Episode 4 The Retreat

The wellbeing industry is booming.

More people seek alternative ways

to cope with rising obesity, stress and depression.

My stress levels are getting heavier and heavier.

I don't understand why I'm so stressed

and I can't switch off.

Heading for a retreat on an island in the South China Sea,

Nick Knowles joins a group

who are all seeking the antidote for the strains of modern life.

This place down in Thailand

says it can actually change your head around,

change your inner space around.

How will the gang cope with a completely new way of living?

I think that some of the participants

didn't really know what they were getting into.

It's almost cultish.

I think it's going to be a challenge.

Will 28 days of detox and alternative therapies

be enough to change their lives?

I don't think anyone will be surprised to find out

I'm the least likely person to be taking on this challenge.

This is one kick-ass detox!

Welcome to Thailand.

SHOUTS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

As the gang have more days on solid food,

their energy levels are increasing more and more.

And with Milton losing weight faster and faster,

their walks get faster and faster, too.

One of the interesting things about being on this trip is that...

..it's kind of reawoken my interest in keeping fit,

which had disappeared for the last three or four years.

So on top of the yoga and canoeing

and all the various other activities and the mountain treks we're doing,

I decided to get into the gym once a day

and see if I can do an hour on the cross trainer

and a few weights, and get myself back in shape.

It's working at an amazing speed, so it's kind of cool,

although very hard work in this heat.

Hello.

It's me again...

..obviously, cos I've got this camera.

So it is only going to be me.

But let's just have a quick rundown.

I cried last night, woke up crying a couple of times last night,

and woke up this morning with, you know, tears in my eyes

and cried a bit more,

which is quite weird for me, because I'm not really an emotional person.

When Cathy came into the first session,

there was a lot of stuff

that she hadn't even started to get close to within herself,

so we started to work through that

and I think it was...

That was probably the bombshell of the session, the first one.

I've seen psychologists and different kinds of people back home,

and...I haven't got to...

..that emotional state before with any of them.

That reiki really...

I don't know if it was the reiki or the teacher that made it happen,

but it was brilliant

and I'm starting to feel a bit lighter

and, um...just like I can now focus and deal with what needs to happen.

Next in line for some reiki with Shakti

is an even tougher nut to crack.

How are you today?

-I'm all right.

-Feet towards the door.

-Yes, please.

-Bad energy out the door.

-Bad energy out the door.

-See, I remembered.

First of all, I want you to move over a little bit.

You can sit up for a little bit if you want.

Tell me how you're doing.

Good.

I've just had a very, very strange experience.

You know, I'm not a spiritual person.

I didn't think I was.

Just had my third session of reiki.

And... And...

I don't know how to explain it. It was...

Something happened.

And, like, I've been repressing a few things,

mainly from my daughter's illness and stuff,

but I just had this moment where I...I just...

I just felt a light...

..a repressed light,

literally come up through me.

And it was... It's the bizarrest...

HE LAUGHS

The lady that done...done the reiki,

I started... She said, "Just let it...

"How do you feel?" I said, "I feel like laughing."

And she said, "Well, laugh."

So I laughed, she started laughing,

I had tears running down my face

and we were both laughing for, like, ten minutes solid.

It was such a bizarre thing.

I never thought something like that could happen.

Even Julian is having a hard time denying his experiences.

While the rest of the gang are getting more and more out of it

and their relationships are deepening in surprising ways.

I had this...almost horrible realisation

because I kind of...

..had found it funny

that you had, like, come over in your boat

and then you did the yoga

and then straight off to the gym - like, lunch, gym.

At one point, I was kind of giggling because I was like, "That's funny."

But then, I just had this...like, epiphany,

and kind of just felt like I had let...

I don't know, I'd let you down because I wasn't...

Well, yeah, maybe I wasn't strong enough to be, like,

"Look, I'm worried about you. Please just..."

Yeah, but, look, Luke,

it's very nice of you, but there are two things.

One, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink.

You can show me all the techniques in the world,

but if I don't take it on myself, that's my responsibility, not yours.

Over the last two years, my physical fitness

hasn't been in a good place.

-Sure, I get that.

-And that has made me mentally unhappy

and it's made me not so good at my job.

Now that I'm mentally in a good place,

I'm working on the physical fitness

and feeling more energised with both sides of things

and I think I'll be able to handle my job

and any difficulties that come my way a lot better.

With the extra tools that you're giving me in terms of...

..heart breathing, yogic breathing in the morning

and the sun salutations,

which I think I'll continue in all weathers back home.

It's another morning yoga session with Luke

and it turns out to be particularly profound for Nick.

