Shambhala Health and Healing Retreat Review
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Coursing Batch, Glastonbury, BA6 8BH, Somerset, United Kingdom |
| Value |
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Service |
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Location |
| 10 / 30 | 10 / 30 | 25 / 30 |
| "What I did on my hols (last week) at a mind & body healing retreat in Glastoberry!
Tuesday I navigated crap trains to Glastonbury. The biggest arm of my journey was Brum to Bristol via the Virgin Voyager, which was cancelled, then reinstated, then delayed a bit, then when I got on it they apologised for the cancellation/delay. Then they apologised for many other things quote 'the air conditioning isn't working, the coffee machine isnt working, the fridge isn't working and the steward isn't working'. Then we stopped inexplicably in a field of cows somewhere outside of Cheltenham. Points failure, and itd take 15 minutes to get someone out to manually move the points.
I arrived in Bristol 1 min and 52 seconds after my next connection had left.
Other trains reasonably okay, got to Shambhala in Glastonbury, as 'Isis' who runs the place was on her way out for an hour. This was about 3pm. Was shown where my room was, unpacked, explored the house sat in the guest lounge, got bored at about 4.15pm went up to my room, came back down at 4.30pm Isis was back said she'd been waiting for me since 4pm, and that she had to go back out at 4.40pm.
I didn't take to this woman at all. We quickly discussed my options on the 360 quid detox package. I'd be having Vortex Healing, Colonic Hydrotherapy and a detox massage (as opposed to the aromatherapy one also on offer).
I then buggared off into town as Isis had recommended an Italian restaurant that was good if you were a woman eating alone. I was kind of annoyed that a supposed 'healing' centre offering a detox package only provided breakfast, considering the only lunch/evening option was to eat out in town. There were no facilities for self catering within the centre further than making yourself cups of tea, and the literature I acquired actually said 'evening meals on request'.
Italian was nice though.
I was dissappointed with my room too. Literature stated there was a crystal in every bedroom. Mine was the only one without. Not a big deal, but it mightve been to someone. Basically mine was the only single room, therefore it was the smallest. I could've had a double room for 10 quid a night more, and I wish I had, as they were all gorgeous and huge and well thought out. One had a balcony overlooking the fountain, some had roof windows so you could see the stars. I think my room had been an afterthought...
In the evening there was noone around, other than Isis in the guest lounge watching some crap soap on the hallmark channel and making it obvious she didn't want to be disturbed. I found out she doesn't even live in the house, she lives in the one behind. What also worried me was that there didn't seem to be any other guests around. After Isis left I did some sums with regards to the package I was on and worked out that it seemed to be more expensive than paying for lodgings and treatments individually, also included in the package was use of the sauna, which hadn't been set up for a while, and the jacuzzi which apparently had been out of action for quite a while although it was still being mentioned as being part of the package on the website and in the brochure. There was noone around to ask about stuff and Isis was definetly someone who evaded questioning, even when she was actually here.
There was definetly no atmosphere of warth or love as the website described. I felt rather glum and alone and went to bed early.
Wednesday I woke up having slept quite well, and decided to use the massize bath in the main bathroom. There was an ornate box of dead sea salt on the shelf and as 'dead sea salt baths' were part of my package I added shedloads of the stuff. I was also determined to eat as much at breakfast as possible although I had been told the night before to limit breakfast to just fruit and one slice of toast because I was having my colonic at midday. I ended up eating shedloads of boiled fruit with some yoghurt, and I spread butter and jam on my one slice of toast.
At breakfast I also discovered there was one other guest staying, a lady from the Isle of Wight who obviously thought a lot of the place as this was her 3rd visit. I didn't see much of her and I think she was here for the peace and quiet factor.
Then as I had time to kill before the feared colonic I decided to visit the Glastonbury's Chalice Well & Gardens.
Now this place was absolutely gorgeous, even the most non-hippy person couldn't fail to appreciate that. Gorgeous gardens, archways of colourful plants, designated areas for collecting water to drink, and for quiet reflection. If you ever needed somewhere to go focus a racing mind, de-stress, and come out happier, it was this place. It was absolutely idyllic with lots of hidden corners to sit in. Its actually a spring from an unknown underground source, rather than a well. I filled up my water bottle from a drinking area. The taste is kind of what you expect water from a well to taste like, earthy but not unpleasantly so. I can't comment on any healing properties but it tasted nice. I took some home.
My colonic was at another therapy centre in Glasto that obviously Shambhala have some kind of arrangement with. I got a lift there and met my therapist, rather well looking and well spoken, 60something retired nurse. We had a long chat before, unlike Isis she answered questions in great detail and put me at ease explaining the prcedure and the sterilisation process for all the equipment she'd be using.
