Run your first retreat without putting your own money on the line

Create Your First Retreat

Most teachers who want to run a retreat never start, because the first move everyone describes is the frightening one: pay a large venue deposit and hope enough people book to cover it.

Create Your First Retreat turns that order around. You fill it first, then commit to the venue, and pay its deposit out of your guests' bookings rather than your savings. A small group, six weeks, taught live, with you setting up your own retreat as we go.

Six to eight places, by application. Applications close on Monday 20 October.

Thanks! Keep an eye on your inbox for updates.

What usually stops you

You can teach. That was never in doubt. A retreat is a different animal, and it tends to stall on the practical worries rather than the teaching ones.

Which venue, and how do you commit to one before you know anyone will come? What do you charge, and will there be anything left once it's paid for? What if you book the place and the bookings don't follow?

So it stays on the someday list. And plenty of the teachers who do push through find, at the end, that they've funded a lovely week away for everyone but themselves. For the work involved, that is a thin return.

→ Apply for a place
A woman with long hair performing a downward dog yoga pose on a mat in a gym or studio.
An indoor yoga room with mats, towels, and blocks arranged on a wooden floor, with large windows and warm sunlight streaming in.

How it works:

We build your retreat together, live, over six weeks, in a group small enough that I know each one by name. It sorts out the three things that decide whether a retreat pays.

Filling it. You open a waitlist before you spend anything, so demand is proven before you commit. We write the emails and posts that fill it, in your own voice rather than a salesy one.

Pricing it. We cost it out properly, the hidden bits included, and set your price for a real profit at the end, not a break-even. Then we structure the deposits so your guests' money covers the venue and yours stays put.

Running it. The parts nobody warns you about: insurance, payment plans, the schedule, the logistics. You get the templates and checklists, so it doesn't take over your evenings.

Apply for a place
Two women sitting at a round table outside, working on laptops during the daytime, with a stone staircase and green shrubbery in the background.

The six weeks

One live session a week. You arrive with an idea and leave with a retreat that's designed, priced and open for bookings.

  1. Your retreat. What it's really about, who it's for, and what makes someone pick yours.

  2. Your waitlist. Setting it up and opening it, so names come in before you've spent a thing.

  3. Your venue. Vetting one, the checklist to use, and how to hold a date without risking a deposit.

  4. Your numbers. Real costs, real pricing, and your profit worked out before you sell a single place.

  5. Your offer. The page and the words that turn a waitlist into paid bookings.

  6. Running it. Deposits and instalments, paying the venue from the bookings, insurance and the practical side.

Every session is recorded, so a missed week is easy to catch up on.

A woman standing near a fireplace in a living room with a brick hearth, candles, and decorations; she is smiling and in a relaxed setting.
Two people are sitting at a table, writing in notebooks. One person is holding a pen and writing on a dotted notebook, while the other is resting their hand on an open book with handwritten notes. The scene is dimly lit, creating shadows on the table.

Who’s teaching it

We’re Nikita and Laura, and we’re the founders of Blue Spaces Wellbeing.

Before this I spent fifteen years in events and marketing, and built and sold a company of my own. Laura has taught yoga for fifteen years and trained as a therapist, a personal trainer and a breathwork facilitator. Between us we've run eight retreats, every one full, most with a waitlist behind it. The last winter one sold out in a fortnight, and an autumn retreat filled fast enough that we added a second date and filled that too.

None of it came together on the first try. The pricing and the filling took time, and a few costly mistakes, to get right. This is the shortcut through all that, so you don't lose what we did learning it.

A woman with long blonde hair and a black shirt practicing yoga on a mat with an elderly man with a white beard, in a rustic indoor setting with wooden walls and large windows showing greenery outside.
Person practicing yoga outside on a mat in a garden, with sunlight filtering through trees.

This is for you if:

  • You teach yoga, Pilates, breathwork or something close, and you're good at it.

  • You've meant to run a retreat for a while and never started, or you ran one that barely washed its face.

  • You want the next one to pay you properly, not just cover your own costs.

An indoor yoga studio with wooden floors, large windows, green mats with grey cushions, and natural decor including plants and a heater.
Back view of a person with short hair wearing a sports bra and shorts, standing indoors.

This isn’t for you if:

  • You want it done for you. This is hands-on, together, though it does lift a lot off your plate.

  • You've already run profitable retreats and have a system that works. You won't need this.

A woman with long blonde hair and a black shirt practicing yoga on a mat with an elderly man with a white beard, in a rustic indoor setting with wooden walls and large windows showing greenery outside.
Person practicing yoga outside on a mat in a garden, with sunlight filtering through trees.

The price, and how to join:

The first group pays a founding price of £600. Once this cohort has run and there are results to point to, it goes up to £850.

Six to eight places, by application rather than straight checkout. Tell me a little about the retreat you'd like to run, and if it's a fit I'll send the booking link. Applying costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

Applications close on Monday 20 October.

Apply for a place
A woman practicing yoga on a black mat in a room with wooden flooring. She is in Child's Pose with hands extended forward and forehead touching the mat. Around her are pillows, a blanket, a cup of tea, and other yoga accessories.
Two women are sitting at a round outdoor table, engaged in a conversation, with lush green hills and trees in the background, under a shaded area with leafy branches overhead.

A few questions you might have

  • Around an hour live each week, plus the work of building your own retreat as we go. You come out with a real one, not a folder of notes.

  • Yes. You need a small, warm list of people who'd come, not a big following, and getting that going is where we start.

  • Not at all. A rough idea is all you need on day one. The planning is the point of the six weeks.

  • No. The order is the same whatever you teach.

  • You'll know before you've committed any money. If the waitlist isn't there, you adjust or wait, rather than losing a deposit.

Dreaming about hosting a retreat next year?

If running a retreat next year is already on your mind, this is the group that gets you there. Applications close on Monday 20 October.

blue curved line
Apply for a place