Charlotte Church has launched a wellness retreat in Wales called The Dreaming, that claims to ‘reduce the chances of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes’.
The singer, 36, says she has ‘tied my life savings to the bricks and mortar of Rhydoldog House’ in order allow visitors to connect with nature and heal.
The sprawling house and gardens, which was the former home of designer Laura Ashley, are located in Cwmdauddwr in Powys, Wales, boasts eight different rooms and can accommodate up to 16 people at once.
Spiritual: Charlotte Church has launched a wellness retreat in Wales called The Dreaming, that claims to ‘reduce the chances of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes’
Putting everything on the line: The singer, 36, says she has ‘tied my life savings to the bricks and mortar of Rhydoldog House’ in order allow visitors to connect with nature and heal
One of the rooms is named ‘The Womb’ and is described as a ‘celebration of womanhood’ that is designed to make you feel ‘swaddled’ and contains a pink shower made of tadelakt (a natural, lime-based plaster indigenous to Marrakech) that Charlotte likens to ‘a very large and unusual-shaped vagina’.
The retreat also contains a Healing Room where guests can partake in movement, yoga, sound healing, and group work, as well as many gardens, a Potting Shed, Japanese Tea House and a Waterfall Shower.
The minimum stay is for three nights, and the most expensive room on site, The Forest Spirits, goes for a staggering £900 per person.
Womb room: One of the rooms is named ‘The Womb’ and is described as a ‘celebration of womanhood’ that is designed to make you feel ‘swaddled’ (pictured)
Suggestive: It contains a pink shower made of tadelakt (a natural, lime-based plaster indigenous to Marrakech) that Charlotte likens to ‘a very large and unusual-shaped vagina’
The website also states that all sharing rooms will be same-gender, unless you book as a group and that participants must be 18 or over.
Food and drink is included, though alcohol is strictly banned, with meals being communal and mostly vegetarian and vegan, while guests are encouraged to help plant and harvest vegetables and cook alongside the chefs.
The retreat offers yoga, sound healing ceremonies, foraging, mythic storytelling, star-gazing, cold water immersion, singing at dawn, den building, sensory portal building, painting, dance, dreamwork, outdoor cinema, herbalism, woodwork, meditation, Qi Gong, silent disco, night time forest bathing and more.
Huge: The sprawling house and gardens, which was the former home of designer Laura Ashley, are located in Cwmdauddwr in Powys, Wales, boasts eight different rooms and can accommodate up to 16 people at once
Charlotte writes that she fell in love with Rhydoldog House in November 2020, describing herself as ‘obsessed, insatiable, like a lovesick teenager.’
She revealed she blew through her £500,000 budget, spending double that to restore the landmark building and filmed the process for new Really and Discovery+ series called Charlotte Church’s Dream Build.
Charlotte confessed that she has ‘spent her life savings’ on the project, and was also given £300,000 by her parents towards the renovations.
Facilities: The retreat also contains a Healing Room (pictured) where guests can partake in movement, yoga, sound healing, and group work, as well as many gardens, a Potting Shed, Japanese Tea House and a Waterfall Shower
Eye-watering: The minimum stay is for three nights, and the most expensive room on site, The Forest Spirits, goes for a staggering £900 per person
Speaking in a trailer the series, she said: ‘I haven’t got a clue what I’m doing,’ and she could be seen tearing down walls and raking the garden as she roped in her family and friends to help with the build.
Charlotte explained: ‘It’s a complete mess, there’s so much work to do. If we don’t open in June, I’m in a lot of trouble.’
Speaking to Metro this week, she insisted it wasn’t a ‘vanity project that I’m doing with a couple of extra million,’ but ‘I’ve put my heart and soul into it.’
Offerings: Food and drink is included, though alcohol is strictly banned, with meals being communal and mostly vegetarian and vegan, while guests are encouraged to help plant and harvest vegetables and cook alongside the chefs
Activities: The retreat offers yoga, sound healing ceremonies, foraging, mythic storytelling, star-gazing, cold water immersion, singing at dawn, den building, sensory portal building, painting, dance, dreamwork, outdoor cinema, herbalism, woodwork, meditation, Qi Gong, silent disco, night time forest bathing and more
Single-gender: The website also states that all sharing rooms will be same-gender, unless you book as a group and that participants must be 18 or over
She admitted: ‘Whilst it’s been risky and nerve-wracking making myself so vulnerable financially, I know it’s going to be a magical healing place for everyone. I didn’t want to make it another play place for the rich. That’s not to say that I don’t want them to come, I absolutely do. But it has to be affordable for everybody.’
On her website, Charlotte writes: ‘For many years I have tried to use my platform to campaign for climate action, economic equity, and wellbeing for all. Whilst some of that work has been effective and meaningful, I always felt there was more I could be doing to better the lives of people who find themselves adrift in the chaos of the 21st Century (with its social and economic pressures and mental health crises), and to help in the fight against climate change.
‘My intuition has long told me that these two causes are intrinsically linked, one leading into the other. By honouring and connecting with nature we can regain our wildness, and awaken spiritually. By spending time in woodland spaces we lower our cortisol levels and blood pressure, improve our mental health, and even reduce the chances of coronary heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Obsession: Charlotte writes that she fell in love with Rhydoldog House in November 2020, describing herself as ‘obsessed, insatiable, like a lovesick teenager’
‘By slowing down and allowing ourselves to witness the rhythms and complexity of the natural world we can arrive at a peace that has become virtually impossible to achieve with the incessant and often exhausting pace of modern life.’
She went on: ‘I can’t really say what brought me to Rhydoldog House first, in November 2020; just having a nose, I guess. What I can say is that I was awestruck by the wonder of it: the vibrant energy of the land; the epic depths of the forests; the mythic fantasy of waterfalls and rocks and caves; the nourishing, life-giving water, seeping from every nook and cranny. I had no idea what a big part of my life it was going to become.
‘It put me in a spin. I was obsessed, insatiable, like a lovesick teenager. An inescapable vision of an integrated healing centre in line with my most deeply held values filled my waking hours, and even entered my dreams.
Expensive: She revealed she blew through her £500,000 budget, spending double that to restore the landmark building and filmed the process for new Really and Discovery+ series called Charlotte Church’s Dream Build
Poured everything in: Charlotte confessed that she has ‘spent her life savings’ on the project, and was also given £300,000 by her parents towards the renovations
‘And so with my baby on my breast in February 2021 I signed a piece of paper that tied my life savings to the bricks and mortar of Rhydoldog House, which set me upon a journey that has completely changed my life, and continues to do so. If you allow it to, The Dreaming could change your life too.’
‘Over the next 18 months my life was a-whirl with renovations and design, construction and creativity. With the help of hundreds of talented collaborators, working in unimaginably diverse fields (from plasterers to indigenous tribal elders, sound healers and conservationists), I manifested The Dreaming from the land.
‘And now we are ready to welcome you, soul-voyager. The Dreaming is a place for healing through experiencing beauty and wonder. It is a place for everyone: affordable and inclusive, where anyone can learn to heal and even become the healer that their community needs. By learning how to create meaningful and magical experiences that make people remember what is possible, we can transform our relationships, communities, and even wider society. The beauty we all are capable of creating is accessible. It is our birthright. It is within us as part of our ancestral memory. And our mission is to remind you of it.’
The Dreaming will open its doors in January 2023 and will be taking bookings from the 5th October 2022.
Inspiration: On her website, Charlotte writes: ‘For many years I have tried to use my platform to campaign for climate action, economic equity, and wellbeing for all’
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