Karuna Detox Retreat In the Media
UK's Leading Holistic Detox Retreat
Elle Beauty review, Elle UK December 2011
 The Raw Food Spa, Karuna Detox Retreat, Devon. by Olivia Armshaw
What's it like?
Each week long retreat takes place in a collection of cosy cottages and a farmhouse with indoor swimming pool, sauna and gym. I was one of 18 detoxers - all shapes and sizes - including an actress, media types, nurses and business people.
How's it different?
You get a juice detox based on the principle that health starts with the bowel, and when you give it a break from digesting food, the body can repair. Karuna has the edge with its raw food education, so you're equipped to carry on good habits going forward.
What were your aims?
I had high hopes for the detox to crack my sugary, buttery, wheaty cravings and set me on the right track. And, to slip on the J Brand jeans I couldn't do up any more! According to the Karuna ethos, weight loss is all about being toxin-free. 'When enough toxins come out, the shift in your life is natural - you don't have to force changes', beams manager Shoshana Moskowitz.
This appealed to my lazy side, but I was mistaken to think there are any shortcuts to a slender, healthy body. This is not for luxury-seekers or the faint-hearted, consisting, as it does, of a fluid-only diet.
 Daily routine
It was a fairly structured programme of organic juices, yoga, meditation, colonics (optional), nutrition talks and a list of holistic therapies to rival any top spa. You could sign up for as many as you like and still have time to lord it up with a cup of rose and chamomile tea and Scrabble in the communal area, siestas, country walks or frenetic treadmill action.
The food
Alongside five juices a day, we were given bentonite clay and psyllium husks to draw out toxins and give a 'full' feeling. Hunger - amazingly - wasn't an issue.
Was it worth it?
Sometimes hard work, but deeply restful and undeniably transformational, despite the low point on day three when I was in tears, weak with headaches and filled with thoughts of Pringles. I've done plenty of detoxes before, but Karuna was different because it really sets you up to succeed in changing habits long term.
Results
At the end, I was full of energy and my back pain of seven years had all but gone. There was an air of victory on the final night as we recounted our final weigh in successes (me: 8lbs; huge Irish businessman: an astonishing 23lbs). Three months later, I've kept off the weight and lost a further 10lbs. I'm eating a diet that's at least 75 per cent raw food, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds and exercising regularly. The sheer joy of pulling on my J Brands again after a year and a half, is as spiritual as it gets.
Best For...
Breaking the bad-eating cycle, reassessing lifestyle and losing weight as a by-products of detoxing. The majority of clients are women aged 27 to 40 who don't bounce back from nights out as quickly anymore.
Getting there
Karuna Detox Retreats, Cleave Hill, Devon. From £790 for seven nights, including selected treatment. Enquiries 0800 112 3033; karunadetox.com
Yeah Baby, June/July 2009
The Best of the Rest
A Real Spring Clean, Karuna Retreat
Work stress overwhelming, blood pressure boiling, food and drink consumption increasing. so when the chance came to give my body a break from the norm, I grabbed at it with both hands.
My home for a seven-day fast and detox was the Karuna Retreat in Devon (about 90 minutes from Newquay). The setting is beautiful: a luxurious farm with plasma TV and wifi internet. I learned about food - what's good, what's bad and what order to have them in. Our meals consisted of juices, which may not sound a lot, but after the first day you really don't feel hungry.
Our time was spent meditating, taking lessons in non-voilent communication, having treatments, walking, practicing yoga and watching films and television... and numerous colonics. It's amazing what's stuck in the body!
Karuna Retreats was started by Sho, an incredibly lovely, bubbly lady who gives daily talks on nutrition; guidance on how to live a longer healthier life, and spends plenty of time with each guest.
At the end of the week we broke our fast with a raw food diet and left with homemade recipes for healthy raw chocolate and smoothies filled with innumerable nutrients. Everyone was friendly and supportive and , I swear, when we walked out at the end we looked like we'd all been through a washing machine - eyes clear, skin shining, intestinal toxins removed. Everyone looked as if they'd lost years, not just pounds.
Full botique detox camps are like MOTs for your body and mind and, if I'm anything to go by, a revelation: I've recently entered a half-marathon - before I couldn't even make it to the chip shop without puffing.'
