Co-Founder of Yeotown, Mercedes Sieff speaks to CF’s Sheena Bhattessa for the latest instalment of 12 Journeys With….
“Yeotown is based in rural North Devon where Co-Founders Mercedes Sieff and her husband Simon Sieff have nurtured and fine-tuned their shared vision of an authentic and original healthy lifestyle retreat with its empowering and inspiring emphasis on true health and optimum wellbeing.”
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS WEEK’S EPISODE
In Episode Eight, Season Three, Sheena Bhattessa is joined by Yeotown’s Co-Founder, Mercedes Sieff to chat optimal health, wellness tourism, and more.
In a conversation spanning yoga training, leaps of faith, and shifting mindsets, this episode traces Sieff’s journey from California to London, by way of Sri Lanka, and the thoughtful steps she’s taken since.
To listen to Episode Eight, Season Three, in full, visit iTunes or Spotify.
Living in California, loving yoga was “kind of like a default”. Leaving Los Angeles to do relief work around the tsunami in Sri Lanka, Sieff’s flight was via London. On her return from Sri Lanka, Sieff decided to extend her time in London, initially teaching yoga to make some money. At the time – “this was 14 years ago” – there wasn’t really much of a yoga offering in London; it was a different landscape to what she was used to in LA. It was “a white, bright space” full of opportunity.
Sieff began by putting up Gumtree ads and posting flyers in health-food stores for her yoga classes – from there, things just grew organically. At some point along the way, Sieff met her now husband and partner, Simon Sieff, and together they embarked on a pop-up wellness retreat in Devon, now known as Yeotown.
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Fast forward to today and the wellness industry is booming – as is the demand for Yeotown. The brand is now expanding to international destinations – their latest posting is located in Madeira, which Sieff dubs as “a European alternative to Bali”.
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With wellness tourism a growing trend, the increased interest in improving our well-being is a notable shift in public thinking. “It’s an evolution. We’re evolving to care for ourselves in different ways.” “Things are shifting”. There was a “period when people would come back from a holiday needing a holiday.” Now, many people are going “away to do things that make them feel good.”
As for her advice when it comes to reaching optimum wellbeing? “Look for things that give you meaning and purpose.” It’s “much deeper than just physical or just mental – it really is all-encompassing”. To listen to the episode in full, follow the links above or below.
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