I won't go into great detail here as for some people this is TMI, but the actual therapy I found quite painful. This was because apparently I had a lot of trapped gas inside my colon which was kind of stuck and the muscles were spasming like they would when you have a really iffy stomach, but theres nothing you can do as whatever is stuck is coming out anyway, but it doesn't feel like it is as you're not rushing to a bog and er, 'pushing' it through by the conventional biological method.
I'll say no more here unless asked, okay.
I did feel lighter and slightly clear headed after the procedure, but I did get a headache on one side of my head, which later on Isis told me was 'toxins' coming out, yeah okay.
I think I would have the procedure again if it was part of a proper detox and I wasn't eating new toxins as fast as old ones are being flushed out. I don't think one treatment by itself is that effective especially since I was back at the Italian restaurant that night with the hugest place of pasta with a meat & cheese sauce you've ever seen, plus a glass of red wine then a tia maria coffee. Haha detox my arse (boom boom).
After arse flushing I returned to Shambala as I had Vortex Healing that afternoon. Vortex is apparently a bit like reiki, but I've never had reiki so I can't really comment.
I also discovered two more guests had arrived. A male nurse from Wigan called Rod who was about 40 and a guy called Joel about my age, a graphic designer from London. Rod seemed keen to chat to people and asked what treatments I was having. Its weird how easy it was to talk about colonics to a total stranger in that place.
Vortex healing was spooky, but actually the best treatment I had. I lay fully clothed on a hydrotherm couch (like a body length hot water bottle, nice), closed my eyes and listened to some new age music which a friendly woman waved her hands around a few inches above me. Occasionally she stood at my head and put her hands on my shoulders or the top of my head very lightly, or was at the other end of the couch with her hands on my ankles. She seemed to be self generating some kind of trance like state and every so often started breathing very fast very noisily. I noticed that when she'd have her hands on me I felt a kind of energy, a tingling, and during the times when there was no physical contact, about three times I felt a lifting/rising/floating sensation which disappeared as soon as I became consciously aware of it.
I think the treatment lasted 45mins-1 hr. I didn't want it to stop as I felt well peaceful but not tired. When she finished and told me to sit upright in my own time I kind of felt alert and clear with no anxieties or nagging voices. I just felt, well, okay. The therapist asked about past traumas and what really freaked me is that she felt I came from a dark past. She said for a second she had an image in her head of a past existence and saw me blindfolded with my hands tied in a very dark place. That statement frwaked me somewhat but kind of made sense, I'm really not sure why.
But as I felt blissfully clear I decided to go back into town and sit somewhere in the Chalice Well Gardens again as I was in love with the place. Then I proceeded on to find Italian dinner. Then I came back to what I thought would be an empty Shambhala again but found Rod and Joel in the lounge and joined them. Then we had one of those chats that seemed to make an evening last about half an hour. The colonic came up again, as did my recurring alien dreams which Joel suggested I discuss with someone. Bars of Green & Blacks organic chocolate got shared (the stuff seems to be sold as commonly in Glastonbury as Cadburys is sold everywhere else). We talked about how good or crap our rooms are, and how dodgy Isis actually sounded, and was she so lost in her own ways she couldn't relate to anyone else or was she just a con artist. I voiced my concens about the cost of my package and we all did the maths and went hmm? Eventually we all retired to our rooms. Joel was excited as his room apparently had a ley line running through it and people who slept there had strange dreams. Indeed.
Thursday I assumed I was going home, woke up early, used up all the remaining dead sea salt in my bath then went to find the Tor. Okay yeah Shambhala is on the foot of it but I couldn't work out where there was a footpath nearby as all the roads in that direction are private access leading to big houses like Shambhala. I found public access near the Chalice Well and started walking up hill. It was very muggy but overcast. I kept stopping to catch my breath. The last time I climbed Glastonbury Tor I was about 3 stone lighter I think.
Finally I was actually on the Tor looking up at the little church. I kept stopping at intervals and taking photos looking down, to record how far up I was, and looking up, to record how far up I had to go. It was blustery as I got nearer. Finally I was up there. There's a thing opposite the church which shows the direction of all the nearest towns. I sat on it and looked around. It was 7:30am and I was utterly alone, the top of the Tor had appeared to be in mist when I was looking at it from the bottom, but now I was up here it was clearer and I could see the three counties, and, I could see the mist moving in the mind.
This was kind of freaky, it was so blustery, I could see clouds moving and it dawned on me how steep and high the Tor is, and I thoght about how if I slipped on the steps going back down I could break my neck if I was very unlucky.
