Fran Stockley just oozes energy and has a passion for life that most people never find. Today we speak with this lovely lady who is a fully qualified personal trainer with a degree in Psychology. She’s also a Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist and a NLP Life Coach and is about to embark on another exciting journey; the BodyLove Luxury Detox Retreat. She explains more in this fascinating interview.
Please tell us a little bit more about yourself.
In my mid-twenties I felt like my body was getting in the way of my life. I was living the life of a young active female on the outside but struggling on the inside. I had adrenal burnout symptoms, and was gradually gaining weight despite being heavily into fitness and eating what I thought was a healthy diet. I was either anxious or completely exhausted. I knew this was not right and so went on a quest to discover the cause, and this has inspired my life’s work for the last 12 years.
I was already fascinated by the mind and had graduated in psychology from Loughborough University. The experiences I was having in my own health led me to look more closely at the body, what it needed and how to care for it. I became fascinated in fitness and qualified as a personal trainer which led to a thriving personal training business training women to have the body they had always dreamt of. And soon after I trained for the next 3 years to become a Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist and an NLP life Coach.
As I was helping others I was also healing myself and I began to see that when my clients got their health and body back, they also got their life, dreams and passions back. In a sense, their life felt alive again. And this was also what was happening to me. I was now clear that regaining our health is not just about a different shaped body, it is much more than that; it is about a different shaped life, one that feels inspired and exciting to each person uniquely.
My work took me to many parts of the world including the world famous Kripalu centre for yoga and health, assisting on health and popular psychology retreats. I was facilitating guests through week long transformational experiences, supporting them with the tools to regain their health and to create the life they have always wanted.
This approach of looking at food as well as psychology and lifestyle is the work I am so passionate about today. My week is spent with my clients where I run 6 month skype programmes tailored to their specific health challenge and lifestyle desires. I also hold talks and workshops on these subjects throughout the UK and in Edinburgh where I am based.
Although you’ve worked in the health and well-being industry for many years the detox retreat is an entirely new adventure for you. What prompted you to embark upon this and what challenges have you faced?
The decision to launch the Bodylove Luxury Detox Retreats was born from closely listening to my clientele over the last 12 years and from my own frustration that there was no truly holistic retreat in the UK that covers the importance and interconnectedness of food, psychology and lifestyle in creating a truly fulfilling life.
It was my time co leading retreats in the USA that cemented my decision to run my own unique transformational health retreats where guests can access the support, inspiration and education they need to turn their health and their life around.
We searched for a long time to find somewhere that felt luxurious as well as inspiring, fresh and contemporary. In Scotland this has been a challenge but we managed upon this beautiful eco home as you see in the pictures.
In our experience a great deal of interest has been derived from the acknowledgement that this is almost a one to one experience and so we have kept the number to a maximum of 10. We were very clear that we didn’t want to go over this amount of people for our retreats as we believe each guest should feel like they have had a unique and personalised experience from the team.
The retreats are all branded as Fran Stockley Detox Retreats, assigning your name to a venture is a big decision – how do you feel about this and what was the rationale in doing so?
I have never had to market or advertise my business as much of it has come through personal recommendation and therefore the association with my name has proved very important. We decided to brand the retreats as BodyLove Luxury Detox Retreats. We chose the name BodyLove because this is the process clients go through when they re-gain their health. Of course the paradox is that just because we have a body that doesn’t feel well or fully functioning doesn’t mean to say we shouldn’t love it! Bodylove is the process as well as the outcome of health and it stays with us for life and affects the quality of the rest of our life. Bodylove is also the name of the 6 month programmes I run online for men and women all over the world and the essence of the programmes is in keeping with the retreat so it felt fitting to continue the Bodylove theme.
Your approach to mental and physical well-being is not just about burning off those extra calories but a more holistic mind-set of ‘clearing the way’. Please tell us more about your philosophy and the benefits it brings.
When we focus only on burning calories we can only reach a certain level of health, but when we ‘clear the way’ in the body we are able to totally change the body’s biochemistry which can transform our health and life. Being slim unfortunately does not mean you have your health, energy or vitality for life. It is a very outdated model of health to be concerned only with ‘calories in versus calories out.’ Clients I work with don’t just want their figure back, they also want their inspiration, confidence, sensuality and zest for life back. They want to feel free again, like their body is on the same team as they are.