Nick talked about kind of like an

out-of-body experience today and from a yogic point of view,

they talk about astral projection and kind of leaving your body

and going somewhere else.

I haven't mentioned it, because I haven't experienced it,

so then Nick's talking about that and him and Jules are just lying

down at the end of the class, casually talking about chakras and astral projection

as though they've been yogis for, like, lifetimes or whatever,

their whole life, and it's just madness, really.

An orangey, goldy colour.

Right.

And mine is more...

Not rolling out...rolling in, like, in the centre of it.

-Rolling into the centre?

-Yes.

This was this orange thing you saw?

Yeah.

-Do you think you just understand?

-I'm not going to say...

I'm not going to say I did, because I was, like...

I was probably just a bit dizzy from all that walking this morning.

Because it was weird. Do you remember when we had this over us?

-Yeah.

-Over our eyes? When I took this off,

I had a vivid, golden behind my eyes.

-Which you would think is just the light coming in.

-Yes.

Except it wasn't, because when it stopped,

the light was actually just how it would be.

I had exactly the same thing.

Yeah.

And is that what you had the other day?

Same colour,

but not the same thing.

When I had that the other day, it came up...

..up through.

Yeah.

Because... Because it's really weird. Honestly, because you know

the bit where he goes... Luke? No, it's... This is too freaky, because

I'm, like...possibly because I was slightly dizzy because I did that

flipping great long walk. Come over here. I did that long walk this morning.

So, OK. So, when I was doing that, I was, like, seeing, like, gold colours.

But you know when you go,

"Put your mind in your left foot or end of your left leg?"

-Yeah.

-And then, start to move up through there?

Well, in the past, I've been putting my mind there and, you know,

imagining, like, little electric things or anything going up my leg

to make this come down. Today, when I did it, I put my mind there and

it was, like, dark green, like it was shrouded.

My foot was suddenly shrouded like the top of a mountain,

in a dark, smoky sort of colour.

And there was a light gold came onto my toes and then went again.

I was trying to get it back into my toe and I was fighting it and

it wouldn't burst through the dark green.

And, eventually, when it didn't, I got so fed up with it, I actually...

suddenly found myself going outside and going down and looking

at the bottom of my feet.

And then I thought, "What the hell's going on?

"I'm looking at the bottom of my feet!" And freaked out.

And then couldn't relax after that.

And it went again. Suddenly, I was back inside,

thinking about trying to put my mind in my feet,

but there was a moment where I went, "Sod this, I'll go have a look,"

and I actually went round and looked at the bottom of my feet,

and could see the bottom of my feet.

I mean, from a yogic point of view, they talk about astral projection,

but it's funny, because you two were just talking about, like,

colours of chakras, just lying there, casually just, like,

"Oh, yeah, I saw gold," and I was just, like...

That's why I was trying to keep it quiet, because I felt such a pillock talking about it.

I was asking him what he saw, because there was a moment

when I was getting this, like, super gold,

but not gold like a gold gold, like a sunset gold.

Like an orangey gold, yeah.

That's just ridiculous.

Well, it is, isn't it? It's...

It's you on the turn, that's all it is.

-No, I'm just dizzy because I did a long walk this morning. That's what it is.

-Yeah, yeah(!)

That's what you've put it down to, but really, you're on the turn.

You've been seeing your chakra colours and your spirit took you around.

Listen to yogi Jules, here!

You are. You need to go and have reiki this afternoon.

It's festering.

-It's at the point where...

-My chakras are festering?

Yeah, it's... They need to come out.

Honestly. They're bubbling.

You're taking the mickey now, aren't you?

Well, yesterday, right, I felt, like, a blue air bubble

in my stomach

and then that pulled them all up and out.

I think you're fighting it. You just need to go with it.

The funny thing is I haven't mentioned anything about the chakras

once in any of my classes. I've tried to keep it therapeutic,

But you guys have raised it more than I have.

Jules is just radiant now.

He's just, like, got this beaming smile and he looks lighter.

I don't know how to explain that, but he looks lighter.

His energy is light and he's just... His posture's changed.

It's incredible.

Milton is up early, as per usual,

but this time, it's not the walking that motivates his excursion.

There he is.

-Now, this is...

-The proud owner of his very own juice.

The proud owner of my first juice

and, you know, I'm just going to look at it for a bit.

We're going to look at you looking at it. Oh, that's a good look.

Own it, Milts. Yeah, that's it.

It's been tough. I didn't think it would be that tough.

I mean, I've been all right, but then certain times, you get a little bit of a mood swing, you know?

So, I was just wondering what that was, speaking to other people,

they were just saying, "It's because you ain't eaten."

-It makes me weak at the knees.

-Yeah.

But now I'm going to taste it.

