Frequently Asked Questions

A whole day that we design and run, rather than a set of activities you book. We bring together food, drinks, guided workshops and full styling, and put them in a deliberate order.

Every day is built around three things — energy, focus and calm — and follows an arc from activation, through focus, into grounding. That is what makes it feel like an experience rather than a series of sessions, and it is why the food and drinks are timed to the programme rather than simply provided alongside it.

Of course you can, and plenty of people do.

The difference is that we design the whole day rather than filling slots in it. What happens when. How the room changes. What people eat and drink, and at which point. When the energy needs lifting and when it needs bringing down.

The practitioners are not separate bookings arriving one after another. They are part of one day, briefed together and working to the same plan. That is the bit that is difficult to assemble yourself, and it is the difference between a nice yoga class at lunchtime and a day people remember.

A full day runs seven to eight hours including downtime.

People arrive to a drink and something light, and the morning opens with movement — breathwork and a movement flow. Breakfast follows, then a mindset and confidence session. Lunch is a wellness buffet or bowl food. The afternoon moves into a creative workshop, then cacao and intention setting, and the day closes with a sound bath and a final grounding bowl before people head home.

Drinks run throughout, matched to the moment.

Two hours, half day, full day or an overnight retreat.

The two hour experience is a reset or an activation designed to slot into a working day. The half day, our Core Package, includes movement or breathwork, one guided workshop, food, drinks, full styling, set up and staffing. The full day runs seven to eight hours with three bowls across the day, unlimited drinks and three workshops. The overnight retreat adds an evening — a grounding supper, a fire circle and cacao session, a sound bath and quiet time, with a closing session the following morning.

Absolutely, and we do it often. Our experiences are frequently woven into existing team days — brainstorming sessions, strategy workshops, leadership off-sites and visioning days. We add structure, flow and wellbeing support without disrupting what you have already built.

An early morning session before people start, or an end of day reset, works just as well. Both are among the most cost effective ways to work with us, because nobody has to give up a working day.

Almost any. Large or small is not really the question — space, budget and what you want from the day are.

For a bigger team we will often split into groups and run sessions in parallel, so one group is in a creative workshop while the other does yoga or martial arts, then they swap. That works in one large space or across two rooms, and it usually makes the day better rather than just possible.

Tell us your team size and where you would like to hold it, and we will tell you honestly what will work.

Yes. Alongside standalone experiences we run sessions built into existing team programmes, monthly or quarterly, and bespoke days designed around key moments in your calendar.

Yes. Most of our work is corporate, but we also design private retreats and celebrations, and we work with sports teams and high performance groups.

They fall into three strands.

Movement — Yoga & Mindful Movement, Martial Arts & Embodied Confidence, and Zumba & Energising Movement.

Mindset — Self-Defence & Personal Confidence, Nutrition for Focus & Performance, Breathwork & Meditation, and Team Intention & Visioning.

Creative — Ayurvedic Scrubs & Remedies, Tea Blending, Candle Making, and Lino Printing.

Nobody needs to be fit or flexible. Our yoga and mindful movement sessions are suitable for all abilities and all spaces, and our martial arts work is non-contact throughout — it develops balance, coordination, awareness and confidence rather than testing anyone's fitness.

If anyone has an injury or a health condition, just let us know in advance and we will adapt. Our practitioners modify sessions as a matter of course, and nobody will be singled out for doing something differently.

No, and we would never push it. People can step back from any part of the day and stay in the room.

In practice the sessions people are most reluctant about are usually the ones they talk about afterwards — but that only happens if nobody feels cornered into it.

It is a fair reaction and a common one, and it is the reason experience matters here more than anywhere else.

A room of slightly sceptical colleagues is a hard room. A good practitioner reads it, adjusts, and brings the quieter people in without making a thing of it. That is what we hire for. It is also why the creative and mind workshops — tea blending, lino printing, self-defence, nutrition — often land better with a resistant group than anything that looks obviously like wellness.

Something comfortable they can move in. Sports gear is ideal for yoga and self-defence, and yoga is usually practised in bare feet.

If the session sits inside a working day, do encourage people to bring a change of clothes with them. It makes a surprising difference to how willingly everyone joins in. We will always tell you in advance what a particular programme needs.

