Grounded Pilgrim Retreat 2025 – Vivobarefoot x British Pilgrimage Trust

Grounded Pilgrim Retreat 2025 — a Luxurious Journey into Ancient British Wisdom

1 – 6 May 2025 | Broughton Sanctuary, Yorkshire Dales

Step into a realm of natural beauty, deep connection, and profound renewal at the VivoBarefoot Grounded Pilgrim Retreat – a luxurious, high-end experience hosted at the Broughton Sanctuary. This extraordinary destination seamlessly blends ancient stately grandeur with a state-of-the-art wellbeing centre, all set within 3,000 acres of rolling countryside. Recently featured in National Geographic Traveller’s ‘Top 30 Coolest Destinations’, this sanctuary is an oasis of tranquillity and transformation.

Each day, you will be guided on pilgrimage routes through the energetic landscape of the Yorkshire Dales, experiencing sites steeped in history, folklore, and sacred tradition. You will journey through Pendle Hill, the birthplace of Quakerism, and sacred waterfalls nestled in ancient woodlands. Along the way, you’ll engage in practices that align your spirit with the rhythms of nature:

• Pilgrimage walks through some of Britain's most revered landscapes
• Woodland dining under the stars
• Maypole dancing to honour ancient traditions
• Wild saunas, ice bathing, and hydrotherapy at the luxurious Avalon Pool Suite
• Gentle morning yoga and breathwork
• Celestial star navigation
• Sacred music and poetic reflections

This retreat is about grounding—connecting deeply with the earth, yourself, and the present moment. Last year’s participants left feeling centred, uplifted, and inspired.

An Unforgettable Experience

What makes this retreat truly exceptional is the people—a group of open-hearted, curious individuals drawn to ancient wisdom and modern wellbeing. You will be guided by leading experts in their fields, including:

• Dr Rupert Sheldrake – Biologist and pioneer of morphic resonance
• Jill Purce – Transformative voice teacher and Family Constellations therapist
• Jeff Krasno & Schuyler Grant – Founders of the global wellness platform Commune Media
• Guy Hayward & Dawn Champion – Your hosts from the British Pilgrimage Trust
• Chantress Seba – Sacred singer who channels celestial harmonies
• Paris Ackrill – Holistic wellbeing guide and Avalon’s co-founder

(Scroll to end of this page for more details about each expert.)

All Inclusive Luxury Accommodation & Wellbeing Facilities

Your ticket price includes food, activities and a five-night stay at the five star Broughton Sanctuary — Britain's only accredited "healing hotel", which offers:

• Elegant, luxury bedrooms with stunning views
• Access to the Avalon Pool Suite featuring a hydro-massage pool, sauna, steam room, and floatation tank
• Woodland sauna, ice bathing, and wild swimming
• Exquisite organic dining prepared by top chefs
• Your own pair of VivoBarefoot pilgrim shoes

The Pilgrimage Experience

This retreat blends ancient pilgrim traditions with modern luxury, creating a profound yet light-hearted experience. With a “Bring Your Own Beliefs” approach, all faiths (and none) are equally welcome. Our expert guides will lead you through historical and spiritual landscapes, interweaving:

• Traditional songs on the path
• Foraging for nature’s gifts
• Refreshing wild swims in sacred waters
• Deep listening and sacred silence moments

Schedule Highlights

Thursday 1 May – Welcome at Broughton Sanctuary with fire-lit ceremony, May Day songs, and optional fire-jumping ritual.

Friday 2 May – Pilgrimage along St Alkelda's Way to Malham Cove & Janet’s Foss, with breathtaking waterfalls, wild garlic forests, and the dramatic Gordale Scar gorge.

Saturday 3 May – Ascend Pendle Hill, the birthplace of Quakerism, followed by Avalon’s luxurious spa and an evening of poetry and sacred song.

Sunday 4 May – A gentle riverside pilgrimage along the Wharfedale valley, visiting historic churches and culminating in an evening woodland feast & celebration.

Monday 5 May – Talk on spiritual practices by Rupert Sheldrake and a systemic constellation on grounding by Jill Purce, ending with a night-time woodland odyssey to hear the song of the curlew.

Tuesday 6 May (Optional) – Silent torch-lit walk to the Ancestors’ Spiral, a final closing ceremony, and farewell brunch.

A Purpose-Driven Retreat

This is a rare opportunity to experience the British Pilgrimage Trust’s work in an intimate, high-end setting. The retreat is a charitable fundraiser, with profits supporting pilgrimage access for all.

Your ticket is all inclusive

• Luxury accommodation (all-inclusive, 5 nights): £1,800 – £3,200 per person
• Your ticket price includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and all workshops and activities
• Optional 4-night stay available

Spaces are strictly limited.

→ Secure your place now and embark on a journey of deep connection, luxurious wellbeing, and ancient wisdom.

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Your retreat experts and facilitators

‍Guy Hayward is the Director of the British Pilgrimage Trust, which he co-founded in 2014 to promote the practice of 'bring your own beliefs' pilgrimage in Britain. He has been leading guided pilgrimages since 2016 and co-authored the book Britain’s Pilgrim Places. Hayward has been interviewed about modern pilgrimage for TV, Netflix, Radio 4 and he writes for the national media. Hayward completed a PhD at Cambridge on how singing forms community, co-founded the Choral Evensong Trust with Rupert Sheldrake to promote Britain's sacred choral tradition, and is half of comedy singing double act Bounder & Cad.

Fellow BPT team pilgrim Dawn Champion is a historian and keen naturalist with a deep love of the British landscape. Dawn studied history, archaeology and architecture before working for English Heritage and then the Wildlife Trusts. She volunteers for several charities that promote connection with the magic of nature.

