Brixton Yoga & Sparrows Campsite Yoga Retreat Essex UK

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If you’re looking for a yoga retreat in the UK, Brixton Yoga’s retreats at Sparrows Campsite, just outside of Braintree, Essex, should be on your radar. These off the grid, glamping retreats are relaxing, bring nature and yoga together. The retreats take place the first weekend of the month between June – October, starting on a Friday night and finishing on either Sunday night or Monday morning. Brixton Yoga offered free virtual yoga classes throughout the whole of lockdown and it was so nice to actually be able to hang out with lovely people in a quiet and safe outdoor space. Gurpreet and his team do a great job of looking after everyone.

Yoga Retreats in London/Essex

Brixton Yoga at Sparrows Campsite

🗺Sparrows Campsite, Froyz hall, PennyPot Corner, Halstead CO9 1RS

🚞Nearest train station: Braintree – 60 minutes from London Liverpool Street

🏕Accommodation: Glamping Tipis or own tents (£100 for private 2 person Tipi, £150 for 4 person Tipi – First come, first served)

💰Early bird price: £225 (Friday to Sunday) | £275 (Friday to Monday) – meals included

Friday Night

Arrival to the retreat starts from around 5pm. This is great as it means that those working a typical Monday to Friday job, may not necessarily need to take any time off from work! Depending on whether you are staying in a tipi or your own tent, it gives you time to either ‘unpack’ or set up tents.

The site is set up into 4 main spaces:

the bell tent tipis in the middle of a wild flower meadow
the main central area with 4 proper flushing toilets, 4 showers, a kitchen area, seating areas and a hammock tree
a woodland area with a bonfire and wooden platform for yoga etc
a camping field for tents

It’s nice to have proper toilets but other than that, there’s no electricity or electric hook ups. It’s best to bring a head torch for light or power banks if you need to charge anything. I am the EE phone network and I still had full signal, so phones do work. The tap water is drinkable, so take a reusable bottle to fill up. I also took my travel mug for hot drinks just so I could carry it around(cups, plates, bowls and cutlery for meals are provided).

Evening Meal

As mentioned above, meals are included in the retreat price. The meals mostly are homemade Punjabi dishes that are suitable for vegetarians. Other dietary requirements are also taken into consideration too as requested. On arrival we were welcomed with Chai tea and samosas, followed by a dinner of chick pea curry, salad, rice and more samosas! For dessert we had rice pudding (I LOVE rice pudding!).

The first night is very relaxed, getting to know other people on the retreat and relaxing. I was by myself, but I always found someone to talk to! There was a wide range of people from younger people to older. I was the most ‘local’ (literally 10 minutes down the road!), the furthest were from Devon but a large majority were London based.

A nice surprised was when we were offered hot water bottles! Not going to lie, it was freezing in my tent and I slept with most of my clothes on! So a hot water bottle was very welcomed!

Saturday

Four yoga classes are included in the cost of the retreat, 2 Saturday and 2 on Sunday. For those staying until Monday, there’s a 5th on Monday morning. The first class starts at 8am, so tea, coffee and snacks are offered before the class, followed up with porridge with and nut and spice crumble afterwards.

The yoga classes are great and you are very much in control. Easier and harder options are suggested and you just do what you can/want to. I’m not going to lie, despite how many different styles of yoga I’ve tried (goat, cat, aerial, rooftop…!), I suck! I have zero balance, I’m not very bendy and I’m not very good at breathing! But I enjoy trying and giving it my best shot and that’s what counts!

You’re then free to do what you want! From hanging out in the tents, exploring the site, talking to other people or relaxing in a hammock. I took my Kindle, others took puzzle books or games. There’s no pressure to mix with others if you don’t want to (without sounding rude!).

Hammock Tree at Sparrows Campsite yoga retreat UK

Nature Walk

I signed up for a 2 part nature walk with Steve Woodley, a local ‘forester, arborist and green woodworker’ (additional £10). His knowledge and passion for woodland is incredible and his enthusiasm was passed on to everyone on the walk. Part one looked at woodland trees. We learnt about native and non native trees, how they grow within their environment and ways to tell if the trees were ‘happy’.

After a late lunch, was the afternoon yoga class, which was similar to the morning class. This was followed by a contemporary dance performance.

Dinner was dal, rice and some other dishes. It was a couple of people’s birthdays, so we were treated to birthday cake too!

Saturday night was lovely and a highlight. Thankfully the rain stopped and Steve made an amazing bonfire in the wood and a couple that had joined the retreat, had brought along some of their home-brew cider for everyone (REALLY good cider…). We all sat around the fire listening to Charlotte Mooney, a myth and folklore storyteller. All the stories were based around corvids (birds such as crows and ravens) and it was fascinating. This was followed up with a performance by Maya and Alice, 2 professional musicians who sung, played the acoustic guitar and the clarinet.

I slept so good Saturday night…I think the cider helped!

Sunday

After a late night, we were given a lay-in on Sunday morning! The first yoga class was delayed until 9am. I really enjoyed this class, it was more gentle yoga and meditation based, which I’m a little better at!

Brunch was Shakhsuka with pitta bread, cooked on a giant skillet over the fire. (Shakhsuka is a dish consisting of eggs and a tomato sauce packed with spices and peppers etc).

I found part 2 of the nature walk really interesting. As a local, it’s always interesting to find out more about the surrounding area. Sparrows Campsite is actually on the grounds of what was ‘Gosfield Place’, an old manor home. To a ‘normal’ person, the surrounding countryside just looks like a forest and fields. However, once Steve started to point out various trees that were ‘out of place’, it was then obvious that is was once more.

The trees had once upon a time created a manicured garden and driveway, rather than just a natural forest. We checked out Sparrows Pond and a ruined bridged, hidden in the forest, that was once the entrance way up to the house. It is also said to be haunted after a horse and carriage once crashed into the lake.

I ended up skipping the 4th yoga class. As someone that hasn’t done yoga for over a year, I was starting to feel the burn after 3 back to back classes! Some people had already started to pack up and leave by this point, so I decided to head home too as I was back to work on Monday!

Those staying until Monday had a dinner of jacket potatoes and then another yoga class and a veggie fry up in the morning.

Final Words

I really enjoyed my weekend break away. It was so nice to meet everyone and have connections with people again! There were around 30 people altogether, so it’s kept quite small. We also had a giant WhatsApp group where we could speak to everyone before the retreat, get updates from Gurpreet during it and then share photos, videos, book recommendations with everyone afterwards! It was interesting to hear how much the London visitors absolutely LOVED the area. It just made me realise that as a Braintree and Essex native, we’re lucky to have what we have, right on our doorstep.

Tree swing at Sparrows Campsite yoga retreat Essex

I thought the yoga retreat was very reasonably priced and the food was lovely throughout. The yoga classes also lasted around 90 minutes each, which is longer than most of the other classes I’ve done that are more like 60 minutes.

For a glamping yoga retreat in the UK, and other London based yoga classes, make sure to check out Brixton Yoga for more information.

Sparrows Campsite is also available to hire for various events, such as weddings, as well as offering wild camping and glamping.