About Fiona ... and You "Fiona is the creator of the 7 day Juice detox and deep colon cleanse at the retreat as well as the Reiki instructor. A dynamic mom of 2, she has incredible amounts of energy, amazing amounts of passion and determination and a *huge* heart. She has poured her soul into this project - and it shows!"  Z. Badger 2005

I am British and live with my family in South West France in the Pays Basque region, a unique region between the Mountains and the Sea near the border with Spain.

I started our retreat in 2006 guiding friends and family and later guests who wanted to detox in a home stay environment. I was keen to continue my own journey with detoxing and raw food that I started back in 2002 and share it with as many people as I could. I am passionate about health and nutrition, but I have no official training in either. I am trained as a Reiki Master and as an NLP Life Coach. So I recognize the consciousness of the choices I make, for my self development, eating and living well and staying healthy.

I come from an entrepreneurial past running my own business for many years in the UK. Selling miniature cameras into industry and before that I worked in large and small companies in sales and management positions.

Now I am really enjoying sharing my experiences and the knowledge I have gained from my own experiences, as well as the 100’s of detoxers that have stayed with me at Retreat Biarritz over the last few years. Adding to this the detoxers who have repeatedly used my Home Detox Box, my 7 day DIY program. I am constantly learning as I am an avid reader and experimenter, with what ever resonates with me. I feel really happy to share this information and see the results shining through my clients and myself.

I practice cleansing twice a year and keep to a pretty much 80% raw diet.

I listen to what my body needs and wants and incorporate Raw food into as many meals as I can. I eat and LOVE Raw food and now my other favorite foods have just dropped off the menu plan. I choose seasonally, fresh, locally grown organic produce and I grow what I can.

Why I do What I do:

I love to see someone who arrives feeling and looking depleted, with eczema, depression, acne, stiff joints or being over weight, and see them a few days later feeling restored, full of life and have some great new ideas about how to keep healthy and make some big changes in their life. Their eyes will change and their skin has a glow, this is when I see the real inner beauty has been released.

I mostly enjoy the reaction when I introduce a 100% raw meal to someone and they love the taste and sensation of being satisfied by the consistency, flavors and textures of raw food and how it makes them feel. Then comes their desire to know what it is, and then how they can go on to make it for their friends and family.

My Family Life:

I live with a normal family who enjoy their food ( they are not raw or vegan or even vegetarian sometimes) I am the only TRUE Raw Food Lover in the house at the moment, yet we regularly have 100 % raw meals that satisfy the needs of hungry boys and men. My sons like to help in the kitchen making green juices, Smoothies, raw chocolates, raw Pasta and the sushi rolls.

We have balance in the house, as we recognize that all banned food becomes a real treat and an addiction later. So we educate our children about the benefits of healthy choices and what builds bigger muscles and lets them run faster and then let them choose. So long as I can still create a path with healthy alternatives.

My Passion; Detoxing, fasting and choosing to cleanse the body are best done regularly, in the Spring and Autumn when we change our diet. It works best just after the full moon. However cleansing and eating raw food do not need to be seen as a strict or a religious activity, It is more beneficial to see it as a fun and a valuable way to keep you running on full steam all year.

My aim is to make cleansing as accepted as eating a healthy diet, taking regular exercise and taking full responsibility for your health. 

My Journey began when I experienced my first detox and Colon Cleanse in Thailand. This was when I was traveling around the world for a year in 2003. After the end of a relationship and selling my business “Vision Source” where I sold Miniature video cameras into industry. I decided I could do what ever I wanted to do and where ever I wanted to do it. So I went to find my new self around the globe.

I was already practicing Reiki and life coaching and I was searching for more energy and better health. My travels took me to places where I met fantastic people, and learned a whole range of new skills that I use today. I finished my Reiki Masters in South Africa and took to learning about detoxing, fasting and colon cleansing. I discovered the wonderful benefits for my self as I opened up to a new feelings, of lightness, more energy, better spiritual connectedness and I lost weight easily.

I have settled here in France and although I do not travel as much any more, I invite all nationalities into the Retreat to share their stories, culture and love of life.

Our Clients

Our Clients tend to be very busy with their lives and careers, and need a break to take stock of their lives and take care of their own health. Our clientele are multi national which brings a unique flavour to our retreat.

Our typical client is a successful affluent executive in the late thirties to forties. Who will return and often become a regular visitor to our retreat, keeping in touch with us and the group met at the retreat. Partners and friends often accompany our guests but mostly our clients travel alone.

