The Embodied Heart Retreat
United Kingdom | West Norfolk | July 1 - 6, 2026
This is an invitation to feel.
This retreat is about feeling
Not talking about your feelings. Not understanding them, categorising them, or “working through” them. But the direct, lived experience of being here - fully, in your body, with what is honest. This is what it means to actually be alive. Not managing life from a distance. Not moving through it on autopilot. But inhabiting it - with all of its depth, its freedom, its extraordinary texture. Without this, we are not living so much as repeating.
Most of us have spent a lifetime becoming very skilled at leaving ourselves. This work is an invitation to return.
Over six days, at West Lexham in Norfolk, we will practice this together. We will slow down. We will stay. Not to fix anything. Not to figure anything out. Just to meet yourself where you are - with honesty, with tenderness, without agenda.
This Retreat Is For You If...
You've done the work - therapy, self-development, healing modalities - and yet something still feels unmet.
You know how to talk about your feelings, but you're not sure you actually feel them.
You notice yourself managing life more than living it.
You're ready to stop performing and start being honest.
You're ready to stop circling and stay.
What You'll Experience
Six days of immersion in the Embodied Heart practice with Bela and her team.
Space to rest in the land, the sauna, the gardens.
One-on-one time with Bela for personalised guidance.
Pre and post-retreat support to help you arrive and integrate.
Access to the sauna, treatment space, and gardens - places to rest, regulate, and let the work land in your body.
Evening Integration to soften, connect, and let the day land. Playful moments of being together, without pressure, performance, or agenda.
Nourishing meals made from locally sourced ingredients.
A Tea Ceremony offered as a ritual of slowing down, returning to your body, and deepening into presence.
Daily group sessions where you'll witness and be witnessed. This is how the work lands - not through explanation, but through presence.
How This Practice Works
Gradually, lovingly, at your own pace, you build the capacity to be with what is actually happening - in your body, in your heart, in this moment. Not to analyse it. Not to fix it. But to feel.
When you feel, something begins to happen that no amount of understanding could produce. The part of you that has spent a lifetime managing, controlling, filtering - begins to soften. Because you've finally met it with honesty. With kindness. With Love.
Over time, your patterns and habits lose their grip. Not through effort, but through intimacy. You become less driven to control your experience and more available to it. More present. More honest. More yourself.
This is where real compassion, kindness, creativity and freedom are born - not as concepts, but as something you embody
the venue
West Lexham Retreat Centre, Norfolk, UK, is a place that helps you slow down.
Woodland, waterways, open fields. En-suite rooms that are simple and comfortable. Paths to wander. Water to sit beside.
Mornings begin with birdsong. Evenings invite stillness.
The land holds the retreat gently.
Details
Dates: Wednesday July 1 – Monday July 6, 2026
Arrival: 3:30pm on Wednesday
Departure: 10:00am on Monday
Group size: 22 people
Investment:
Early Bird Rate: £1,600 (first 8 participants)
Full Price: £1,800
This includes accommodation, all meals, sessions, and support materials.
A £300 deposit secures your place. Payment plans are available.
Returning participants may book directly by emailing belacrowder@gmail.com or andachisster@gmail.com
New participants will have a call with Bela before confirming their place.
Hi, I’m Bela
I offer what I've discovered through my own willingness to meet myself in difficult places. I can only guide you as far as I'm willing to go myself - and I'm devoted to my own practice.
Having worked with hundreds of individuals who, despite extensive traditional therapies and self-help methods, found whole new levels of relief and self-awareness in our work together. My clients often share that, for the first time, they’re meeting themselves with an honesty and vulnerability that transforms not only their relationship with themselves but also with the world around them.
What sets this work apart is its simplicity. We go straight into personal truth, beneath the layers of processing. This process allows us to shed unnecessary layers of identity, confronting our insecurities head-on and staying until we can genuinely embrace ourselves with kindness. This isn't intellectual. It's visceral.
