This illustrious escape into the wild can be whatever you want it to be: a kaleidoscopic array of intoxicating musical experiences; a luxuriously tranquil escape; a sprawling culinary adventure; a labyrinth of laughter and wholesome hedonism. Here, inspiring debates meet soul-nourishing workshops, wall-to-wall games, Wilderness classics and participatory high jinks. So, settle in, shake yourself loose and discover YOUR Wilderness.
The Sanctuary and The Lakeside Spa return to Wilderness 2023 with a diverse and holistic programme to nourish, restore and replenish mind, body and soul. It’s your safe haven and party launchpad. Check-in to offset that late-night valley session – to find peace, stretch, and flow. Attend talks that question stigmas and workshops that open your eyes to the stars. Explore your sensuality, bask in a gong bath – or disco yoga yourself into sparkling nighttime revelry. Yin and yang: eclecticism is what Wilderness does best.
The Sanctuary boasts four distinct core spaces: The Studio, The Shala, Mindful Space and Wellbeing in the Wild, covering all your wellbeing needs with private treatment yurts for ultimate indulgence and self-care.
The Lakeside Spa: three words with ‘good time’ written all over them. Pre-party warm-up or post-party recovery, simmering in a hot tub with your dream team, is the icing on the cake (Champagne optional…). The Lakeside Spa once again boasts its trademark wood-fired hot tubs and saunas, resplendent beside Lake Superior.
The Sanctuary invites some of the globe’s most esteemed bodyworkers, gurus, yogis, therapists, nutritionists, sound healers, musicians and wellbeing professionals to bring their expertise. Fellowship Groups have their own dedicated space offering four meetings a day to anyone with addiction issues needing support, and Blink Mental Health will offer one-to-one talking therapy sessions across the weekend for those in need of more targeted mental health support.
This year, Wilderness welcomes accomplished South London-based studio Yogarise to deliver the full spectrum of yoga classes in their very own dedicated venue. The Yogarise teachers will lead flows in every yoga style imaginable – from yin to power vinyasa, ashtanga and Hatha to rocket, dharma, dynamic and more.
This new addition allows The Studio – the home of movement – to push boundaries into new, less explored disciplines, so there’s scope for everyone (even yoga pros) to discover something fresh. The Sanctuary holds space for a multitude of disciplines weaving through all of its venues.
The Studio
The place to get your sweat on, build strength and tune in – be it via HIIT, a barre session or a dynamic moving meditation. Find classes focussing on pilates, somatic movement, and exploring fitness sessions in dance, family yoga and much more.
PT and yoga teacher from East London, Kage Douglas, brings his fun, high-energy movement classes focusing on alignment. Fabienne Formosa leads Somatic Movement classes at The Sanctuary for the first time: the practice cultivates an awareness of the felt sense as a way to listen to the inner self.
Sophie Freya Cook is a Pilates teacher who loves to move. Her focus is on the founding principles: breathing, concentration, centring, control, precision and flow. Cameron James is an ex-pro athlete and gymnast who brings his love of street dance to the mat for his ‘Movement Decoded’ classes: a dynamic mix of soft acrobatics, callisthenics, capoeira and yoga.
The Yoga Brunch Club returns expanded and improved. Yoga Brunch Club started with a desire to bring people together through a love of yoga, great food and conversation. A 60-minute yoga flow precedes a well-laid table in beautiful surroundings amongst new friends. They bring an all-new Yoga Supper Club – the foraged answer to a wholesome long table banquet – presented by vegan organic and biodynamic caterers Trewhitts.
Mindful Space
Mindful Space is a place for calm. Drop in to breathe, to attend a restorative movement class, a talk or a workshop. Come to calm your mind, relax your body, and uplift your soul.
New for this year, there will be headline conversations with Eddy Elsey, a British shamanic practitioner on a mission to make authentic spiritual wellness accessible to those in the modern world. Emily Syphas from Sober & Social will be speaking on how to implement a hangover-free lifestyle, while sound innovator turned sleep coach Tom Middleton presents a Sleep Bootcamp series.
Other practitioners include counsellor, metaphysical speaker and coach Kia Aileen offering reiki with EFT and conscious-centred meditation; Nix Brook facilitates healing through breathwork; and Astrologist Francesca Oddie shares her insights. The Grief Space returns this year intending to remember the lost art of grief: tending and creating spaces where grief can be deeply acknowledged, witnessed and welcomed.
IO Project leads sound meditation in unique locations. Founded by DJ Goldierocks, IO Project will create a candlelit opening ceremony for adults who need some play: their cathartic sound meditation under the moon is designed to help you kick off feeling relaxed, centred and party-ready.
The Shala
The Shala is your home for sound experiences and musical journeys – welcoming people to the joy of connection through meditation, breathwork, movement and sound. This year the incredible Ell Kendall and The London Ambient Orchestra perform some deeply atmospheric works.
There’ll also be a mass yoga session, the opportunity to try body percussion and to experience the sound school, with gong bathing from crystal bowl guru herself – Cherub Sanson. Blok’s leader of yoga training Leo Oppenheim brings a Dharma yoga and breathwork experience. Enjoy dance performances from Ceyda Tanc Dance – a contemporary dance company creating performances with influences from Turkish folk culture, and Candoco Dance Company – the world’s foremost inclusive dance company, challenging perceptions of what dance can be and who can do it.
Wellbeing in The Wild
Nourish your soul with the grass between your toes and the blue sky arcing above you. Numerous sessions and classes are held with the rolling parkland as your studio.
There will be fitness bootcamps, outdoor yoga, guided morning swims with Blue Blind Men Cold Water Swim Club, Qigong, wild runs from The Midnight Runners, Aerial Yoga from Hang Out Yoga and, of course, the hugely popular SUP Yoga hosted by Island Feather: come be at one in the Wilderness.
Yogarise.
This year, Yogarise, one of London’s top yoga studios, joins The Sanctuary family. A family-run studio across two South London locations, Yogarise is friendly and down-to-earth, with varied classes from their experienced teachers. Their flagship Peckham studio was established almost a decade ago, bringing with it a huge selection of yoga and pilates classes and workshops, teacher training courses, retreats and community events.
The variety of classes on offer at Wilderness this year includes everything from uplifting Morning Bliss yoga, Dynamic Vinyasa, and Rocket to evening chill-out sessions, laid-back Yin, Flow-to-Restore and Yoga Nidra Meditation. Yogarise believes in the positive powers of yoga, and this year, they will be spreading those positive vibes across the fields of Wilderness as they headline the Yoga Stage, bringing you all the yoga all weekend long.
The ultimate holistic experience in paradise surroundings, The Sanctuary sits calmly amidst the revelry and festivities. It provides the opportunity to retreat from the party, recharge your batteries and re-energize for the next dance floor release.
