SON RULLAN, MALLORCA
“To pay attention - this is our endless and proper work”
MARY OLIVER
ESSENCIA is a five day immersion shaped around contemplation, the natural world, and the unmatched beauty of Mallorca's Serra de Tramuntana.
Our home for this retreat is Son Rullan in the Serra de Tramuntana, a place where the landscape invites immediate immersion in the creative realm. Here in a house with generations of stories to tell, we fall in love again with the world around us.
Each morning begins with meditation, yoga, and writing — practices that gather you back to yourself. From this ground of presence, the day opens into creative sessions with local artists: ceramicists, floral artists, and the slow work of making things by hand.
ESSENCIA is for the woman who senses a spark she hasn't tended in some time; who longs for spaciousness, for connection, for time to give voice to lesser known parts of herself. Each day reveals a different facet of contemplative and creative practice led by experienced practitioners: academic and compassion teacher Amy Finlay-Jones, multidisciplinary artist Anna-Alexandra, ceramicist Maria Roca, floral designer Mar Gracia, and culinary creative Henrietta Balnaves.
This is ESSENCIA: an immersion in contemplation, creative practice, movement and rest — to bring you back to yourself.
Not sure if this is for you?
We offer a short introductory call to talk through the retreat, the accommodations, and whether the timing works. No obligation.
“When our eyes are graced with wonder, the world reveals its wonders to us.”
JOHN O’DONOHUE
ESSENCIA explores the meeting point between inner and outer worlds — that subtle threshold where aliveness begins to gather. Creativity becomes a way of waking up, and beauty reveals itself in its simplest forms: the mountains slowly taking shape as morning arrives, the smell of bread from a wood-fired oven, the weight of clay in your hands.
Creativity grows through intimacy with the world around us. We create the conditions for this through carefully designed practices, a supportive group environment, and the presence of artists and teachers whose work is inseparable from their seeing.
As a guest at ESSENCIA, we invite you to let yourself be moved — by the place, the people, the slow accumulation of unhurried hours.
“To live as an artist is a way of being in the world. A way of perceiving. A practice of paying attention.”
RICK RUBIN
THE RHYTHM
What your days will look like
Our retreat combines structured contemplative practice and dialogue, creative workshops, and space for unstructured rest and exploration. Between sessions, there is space to follow your own impulses: to curl into the shade of a stone alcove with a book, to wander the olive groves, to swim, to sit with nothing in particular.
Mornings begin with contemplative practice: an immersion in the art of paying attention. We integrate body-based practice (yoga and movement), meditation, and writing — practices that cultivate both inner spaciousness and a heightened sensitivity to the world.
These sessions are followed by a leisurely breakfast on the terrace, watching the morning light cascade through the olive groves below.
Afternoons offer unstructured time: choose a book from the house library, bathe in the dappled afternoon light, or gather with fellow guests for informal conversation over local wine.
In the evenings we gather for communal dinner under the stars or by the fireplace. We share stories, ideas, and the day's discoveries over food prepared by Henrietta with produce from the estate and the local market.
THE FACILITATORS
The Women of Essencia
Amy is a therapist and meditation teacher whose work sits at the tender meeting point between science and contemplative wisdom. Known for her grounded presence, Amy holds spaces where people can return to themselves in a way that feels both rigorous and deeply kind.
Amy brings a rare blend of contemplative tradition and contemporary science. She is an Associate Professor and lead editor of The Handbook of Self-Compassion. She is also the founder of Kindful, through which she creates programs that weave evidence-based approaches with meditative practice.
FACILITATOR · CO-FOUNDER
Dr Amy Finlay-Jones
Anna-Alexandra
Born in Sofia, Anna-Alexandra is a multidisciplinary artist who found her way to Mallorca, where the island's quality of light and silence became her working material. A firm proponent of creativity as an emergent process, Alex says: "I hope participants leave with a renewed sense of trust in their own process."
ARTIST · CREATIVE FACILITATOR
Henrietta Balnaves
Henrietta is a Paris-based chef and food stylist. At the heart of her work lies connection, weaving people, place, and creative practice through the ritual of cooking and shared meals. Guided by a sensitivity to environment, she works with whole, organic, and sustainable ingredients that reflect the landscape.
