4-Day Healing Retreat - Trauma Therapy, Plant Medicine, Meditation & Somatic Work in Coastal Ireland
4-Day Healing Retreat - Trauma Therapy, Plant Medicine, Meditation & Somatic Work in Coastal Ireland
Cahore, New Road, County Wexford, Ireland
Up to 6 in group
May 15 - 18, 2026
Retreat Highlights
- Daily one-to-one sessions with a trauma-informed psychotherapist - work that actually moves something
- Somatic movement walk along the coastal path each morning - cold Atlantic air, birdsong
- Optional sea swimming and barrel sauna on the coast - one of the most effective nervous system reset tools available
- Equine therapy session - many guests describe this as the most unexpected and powerful part of the four days
- Plant medicine ceremony - cacao and rapé - gently and intentionally held one evening
- Yoga nidra each night - the closest thing to effortless, complete restoration that exists
- All meals included - home-cooked or at a local restaurant where the food is exceptional
- Full private use of the retreat space and grounds throughout your stay
- One follow-up call with Ayla within 30 days of leaving
- Available year-round by private arrangement - dates built around you
- Guests have travelled from the UAE, the United States, the UK, and Ireland
- Ireland is 6 hours from Dubai and 7 to 8 hours from the US East Coast
About this Retreat
Your Guides
Ayla Shepherd is a trauma-informed psychotherapist, ceremonial guide, and author based in County Wexford, Ireland.
She spent a decade working in corporate consulting and executive development across Dubai and internationally - with clients including Emirates, Samsung, KPMG, Bvlgari, eBay, and PayPal - before turning fully to therapeutic and ceremonial work. She has been doing this work seriously for over ten years.
Her training spans Compassionate Inquiry (Dr Gabor Maté's method), somatic healing, hypnotherapy, NLP, plant medicine integration, cacao facilitation, and rapé facilitation. She works with people who are carrying more than they can hold - and who have often not had a space that was genuinely safe enough to put it down.
Ayla understands the world her clients come from. The performance pressure, the social exposure, the gap between how things look and how they feel. She has sat with enough people at the top to know that what looks like success from the outside is often something much more complicated on the inside.
She is the author of The Truth Trip - a book about her own journey through illness, plant medicine, and the search for what actually heals.
The Reset is not a programme she runs. It is a space she holds. That difference matters.
Ayla works with a small number of people at any one time, by choice. Guests have come from the UAE, the United States, the UK, and Ireland. Most arrive exhausted in ways they have not been able to name. Most leave with something they were not expecting - a quietness that stays.
Details of this retreat
This is a genuine reset for people who have been running on full for too long, and need more than a holiday. Who lie awake at night even when exhausted. Who take time off but cannot actually switch off. Who feel the weight of everything they are holding but have not found a space that is quiet enough, private enough, or deep enough to put it down. The Reset was made for that person.
It is four days of genuine depth work, held entirely privately in a quiet retreat space on the coast of County Wexford, Ireland - completely removed from the environment where the stress has been accumulating.
Each day follows a rhythm designed to restore. Morning meditation and a somatic movement walk along the coastal path. Optional sea swimming and sauna. One-to-one afternoon sessions with Ayla - psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, or nervous system recalibration work, depending on what each day calls for. One evening includes a plant medicine ceremony - cacao and rapé - gently and intentionally held. Each day closes with yoga nidra.
One afternoon includes an equine therapy session at a nearby facility. Most describe it as the most unexpected and powerful part of the four days.
All meals are included.
No prior retreat experience is needed. No particular background or belief system. Just a genuine readiness to rest, to be held, and to let something shift.
Guests have come from the UAE, the United States, the UK, and Ireland. Many arrive exhausted in ways they have not been able to name. Most leave with something they were not expecting - a quietness that stays.
If you are deeply tired of the noise and ready to come back to yourself - this was made for you.