I sat down for a while, another oppotunity from quite contemplation, but with moving mists, winds blowing, greyness and the possibility of rain, as opposed to greenery and underground springs.
It really did impact on me seeing those mists/clouds move so fast so visibly, and how utterly alone I was up there. Perhaps there was some kind of weird energy, as I felt so strongly moved up there.
I also felt sad I was going home, and was tempted to ask if the room was free and stay another day.
Then I came back down carefully and got back for breakfast with Joel and Rod, and ate tons of fruit and yoghurt, two boiled eggs and loads of toast with butter and jam until I was stuffed. I was determined to get my moneys worth in food, although it meant I was hardly doing a detox break...
I also spoke to someone approachable who works with Isis, about staying another day. She said I was down for Thursday night already. Turns out the package IS three nights not 3 days and two nights. I was dead chuffed and it meant the package cost made more sense, although there was still a difference unaccounted for, and I'm quite positive that I read that it was only for two nights in some of the info I had. In fact there seemed to be a lot of discrepancies and contradictions in the various information produced by the centre. There was absolutely no point in arguing with Isis though, even if you could find her for long enough.
There was worse to come too. Rod, having been impressed with Vortex Healing, booked another treatment out of curiousity, DNA reprogramming. Apparently when our ancestors lived in Atlantis (excuse me?), we originally had twelve strands of DNA as opposed to two (oh yeah wasn't there something to do with that in the Fifth Element), I meant what the fuck?!?!?
Basically Isis did a brief meditation with him in the treatment room for ten minutes while he was lying down, then played a spoken word tape and left him to listen to it.
Listening to that tape cost him £48. He was not happy, understandably.
As my 'Five Harmonies' detox massage wasn't until three, I killed some time in town. Finaly, the best kind of therapy...the retail kind. As I was leaving Isis said she'd give me a lift. In the car I told her I was up on the Tor at 7.30 and how nice it was. Rather than being happy for me she then proceeded to piss on my bonfire by telling me that 'the best time to go up there is at sunrise and sunset' which is 'what the locals do'. Yeah well I'm not fannying around going up or down a steep hill in the dark. There's no streetlights on the Tor y'know, plus I wanted to be up there alone, to see how I felt.
Then as she dropped me off she reminded me that if it was books I was looking for, her shop has them all.
I didn't actually buy that much. A hippo made of Rhodonite for Dan, a book on creative visualisation, some rose quarts and carnelian beads, and more green & blacks chocolate. Then I went to check out the Abbey.
And what can I say, its an Abbey. Went looking for King Arthurs tomb but whilst it was marked on the guide book, it isn't marked on the actual grounds. Plus King Arthur was probably a taff buried in taffland anyway.
Went into the Abbots Kitchen where they have a little display on what Abbots used to cook. They have a guy comes in on the hour dressed as a monk to do a little show/lecture on the subject. I didn't have time to wait for the next one and I felt a little sad as well at that point. I came to Glastonbury for the first time in 1997, with my ex. It was the first full day we spent togeher as a couple. I remember the guy dressed as the monk coming in and getting us and the rest of the visitors chanting in latin. It was fun but I feel sad looking back now, but thats enough of that.
Got back, felt sticky as it was another muggy shower. Bathed again as it felt wrong to go for a massage feeling that icky.
Went for massage, it didn't seem any different to an aromatherapy one. Nearly fell asleep. Afterwoulds, therapist said I did, and snored for a few seconds. Oops. Felt far too relaxed to do anything for a while after, whereas after Vortex Healing I felt really sharp and alert. Kept oils on for an hour for full benefit, then bathed for third time that day.
On rereading the treatment descriptions later on realised theyd actually givenme the aromatherapy massage rather than the one I chose. Duh! No point in saying anything though. In fact with all the issues I had with Shambhala, venting spleen with Rod, who'd been ripped off as well made us both feel better.
Spent a third evening in the Italian place again, but this time with Rod (we couldn't find Joel) so it was nice to have company. Walked back, encountering Joel on his way out for a curry. When Joel got back, me and Rod were sitting in the lounge watching Big Brother, which seemed naughty in such a place.
Its weird how when you go to these kind of places you meet people for a short time but feel like you've known them much longer. I knew those guys about 36 hours in total. After BB we ended up outside, exploring where the out of use Jacuzzi and Sauna actually were. Then for some reason we ended up by the crystal star built into the patio where apparently lightening once struck at Shambhala (whatever). A white cat appeared out of nowhere (it was Isis's) very friendly, and stood at the centre of the star. We decided bwtween the three of us cats knew everything and would inherit the earth one day.