Let's zoom in there for that sip.

Oh, look at that!

Mm, mm, mm, mm, mm!

I feel better. More energy. You know what I mean?

And just get back on the plant-based diet.

I think that's going to be a good thing.

# Hallelujah!

# Hallelujah! #

That was a proper hallelujah moment.

# His milkshake brings all the guys to the yard and he's like

# It's better than yours... #

-Oh, yeah.

-Well done.

I could see why everyone was salivating the last few days.

-Cheers.

-Cheers!

Hello, hello, hello.

Oh, it smells delicious.

Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho!

-What one would you have first, chicken or vegetable?

-Both.

This is what... This taunts me every day.

In fact, I think I'll go for the vegetable one.

Maybe I should do veggie? One sniff, please?

-Mmmm!

-Oh, that smells so...

-In fact, I want the whole plate.

-It's heavenly.

-I know, I know.

This, I know this is a tough one here, Milts.

Right, let's go!

Temptation often calls right at the end of a fast

and Milton and Cathy just manage to hold off until the official end

at a restaurant the night after.

Good evening, everybody!

-ALL:

-Good evening!

How are we? Have we all had a great day? Milton?

-All good.

-How are you feeling for your first real meal?

Oh, I can't wait. I need some food!

With Milton back on solids at last,

he's finally caught up with the rest of the gang

and they all enjoy a vegan feast together for the first time.

Who else had brown rice?

OK, let's do this. I'm going to use hands.

-My thing is dessert.

-Really?

I like everything.

The energy levels have just shot up.

After, basically, eating nothing...

You know, it feels good.

You'd better take tomorrow off.

I might do that.

He doesn't understand English, does he?

Ah, nice day. Went for a walk this morning.

It seemed that it was really quick this morning.

-So, we're going to ramp it up and maybe do another half-hour on top tomorrow.

-Yeah.

Cos I think we're just up to speed

-and this morning just felt like nothing.

-Yeah.

So, I think Cathy's up for it

and we're going to do a little bit more time tomorrow.

Nice.

Right, this will be a session we've never done, isn't it?

# Good morning Good morning

# We've danced the whole night through. #

We've come for reiki...

-..intuition.

-Reiki training.

-Reiki training.

-Two days.

But our trainer's not here.

-But that's OK.

-All right, let's go.

No, we'll have a glass of water, because we've just walked.

Look, we've been sweating.

We need to rehydrate, so our brains are fully functioning for today.

-Did you bring a pen?

-No.

The main purpose of an attunement is to raise the student's energy levels,

reconnecting them to their inner selves.

During the attunement, the most important thing is to just relax.

You don't have to do anything really, just this feeling of

relaxing and surrendering is the most important.

Everything else, I do.

At some point, I'm going to guide you to bring your hands up here.

And then, at some point, your hands will be like this,

you'll feel me stroking your hands and doing this.

You can stay sitting with your eyes closed for as long as you need.

Some people cry.

Some people feel sick. Some people get really light-headed.

Others get really heavy.

Some have their epiphanies.

OK. So, close your eyes.

And as you inhale, you're inhaling light into your lungs.

And just sense or imagine that light

seeps into the centre of the chest,

your heart chakra.

Each reiki teacher uses a set of unique hand movements

and signs written in the air.

These are to help guide the student to an increased sensitivity

or what they call a higher vibration.

The result is supposed to be that the student becomes open

to the power of their spirit to heal the physical and mental self.

A sort of power of positive thinking.

What do you feel?

Really...

-High?

-High. Yeah.

Yeah, I also had indigo right at the beginning,

which was really beautiful

and then a major hot flush.

Yeah, just sit there for a bit. Do you need anything?

Everyone has had a distinctly different experience

with the attunement and it seems to have had a negative effect on Billy.

It was like those gloopy lamps.

-Yeah, yeah. The ones like in the '90s.

-Yeah.

Anne, would you like to share?

Erm, I think it was just very calming and relaxing,

and just the heat, just feel heat...

Mm-hm.

..which just felt nice.

And I thought I felt vibration in this side,

but I wasn't sure.

So, it was... Yeah, that was good.

Where's it hurting? Is it just your entire belly?

And across the back. I don't know if that's because I'm sitting...

I don't know if it's the banana.

-Want to stay here?

-No, I don't think so.

Billy thinks it's the banana he ate for breakfast making him feel sick.

What did you have yesterday? It could be that massaman, you know.

I think eating spicy food after your fast,

I don't think it's worked for you.

I think you need to have a bit of a lie down.

Have some hammock time.

Physiological reactions are apparently common

with reiki attunements,

but stomach upsets are also common in Thailand.

Whatever it is, Billy takes to his bed for five days.

