Itinerary
Before you arrive: two individual sessions in preparation
Your Lumeah journey starts at home. Before you join us, you will have two individual online sessions. These sessions are about more than “assessment.” They are the beginning of your reset:
Mapping out your past experiences and how they show up now in triggers, fears, relationship patterns and self-doubt
Understanding what your brain has learned it must do to keep you safe such as people-pleasing, perfectionism, overworking, shutting down, and how those strategies now limit you
Looking at the cost of staying in survival mode in the present: exhaustion, burnout, difficulty resting, feeling stuck or shut off from joy, being held back from promotion, or just not achieving.
Beginning to imagine how you would like life to feel on the other side of this work
Together, we join the dots between old experiences and current reactions, so that your system does not feel “mysterious” or “broken”. Instead, we make sense of why you are the way you are, through a compassionate, trauma informed lens. These sessions also help us tailor the EMDR and coaching input to you, so that when you arrive at the villa you are not starting from scratch, you are already in process.
You do not arrive at the retreat as a stranger. You arrive already known and understood, with a clear therapeutic focus and a sense that this is the start of something different.
Intensive EMDR: over 12 hours of focused psychological processing
During the pre-retreat phase and while you are with us, you will receive over 12 hours of intensive EMDR in a blend of:
One-to-one EMDR sessions tailored to your history, your nervous system and your goals
Structured group EMDR sessions, where you work on your own material without having to share the details out loud.
EMDR coaching
This is not light-touch therapy, it is the equivalent of up to three months weekly therapy. It is concentrated, carefully paced work that focuses on:
Processing past emotional experiences that still feel “stuck” in your body: the memories, images and feelings that keep getting reactivated
Releasing old beliefs about yourself – for example “I am not good enough,” “I am too much,” “I am unlovable” – and replacing them with more grounded, compassionate truths
Unlocking confidence and self-belief so you can step into roles, relationships and opportunities you have been holding yourself back from
Future template and “flash forward” work, where we rehearse new responses to situations that currently trigger anxiety, shame, collapse or self-sabotage and get you to say no, set boundaries and avoid burnout
EMDR at Lumeah is always integrated with other psychological therapies and coaching. It is not just about getting through the memories. It is about freeing up energy so you can live differently.
This is regeneration at the level of the nervous system: calming long-standing survival responses and allowing your system to discover what it feels like to be safe enough.
For more details click here.
Over 10 hours of psychological education and coaching woven through every day
Alongside EMDR, you will take part in daily workshops and reflective spaces that bring together evidence based psychological models in a practical, human way.
Resourcing and nervous system regulation Safe place imagery, grounding, sensory strategies and breathwork help your body experience safety and steadiness, not just understand it intellectually.
GROW coaching model You will clarify what you want from life going forward, identify what gets in the way, and map out realistic, compassionate steps. This is about direction and momentum, not vague “manifesting”.
Cognitive work (CBT) You will learn to spot unhelpful patterns of thinking, understand where they came from, and rescript more helpful and self-supportive beliefs.
Emotion understanding and regulation (DBT) You will get clearer on what your emotions are trying to tell you, and build a toolkit for staying grounded when your feelings are intense, layered or confusing.
Boundaries, saying no and clear communication We explore what gets in the way of you setting limits, practice new scripts and look at how to protect your energy without cutting off from connection. Avoid burnout, frustration and fatigue.
Values and committed action (ACT)You will reconnect with what genuinely matters to you, outside of other people’s expectations, and begin to take small, steady steps towards that life.
All of this feeds directly into your EMDR work. You are not only talking about change, you are rehearsing and embodying it.
This is rejuvenation at the level of identity: gently shifting from “Who do others need me to be?” towards “Who do I want to be, and how can I live in line with that, and how do I get there?”
