.png)
Academic Writing & Yoga Retreat
Book a retreat for PhD students and researchers at your university or research institute to support their writing process and promote wellbeing and stress relief.
Is this you?
Do you feel overwhelmed by everything you need to write — and unsure where (or how) to start or pick things up again?
Are you searching for a well-structured environment that combines focused writing with yoga and coaching?
What if just four days could help you find your writing flow—and give you exactly the structure and energy you’ve been missing?
In four focused days, you will gain measurable progress on your PhD thesis — through structured writing sessions, expert guidance, and holistic support through yoga and coaching for both mind and body.
How we will get there:
1
Make concrete progress on your thesis through daily structured writing blocks.
2
Reconnect with mental and physical balance through daily yoga and mindfulness practices.
3
Receive practical writing strategies and targeted feedback on your text.
4
Participate in mindset coaching to build resilience, focus, and motivation.
Goal:
You will leave the retreat with:
-
Tangible results—new pages written, revised sections, or improved structure.
-
A tool to create a clear and realistic writing plan tailored to your next steps.
-
A deep connection with your inner supportive voice.
-
Tools to maintain sustainable productivity after the retreat ends.
This is more than just a break from your routine—it’s a strategic, supportive space to make real progress on your thesis with structure, feedback, and well-being at its core.
The Retreat includes:
Morning and evening yoga and mindfulness classes
Input sessions on how to write more effectively, better style and enjoying the writing process more
SMART goal setting in pairs
Structured writing time with Pomodoro method
1-2-1 coaching sessions, including mindset coaching and text feedback
There are two different ways of setting up your 4 day retreat:
Option 1:
The retreat takes place at your institution, university or research institute. We’d need 3 rooms in total (1x large room for yoga, 1x writing room with desks, 1x coaching room). Participants go home after each retreat day. If the retreat takes place in London no further costs apply for the facilitators accommodation.
Option 2:
If you decide to take your group on an off-site retreat, you’d be responsible for organising accommodation and meals for participants and facilitators. For the course we’d need 3 rooms in total (1x large room for yoga, 1x writing room with desks, 1x coaching room).
Writing Coaches I Work With in Germany / the UK
Dr Kerstin Minnich
Dr Kerstin Minnich is a biologist and obtained her PhD at the Ulm University Medical Center followed by a postdoctoral research period at the Leibniz Institute on Aging in Jena in the fields of endocrinology and oncology. In 2016 Kerstin founded the editing service LIFE SCIENCE WRITING and completed a writing consultant training in 2017 at the University of Education Freiburg. Besides editing scientific texts, Kerstin works as an individual writing coach and gives workshops on scientific writing. You can find out more about Kerstin here.
Dr Helen Kara
Dr Helen Kara is a leading independent researcher, author, teacher and speaker with over 25 years’ experience. Her specialisms are creative academic writing, creative research methods and radical research ethics. She teaches doctoral students and staff at higher education institutions worldwide. You can find out more about Helen here.
Dr Heather Dyer
Dr Heather Dyer is a Royal Literary Fund Fellow and a consultant in creative thinking techniques. She facilitates writing workshops and retreats for academics across all disciplines, and she’s particularly interested in helping writers explore more creative ways of working: how to engineer creative insights, face the blank page fearlessly, build a project from the ground up and stay inspired over the long term.
Heather’s undergraduate degree was in biology, and her doctorate explores the psychology of creativity. She’s also an award-winning children’s author.
