A full-day nervous-system retreat at Chester Zoo with meditation, an immersive headphone experience, mindful exploration and time with the s

THE SLOTH RETREAT: A NERVOUS SYSTEM RESETWhat if everything didn’t have to feel so urgent?

Saturday 3 October 2026 | 10:30am–6pm

Tsavo Lounge at The Reserve, Chester Zoo

Tickets: £111 | Only 20 places available

Join meditation teacher and author Felix New and Mo, founder of Soul Space Chester, for a full-day nervous-system retreat inside Chester Zoo.

Inspired by the radically unhurried life of the sloth, this retreat is an invitation to explore the inner pressure to keep doing, fixing, answering and moving on to the next thing.

Even when we stop physically, urgency can still be running quietly in the background:

I should be doing something.

I’ll rest when everything else is finally taken care of.

The Sloth Retreat isn’t about pretending that real responsibilities, pressures and challenges don’t exist. It’s about becoming more aware of what may be driving us from within.

Through meditation, grounding, parts work, shared reflection and simple practices to take home, we’ll explore whether we can create more space around urgency, meet ourselves with greater compassion and still do what needs to be done—with a little more softness around the edges.

There’s no pressure to meditate perfectly.

There’s no requirement to become a different person.

Just a day to rest, notice what’s happening within you and explore what it might feel like to move through life with a little less inner pressure.

YOUR RETREAT SETTING

The beautiful Tsavo Lounge at The Reserve, Chester Zoo’s five-star lodge, will be reserved privately for our small group.

Across the day, we’ll move between mindful exploration of the zoo, guided sessions with Felix, an immersive headphone experience with Mo, nourishing food, a private Chester Zoo ranger talk and Discovery Walk, time with the sloths and—importantly—genuine space where nothing needs to happen.

For once, somebody else will be holding the schedule.

You just get to be there.

THE DAY

SLOW ARRIVAL AT THE RESERVE

We’ll begin at 10:30am with refreshments, introductions and time to arrive in our private retreat base at Tsavo Lounge.

There’s no rushing straight into the programme.

MINDFUL HEART OF AFRICA WANDER

From Tsavo, we’ll head together into Chester Zoo’s Heart of Africa.

Looking. Listening. Feeling our feet as we walk.

Noticing the impulse to get to the next thing and beginning to enter Sloth Space.

SLOTH SPACE AND GROUNDING MEDITATION

Back at Tsavo, Felix will guide an exploration of inner urgency, parts work, Sloth Space and the possibility of feeling “safe enough” in the present moment.

Instead of trying to force ourselves to feel calm or push away the parts of us that worry and rush, we’ll explore what happens when we meet them with awareness, acknowledgement and curiosity.

We’ll then move into a grounding meditation so these ideas can be experienced rather than simply understood.

SLOTHFULLY SLOW LUNCH

We’ll share a nourishing buffet lunch in our private lounge.

There is no prize for finishing first.

There’ll be time to enjoy the food, connect with others and let lunch be part of the retreat—not just another thing to fit in.

AN IMMERSIVE SOUL SPACE EXPERIENCE WITH MO

After lunch, Mo will guide a full immersive headphone experience.

For an hour, Mo’s voice, music and wireless headphones will create a world within the retreat—a deeply nourishing space to breathe, experience and connect with yourself.

SLOTH TIME

Nothing in particular.

Rest. Journal. Chat. Look out of the window. Do what you please.

Perhaps there is something to discover simply by noticing:

What happens inside me when nothing is being asked of me?

PRIVATE SLOTH EXPERIENCE 🦥

Later in the afternoon, a Chester Zoo ranger will join us privately in Tsavo Lounge for a Sloth Talk and an introduction to the Five Pathways to Nature.

Our ranger will then lead us on a Discovery Walk through the zoo, eventually bringing us to the sloth habitat.

We’ll spend time with the animals that inspired the retreat before making our own slow journey back through the zoo towards The Reserve.

INTEGRATION AND CLOSING MEDITATION

Back at Tsavo Lounge, we’ll bring the day together.

We’ll reflect on what we noticed and consider:

Where could 10% less pressure make a difference in your life?

We’ll finish with a closing meditation before saying goodbye at 6pm.

WHAT’S INCLUDED

Full-day guided retreat from 10:30am–6pm

Entry to Chester Zoo

Private use of Tsavo Lounge at The Reserve

Guided sessions and meditation with Felix

Full immersive wireless-headphone experience with Mo

Buffet lunch

Refreshments throughout the day

Private Chester Zoo ranger Sloth Talk

Ranger-led Discovery Walk

Time together at the sloth habitat

Exclusive Sloth Prep audio one week before the retreat

Optional pre-retreat WhatsApp group

A deliberately small and intimate group of just 20 participants

MEET FELIX

Felix New is a meditation teacher and author who

Description supplied by the event organiser.