Chantress Seba - Singer of the stars, a voice to guide us home to our hearts. Gemini’s powerful ethereal vocals and channelled light language from the shining stars above, combined with Finn’s earthy spacious instrumentation, creates an atmosphere of deep remembering, allowing the divine to speak to the listener through mind, body, and soul.

Rupert Sheldrake, PhD, is a biologist and author best known for his hypothesis of morphic resonance. At Cambridge University he worked in developmental biology as a Fellow of Clare College. He was Principal Plant Physiologist at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics in Hyderabad, India. From 2005 to 2010 he was Director of the Perrott-Warrick project for research on unexplained human and animal abilities, funded by Trinity College, Cambridge.

Jill Purce is a British voice teacher, Family Constellations therapist, and author. In the 1970s Purce developed a new way of working with the voice, introducing the teaching of group overtone chanting, producing a single note whilst amplifying the vocal harmonics. She is a former fellow of King's College London, Biophysics Department and has produced over 30 books as General Editor of the Thames and Hudson Art and Imagination series. Between 1971 and 1974 she lived and worked in Germany with the composer Karlheinz Stockhausen. Since the early 1970s she has taught internationally-diverse forms of contemplative chant, particularly overtone chanting. For over twenty years she has been leading Family Constellations combined with chant. She is the author of The Mystic Spiral: Journey of the Soul a book about the spiral in sacred traditions, art and psychology, as well as numerous articles.

Jeff Krasno is the founder and CEO of a global wellness education platform Commune Media who is coming to the UK on tour for his latest book
the Good Stress, covering ten protocols to counteract the “chronic ease” that creates our modern epidemic of dis-ease.  In Good Stress—co-authored with his wife, Schuyler Grant, who shepherded him through 300-plus interviews with doctors and helped distill the results into actionable information. Jeff explains that the comforts and conveniences of modern life in the developed world undermine our biology. Humans evolved with paleolithic stressors and scarcity, which conferred health and resilience. For the Commune podcast, he has interviewed a wide variety of luminaries from Deepak Chopra and Marianne Williamson to Matthew McConaughey. Jeff pens a weekly essay exploring spirituality, culture and politics that is distributed to over one million people. He was selected by Oprah Winfrey to be part of the SuperSoul100 as one of the nation’s leading entrepreneurs.

Schuyler Grant, is a yoga teacher and director of Kula Yoga Project. Schuyler's signature style of practice and her advanced Kula Flow trainings have influenced thousands of teachers and studio owners worldwide. She was a creator of the 200 and 300 hour trainings for both Kula and Wanderlust, a festival that she and Jeff co-created, and her trainings have been a destination for students and teachers for over twenty years.

Paris Ackrill, co-founder of Avalon Wellbeing, is our resident Holistic Wellbeing Guide specialising in Sound and Energy Healing, Meditation and Yoga. Holding compassionate space and weaving together various modalities Paris loves to provide a sanctuary to soothe the nervous system and enter into greater mind-body coherence. She works holistically through an evolutionary approach to yoga, devotional practice, tantric philosophy, alchemy crystal singing bowls, pranayama, Ayurveda, energy channeling, mudra and meditation, as well hosting women’s circles and blessings.

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Broughton Hall Beddrooms

Bedroom and accommodation photos can be viewed here. When you book your ticket, you can choose from available rooms.

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‍FAQs

What does the ticket price include? All food, accommodation, the wild wellness experiences and guiding on pilgrimage are included, as well as a free pair of Vivobarefoot Grounded shoes.

Can I camp instead of staying in a room? If you would like to camp, there is an option but it is roughly the same price as a room, so we would recommend that.

What do I bring? Appropriate clothes and shoes; Swimwear; Waterproofs or Umbrella; Waterbottle.

How do I get to the start? Skipton train station is 10 mins taxi away. Car parking at Broughton Sanctuary.

Who can come? Anyone over 18 (or under 18 with parental guidance, bearing in mind the walking distance).

Is this religious? All and no-faiths are equally welcome. We operate a “Bring Your Own Beliefs” policy. We ask that all participating pilgrims tolerate one another, whatever their beliefs.

Will I be asked to share my feelings with the group? We like to keep things light and breezy, so there will be no group emotional sharing moments. If you want to share your feelings in personal conversation when walking with others that is up to you, but certainly not compulsory.

Are there fitness limitations? Pilgrimage is moderately intense. If you struggle to walk all day, this type of pilgrimage may be an unsuitable activity for you right now. There are always plenty of escape points en route. But we will walk slowly, and start early, and 6-10 miles a day are manageable distances for the majority of people, and the terrain can be rocky in places but is not too steep. Unfortunately this pilgrimage is not suited for mobility-impaired people or those requiring wheelchair access.

Can I bring my dog? Sadly not - we can’t accommodate dogs on our guided pilgrimages. However, if you have a registered assistance dog, they are welcome.

What does my money go towards?The British Pilgrimage Trust is a charity, and profits raised from this limited space event will enable the team at British Pilgrimage Trust to make it possible for everyone, of all means, to make pilgrimage themselves. For more details about our charitable activities, please click here. We will also distribute some of the profits to local organisations from whom we have benefitted along the path.

If you would like to make an additional donation to support British Pilgrimage Trust’s work, click here.

We hope to see you on the path.

Date and time

Thu

01

May

4:00 pm

-

2:00 pm

About this event

Moderate

7, 6, 5 and 2

 miles

Broughton Sanctuary, Broughton Hall, Skipton BD23 3AE