I am here to support you in reconnecting with the wisdom of your own heart and embracing the full spectrum of your human experience, from its intimate emotional facets to its expansive spiritual essence.
What people are saying about The Embodied Heart
“The work is so profound because it meets you exactly where you are… It’s an in-road to your direct experience.”
Maja
“This work has allowed me to access real deep parts of myself, it’s allowed me to access more of my heart, more of my honesty, more of my vulnerability.”
Jordan
“Bela came in and helped me access the truth that I don’t know that I can’t be loved if I’m not {contributing to something}… And That’s something that i yearn for. I want to be loved here, just as I am.”
Ellee
“I am so grateful to Bela for teaching me and providing me with the space to grow my self awareness. The insight gained through the Embodied heart have given me what I needed, to be able to embark upon the next stage of my life. I am scared but I feel confident that I am enough to hold myself through this no matter what.”
- Claire Darnell, London
The Embodied Heart Retreat provides you with an immersive group experience that will support you to develop an intimate relationship with your human feeling heart.
You will learn how to feel rather than react to life.
The retreat is curated to support you to honour yourself, and cultivate internal safety to welcome your felt experience.
FAQ
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This retreat is an opportunity to immerse yourself deeply into the intimate space of your own heart. THe main intention of this retreat is to support you to be yourself, and you can expect a space that is held in love and safety so that this can occur. You can expect a space where all of you is welcome.
Structurally, what this looks like is supporting you to drop out of your heart and into your embodied, felt experience. This will be facilitated through group or partnered practices, Bela working with people 1-1 with group witnessing, and other supportive embodiment exercises. We will be assisted by other facilitators who will also offer certain practices that encourage a deepening into honesty and authenticity.
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You will receive more of a schedule when you arrive, however you can expect that:
Each day, there will be morning embodiment practices, daily Embodied Heart sessions, space for integration & rest, and gentle evening activities.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be fully catered for, and there will be opportunities for group or solo nature walks, sauna/pool sessions, and time for socialising/connecting with your fellow participants.
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Even though The Embodied Heart is incredibly effective online, there is always a distinct difference experiencing any kind of embodiment work in person, particularly when in a group environment.
The retreat is different in that we will be completely immersed together in our experience of The Embodied Heart work. Each day we will be in session, delving deep into the practice of feeling, both individually and together.
An immersion is a powerful way to dive deep into your practice without the day-to-day distractions, and to really allow yourself to sink into the work. Being held in a container is incredibly supportive for cultivating safety, which encourages more of us to reveal and unravel.
We will also be graced with the spaciousness of nature and luxurious facilities that will encourage our integration of the work, as well as morning and evening activities to invite a deeper experience of how to really incorporate the practices deeper into your daily life.
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Yes, you can still join. This retreat is available for anyone ready to commit to their own personal transformation, and journey the next step of their emotional evolution and embodiment of authenticity and truth.
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It is recommended that participants have some prior experience with embodiment and/or self-development work before attending the retreat. This does not mean you need to be “advanced,” but that you have already spent time in practices that involve turning toward your inner experience rather than avoiding it. This may include meditation, breathwork, somatic therapy, parts work, relational or body-based practices, or other forms of self-inquiry.
The retreat is not an introduction to personal work, but a space to deepen your capacity to stay present with yourself, your body, and your feeling experience. As part of the application process, you will have a call with Bela to explore whether this retreat is the right environment to support you at this time.
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The Embodied Heart retreat is an immersion that is made up of practices and experiences for the purpose of your personal evolution. This is not a training where you will leave with practices to teach other people. It is recommended that the practices we do together on the retreat are not used in your own therapeutic or teaching services. This is for your own personal experience of deepening into your own intimate feeling practice and embodiment.
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West Lexham Retreat Centre is a peaceful, land-based sanctuary set in the Norfolk countryside. Spread across woodland, waterways, and open fields, the centre offers a quiet and spacious environment that naturally supports slowing down, settling, and coming back into the body.
