Forest Bathing experience in the nearby woods
6pm: Back to camp to relax
7pm: Relax and drinks around the firepit
8pm Dinner in the Giant Tipi or outdoors on long tables
Day 3
7.30am-10am: Breakfast in Giant Tipi or outdoors on long tables and checkout
Why storytelling? Put Simply:
“Storytellers rule the world” Plato
This session will be held either in the camp’s Giant Tipi, or if the weather is fine, in the woods.
In this two hour session, author Preethi Nair will share her remarkable story and give participants the tools of a storyteller to make their stories engaging, compelling and inspiring.
You and your team will:
This session will be held either in the camp’s Giant Tipi, or outdoors if the weather is fine.
In this 90 minute session you will create an inspiring personal vision and a compelling group vision. You’ll learn:
This session will likely be held either in the camp’s Giant Tipi.
According to the National Science Foundation, an average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts per day. Of those, 80% are negative and 95% are repetitive thoughts. That leaves a very small window for fresh thinking and creativity.
In this session you will:
In our experience, all team gatherings should include this – a Conscious Connected Breath session, designed to detox and destress your system. This session will reconnect your mind and body and ultimately connect you back to yourself. It will either be held in the camp’s Giant Tipi, outdoors, or possibly even in the woods.
Breathwork is a safe and ancient practice, known for its immune system boosting abilities and self-healing powers, allowing you to come out of your busy mind and drop more deeply into your body. There are literally hundreds of breath practices to try and your stay at Kymani will allow you to experience one of these, known as Conscious Connected Breath. In this session you’ll discover a technique that will:
Please note this session is not suitable for those with glaucoma, pregnant (1st trimester only) epilepsy, detached retina, prior strokes or seizures, prior diagnosis by a health professional of bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, psychotic or borderline psychotic states.
Shinrin-yoku means bathing in the forest environment for wellbeing. Humans have spent 99.9% of their development in nature and 0.01% in urban environments. This is a gentle introduction to begin a new relationship with it, including sensory and meditative exercises. In this session we’ll show you how to tune into your micro and macro awareness of nature and notice how it communicates with us. You’ll experience ways to:
We provide truly luxurious glamping accommodation – even though you’ll be in the great outdoors there is definitely no slumming it here. Each tent will be lavishly furnished with proper beds (each bell tent contains a double and two single beds) and all of the home comforts you can imagine.
Your bed has a proper mattresses, lighting, bedside tables, a sofa and all manner of soft furnishings. And to keep you warm and cosy? Your very own wood-burning stove. Also includes:
BREAKFAST SUGGESTIONS
MINI PASTRIES
Selection of Mini Pastries and Mini Croissants with Butter & Jam
FILLED CROISSANTS
Rosemary Roasted Portobello Mushroom & Baby Spinach (vg)
Tomato & Montgomery Cheddar (v)
SUMMER POTS
Homemade Seasonal Fruit Puree, Toasted Granola, Coconut Yoghurts
FRUIT POTS
Cut Fruit Salad & Pomegranate (vg)
Kentish Strawberries with Minted Honey Syrup (vg)
Mango & Blueberries (vg)
HOT BREAKFAST
Full English, plus vegan option, Bacon/Sausage/Egg sandwich, porridge with all the toppings
DINNER – THEMED OPTIONS
NO MEAT MONDAY
With more people aiming for healthier options, we’ll serve up vegetarian versions of favourites such as burgers, pies, wraps and risottos.
TENT TUESDAY
Each individual bell tent is assigned their own kettle BBQ and given cast iron skillet with ingredients. The chef will then give a lesson on a one-pan-wonder meal for the group. It’s a great way to interact, work as a team and compare at the end for judging perhaps…
WEDNESDAY WONDERS
The chef will supply a feast of all things fun and filling such as stone baked pizzas, pasta dishes, Mediterranean Salads, Beef Bourguignon, Potato Mash, Green Beans Vegan Shepherds Pie, Maple Roasted Parsnips (vg) and Thai Red Chicken Curry.
Preethi is all about creativity, taking risks and inspiring through story.
She left her job as a management consultant to publish her first novel Gypsy Masala after it had been rejected. Establishing an ‘international PR agency’ in her bedroom and appointing feisty director ‘Pru’ (an alter ego) to hype her book – (whilst putting on a suit and pretending to go to work – don’t ask!) Preethi got the novel into charts and signed a three-book deal with HarperCollins. Her alter ego ‘Pru’ was short-listed as Publicist of the Year!
Preethi went on to set up Kiss the Frog, a company that fosters storytelling in organisations and is a professor at various business schools, promoting creativity as a key skill for leadership.
Most recently, having never acted before, she wrote, acted and produced her first West End stage play, Sari: The Whole Five Yards, which is currently being adapted for television and she has just completed her fourth novel.
Preethi has spoken at many business conferences but most notably; she delivered the keynote to the Women in Wall Street Conference to 3,000 women. She has also shared a platform with Sir Bob Geldof on “Talking Less and Doing More.”
