Magic, Mystery and Healing Retreat

There are places in the world that don’t just host you — they receive you. I arrived for the Magic & Mystery Retreat hosted by Nova Cobban — Psychologist, Psychotherapist and founder of Confidante Global Private Members Club — without fully knowing what I was walking into. What unfolded was a journey not just of ceremony and connection, but of profound personal transformation.

Nova, with over 20 years of experience in therapeutic work and through her platforms — she guides others into remembering their inner authority. 

Nova’s work bridges science and soul, guiding high-level leaders and seekers through transformation using psychology, energetics and ritual. Under her guidance, this retreat became not just an escape — but a journey inward.

Disconnecting to Reconnect

I arrived at the Manor, with its natural spring, labyrinths carved into the earth and heart-led energy and for the first time in months, I felt no urge to ask for the WiFi password. Emails and deadlines —suddenly, none of it felt urgent. There was something deeply luxurious about that choice. Not in the material sense, but in the sense of sovereignty—choosing to be here, in full presence, without the constant tether of digital noise.

Each morning began softly. Firelight, quiet conversation, a sense of being gently guided back into rhythm. Healing, I realised, doesn’t always roar. Sometimes it whispers.

A Curated Journey — The Magic in the Details

Over the course of three days, the retreat revealed itself like a carefully woven ritual — not rushed, not forced, but gently unfolding in its own rhythm. On arrival, a beautifully considered selection of welcome gifts waited in my room — including a bespoke ‘Portal’ painting created especially for me and a hand-blended Bach remedy, both infused with intention. Even the itinerary felt less like a schedule and more like an invitation.

After our first dinner, we were each introduced to our personal archetype for the weekend, opening a powerful conversation around its light and shadow aspects — a theme that quietly threaded itself through everything that followed.

The days were held with spaciousness. We were guided through a deep sound bath with Nicky Palz, and breathwork and movement sessions led by Nikki Sekhon that released tension from both body and mind. Instead of an overpacked schedule, there was space — space to walk the grounds barefoot, to sit in silence under the trees, to share honest conversation over tea and cake, and to integrate rather than simply consume experience.

Meals were thoughtfully prepared — nourishing, flavourful and aligned with wellbeing, reminding us that healing is also found in how we feed ourselves. I’ve been on many retreats where the itinerary left little room to breathe, but here, the pauses were just as meaningful as the practices. It was in those gentle moments — feet on the earth, laughter at the table, quiet reflection with journal in hand — that the retreat found its true magic.

This wasn’t just a programme. It was a living experience designed for transformation through presence, connection and breath.

Ritual, Shadow & Soul Work

Across the weekend, Nova and her team guided us through breathwork, movement, energetic healing and ritual dinners aligned with themes of light and shadow. Each experience opened a new layer of awareness. One evening we explored illumination — the parts of us ready to be seen. The next, we honoured the shadow — the parts that needed tender witnessing rather than fixing.

My Reiki session with Simone of Angelic Holistics was unlike any I’ve experienced. Having just walked the earth labyrinth, my body was already attuned, and she immediately picked up on the energetic tension around my kidneys and the tightness in my chest — both areas deeply connected to emotional release.

Her presence was calm and assured, and the messages that came through resonated deeply, landing with that unmistakable clarity that truth carries. The session felt like a gentle unraveling — not dramatic, but precise, leaving me grounded, expanded and quietly altered in the best possible way.

It reminded me that some healers hold a rare gift — a frequency that speaks straight to the places within us that are ready to shift. And that sometimes, the treatment you receive arrives not by chance, but exactly when you’re meant to hear it.

Illness as Messenger — Listening to the Body’s Wisdom

On the first night, discomfort arrived unexpectedly. I realised I had developed a bladder and kidney infection — something I rarely experience. By late evening, the pain sharpened, and I feared I might need to leave before the retreat had truly begun.

Instead of resisting, I chose to listen.

I drank glass after glass of their spring water, waking every hour through the night to release and reset. In the stillness, Louise Hay’s teachings came to mind — that the kidneys energetically hold shame, disappointment and self-criticism, while the bladder represents anxiety, fear of letting go and suppressed frustration. Every word resonated.

Rather than seeing the illness as a disruption, I began to see it as an invitation. To soften. To practise what I believe — that wellness is not only physical, but emotional and energetic.

I spent the following day walking the labyrinths barefoot, taking moments of solitude beneath the trees, continuing to drink the sacred water. By morning, the pain had subsided. By evening, I felt clearer than I had in months — not just in body, but in spirit.

Illness, I realised, is not always the body failing — but the body speaking.

Walking the Labyrinth — A Pilgrimage Through Sacred Geometry

Tofte Manor holds two labyrinths: one paved in stone, mirroring the sacred geometry of Chartres Cathedral; the other an earthen spiral that descends gently below ground level. Unlike a maze designed to confuse, a labyrinth has only one path — a single winding journey to the centre, and then back outward. It is less about direction, more about devotion.

Walking barefoot on the water labyrinth, I felt myself slow down. Step by step, the mind softened, breath deepened. This simple act — walking with intention — became a meditation in motion.

The Alchemy of Water — Emoto, Copper Spirals & Coherent Healing

The water served throughout the day comes from a natural spring fed through copper pipes laid beneath the pattern of the labyrinth, allowing it to spiral through the earth following the same sacred geometry we walk above ground.

Inspired by the pioneering work of Dr. Masaru Emoto, who demonstrated how water crystals responded to prayer, sound and emotion, Tofte Manor had their own water photographed before and after passing through the labyrinth structure.

Before, the molecular patterns were scattered and undefined.

After, the water formed intricate, symmetrical crystalline structures — as though the labyrinth had imprinted coherence into the very essence of the water.

Drinking this water became part of our ritual. It didn’t just hydrate — it harmonised.

Integration — Healing as a Way of Being

On the final day, I stood before the statues of the Green Man and Lady of the Land. A card reading with Nova that morning affirmed what nature had already shown me: my wellbeing is deeply intertwined with the wild, unfiltered rhythms of the natural world.

I left the retreat not with a sense of ending, but of beginning. I returned home still walking barefoot when I could, still pausing between tasks to breathe. Healing, I realised, is not just what happens in sacred spaces — it’s how we choose to live after we leave them.

What The Magic & Mystery Retreat Taught Me

Healing isn’t something we seek. It is something we return to.

Through water. Through earth. Through silence. Through remembering we are nature too.

For those looking to journey deeper, find community or step away from performance and into presence, I cannot recommend Nova’s work enough.

Retreat Host & Guide: Nova Cobban

Confidante Global Private Members Club — confidanteglobal.com

Consulting & Coaching — novacobban.com

Heal Journals — healjournals.com

Simone of Angelic Holistics — angelicholistics.com 

Catering – simplykate.co.uk 

Nicky Palz – houseofbutterfly.co.uk

Nikki Sekhon – nikkisekhon.com

Tofte Manor — toftemanor.co.uk