ESSENCIA
THE NATURE OF OUR SELVES
SON RULLAN, MALLORCA
May 26-30, 2026
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
Mary Oliver
ESSENCIA is a four-night immersion shaped around contemplation, the natural world, and the quiet delight of making with your hands.
Set at Son Rullan in the Serra de Tramuntana, ESSENCIA draws you into a subtle conversation with the landscape: terraced stone warmed by sun, wild rosemary stirred by the wind, the slow fall of light down the mountainside. The rhythm of the place invites a gentler tempo — one where your senses widen and your inner life finds room to breathe.
Each morning begins with meditation, movement, writing, and poetry — practices that gather you back to yourself. They create an inner clearing, a return to awareness that is spacious rather than effortful, rooted rather than striving.
From this ground of presence, the day opens into creative sessions with local artists — ceramicists, floral designers, and interdisciplinary makers whose work rises directly from the island’s textures and stories. Clay responds to the warmth of your hands; colour shifts with the afternoon light; a single stem becomes a study in form and instinct. Creativity here is less about producing and more about listening.
ESSENCIA is for the woman who senses a spark she hasn’t tended in some time — who longs for spaciousness, for beauty, for the distinct feeling of being quietly restored to herself. She knows her inner life needs more than insight; it needs wonder, and time, and a slower kind of noticing.
Each day reveals a different facet of contemplative and creative practice. Between sessions, there is generous time to wander the estate, rest in the shade, linger over meals, or let the day unfold in its own rhythm.
This is ESSENCIA: an immersion in contemplation, creative practice, movement, poetry and rest to bring you back in loving contact with the true nature of your self.
What if you entered a space where nothing is asked of you but presence?
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 the self loosens just enough to be in conversation with the world: shaped by what we touch, moved by what we notice, enlivened by what we allow ourselves to encounter.
This is where beauty reveals itself in its simplest forms — the mountains slowly taking shape as morning lifts, the muted blues of sea and sky leaning toward one another, the stillness that settles across the terraces before the day begins.
Aliveness grows through the art of paying attention — a practice we cultivate each day though observing the shifting harmonies of landscape, attuning to the nuances in others, and listening closely to the inner wisdom that emerges when we quieten our minds.
We create the conditions for this through carefully designed practices, a supportive group environment, and a setting that invites calm and openness. Son Rullán, a 14th-century estate in Mallorca, has long been described by locals as the “abuela house” for its nurturing warmth and comfort. The estate's natural beauty and history provide a grounding backdrop for this inner work - a natural sense of refuge.
As a guest at ESSENCIA, we invite you to let yourself be moved by simple beauty — to notice what stirs in you as the landscape reveals its contours, to listen for the wisdom that emerges when doing settles, and to let joy rise in the unguarded moments of each day.
For when the soul is alive to beauty, life meets us with a fresh and vital depth.
“To live as an artist is a way of being in the world. A way of perceiving. A practice of paying attention.”
Rick Rubin
What your days will look like
Our retreat combines structured contemplative practice and dialogue, creative workshops, and space for rest, play and connection.
Between sessions, there is space to follow your own impulses: to curl into the shade of a stone alcove, get lost in the ephemeral beauty of the Tramuntana landscape, or take a nap under an olive tree.
Mornings begin with contemplative practice: an immersion in the art of paying attention. We integrate movement, meditation, poetry and writing.
These sessions are followed by a leisurely breakfast on the terrace, watching the morning light cascade across the mountains all the way to the mediterranean sea.
Afternoons offer unstructured time: choose a book from the house library, bathe in the dappled afternoon sun, journal, or continue your creative process.
In the evenings we gather for communal dinner under the stars or by the fireplace. We will share stories and family-style meals inspired by seasonal produce and local recipes.
Your Facilitator: Dr Amy Finlay-Jones
Amy is a therapist and meditation teacher whose work sits at the tender meeting point between science and the sacred. For two decades she has explored what helps human beings feel held, connected, and alive — not only through research, but through the lived, unrepeatable moments of practice, relationship, and attention. Her work is an ongoing enquiry into how we meet the holy in the everyday: how we honour our interbeing, how creativity becomes a way of listening, and how compassion allows us to inhabit our lives with more truth and less armour.
Known for her grounded presence, Amy holds spaces where people can soften without collapsing, feel without being overwhelmed, and return to themselves in a way that is both tender and transformative. Her teaching invites participants into deeper contact with what matters — the quiet instincts, old longings, and half-remembered wisdom that shape a meaningful life.
Amy brings a rare blend of contemplative tradition and contemporary science. She is an Associate Professor with a Masters degree in Clinical Psychology, a PhD in the mechanisms of human suffering and healing, and lead editor of The Handbook of Self-Compassion. She is certified in Compassion Cultivation Training, Mindful Self-Compassion, and Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living.
She is also the founder of Kindful, through which she creates programs that weave evidence-based approaches with contemplative practice, offering pathways back to belonging — with oneself, with one another, and with the wider world.
Collaborators & Workshop Guides
Maria Roca 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.
Mar Gracia 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.