It is four days of genuine depth work, held entirely privately in a quiet retreat space on the coast of County Wexford, Ireland - completely removed from the environment where the stress has been accumulating.
Each day follows a rhythm designed to restore. Morning meditation and a somatic movement walk along the coastal path. Optional sea swimming and sauna. One-to-one afternoon sessions with Ayla - psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, or nervous system recalibration work, depending on what each day calls for. One evening includes a plant medicine ceremony - cacao and rapé - gently and intentionally held. Each day closes with yoga nidra.
One afternoon includes an equine therapy session at a nearby facility. Most describe it as the most unexpected and powerful part of the four days.
All meals are included.
No prior retreat experience is needed. No particular background or belief system. Just a genuine readiness to rest, to be held, and to let something shift.
Guests have come from the UAE, the United States, the UK, and Ireland. Many arrive exhausted in ways they have not been able to name. Most leave with something they were not expecting - a quietness that stays.
If you are deeply tired of the noise and ready to come back to yourself - this was made for you.
Schedule
Morning guided meditation as the day comes in - gentle, grounding, unhurried
Somatic movement walk along the coastal path - birdsong, open air, no agenda
Optional sea swimming in cold Atlantic water - one of the most effective nervous system reset practices available
Optional barrel sauna on the coast
One-to-one session with Ayla - psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, or nervous system recalibration work depending on what the day calls for
Free time in the grounds - space to integrate, rest, journal, or simply be still
Home-cooked lunch or a quiet meal at a local restaurant
Equine therapy session at a nearby facility (one afternoon during the four days)
Plant medicine ceremony - cacao and rapé - one evening, gently and intentionally held
Evening meal - home-cooked or at a local restaurant where the food is exceptional and the setting is nothing like what you left behind
Yoga nidra to close each day - the closest thing to effortless, complete restoration that exists
Sleep in a private room that feels far from everything
Somatic movement walk along the coastal path - birdsong, open air, no agenda
Optional sea swimming in cold Atlantic water - one of the most effective nervous system reset practices available
Optional barrel sauna on the coast
One-to-one session with Ayla - psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, or nervous system recalibration work depending on what the day calls for
Free time in the grounds - space to integrate, rest, journal, or simply be still
Home-cooked lunch or a quiet meal at a local restaurant
Equine therapy session at a nearby facility (one afternoon during the four days)
Plant medicine ceremony - cacao and rapé - one evening, gently and intentionally held
Evening meal - home-cooked or at a local restaurant where the food is exceptional and the setting is nothing like what you left behind
Yoga nidra to close each day - the closest thing to effortless, complete restoration that exists
Sleep in a private room that feels far from everything
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change
Getting Here
Art of Awakening, Cahore, New Road, County Wexford, Ireland
Directions
The retreat is located in County Wexford, on the southeast coast of Ireland. Exact address and detailed directions are provided on confirmation of booking.
From Dublin Airport
Head south on the M11/N11 toward Wexford. The drive is approximately 1.5 to 2 hours and is straightforward and scenic. Car hire is available at Dublin Airport from all major providers.
Private transfer from Dublin Airport can be arranged on request - €150 each way / €260 return. Simply mention this when enquiring and it will be organised for you.
From Cork Airport
Head east on the N25 toward Wexford, then north toward Gorey and the coast. Journey time is approximately 2.5 hours.
By Train
Irish Rail operates regular services from Dublin Connolly to Gorey. Journey time is approximately 1 hour 20 minutes. Local taxi transfer from Gorey station to the retreat can be arranged on request.
By Bus
Bus Éireann operates coach services from Dublin city centre to Gorey and Wexford. Journey time is approximately 2 to 2.5 hours.
International Guests
Ireland is approximately 6 hours from Dubai, 7 to 8 hours from the US East Coast, and 1.5 hours from London. Dublin Airport has direct connections from the UAE, US, UK, and across Europe.
Detailed arrival instructions are sent with your booking confirmation.