CHEF · FOOD STYLIST
Maria Roca
Maria is a Mallorca-based designer and ceramicist creating nature-inspired pieces through Mia Nua. Through slow, hand-built processes she teaches ceramics as meditation—cultivating patience, calm and trust while people shape functional beauty from clay that honours imperfection, play and the joy of making together in place.
CERAMICIST · CREATIVE FACILITATOR
Mar Gracia
Mar is the floral artist behind HUMO, a practice that fuses fashion, art and Mediterranean landscapes. Her work invites people to slow down, create with flowers, and experience nature’s raw, fleeting beauty as an intimate act of self-care and expression. Her work is celebrated across Spain and is a gift for our retreat.
FLORAL DESIGNER · CREATIVE FACILITATOR
THE PLACE
Son Rullan’s unique heritage
Once a 14th-century Templar monastery, Son Rullan occupies a rugged mountaintop position near Deià with uninterrupted views across the Serra de Tramuntana to the Mediterranean below.
Having served as an artists' and intellectuals' retreat through the mid-20th century, Son Rullan continues to hold that atmosphere of serious creative attention. The walls have absorbed a great deal. Guests feel it almost immediately.
Deià is nestled between the Balearic sea and Mallorca's Serra de Tramuntana mountains, where traditional village life continues quietly alongside one of the most creatively significant artist communities in the Mediterranean.
SECURING YOUR PLACE
Join us: Finding your room
Your stay includes four nights of exclusive access to Son Rullan, daily guided movement and contemplative practice, creative workshops with our collaborators, all meals, and the company of a small, carefully chosen group.
If you have been considering this and waiting for the right moment, this is it. We keep our groups deliberately small — once these places are filled, the retreat is closed.
Secure Your PlaceAll rooms offer either ocean or mountain views — in some cases both. Each space has been thoughtfully restored to honour the estate's 14th-century character while providing the comfort a retreat of this kind demands.
All rates are per person in USD and include four nights' accommodation, all meals, and retreat activities.
PREMIUM PRIVATE SUITES
Expansive private suite with ocean and sweeping mountain views, king bed and generous private bathroom. The largest and most private room at Son Rullan.
Habitació dels Senyors
Single: $4,000 | Double: $3,100 per person
Includes 4 nights' accommodation, all meals, and retreat activities.
Sophisticated private room with king bed and intimate ensuite bathroom. Designed for restful nights and quiet mornings, with views across the estate.
Habitació de Dalt
Single: $3,800 | Double: $3,000 per person
Includes 4 nights' accommodation, all meals, and retreat activities.DELUXE PRIVATE SUITES
Perfect for couples or friends, with queen and double beds, Mediterranean and mountain views, and a private bathroom.
Habitació dels Convidats
Double: $3,000 per person
Includes 4 nights' accommodation, all meals, and retreat activities.
Elegant and spacious private room with king bed, charming private balcony with garden and mountain views. One of the most atmospheric rooms in the house.
Habitació del Balco
Single: $3,700 | Double: $2,900 per person
Includes 4 nights' accommodation, all meals, and retreat activities.
Inviting private room with queen bed, private balcony overlooking peaceful surroundings.
Habitació de la Capella
Single: $3,400 | Double: $2,700 per person
Includes 4 nights' accommodation, all meals, and retreat activities.
Bright, large room with queen bed and single bed, sharing bathroom with nearby rooms. A light-filled space with generous proportions.
Habitació Blanca
Double: $2,900 | Triple: $2,500 per person
Includes 4 nights' accommodation, all meals, and retreat activities.
Private twin room with intimate private bathroom, mountain and olive grove views. Two single beds — ideal for friends travelling together.
Habitació dels Nins
Includes 4 nights' accommodation, all meals, and retreat activities.Single: $3,400 | Double: $2,700 per person
SHARED ACCOMMODATION
Spacious group room with ocean views for up to four guests, single beds and shared bathroom. The most affordable way to experience Son Rullan.
Habitació del Tigre
$2400 per person
Includes 4 nights' accommodation, all meals, and retreat activities.Questions before booking? We're happy to talk.