Balance in life is so important for both health and happiness and after the high octane, often exhausting festive season, now  is the perfect time to rest, reset and be kind to ourselves.

If we can learn how to recognise the signs of low grade, chronic stress we can begin to manage it, take the matter into our own hands and restore balance in both our body and mind, to retune our engine. 

This ritual switches off the body's stress response by activating the parasympathetic nervous system through the powerful combination of diaphragmatic conscious breathing, scent, nature and positive thought training.

The effects of conscious diaphragmatic breathing, scent and nature on our wellbeing are profound, empowering and well established in scientific principals – switching off your stress response and harnessing your body’s innate ability to heal itself.

We are delighted to have been featured in The Telegraphs, best healing escapes in the UK for a touch of Winter wellness, from sliding into toasty, low-lit pools to treatments that range from simply restful to reassuringly serious.

‘A simple yet sumptuous country house, every detail at Thyme is thought through to bring guests back to nature and provide a place to truly, deeply relax.

‘If any hotel in the UK could embody an enlightened, home-grown take on wellness (and generally the good life), it would be Thyme in Gloucestershire’.

Using hydro-distillation of leaves, fruits, flowers and other freshly harvested plant materials from the farm and gardens we create wonderfully fragrant pure botanical extracts that make the most beautiful cocktails.

Part of the rose family, its large hips are best picked after the first frosts which help to soften the fruits, a process called bletting.

‘Reassuringly the gardens and grounds remain as stunning as ever for crisp winter strolls. And design lovers will purr over the magnificent Ox Barn, where there will be live jazz on the 21 and 28 December, plus a New Year’s Eve bash with a DJ and Pol Roger bar’.

We are delighted to have been featured in The Telegraph, with fabulous winter gardening tips provided by Bunny Guinness in the grounds of Thyme’s Kitchen Gardens.

We are always delighted to welcome Rose to Thyme. She is a functional medicine practitioner working with clients around the globe to enhance their wellbeing.

Quince is a fragrant autumnal treat, and features centre stage on our December menus

A simply dressed plate of seasonal leaves picked that morning is a delight to all senses, but it’s important to remember just how much work goes into producing what seems at first to be a very simple offering.

The brain and gut are intimately connected through a complex system of nerves called the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic responsible for the ‘fight or flight’ stress response and the para sympathetic (the vagus nerve) responsible for ‘rest & digest’ calming and quietening the body.