From Dublin Airport
Head south on the M11/N11 toward Wexford. The drive is approximately 1.5 to 2 hours and is straightforward and scenic. Car hire is available at Dublin Airport from all major providers.
Private transfer from Dublin Airport can be arranged on request - €150 each way / €260 return. Simply mention this when enquiring and it will be organised for you.
From Cork Airport
Head east on the N25 toward Wexford, then north toward Gorey and the coast. Journey time is approximately 2.5 hours.
By Train
Irish Rail operates regular services from Dublin Connolly to Gorey. Journey time is approximately 1 hour 20 minutes. Local taxi transfer from Gorey station to the retreat can be arranged on request.
By Bus
Bus Éireann operates coach services from Dublin city centre to Gorey and Wexford. Journey time is approximately 2 to 2.5 hours.
International Guests
Ireland is approximately 6 hours from Dubai, 7 to 8 hours from the US East Coast, and 1.5 hours from London. Dublin Airport has direct connections from the UAE, US, UK, and across Europe.
Detailed arrival instructions are sent with your booking confirmation.
Accommodation
Guests stay in private bedrooms within the retreat house. Each room is simply and comfortably furnished - natural materials, good light, and the kind of quiet that is hard to find anywhere else. The house accommodates up to six guests, though most stays are solo or pairs, meaning the space feels genuinely spacious and unhurried. Bed linen and towels are provided. The house is warm, clean, and cared for. Nothing is clinical or institutional. It feels like a home - because it is one.
Program Price: Double Room
Program Price: Single Room
Venue & Amenities
A/C in Rooms
Free Wifi
Spa
Sauna
Pool
Towels
Free Parking
Kitchen
Tour Assistance
Hot Tub
Coffee/Tea
Cafe
Restaurant
Fitness Center
Yoga Studio
Housekeeping
Bicycles For Rent
A private residential property in County Wexford on Ireland's southeast coast. Surrounded by open farmland, minutes from the Atlantic. The house is yours entirely for the duration of your stay. Private bedrooms, a dedicated therapy room, and grounds to walk and decompress. The coastal path, cold Atlantic water, and exceptional local restaurants are all within easy reach.
Meals
Menu Types
Vegan
Vegetarian
Pescetarian
Ayurvedic
Includes Meat
Organic
Gluten Free
Dairy Free
Nut Free
Food at The Reset is simple, nourishing, and genuinely good. Meals are home-cooked in the retreat space using fresh, local ingredients - unhurried, quietly prepared, and served without fuss. One or tw
What's Included
- Entirely private - the retreat space belongs solely to you for the full four days.
- Daily one-to-one sessions with a trauma-informed psychotherapist - work that actually moves something
- Somatic movement walk along the coastal path each morning - cold Atlantic air, birdsong
- Optional sea swimming and barrel sauna on the coast - one of the most effective nervous system reset tools available
- Equine therapy session - many guests describe this as the most unexpected and powerful part of the four days
- Plant medicine ceremony - cacao and rapé - gently and intentionally held one evening
- Yoga nidra each night - the closest thing to effortless, complete restoration that exists
- All meals included - home-cooked in the retreat space or at a local restaurant where the food is exceptional
- Full private use of the retreat space and grounds throughout your stay
- One follow-up call with Ayla within 30 days of leaving
- Available year-round by private arrangement - no fixed schedule, dates built around you
- Guests have travelled from the UAE, the United States, the UK, and Ireland
- Ireland is 6 hours from Dubai and 7–8 hours from the US East Coast - far enough to be genuinely away
What's Not Included
- Flights and travel to Ireland
- Travel insurance
- Airport transfer (available to arrange on request at €150 each way / €280 return — ask when enquiring)
- Personal spending money
- Additional nights beyond the four-day programme (available on request at €180 per night including meals)
- Any additional therapeutic sessions beyond those included in the programme
- Personal toiletries and clothing
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