The majority of our clients come at relatively short notice as they just have to get away. And more often than not our clients are at a cross roads in life.

Why our clients need a detox retreat

-Some of the main reasons for coming include:

-Needing time to reflect

-Taking Stock of Life

-Break up of a relationship

-Need to make some changes in life

-Recovering from Illness or an Operation

-Need to return for a regular chill-out

-Detox or Confronting Addiction

-Friend Recommended and just had to come and try…

-Want to learn new skill and techniques in a small class

-Enjoy a Holiday with lasting benefits

-Traveling alone but like to meet friends on arrival

Testimonials

By Suzanne MacCarron, Dublin, Ireland

This is a place where you are forced to rest and I was a little scared before I came as I knew I would find that false floor I’d been keeping up for so long. With the help of Fiona, Reiki, massages and reading perfectly timed articles (that Fiona handed to me using her intuition as to what was going on for me), I discovered I could remove that false floor once and for all.

I went home with so much more than clean insides. As I experienced the week, I opened up to the ability to listen to my body and what it is telling me it really needs. If I sit quietly and stop the chatter I can hear it and its not that scary now. I was taught to totally and utterly accept myself and what that really means, feels like and how to experience it.

I came to realize that clothes, alcohol, the internet and TV, were the distractions I use to save me from the feelings I don’t want to listen to or acknowledge. I gained a new sense of self worth and belief in myself and my ability to cope with my busy and sometimes chaotic life. Fiona set me tasks to do by myself to help me work out what I really want from my future. I did these in as much detail as I could. I thought big and got a fantastic feeling of freedom with this new vision clear in my mind.

The fast and colon cleanse enabled me to clear out all the rubbish and emotional debris, and I learned how to rebuild from my foundations up with healthy living foods and positive imagery that will allow me to remain open to change.

I was not hungry at all and the therapies, including the walks in the mountains, were all perfectly timed. I have never been so cared for and had to do absolutely nothing. This was the real holiday that I have never allowed myself to have before.

I slept more that I have ever slept before. I felt part of the family here and also had the privacy to cocoon myself in my apartment when ever I wanted to. I shall miss this place, but I know I can always come back when I am ready to grow and change some more.

I lost the weight I wanted to lose, I feel lighter and much brighter, and I made some huge decisions whilst I detoxed. I gained so much knowledge that I am excited to go home and clear out the old to bring in the new.

By Helen Jonker, Holland.

I went Raw over night over 6 years ago, and I have not looked back. I healed myself from a serious sun-allergy, large thyroid, diabetes 2, headaches, back ache and a few other ailments too. Even after being a vegan for 15 years, which initially helped me to lose a lot of weight, I noticed a big difference in my health improvement turning to Raw food. Raw food has helped me be free of any menopause symptoms which is remarkable and a blessing.

I am always looking for new ways to improve my diet, my energy levels and overall health. I have experienced juice fasts with Jason Vale in Turkey and experienced three weeks at the Hippocrates centre in Florida..

I made a decision to do a deep colon cleanse and give my body the opportunity to get rid of all the toxins that were at a deeper level. I am always surprised that it will take literally years to really clean your self up. I was even more amazed at the amount of old waste that I recognized leaving my body. Long lengths of rubber like substance, all in twists and turns in the shape of my intestines. It was like a carbon copy of my insides. I noticed on several days I was deeply emotional and felt a great feeling of letting go.

The substance that I eliminated kept coming out for several days even after I returned home…and on the Wednesday after the weeks colon cleanse retreat I had a normal bowel movement. How much o this stuff can there be in your body?

I certainly felt lighter, more energetic, healthier and content that I had done something wonderful for myself.

I believe I will do another colon cleanse in the autumn and see how much I can remove next time. Cleaning yourself up is certainly not to be thought of as a quick process it takes years and the more you can do for yourself the better.

So why not come and experience as much as you can from our passion and knowledge and benefit from a week of learning combined with physical and emotional detoxing.

We offer you the space and some quality time in nature in the beautiful French countryside. The Pays Basque region of South West France is ideal to unwind, to clean your colon and detox from your busy live. We offer you a wealth of knowledge that we have attained over years of detoxing ourselves and helping many clients who came to relax and detox with us.

We will share with you what we know and have seen work. That is to listen to your own body and care about what you feed your temple. The route to great health and happiness is a simple one with pure food and detox drinks made from raw fruit and vegetables.