The Ultimate Winter Retreat Day
This is the ultimate retreat day experience, and it is built around one feeling: the moment your shoulders finally drop.
If the year has worn you thin, this is an invitation to stop for a day and let yourself be nourished and nurtured.
You'll move gently, then lie still while sound settles over you and a year of held tension begins to loosen its grip. You'll warm right through in the sauna and the steam room, drift between the hot tub and water that steams into the cold November air, and come back in glowing. You'll make a Christmas centrepiece for your own table, then sit over a long tapas lunch by the pool with no reason at all to check the time.
Bring a friend and you'll find the kind of slow, unhurried hours you keep meaning to make for each other. Come on your own, as most of our day retreat guests do, and you'll be folded straight into the warmth of the group.
You'll leave with Christmas feeling far more manageable than it did that morning.
Join the Waitlist
Be the first to hear when booking opens for our winter retreat day at Thames Lido.
This Retreat Day Is For You If...
- You are already running on empty, and the Christmas rush hasn't even started yet.
- You want to feel the tension actually go, not just be told to relax.
- You want to bring a friend and properly reconnect, or come alone and make new ones.
- You're looking for a Christmas gift with more thought in it, for someone you love or for yourself.
Coming solo? Most of our day retreat guests do. You'll find a warm, easy-going group.
Retreat Highlights
Yoga, Sound Bath & Journalling
Gentle, accessible yoga with Alex Bannard, then a sound bath to let a year of held tension go, and 40 minutes of journalling with Katie. No experience needed for any of it.
Make a Christmas Centrepiece
An hour and a half with Sue Reeves building a mini Christmas table centrepiece. Everything is provided, and yours goes home with you.
Warm Up: Pool, Sauna & Steam
Two hours to swim and relax in the open-air heated pool, then warm up properly in the hot tub, sauna and steam room while the November air stays cold.
A Long Tapas Lunch
The tapas lunch our Thames Lido guests always talk about, served by the pool with a full hour to sit over it and actually talk to each other.
Timings for the Day
Morning Swim
Saturday 21st November
Swim first, then yoga and centrepiece making in the afternoon
Pick the option that suits you when you book. Swimming runs in small groups of four, so your two-hour slot is confirmed nearer the day, and the other hour is spent with Katie on the journalling exercise. Non-swim places finish at 3pm.
The team for the day
You're in trusted hands.
Katie Hodge
Founder of Zenaa
Zenaa is led by founder Katie Hodge, who hosts every retreat. A yoga teacher and retreat curator, Katie has created over 40 sold-out retreats across the UK and Europe, calm, nourishing spaces where women can slow down, reconnect and feel truly looked after.
On this day Katie leads the journalling, 40 quiet minutes in a small group to take stock of the year and decide what you want to carry into the next one.
Alex Bannard
Yoga Teacher & Sound Practitioner
Alex is a yoga teacher, sound practitioner and menopause specialist who creates warm, welcoming spaces where people can slow down, reconnect and feel more at home in themselves.
Her approach is gentle, inclusive and neurodiversity-affirming, informed by trauma-aware practice and a belief that wellbeing doesn't have to look a certain way. Through yoga, mindfulness and sound bath practice, Alex offers spaces to move, breathe, rest and simply be… with a healthy dose of humour and absolutely no pressure to touch your toes!
Sue Reeves
Creative Workshop Host
Sue leads the creative heart of the day, an hour and a half set aside for building your own mini Christmas table centrepiece.
You'll work with real spruce, foraged cones and a table of festive decorations to choose from, with a glass jar and candle set into the middle. Sue talks you through every step, so it is genuinely relaxing rather than something to get right, and you carry yours home at the end of the day.
Choose Your Experience
The Full Day
Saturday 21st November 2026
The whole day. Gentle yoga and a sound bath, a Christmas table centrepiece to take home, your 40 minutes of journalling, the tapas lunch, and two hours to swim and relax in the open-air pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room. 9:30 until 5pm.