Creative and narrative therapy: reshaping your story
You will also have opportunities to work creatively as part of your therapeutic journey:
Art and expressive therapy, where you can externalise feelings, experiences and hopes through image, colour and shape
Narrative boards and mind mapping to visually trace your patterns, themes and turning points, and to begin sketching out the next chapter of your story
You do not need to be “good at art” for this to be powerful. These are tools for insight and integration, not for producing something polished, but a chance to express yourselves in ways that maybe you haven't tried before.
This is the regeneration of your narrative: moving from “What is wrong with me?” to “This is what happened to me, how I survived, and who I choose to become now.”
Yoga, somatic and body-based practices: healing through movement and stillness
Psychological change lands more deeply when the body is invited into the process. Throughout the retreat you will have access to:
Daily yoga that focuses on grounding, gentle strength and nervous system soothing rather than performance or flexibility
Sound bath sessions that invite deep relaxation, helping your system settle into states it may rarely access in day-to-day life
Breathwork to support regulation, focus and emotional release, offering you tools you can take home and use long after the retreat ends
Boxing and somatic release sessions where you can safely move anger, frustration, fear and “frozen” energy through your body instead of turning it inward
Journalling and fire pit journalling under the night sky, where you can reflect, release and set intentions in a space that feels contained and symbolic
These practices help your body learn that it is allowed to soften, shake, release and rest. They support not just temporary calm, but a re-learning of what safety and vitality can feel like.
Holistic treatments: softening into rest
To support deeper relaxation and integration, every guest receives two core treatments as part of the retreat: one LED facial with head massage, and one full-body massage. These are not extras or add ons. They are built into the programme because your nervous system often needs this kind of care for the deeper psychological work to really land.
You will have an LED facial combined with a soothing head massage, offered as an unhurried, calming ritual rather than a quick beauty appointment. The focus is on gentle rejuvenation and comfort. Warm cloths, soft products and slow, careful movements around the scalp, temples and jaw help melt some of the tension that has been held there for years. The LED element supports skin health and glow, while the head massage invites your whole system to soften. This is about being tended to, not being judged or “fixed”.
You will also receive a full-body massage in the comfort and privacy of your own room. This gives your body permission to fully let go, without needing to make small talk or brace for the next thing in your diary. The massage is tailored to you, with particular attention paid to the areas where you hold stress, such as shoulders, lower back or legs. Many people notice that after this treatment, their sleep deepens, their breathing slows and it becomes easier to access a sense of being grounded.
For many guests, these experiences of gentle, non demanding touch in a safe, contained environment are quietly powerful. They begin to rewrite some of the body’s expectations about contact, care and what it means to be looked after. In doing so, they support not only physical ease, but the healing of relational and nervous system wounds.
Catamaran tour: integration on the water
One of the retreat highlights is a catamaran tour out on the sea. This is not just a treat. It is part of the therapeutic process:
Being held by the water offers a different state for the nervous system: spacious, expansive and gently rhythmic
Time away from the villa gives your brain a chance to integrate the work you have been doing, with no pressure to talk or process out loud
It is a reminder that healing is not only about hard work. It is also about pleasure, awe and allowing yourself to experience beauty without guilt
Many guests describe this as a moment when something “lands”: a sense of “I am allowed to enjoy being alive again.”
Three core pillars: regeneration, rejuvenation and return
Every element of the retreat is designed around three core pillars:
Regeneration: processing stuck experiences, calming survival responses, and allowing your nervous system to rebuild from a more stable foundation
Rejuvenation: restoring your energy, vitality and sense of self through rest, creativity, pleasure, connection and nourishing routines
Return: helping you go back to your everyday life with tools, insights and practices that are realistic and sustainable, so this is not just a beautiful week that fades, but a genuine turning point
You leave not only with memories of a luxury retreat, but with a nervous system that has tasted safety, a clearer sense of who you are, and a map for how to keep moving towards the life you actually want.
We don't believe there is anything quite like Lumeah currently out there. We can't wait for you to join us.