Henrietta Balnaves 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 that foster healthy relationships to our bodies.
Son Rullan’s unique heritage
Once a 14th-century Templar monastery, Son Rullan occupies a rugged mountaintop position near Deià within Mallorca's UNESCO-listed Serra de Tramuntana. The estate preserves its original stone architecture: whitewashed lime walls, timber beams, and chambers connected across multiple levels through ancient staircases.
Having served as an artists' and intellectuals' retreat through the mid-20th century, Son Rullan continues this legacy—where medieval architecture, Mediterranean landscape, and contemplative seclusion create an environment uniquely suited to contemplation, restoration and creative practice.
Deià occupies a distinctive position in Mallorca's Serra de Tramuntana mountains, where traditional stone houses sit among olive groves and ancient terraced hillsides that descend toward the Mediterranean coastline. The name itself derives from the Arabic "Ad-Daya," meaning "village," directly reflecting the spirit of the place.
Join us: Finding your room and securing your place
Your stay includes four nights of exclusive access to Son Rullan, daily guided movement and contemplative practices, three creative immersions, and access to simple, evidence-informed resources to support contemplative practice beyond the retreat.
Our rooms vary to align with diverse preferences and budgets. They range from individual, couple and shared rooms. All have rich views of the mountains or sea and access to common lounges, library, yoga studio, gardens, dining areas, olive groves and the pool.
Pay a small deposit today to secure your spot. We’ll confirm details, chat through your preferences, and send your welcome pack. Your deposit is fully credited toward your fee, with the balance due three months before the retreat. We can’t wait to host you.
Your stay at Son Rullan
Your investment pairs your retreat experience with your stay at Son Rullan and its estate. Accommodations can be adapted for individuals, couples, or small groups, with rooms varying in scale and amenities to suit different preferences and budgets.
All rooms offer either ocean or mountain views (in some cases both), and guests enjoy access to shared spaces including the library, lounging areas, gardens, and terraced grounds that invite contemplation and connection.
Each space has been thoughtfully restored to honour the estate's 14th-century character while providing modern comfort for your retreat experience. Our pricing allows guests to adapt their experience to their needs.
Premium Private Suites
Ultimate comfort in this expansive private suite with ocean and sweeping mountain views, and king bed, sofa bed, desk, and large ensuite bathroom with bathtub
Single: $4,000 | Double: $3,100
Rates are per person, in USD and include four nights of accommodation, meals, and all retreat activities and materials.
An early booking discount of 10% applies to all bookings finalised by Jan 10, 2026.
Habitació dels Senyors
Sophisticated private room with king bed and intimate ensuite bathroom, designed for restful nights and serene mornings with its with ocean, garden and mountain views.
[RESERVED]
Rates are per person, in USD and include four nights of accommodation, meals, and all retreat activities and materials.
An early booking discount of 10% applies to all bookings finalised by Jan 10, 2026.
Habitació de Dalt
Deluxe Private Suites
Habitació dels Convidats
Perfect for couples or friends, with queen bed and double bed, mediterranean and mountain views, and private bathroom with bathtub
Double: $3,000 | Triple: $2,600
Rates are per person, in USD and include four nights of accommodation, meals, and all retreat activities and materials.
An early booking discount of 10% applies to all bookings finalised by Jan 10, 2026.
Elegant and spacious private room with king bed, charming private balcony with garden and mountain views, and shared bathroom
Single $3,700 | Double: $2,900
Rates are per person, in USD and include four nights of accommodation, meals, and all retreat activities and materials.
An early booking discount of 10% applies to all bookings finalised by Jan 10, 2026.
Habitació del Balcó
Inviting private room with queen bed, private balcony overlooking peaceful surroundings and an aspect of the mountain and sea, and shared bathroom
Single: $3,400 | Double: $2,700
Rates are per person, in USD and include four nights of accommodation, meals, and all retreat activities and materials.
An early booking discount of 10% applies to all bookings finalised by Jan 10, 2026.
Habitació de la Capella
Bright, large shared room with queen bed and single bed, sharing bathroom with nearby rooms and with views of Tramuntana
Double: $2,900 | Triple: $2,500
Rates are per person, in USD and include four nights of accommodation, meals, and all retreat activities and materials.
An early booking discount of 10% applies to all bookings finalised by Jan 10, 2026.
Habitació Blanca
Private twin room with an intimate private bathroom, with mountain and olive grove views and two single beds, ideal for friends or family.
Double: $2,700
Rates are per person, in USD and include four nights of accommodation, meals, and all retreat activities and materials.
An early booking discount of 10% applies to all bookings finalised by Jan 10, 2026.
Habitació dels Nins
Shared Accommodation
Spacious group room with ocean views for up to four guests with single beds and shared bathroom, complete with the company of Son Rullan's iconic tiger mural. Reserve with friends or meet new ones: this room allows you to book a bed, rather than the whole room, and you will be sharing with 2-3 others.
Quadruple: $2,400
Rates are per person, in USD and include four nights of accommodation, meals, and all retreat activities and materials.
An early booking discount of 10% applies to all bookings finalised by Jan 10, 2026.