Cathy, however, is beginning to find something in the reiki.

I never know if I'm making it up or not, but I felt like I got hit by

two, two balls that came through me, though.

The second one was stronger, but I don't know.

I mean, you never know if you're making that up or if you're not.

I know that I can feel it,

you know, but it's just I can't feel it now.

It's different with, I think, again, seatings and cameras and...

Yeah, that's the difficulty I have, I think.

-Conscious of it.

-Mmm.

Conscious of, you know, the filming,

and it stops, it seems, it feels like it stops me...

It stops you from experiencing it?

Yeah, yeah.

Julian feels that, unlike his private session,

when he saw light coming up through him,

he was too conscious of the cameras to really let himself go

and he thinks it didn't work.

It's another perfect day

and some of the gang are off to visit a monk

to have a long conversation about nothing.

Thinking and being nothing.

If I watch my thoughts go by, I'll end up sitting on an island here

and not looking after anybody.

I mean, it's my job and responsibility to look after people.

It's a nice idea to go through life smiling, but it's very difficult

sometimes when there is something burning inside you.

All I got from that was somebody being really selfish about

themselves, following their own way.

Because he owns a bloody great hotel, he's able to step aside,

leave his family for two years and go and follow his own selfish interests.

I don't see how he gets to lecture me on what part of my life I'm missing out on.

Perceiving Nick's scepticism,

Olan has invited them all back in the next few days

for a rare opportunity to get into the world of a Buddhist monk,

in a three-and-a-half-hour walking meditation.

After many days of new practices, the weekend presents more yoga.

This time, with a difference.

Where's my lift?

Shakti takes the gang out onto the beach...

Come on, then.

..for a lesson in harnessing their inner energies.

Qigong really changed my life,

because it just opened up my thinking

and it gave me so much more energy.

-It's really beautiful.

-I know.

We had some jumped on the boat.

What we're doing is we're connecting to the elements of nature

and we're connecting to the elements within us, our own nature.

When that happens, you push out what you're not.

So, all the illusions, all the rubbish, all the toxins,

all the emotions that get in the way - the confusion -

is what we release.

And then we connect to the pure core of what we really are.

This is how it improves our health.

OK, so we're going to do five element qigong,

which is connecting to the five elements of fire, water, air,

matter and consciousness.

It will bring you out of your head and into your body,

and it's really about feeling and just going with the motions.

So, copy what I'm doing.

I'll just say things like this, you know, and if you need adjustments,

I'll come round and give you adjustments.

But just flow with me, all right?

And then, from that point onwards, we can enjoy the sunset,

enjoy the elements that are around us.

It was in the warm up and, yeah, where we're tapping

and we're just waking up the meridians of the body and

getting the energy flowing.

Smile.

And Nick walked off, which was, I found, actually,

I found that quite rude.

I'm not here to prove myself or to get people to jump through hoops

or to do anything that they don't particularly want to do,

but at least give it a go and then speak from your experience,

and he didn't even do that, so...

With some of the gang still holding back,

there is only 12 days left to go before the end of the retreat

and the cracks are beginning to show.

Because I've decided to go home.

Early.

My journey here has come to a natural end.

My gut instinct is telling me to go home.

I'm never going to be a full-on vegan, I don't think,

but I'm definitely going to change mine and my family's diet at home.

I can still go back and lose weight.

It doesn't mean to say, the second I leave here, I'm going to stop.

-Jules is going home?

-Yeah, he's had enough.

I've had a chat with him to see if, you know,

we can push it for another week, but...

He's got young kids, hasn't he?

And I've spent my life away from home, so...

Goodbye, everybody.

Bye, Jules.

-Thank you all very much.

-Safe journey.

Love you all.

After Julian has come so far, he completely surprises the gang,

as the pull of home is just too strong for him to resist.

Going to miss you, Jules.

-Take care.

-Keep in touch.

-Yeah, and I'll see you soon.

Ciao, ciao.

With a Julian-shaped hole in the gang,

an island-hopping tour is arranged to re-bond the group

and raise morale.

Little do they know that in less than 72 hours,

another of them will be gone.

For now, though, the beauty of the islands in this part

of the South China Sea is a majestic distraction.

Next time on The Retreat...

I have to say, I was sceptical about how much effect it would have when I

came here and it's kind of almost like a magic bullet.

It's beautiful to feel that trust and that surrender.

So, it's always better to soak your nuts, I explained to you...

-Sorry!

-You can't say that!

Oh, my God!

Very, very simple, for everyone.

When I did do that, it felt like I was floating.

Before attempting any of the detox techniques or practices demonstrated

in The Retreat, you are advised to seek out your doctor's advice.