I recently came back from a business trip to India where I experienced my first Ayurvedic four-handed massage. It was superb, and now I'm home I'd like to find somewhere in the UK where I can explore Ayurveda further. It would preferably be somewhere I can take my husband, for we're in need of some serious down time together, and outside London and the South. Can you advise? Jane Thornton, Edgbaston

Times Online Spas & Lifestyle Expert Caroline Sylger Jones responds:

I've just returned from a remarkable ayurveda retreat in the unlikely location of the Lincolnshire countryside. Essential Ayurveda, set in a hamlet outside Holton Holegate, is based at the home of ayurvedic practitioners Andy and Laura Shakeshaft, who offer their guests a large, private wing of a 400-year-old cottage. You can expect comfortable, uncluttered rooms with vases of home-grown fresh flowers, low wooden beams and artefacts from the couple's travels in Asia.

The retreat only takes two people at any one time, so if you go with your husband you'll have plenty of peaceful time together and lots of one-to-one attention. There is deliberately no TV or radio, to help you switch off from the world, but you do have access to a DVD and CD player.

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You can wander through three acres of mature gardens, there are plenty of nooks and crannies outside for lounging on sunnier days and a couple of easy and pleasant circular walks from the house - or just cosy up in front of your own log fire in the sitting room.

I was really impressed with Andy and Laura's down-to-earth approach, which expertly takes into account today's stressful lifestyles without being preachy. You'll have a full consultation on arrival to determine your dosha, or ayurvedic constitution, and daily one-to-one meditation, yoga or life coaching with Andy, depending on your needs.

Each day also includes one of three luscious 2.5-hour-long four-handed ayurvedic massages, a shirodhara treatment (where a continuous stream of warmed oil is poured across the forehead for about 20 minutes) and a steam. Laura has long, strong, expert hands and has trained two local therapists to help her.

Be prepared to eat less than you would normally, as cleansing your digestive tract is an important part of your stay. Meals are simple and cleansing but tasty, and may include apple soup for breakfast, a simple dahl, rice and vegetable meal for supper and a mung bean soup for dinner.

There are 3, 5 and 7-day retreats available, and they start from £695 per person for three days, inclusive of everything. This may seem steep at first glance, but it's a small price to pay for privacy, one-to-one attention and treatments which cost upwards of £175 in London.

For more ideas on retreats, see Body & Soul Escapes: Britain & Ireland by Caroline Sylger Jones, published by Footprint Books (see carolinesylgerjones.co.uk).

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