Over five days and five nights, our Moth Magic retreat in South West France offers women space to explore writing and embodiment at midlife as a powerful turning point. Enjoy writing workshops with JLM Morton, yoga with Netty Chapman, ritual and ceramics with Nathalie Edwards, wild swimming and walks in extraordinary countryside (yes there are dinosaur footprints in the hills!) Plus a bonus myth busting session on functional menopause medication with Sandra Ishkanes.
Messing around at the Mill in 2024
Guided through our retreat by the moth, a shapeshifting creature of metamorphosis, we’ll embrace midlife transition and celebrate wisdom, maturity and growth, sustaining us as we move into the next stage of our lives.
Overview
Each day brings a mix of focused morning writing workshops with award-winning writer JLM Morton, yoga with Netty Chapman meeting the body where it is, and wild swimming for those who want the cold-water jolt.
Together, we’ll create writing and movement that honours the body’s insight, gives voice to untold stories, and celebrates our resilience.
A ceramic and ritual workshop with artist and Mill owner Nathalie Edwards during the retreat will add a hands-on, elemental counterpoint: clay, heat, form, and the satisfaction of making something real.
We will also be running a Q&A on functional medicines and the tools to navigate midlife with menopause specialist Sandra Ishkanes. Understand more, fear less and feel at home in your body again.
There will be opportunities to explore the local area - usually in the afternoons and evening - including at least one group walk and guidance on getting transportation to the market. A landscape of limestone plateaus, gorges and rivers, the region offers superb hiking and opportunities to see fossils, including dinosaur footprints, up close on the land.
Set within the rustic grounds of The Mill, the retreat is designed to help you pay attention - to your body, your stories, your thresholds - and to be nourished by your own creativity and that of the gathered women.
Programme
The week follows a simple, intentional arc: arriving and settling; working with water and release; tending heat and myth; walking the hills in community; and gathering what you want to carry forward. Evenings will offer low-key rituals - readings, candlelight, shared reflection, or silence - that mark the shift into something slower and more restful.
With free time to be at ease, swim, walk and enjoy the French country way of living, this is a truly creative and relaxing week in rural France. You’ll leave with something tangible - new writing and a ceramic piece to cherish - and, more importantly, a clearer sense of direction, continuity, and what’s emerging next.
Accommodation
The Mill's restoration provides a variety of rooms from French rustic charm to quirky industrial comfort. There are shared and single occupancy options. Plenty of communal areas, including the peaceful cobalt blue library, the laid-back salon and quiet areas along the river bank.
Food
All breakfasts, lunches and dinners are provided.
Dietary requirements can be accommodated - please let us know your needs on booking.
For comprehensive information about The Mill, please see this link. Visit The Mill’s website here.
Who is this retreat for?
This retreat is designed specifically for women transitioning into and through midlife (likely in their forties, fifties or sixties). The emphasis of the week is on exploring this life stage primarily through writing, with the somatic practices of swimming, walking and yoga designed to be complimentary - but you certainly don’t need to be an experienced writer, yogi, hiker or swimmer! There will be no expectations.
Who is hosting?
The retreat space is led by Juliette (JLM) Morton, bringing together her practices as an award winning writer and celebrant. Our host, artist and Mill founder Nathalie Edwards, welcomes us to her table with delicious home cooked meals, guidance on the local area and a ceramics workshops drawing on her expertise as a sculptor.
Netty Chapman is a Qualified Yoga Alliance Teacher in Hatha Yoga and will be leading our morning practices with an emphasis on movement that supports our midlife metamorphosis. With a dance background in ballet and disco, Netty likes to mix up yoga styles and will offer workshops at a level suited to our group.
Sandra Ishkanes, offering an exclusive Q&A to our retreat, is a Molecular Biologist, Social Anthropologist, and Functional Medicine Menopause Specialist.
See the video below for a look at The Mill and surroundings.
Practicalities
Dates: Arrival Wednesday 24th June - Departure Monday 29th June 2026. Arrival on the first day is by 4pm, departure on the last day is by midday.
Cost: starting at £1163.00 for 5 nights including meals, writing workshops, yoga clases, swimming.
Please note that flexible payment options, such as using Klarna to pay in three instalments, are available at checkout.
There is also a deposit option if you would like to secure your space for £225. Scroll down to the bottom of the page for this and we will be in touch to discuss your preferred accommodation option. The full balance will be payable 30 days before the start of the retreat (27th May).
Venue: The Mill / Le Moulin, ZA Vergonhac, 7 Route De Linas,12100, Saint-Georges-de-Luzençon, Aveyron, FRANCE
Transport: Airport transfers can be arranged to / from Bezier and Montpellier at an additional cost (flights from Bristol and London). The town of Saint-Georges-de-Luzençon is also served by trains that run between Beziers & Millau. Direct bus from the village to centre of Montpellier. Collection from Millau bus / train stain free of charge. There is an overnight train from Paris to Rodez. There is also an overnight Flixbus from Paris to Millau. Driving time from Calais is around 10 – 12hrs depending on traffic/ time of day/ route etc. See this link for comprehensive information.
About your lead tutor: JLM Morton
JLM Morton is a writer, celebrant and community arts producer from Gloucestershire in the west of England. Her poetry has featured on BBC6 Music and appeared in Poetry Review, Poetry London, Rialto, Magma, Mslexia, The London Magazine, Poetry Birmingham, The Sunday Telegraph and elsewhere. Her prose writing has won the Laurie Lee Prize, been longlisted for the Nan Shepherd prize and extracts from her nonfiction Tenderfoot have been published in Caught by the River, Oxford Review of Books and Elsewhere: A Journal of Place. Juliette is the winner of the Geoffrey Dearmer and Poetry Archive Worldview Prizes and she is twice a Pushcart Prize nominee. Her debut poetry collection Red Handed, was highly commended by the Forward Prizes and a Poetry Society Book of the Year (Broken Sleep Books, 2024). Her second poetry collection is forthcoming in 2026 and her debut nonfiction in 2027. Find her online: www.jlmmorton.com
Booking
Canal view apartment with own kitchenette, living area, wc & shower room. The apartment has two bedrooms and can be booked as a whole for one person (single occupancy) or for 2 people sharing. Prices are given for both options.
Ground Floor with WC located next to kitchen - shared shower room 1st Floor
Mezzanine Nook is shared adjacent - with a separate wc & separate shower room shared with Millers Nook
Millers Nook shared adjacent - with a separate wc & separate shower room shared with Mezzanine Nook