The accommodation is comfortable and thoughtfully designed, with en-suite rooms that provide both privacy and ease. Communal spaces are warm and welcoming, inviting shared meals, rest, and connection, while the surrounding land offers space to walk, reflect, and breathe.
There is a simplicity and steadiness to West Lexham that allows the nervous system to soften. It is a place that holds you gently, making it easier to arrive fully, feel what is here, and meet yourself with honesty and care.
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It is important to note that the space Bela offers is quite distinct from most therapeutic or self-development spaces/modalities. The Embodied Heart provides you with an immersive group experience that will support you to develop an intimate relationship with your human feeling heart. You will learn how to feel rather than react to life. The experience is curated to support you to honour yourself in ways you haven’t yet known how, and to open into vulnerability while cultivating the internal safety and capacity to truly welcome your honest felt experience.
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West Lexham Retreat Centre provides comfortable en-suite accommodation, with fresh bed linen and towels supplied. Organic toiletries, including hand soap, body wash, and shampoo, are provided in each room.
Nourishing meals are offered throughout the retreat, along with beautiful indoor and outdoor spaces for group sessions, rest, and reflection. Guests also have access to the surrounding land — woodland, waterways, and open fields — offering space to walk, breathe, and settle between sessions. -
By car
West Lexham Retreat Centre is easily accessible by car. The venue is just off the A47 near Castle Acre, with Swaffham as the nearest town.
The what3words location is: brass.static.liberated.By train
The nearest train stations are Downham Market and King’s Lynn, both approximately 30 minutes from the venue. Each station has direct connections to London King’s Cross. From the station, you can take a taxi to West Lexham.By taxi
Taxis should be booked in advance. Local options include:Mats Cabs: 01760 722230
Als Cabs: 01760 720002
Platinum Cars: 01760 725366 / 07760 761504
Bishops Travel: 01366 324307
Local transport
Swaffham Community Transport is available and must be booked a few days in advance. There is a small charge to cover expenses.
Tel: 01760 720906 -
Phone reception can be limited in The Pocket, but there is wifi provided for the Main House space which is also accessible from most buildings.
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Journal
Water bottle
Clothes that are comfortable and versatile, for lots of sitting and movement practice
Any personal items you need for six days away
A special item for the altar
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The retreat begins on the first day with arrival and check-in from 4:00pm, followed by an opening session in the early evening.
We will finish on the final day at 10:00am, after a closing session and breakfast. -
You will be sent a meditation to support your practice in the lead up to the retreat. This is not mandatory, but highly recommended, as it will offer you an insight into the practices that we will be exploring on the retreat, and prepare you to go deeper into your experience.
There will also be a group call one week before the retreat, to support the group connection. This call will be recorded, however it is recommended that you join so we can begin to cultivate intimacy within the group.
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A deposit of $500 is required to secure your place on the retreat, or you can pay in full upfront. From there you can commit to a payment plan which will be secured through Acuity.
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The Embodied Heart retreat is a non-refundable event. If you have committed but are no longer able to attend the event, you may transfer your payment towards another offering with Bela. This includes all Embodied Heart events (online and immersions), astrology readings, and mentorship.
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The Embodied Heart is the next step in your emotional evolution if you have tried various other modalities and feel like nothing ever really changes for you. That you experience the high of “figuring it out” or something new, but really you’re getting lost in an endless web of personal shadow work. It’s for you if you feel like you spend more time managing your reaction to the perceived threat of feeling rather than actually reaching the core.
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You may have noticed that this is something I am very discerning about: that there is a huge difference between emotion and feeling.
Emotion is a reaction to feeling shaped by your ego’s interaction with your felt experiences. These reactions are linked to your beliefs and identity construct.
Authentic feeling is the act of embracing the present moment within your body, as your visceral felt experience arrises. This is separate from any mental interpretations or assigned meanings.
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The easiest way to know is if you are in your head. What this means is you are trying to “figure out” who you are and using your known patterns, ideas, and experiences. When you are not truly feeling, you are moving through life habitually, following patterns and addictions rather than being yourself.