Clearing the way is about looking at what is not working anymore and how this is getting in the way of living with vibrant health. We look at the body on a cellular level and decipher what each guest needs nutritionally, emotionally and physically. We also look at what the body and mind need to let go of in order to re gain their health. My work includes educating clients on the intricate links between the fears we have around making health and life changes, the reasons we sabotage and how to overcome it, as well the unique desires and dreams we all have about our life. As a result of the work we do, clients feedback to me that aside from the physical benefits such as weight loss, absolving addictions and healing their health conditions, they all say they feel like they have become the person they always wanted to be.
A team of other health and well being specialists at the detox retreat supports you – tell us more about the team and the benefit it presents to guests.
Apart from the award-winning spa and daily guided walks in the Pentlands we have a team of reflexologists, Thai massage, yoga therapist, intuitive life coach, raw food chef as well as myself, naturopathic nutrition and detoxification who make up part of our team. Throughout the week we also have guest speakers to uplift, inspire and educate with their own successful stories of healing various health conditions and turning their life around. Having an expert team like this sets us apart from other retreats and allows for a richer more fulfilling experience for our guests.
What can a guest expect from their retreat experience?
The Bodylove retreat is about the guests fulfilling their nutritional, emotional and psychological needs and realising their life expectations through understanding and clearing what is blocking them in their body.
Any guest spending a week with us will feel like they are coming to a new luxurious home that is exclusively theirs for the week. We want guests to understand that everything is included so they can feel as relaxed as possible.
Guests can expect to learn exactly what is happening in their body and to feel supported by our team of experts in identifying where the easiest changes are able to be made in their nutrition and lifestyle in order to live the life they desire. Guests can choose to join us in daily yoga, spa visits, daily walks in the Pentlands and inspirational and educational talks. All the organic juices, smoothies and raw food dishes are made fresh each day by our in-house raw food chef. Whilst there is a loose schedule, guests are encouraged to take time when they need it to rest and reflect and so the schedule is flexible to participate as much or as little as they want.
Every guest will of course be living together for a full week and they all will make new contacts for life. Guests will also go away with all the recipes they have enjoyed as well as being part of a dedicated and private facebook group where the support, inspiration and community continues. Unique to our Bodylove retreat is the 6 week follow up we do. Once our guests have left the retreat we check in with them 6 weeks later to see how they are getting on and what support they may still need.
The first retreat is located in the beautiful Pentland Hills, how important is location and why was this chosen as the testing ground?
The success of this type of retreat is utterly dependent on the location which has to be quiet, beautiful and in nature. We knew we wanted guests to feel like they have come completely away from any noise or distraction from their daily lives and there is nothing like the Scottish Pentlands for this.
The standard of the property was extremely important as well, and guests have their own en-suite bathrooms with a bath as well as underfloor heating, 360 floor to ceiling views and natural spring water coming from the tap. We wanted ‘luxury in the sticks’ and this is exactly what the BodyLove retreat house provides. Any location we open up in the future has to feel luxurious as well as surrounded by natural sounds and natural scenery because this is what relaxes the mind and makes for a transformational experience.
What makes you stand out amongst other detox retreats?
Our retreats are not just detox retreats they are also a deep inquiry into the psychology and lifestyle that results in making a change in your body, health and life. There are some wonderful detox retreats out there. Having had a lot of experience being guests on some of them as well as co assisting retreats around the world I have brought the very best of what I have seen together as well as what I saw was missing.
The Bodylove retreat not only provides incredible fresh organic raw food and juices but it also provides the space and expert support to look at your lifestyle and uncover your old dreams and desires. Together with the ongoing support we provide we believe this sets us apart from any other detox retreat we have seen out there.
Who are these retreats designed for?
We are attracting guests who want to build a better quality of life not just those who want to lose weight. Those that are drawn to Bodylove retreats are wanting to look at their physical health as well as the psychological aspects of their lifestyle. The retreat is for both men and women who know that what is happening in their body are preventing them from living the life they desire and they are ready to receive the support, education and inspiration to shift and heal this.
Top three tips for any guest considering embarking on a retreat journey.
– Ask yourself if you are ready to really spend a week getting to know your body, your life and desires and finding out the solutions to your health challenges
– Ask yourself if the support of like-minded guests and an expert team would accelerate your health journey and improve the quality of your life?
– Ask yourself if you are someone who benefits from an immersive experience away from distractions and your familiar environment?
If the answer to any of these questions are yes then you are ready for a BodyLove Luxury Detox Retreat.
Costs: Prices begin from £937 for 6 nights full board
Locations: Scottish Pentlands
Other Retreat Dates: July 8th-14th October 13th-20th
Contact details for bookings: fran@franstockley.com
Web: www.franstockley.com or join us on Facebook
No Comments