Winter wellbeing
1st January 2026
From padel and plants to a new clifftop sauna, Harriet Cooper shares six ways to embrace wellness in 2026
… listen to plants at the new Biosonification Garden at Pensthorpe nature reserve. The permanent sound garden – reimagined from the 2025 RHS Hampton Court Flower Show Gold Award-winning The Alan Partridge Garden by Carey Garden Design Studio and sound artist Justin Wiggan – transforms the hidden electrical signals of plants into music. ‘Our aim was to create a space that blends art, science and wellbeing,’ explains Carey Garden Design Studio. ‘The garden invites people to slow down and discover that the living world is active, expressive and beautifully in tune with us.’
… embrace hot-cold therapy, with a view. The new clifftop sauna in the grounds of the Sea Marge Hotel in Overstrand offers a sweeping panorama across the beach and out to the North Sea. The private pod can accommodate up to six people and is available to non-residents for £50 an hour, as well as hotel guests – plus, there’s an outdoor cooldown area, hammock and a brisk shower. Can’t get enough of the vista? Make a stay of it in one of the hotel’s sea view lodges with its own private hot tub.
… recalibrate at The Orchard Treatment Rooms at Little Massingham Manor. This haven, tucked away in an orchard in the manor’s rolling grounds, invites you to unwind with one of their treatments. The holistic menu covers everything from soothing massages and skin-boosting facials to reflexology and physiotherapy. As manager and head therapist Kim Byrne says: ‘Step into the orchard, breathe deeply, and let us take care of the rest.’ Bliss.
… restore your inner harmony with Lie Down and Listen, which offers Tibetan bowl sound healing combined with a lying down classical concert experience in unique spaces. On 13, 14 and 15 January, founder Christina McMaster brings the experience to Norwich’s The Assembly House. Expect 90 minutes of Tibetan bowls and classical piano with Christina, gong resonances with Lousie Bugg and harpist Cecilia de Maria playing Metamorphosis by Philip Glass. Mattresses, cushions and blankets provided. £40.
… pick up a padel racket at Norfolk Padel in Fakenham. The club is set in a purpose-built building that’s lovely and warm throughout the winter, with two indoor courts (there’s also an outdoor court) and a high-spec golf simulator. The centre is now open from 6.30am and they’ve got a great coffee set-up, too. With various coaching sessions and clinics, it’s love all!
… book in for acupuncture with Alenka Mullin, who practices at Holt Treatment Rooms on Mondays (also Aylsham on Tuesday afternoons and Fridays, and Coltishall on Wednesdays). Alenka is trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture, using a combination of acupuncture needles, moxa, cupping and gua sha to help treat digestive health to stress. She also offers facial acupuncture, which is a collagen booster and can help with headaches, acne and TMJ disorders. Other treatments and therapies on offer at Holt include everything from osteopathy and physiotherapy to CBT.