Justine has always loved working with, and managing, teams of people and has a great admiration for innovation. All this came along in the form of a CEO role for a ground-breaking £2m backed start-up called Unmissable that focussed on experiential travel, working with global brands such as Unilever and PepsiCo, along with some of the best marketing and advertising agencies in the world. It captured a growing thirst for new ideas in the world of travel and experiences. She subsequently went on to set up a similar, B Corp certified business, called The Happy Prize Company.
Shortly after leaving Unmissable, she entered the world of another passion of hers – wellness – setting up wellbeing agency The Life Adventure, which works in the main, with UK government departments to set and improve the wellbeing agenda for government officials. She’s studied with, and learned from, some of the world’s leading masters in yoga, meditation, kinesiology, sustainability, psychotherapy and Shinrin-yoku (Forest Bathing), as well as becoming a certified Conscious Connected Breath coach. She’s a Mental Health First Aider and a Verifier for the Mayor of London’s Healthy Workplace Awards.
She recently became a Non-Exec Director for a community solar farm project in Selsey, West Sussex, and crowd-funded a community project called the Selsey Sea Bathing Society to encourage people of all ages back into the sea.
LEGO, BBC, ITV Imagine, Channel 5, ?Whatif!, MTV, Citibank, British Chamber of Commerce, DEFRA, Dimensional Data, Terrapinn, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank, UBS investment bank, ICA, Southbank Centre, Saville Group, Ernst & Young, PWC, ARLA, Oracle, Orange, Yorkshire Forward, Astra Zeneca, London Business School, Cranfield University, Henley Management School, Headspring, BEIS, Dept for Work & Pensions
We hope you will join us and be part of the adventure!
South Godstone, Surrey
Nearest train station is Godstone and this is the nearest site to London. To drive, take junction 5 off the M25 and it’s around an 8 minute drive off the A22 heading south.
We call this site our “room with a view”. Set in the beautiful rolling AONB Surrey Hills, this has a gorgeous vista of the English countryside. You’ll have a whopping 9 acre field to call your own so that you can really get away from it all and take the time to enjoy the soundtrack of nature.
The Grange, Hampshire
This is a stunning self-enclosed site surrounded by beautiful woodlands and trees on the stunning Grange Estate, home of The Grange Festival. Not only does the estate feature the Greek revival mansion, but also a beautiful lake and rivers running through the grounds. This is the perfect site to get away from it within the grounds of an iconic destination
Other locations may be possible.
Cost: bespoke packages and durations available, price on application. The site has 10 bell tents in total and takes 20 people maximum (either 1 or 2 people per tent).
Please note, longer durations of a week or even a month are also possible for larger teams. Please contact Justine Clement at justinec@thelifeadventure.co.uk or call on +44 7714333418 to book or discuss.
Presenter Preethi Nair
Preethi Nair, author of 3 novels published by Harper Collins, is a writer and entrepreneur whose incredible story motivates audiences all over the world. Preethi left her job as a management consultant to set up her own publishing and PR company after her manuscript, Gypsy Masala, was rejected by most publishers. With no resources to rent an office and publish her book, she established a multinational company in her bedroom and appointed feisty director, Pru Menon (an alter ego) to energetically hype her work. Preethi won the Asian Woman of Achievement award for her endeavours. ‘Pru’ Menon’ was short-listed for PPC Publicist of the Year. Preethi has shared a platform with Sir Bob Geldof, Kevin Spacey, the head of Green & Blacks & Prêt a Manger and spoken on “talking less & doing more.” Preethi has completed her third novel and writes for BBC Radio 4 and a number of broadsheets. She is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, promoting creativity to young people. Preethi works with us to help blue-chip organisations take creativity and innovation back into the workplace.
MORE »What’s included
Sole use of the site for 36 hrsPresenter Preethi Nair
Preethi Nair, author of 3 novels published by Harper Collins, is a writer and entrepreneur whose incredible story motivates audiences all over the world. Preethi left her job as a management consultant to set up her own publishing and PR company after her manuscript, Gypsy Masala, was rejected by most publishers. With no resources to rent an office and publish her book, she established a multinational company in her bedroom and appointed feisty director, Pru Menon (an alter ego) to energetically hype her work. Preethi won the Asian Woman of Achievement award for her endeavours. ‘Pru’ Menon’ was short-listed for PPC Publicist of the Year. Preethi has shared a platform with Sir Bob Geldof, Kevin Spacey, the head of Green & Blacks & Prêt a Manger and spoken on “talking less & doing more.” Preethi has completed her third novel and writes for BBC Radio 4 and a number of broadsheets. She is an ambassador for the Prince’s Trust, promoting creativity to young people. Preethi works with us to help blue-chip organisations take creativity and innovation back into the workplace.
MORE »What’s included
Sole use of the site for 36 hrs