Our award winning signature 5-day Health & Wellness programme is known as “The Yeotox”. We are not a juice fast, detox spa, bootcamp, weight loss holiday or fat farm but rather a healthy lifestyle retreat and way of approaching health with joy and inspiration. The programme is more focused on what you can gain rather than deprivation or restriction. That being said, instead of preaching about what we should give up for greater health, Yeotown merely encourages a break from certain things in order to gain perspective and clarity. Becoming aware of what ingredients are hurting more than helping, may lead you to let them go. While a new understanding may allow you to enjoy other things in a more mindful and balanced manner. Our food at Yeotown is colourful, creative, plentifully nutritious, and nutrient dense. Our dishes have been mindfully designed to cultivate optimum gut health. It is now widely known a healthy gut leads to a healthier mood and mind, and this is the aim of our Yeotox menu.
Our multi-award winning programme is a modern day take on an old school detox or weight-loss retreat in that we are more focused on what you can gain rather than what you will lose. We are more interested in how to detox the mind, and lighten the spirit, rather than solely focusing on the body. We believe the weight of the being often times far outweighs any extra weight our bodies may be carrying, and it is this heaviness of heart we are more focused on dropping.
Madeira has been dubbed by many travel lovers as the ‘Hawaii of Europe’. We have been successfully welcoming guests since November 2021 to the island to enjoy all it has to offer. Harmonising with our 13-year-old, steadfast programme in Devon, our 5-night island retreat blends with Madeira’s vibrant culture. The winters are famously mild here; the place rarely drops below 15C even at night, and many days are long and sunshine-filled even during Winter.
From the mountains to the sea, from the ancient forests to the enchanting collection of flora and fauna – a symphony of nature’s best is the backdrop to your stay with us. You will arrive at the smell of flowers, breathe in fresh ocean air, and the welcome song of a thousand fledglings. Colourful bird of paradise flowers native to the island are peppered throughout whilst our talented chefs mindfully prepare your meals alfresco. Retreats run from Monday to Saturday and include rejuvenating sessions such as daily yoga for all levels at sunrise, breath-taking coastal hikes, forest meditation, cold water immersion, breathing workshops at sunset, nutritional talks, bio-hacking discussions, healthy cooking classes, functional fitness sessions, wild swimming, natural pool dips, and a variety of signature massages. Oh and of course a few of our signature “surprise” sessions!
Ours in an all-inclusive experience so you can just show up and let us take care of you knowing there will be no surprise extras. As part of your investment into your health, all meals, snacks, fresh-pressed juices, boho-chic interior-designed accommodation, full schedule of daily activities and nightly massages on 3 of the days are all included. Please visit our ‘Cost’ page for more information on pricing.
During your time with us, you will very quickly start to feel more energised, more engaged and empowered. Armed with knowledge so you can make and maintain healthier choices when you return to your everyday life. We’re all about health and fitness but in a way that supports and celebrates your physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
Who is the Yeotox for?
Do you want to wake up in the morning feeling energised, looking great and ready to tackle your day? Are you running a big company, suffering from burn-out, raising small children, recovering from illness, loss or trauma or in training for a big athletic goal? Or are you simply facing a crossroads in your life where you recognise the time has come to put YOU back in charge of your health and wellbeing?
Whatever your reasons, you are on the verge of becoming the best and healthiest version of yourself that you can be. Or perhaps you have already taken this step and will be coming to us for a reboot.
Here at Yeotown we’ve spent 13 years successfully working with people just like you. We can promise that whatever your background or current level of health and fitness, we will help you achieve that life-affirming goal of taking control of your wellbeing, taking ownership of your health and taking your life to that next level of engagement and enjoyment.
What to expect
NATURAL OCEAN FED poolS SURROUND
During your Yeotox, you will shift the way you eat, hiked many miles in all elements, discover new levels of self-discipline and develop a new appreciation of nature and the great outdoors. Although a Yeotox is both physically and mentally challenging, it is also inspiring, informative, invigorating and nurturing. Within a few days, you will start to feel lighter, more clear-headed and have more energy. Some people lose weight as a by-product of their healthy living programme but results may vary depending on the individual. Come rain or shine a part of the Yeotox programme takes place outdoors. We pride ourselves on allowing you to reconnect with nature, take big deep breaths of fresh air and explore the best Madeira has to offer.
A SAMPLE DAY
Each day at Yeotown builds upon the previous and there is an ebb and flow to the schedule. This gives guests time to increase their stamina and endurance for the more challenging hikes and activities. Our healthy escape is a finely tuned blend of working out and “working in” with a focus on a variety of sessions that work on strengthening the body, mind and spirit in equal measure.
Your day may include a combination of the following:
- Morning Yoga-inspired stretching for both yogis and non-yogis alike
- 2-3 hrs coastal, mountain and valley hiking
- Cold Water Immersion
- Natural Pools & Waterfalls Swimming
- Functional Fitness and Strengths Training
- Core Workouts
- Mindfulness & Meditation
- Breathwork
- Nutritional chats and gut health focused cookery sessions
- A selection of various types of massages
- Reading, relaxing, unwinding by the yoga studio fireplace or enjoying the medicinal herb gardens, fruit trees and pool.
OUR CONSCIOUS CUISINE
At Yeotown we don’t believe mindful, feel-good eating and drinking is a ‘diet’ but rather a lifestyle choice. Our mindfully designed menu with a strong focus on gut healing foods and is what we like to call “Conscious Cuisine”. Meaning we are conscious of what we are putting into our bodies and more importantly, its effect it has on not just our physical but emotional and mental spaces too. During your stay the menu is caffeine, refined-sugar, gluten, dairy, alcohol and meat-free. We are not suggesting you should never consume any of these things ever again. Let’s face it, life is just too short to not enjoy a nice glass of wine with friends or a yummy ice cream at the beach on a hot summer’s day! What we are offering you is a break for a week from certain foods and drink that research has shown has the potential to be irritants or problematic for some people. This break will allow you to get some perspective on your energy levels, your digestive system and overall health in general. With this new-found knowledge, you can decide for yourself which foods and drink are best for YOU.
It’s healthy to have an awareness of what we are consuming and why. Knowing the effects certain foods and drink have on us, if any effect at all, is life-changing. Despite the myriad of books and “Health Bloggers” telling us how to eat or what to eat, at the end of the day, we want to empower you to make food choices that make you feel good about yourself, and work best for your unique, individual body and mind. Some of our past guests have told us they continued with certain elements of the menu once they left because they loved the way it made them feel and wanted to carry it forward.
Unlike a typical bootcamp or juice cleanse retreat we focus strongly on sustainable and balanced nutrition. We aim to give guests the tools and information to carry on the Yeotown lifestyle once they are back home. Taking advantage of the climate and what island living has to offer, we change up the menu frequently to use many of Madeira’s unique fruit and vegetables growing only in subtropical climates. This allows us to create a refreshing blend of nutritionally packed juices, smoothies, refined sugar free desserts, and a delicious yet healthy plant-centric menu with a few sustainable fish options. It’s important to note the menu at Yeotown is not completely plant based but can easily be made so for those who wish.
We understand that not everyone has the same needs or targets when it comes to their diet. So, unlike many boot camps or weight loss retreats, we also provide one-to-one nutritional consultations (if desired) to help develop your personalised nutrition programme.
