The first in a series of retreats for anyone hoping to make 2026 their “best year” is launching next month.

The programme is a collaboration between four women from creative and wellbeing backgrounds: Rachel Simons, Niamah Cann, Jessica Burns and Alicia Tucker.

Each brings a different perspective, with the emphasis on making time for reflection.

The programme, designed as a small-group retreat, includes two sessions focused on identifying what participants want to release and what they hope to take with them into the year ahead.

“As four female entrepreneurs, we understand the importance of slowing down to realign with our purpose,” said Ms Simons and Ms Cann, the hosts of Your Best Year — A Manifest & Joy Retreat 2026.

“[The retreat] is a space to pause, breathe and consciously create what comes next — both personally and professionally.”

The idea started with Ms Simons, whose company Holistic Bermuda offers “creative experiences, sip-and-paint events and art classes”.

“I was thinking a lot about the pressure of the new year — how you go for these rigid resolutions that are often destined to fail from the outset. I wanted something more focused on presence: a form of visual journalling, similar to vision boarding but more personal because it happens in a journal format.”

Ms Cann, a school counsellor and owner of the Bermuda-based gift brand La Petite Soirée, was just as enthusiastic.

“She's also very interested in affirmations and manifestation. We just got chatting about this idea for this project and it just grew from there, really,” Ms Simons said.

“I tend to do very hands-on practical elements. This has got that hands-on element to it but it's also a bit broader in terms of the intentions behind it — kind of setting out tools for a really good 2026 based on what you want that to look like.”

Together they decided to host four “luxury, half-day retreats” with the help of “like-minded female entrepreneurs”.

“The intention is to link each retreat to the season. The January one has a clear sense of new beginnings, while the Easter retreat will focus more on creating and reshaping. We respond naturally to the seasons, just as we do to the weather, and the idea is to work with that — meeting people where they are at different times of the year,” Ms Simons said.

“Really it's me and Ni. It’s our project, it's our baby. But what we were trying to do is pull in like-minded female entrepreneurs. It’s the power of collaboration. I mean, this sort of an idea on my own is not feasible but when you can pull in people that have these different skill sets, it is.”

Ms Tucker, owner of Tuck Shop, will provide the catering at The Retreat House, a Southampton property run by Ms Burns.

The pair shared a clear sense of the atmosphere Ms Cann and Ms Simons wanted to create.

“I think that's how we want to work in the next year — small businesses supporting small businesses. Pulling in those powerful collaborations. And that might look slightly different with each project [based on] what we want to create and who might be good to pull in to work on it.”

The visual journalling, they felt, was a good fit as it offered “a creative experience to put the building blocks into place” for a successful year.

“It’s a bit like a collage as an activity. We’re also going to build in the symbolism of different visuals and images and what you might include on there.

“There will also be some less structured time, like the afternoon tea service provided by Tuck Shop. Then when you’re not in session, you've also got this beautiful outdoor setting with a gorgeous pool and a moongate in front of it. It's a very kind of reinvigorating space is how I describe the setting,” Ms Simons said.

“We are curating an experience that is authentic in the way that the pieces that are in it definitely just feel like a good structure for how to set things out for the year ahead.”

The event will end with a sound bath led by Sinead Simmons.

“What I’m also really tapping into is this urge that people have to just disconnect a little bit from the digital.

“I think people really want meaningful experiences where they're physically present and connecting with people. I think that's becoming more important than it ever has been — [being able to be] beyond that space of the notification, the screen. That's definitely a trend worldwide, a need to show up and connect physically in the space and this is one of the ways that we’re addressing that.”

• Your Best Year — A Manifest & Joy Retreat 2026 takes place Sunday, January 11 from 1.30pm until 6pm. For more information visit shorturl.at/c3Iwq or send an e-mail to holisticbermuda@gmail.com