14 places
The Day, Without the Swim
Saturday 21st November 2026
For those who would rather stay dry. Gentle yoga and a sound bath in the morning, a Christmas table centrepiece to take home, the tapas lunch from 1pm to 2pm, then journalling with Katie from 2:15pm. Finishes at 3pm.
Only 2 places
The gift of a day off
Falling on 21st November, this lands just before the Christmas rush, which is usually exactly when the person you're buying for most needs it. No wrapping, nothing to dust, just one day where somebody looks after them.
Tell us it's a gift
Email us and let us know you're buying for someone else. We'll hold a place and take it from there.
We send you a gift voucher
A digital gift voucher with their name on it, ready to send whenever you like, so you have something to give.
They choose their slot
We'll be in touch with them directly to sort their morning or afternoon swim and anything they need to know.
Your Questions Answered
The full day (£239) runs 9:30 to 5pm and includes an arrival drink, gentle yoga and a sound bath with Alex, a Christmas table centrepiece to make with Sue and take home, 40 minutes of journalling with Katie, a tapas lunch by the pool, and two hours to swim and relax in the open-air heated pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room. Two non-swim places are available at £199. They include everything except the swim: yoga and the sound bath, the Christmas centrepiece, the tapas lunch from 1pm to 2pm and journalling with Katie from 2:15pm, finishing at 3pm.
A spa day gives you facilities and leaves you to it. This is a hosted day with a structure: two practitioners and Katie guide you through gentle yoga, a sound bath, Christmas centrepiece making and journalling, with a tapas lunch and two hours in the pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room built around it. There are only sixteen places, so it stays small and unhurried rather than feeling like a busy spa. If you are looking for a winter spa break near London without an overnight stay, this is a hosted version of one.
That is exactly what it is built for. Thames Lido is in Reading, 30 minutes from London Paddington by train, so you get a full winter wellness break without an overnight stay or a long drive. The pool is heated and open air, so you swim outdoors in November, and the sauna and steam room are there to warm up in afterwards. The day runs 9:30 to 5pm on Saturday 21st November 2026 and includes yoga, a sound bath, a Christmas centrepiece to make and take home, journalling and a tapas lunch.
Yes. You choose morning or afternoon when you book. Swimming runs in small groups of four so the pool and spa never feel crowded, so within your half of the day you have a two-hour slot: 10am to 12pm or 11am to 1pm in the morning, 2pm to 4pm or 3pm to 5pm in the afternoon. Your exact slot is confirmed nearer the day, and the other hour is spent with Katie on the journalling exercise. There are more morning places than afternoon ones, so it is worth booking early if you have a strong preference.
Yes. The Thames Lido pool is heated year round, and there is a hot tub, sauna and steam room alongside it. Swimming outdoors in cold air and warm water in November is genuinely one of the best parts of the day.
Neither. The yoga is gentle and taught with modifications throughout, and many guests are complete beginners. The sound bath asks nothing of you at all beyond lying down and letting go. The centrepiece making is designed to be enjoyable rather than skilful, with everything provided and Sue guiding you through it. As Alex puts it, there is absolutely no pressure to touch your toes.
The Thames Lido is at Napier Road, Reading RG1 8FR, a beautifully restored Edwardian outdoor swimming pool dating from 1902. It is 30 minutes from London Paddington by train, and Reading station is a 10-minute walk away. There is a private car park on site with a charge.
Comfortable clothing for yoga, swimwear and a towel, and something warm for moving between the pool and the building. The Lido provides lockers, changing rooms and showers, and yoga mats are provided. A water bottle is useful.
Most of our day retreat guests do. With only 16 places the group stays small, and the day is built to be warm and easy from the moment you arrive. It is a brilliant low-commitment introduction to retreats if you have never been on one.
Yes, and it makes a lovely one. Falling on 21st November, it lands just before the Christmas rush, which is usually exactly when the person you're buying for most needs a day to do yoga and relax. Join the waitlist and we'll be in touch as soon as booking opens so you can arrange it.