Friday morning I did the Tor walk again and got up there same time as the previous day. Sent a couple of picture texts to people to prove I was there that early. Came back for breakfast with Rod and Joel who were also leaving. Had been told the previous day that as long as I vacated my room by 11am, I didnt have to vacate the premises, so I had plans to go back to the Chalice Well one more time, and also maybe go back to the Abbey and see the Abbot's kitchen thing. However during a post breakfast chat around the kitchen table with the others, Isis abruptly burst in to say she needed to clear things away as she had no housekeeper today and could we strip our bedclothes and if we were 'feeling up to it' bring them downstairs. The brochure said we were invited to clear away breakfast things as part of our 'adopting the retreat lifestyle' (but most people didn't and since they were hardly fully booked up with guests the housekeeper didn't seem to object) but this seemed a bit odd to me. I might not object to washing dishes and stripping my bedlinen on a working visit at the buddhist retreat in Todmorden but Shambhala basically was a B & B, that people were paying £36-£46 a night for, and okay moving your bed linen may not take that much effort but Isis's attitude really got my back up, and we were nowhere near 'checking out' time.
She then wanted our payments off us when we were ready. I decided then to scrap my plans, that I'd be back in Glastonbury sometime soon and that I wanted to depart and get out of this place. Joel & Rod were going too so there was probably not much point in staying around. The three of us said our goodbyes, I packed my stuff and went to enquire whether my stay had not already been taken off Dan's credit card. Isis told me it had not then went and did the transaction then gave me a receipt (if she didn't I would've demanded one), later I discovered it had already been paid for and Dan had to ring up and shout, but they'd already realised the mistake and didn't argue it.
I got a taxi to Castle Cary relishing the prospect of getting on another Virgin Train. Any de-stressing I did over the past three days was quickly erased after spending my journey between Bristol and Birmingham New Street in a space of about 2x3 ft square in the corridoor opposite the toilet on the (suprise suprise) Virgin Voyager. This train was FOUR carriages short, they had declassified First Class, and I'm suprised they weren't breaking the law this train was so crammed. And it was going from Penzance to Dundee for fucks sake! I would complain but I just couldn't be arsed.
Later I was home and in the arms of the Dan. I gave Him his hippo and we ate three courses at Tropical Spice.
All in all it was a good stay in Glastonbury and the treatments I had were good but there were so many dodgy/suspect things I couldn't go back to that particular place. At most she was really pretentious and had dissappeared so far up her own arse she could no longer connect with normal folk properly, at worst she was misleading and ripping off guests intentionally and I got off lightly I think.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/kalifleur/142537.html" About the city; "Lovely" | | | "I recently visited Shambhala in Glastonbury and certainly would not recommend it. When I arrived, tired and hot after a long journey, I excitedly rang the bell but there was no answer. I rang again and again to no avail. After about 15 minutes a car drew up and a woman asked if she could help me, I replied that I was booked in and she said "Oh I didn't know that anyone was booked in today". Not a good start as you can imagine as I had never been on a retreat before.
Anyway Isis had a girl in the car with her and I asked if she worked there "No I'm just helping Isis" she replied. It turned out that that was exactly what Isis got people to do under the guise that this was a spiritual place and everyone should muck in. Well I wouldn't mind that if I wasn't paying the normal going rate for a B&B.
I was very disappointed with the place as it was very run down, stunk of dogs and was next to a busy main road. There was nothing to do at the place unless you were having a treatment which cost £65 a time. It would have been nice to sit in the garden but the noise from the traffic was anything but peaceful.
Isis obviously didn't want you pestering her as she was keen to get me out down to the Chalice Well and handed me a leaflet. She wasn't even subtle about it.
All in all I was really disappointed and got the feeling that Isis was more interested in trying to get you to go on one of her Egyptian travels, yeah that's right , she also runs a sideline called "Shambhala Sacred Journeys" and goes to Egypt about 3 times a year.
Like the previous review she also asked me to strip the bed as she had no housekeeper on the Friday...in fact she not only asked me to srtip it but to remake it too!!! Am I a MUG or what??? All in all this 2 day "retreat" cost me £290 and was bitterly disappointing." | | | "Over rated,run down misleading,smelt of bad dog odour, ripped off big time with prices of rooms, goods treatment.I could go on all day about Isis and her attitude that was rude, and big time money grabber." About the city; "I love Glastonbury and all the attractions but with someone like ISIS LIVINGSTONE gives Glastonbury a VERY BAD NAME." | |
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