The Daily Telegraph, January 2009
New Year, New You, - Karuna Detox Retreat, Devon
I don't think I was thinking straight when I plumped for the Karuna Detox Retreat. Or rather, I said: "Sure, bring it on", without reading the fine print. So let me make it clear: on this Devonshire boot camp, you will eat nothing for six days. As in no food will pass your lips, save for a small glass of watered-down vegetable/fruit juice five times a day, along with a spoonful of volcanic ash and some digestive enzymes to propel the process of total detoxification, cleaning out your guts and setting you on a healthier path. Oh, and you have to perform up to three colonic irrigations a day on yourself.
Sounds a riot, doesn't it? Well, here's the thing: it's incredible. But first it's indescribably bad. Let me explain. I entered the retreat a bona fide sugar addict, more fond of carby stodge than your average public schoolboy. My skin was a mess, my moods theatrical... I needed serious help.
Set in acres of stunningly bleak countryside, the retreat itself takes place inside a cosy farmhouse and adjoining cottages where guests sleep, read, and stare hungrily out of windows at the plump pheasants stalking the garden. During the day there are classes on meditation and nutrition, and massage therapists are on hand to help pummel the toxins that are without doubt making their way from every orifice. Your hair and skin feel sticky, your breath is rank, the daily colonics something of a drama. And yet, after day three, the atmosphere among the 20 retreaters - drawn from absolutely all walks of life, but united in having felt sluggish and low, dogged by irritable bowel syndrome, insomnia and allergies for many years - was very much on the up. Slowly, each of us began to feel profoundly better, inside and out.
Hosted by American-Israeli organic food enthusiast Sho Moskowitz, Karuna's simple message is to think twice about what you eat in the real world. Period. Just stop stuffing your face with over-processed garbage. Halted in its tracks, my refined-sugar addiction waned and fell away, and has remained so since leaving the retreat over a month ago. I've lost nearly a stone and am keeping it off without effort, simply by being marginally more adult about grub most of the time. My family and friends are completely speechless. Karuna is hard-core, but genuinely transformative. I couldn't recommend it more highly.
Antonia Quirke
Ryan Air magazine Sept.-Oct. 2008
THE BIG FAST, by Bill Fence
There comes a time in every one's life when enough is enough, the body tells you it cannot survive on six hours sleep and the candle ends meet. I reached that point back in May. With work stress overwhelming, blood pressure boiling, and food and drink consumption rocketing, I decided the best way to get my life back on track was to put it through a full, fast and complete detoxification.
My task was to achieve a total physical reconditioning in just six weeks, to coincide with my 40th birthday. It was the only option, if I was ever to see my toes again. Right now, you may be thinking about running for the hills. Or, like me, you may seriously consider if you have reached that moment when you really do need to listen to your body.
i was more than ready to try out Karuna Detox Retreats in Devon for a seven day fast and detox. The diet consisted of fresh juices and the place itself was beautiful. A luxurious farm with private rooms, plasma-screen TVs and wireless internet. We learned all about food - whats good and bad, what order to eat foods in and what to mix them with.
Karuna Detox Retreats was started by Sho, an incredibly lovely and bubbly lady who ended up in Devon from New York, via Jerusalem, Japan, India and Spain. She gives daily talks on food, and guidance on how to live a longer, healthier life, and spends plenty of time with each guest.
Days were spent meditating, practicing yoga and watching TV. Exhausted by day, sleep was blissful at night.
And at the end of the week we left with home-made recipes for healthy chocolate and smoothies.
Everyone was friendly and supportive. Walking out at the end we looked like we'd all been through a washing machine - eyes clear, skin shining, toxins removed. We looked like we'd lost years, not just pounds.
I take Sho's advice - always listen to your body. If you get sick, it's your body telling you to stop and slow down. Avoid taking lots of pharmaceutical medicines, let fevers pass naturally and you'll be stronger. After fasting it all begins to make sense.
Now that I've reached my milestone birthday, I don't feel middle aged at all - I'm three stone lighter, my blood pressure is back to a healthy level and if only the economic downturn could pass my work stress would improve too. Full boutique detox camps are like MOTs for your body and mind, and a revelation in renewal. Just recently I have entered a half marathon, when before I couldn't even make it to the chip shop without puffing.
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