Breathwork is guided breath, meditation and sound. It is practical rather than mystical, and one of the most useful things we teach, because people take it back to their desks — we will show you how to use the breath as a reset during an ordinary working day.

A sound bath is a guided session using sound to help everyone settle. People lie or sit comfortably and listen. There is nothing to do and nothing to be good at, which is part of why it works so well at the end of a full day.

Both are gentle, and both can be adapted.

No, though it does come from a genuine tradition. Cacao has been used ceremonially for centuries and is traditionally described as a heart opener — a way of gathering a group and marking a moment, rather than simply having a drink.

We serve it warm and unsweetened in the late afternoon, and the ritual around it matters as much as what is in the cup. Intention setting is the practical half: naming what you want to take forward, out loud, in front of the people you work with. The same approach is used in high performance sport.

Because it does something the other sessions do not. Our self-defence work develops awareness, boundary setting and confidence through simple principles, and it is non-contact. People leave standing differently. It is consistently one of the most popular sessions we run with corporate groups.

Yes. Each package includes a set number and you choose which, across movement, mind and creative. We will advise on what works well together, because the balance of the day matters more than any single session.

Ayurveda describes three doshas, and the principle is to balance whichever is dominant rather than add to it. We combine that with modern nutritional science.

• Kapha is heavy and slow, so Kapha-balancing food is light, warm and energising
• Pitta is hot and sharp, so Pitta-balancing food is cooling and calming
• Vata is light and scattered, so Vata-balancing food is warm and grounding

Which is why breakfast energises, lunch cools things down after the busiest part of the day, and the last thing anyone eats is warm and grounding. The food is part of the programme rather than something served alongside it.

Pick-your-dosha buffet stations, seasonal breakfasts, lunches and dinners, grab-and-go wellness bowls, and functional snacks.

Service formats include standing buffets, bowl food, sharing feasts, outdoor BBQ and campfire style dining. All our menus are plant-based, seasonal and properly styled.

Always. Every menu is built from scratch and is plant-based, so most requirements are designed in rather than substituted at the last minute. There are plenty of gluten free options, and we can work entirely nut free where you need us to.

Do let us know in advance and we will make sure everyone is properly looked after. Allergens are listed on your event sheet, carried through to the delivery note and to the team on the day, and every dish is labelled with a menu card, so anyone can check for themselves.

We cannot guarantee an environment entirely free from any given allergen, as we work in your building alongside other food. If anyone has a severe allergy, please tell us directly and we will talk it through with you properly.

Not necessarily. We have a range of options we can bring with us, from portable ovens and barbecues to hot cupboards, and for smaller budgets we can transport food hot and transfer it into hot holding dishes on arrival.

We will need to know your power supply and work from there, and we may adjust the menu to suit the facilities — some offices do not allow certain equipment. If you are outside we can source generators or gas ovens.

Cold formats are a genuine option too, not a fallback. Dosha boxes, grazing and bowl food arrive ready and can look more beautiful than anything hot.

Yes. It is designed for a working day, not for lightness for its own sake. Nobody leaves hungry and nobody hits a three o'clock wall.

Our four signature drinks, each with its own character and its own moment in the day.

• Earth – chamomile, lavender, rose, mango, oat milk, turmeric & cinnamon
• Fire – ginger, chilli & passion fruit
• Air – cucumber, pear, mint, lime & coconut water
• Ether – kombucha with rhubarb, hibiscus, berries & apple cider vinegar

Nothing alcoholic is served at a Free Spirit bar, everything is made by us, and every drink is gluten free.

We work with adaptogenic herbs and functional mushrooms — ashwagandha, cordyceps, matcha and lion's mane. They are offered as droplets at the bar and added as we pour, rather than mixed in beforehand, so people can take theirs or leave it.

There is one for each element: ashwagandha into Earth, cordyceps into Fire, matcha into Air and lion's mane into Ether, each chosen to suit the character of the drink. Full ingredient lists are always available.

Yes. Our food and drinks can be booked without the workshops, including as a catering option for meetings, conferences and away days.

There is no honest per person price, and we would rather explain why than give you a figure that turns out to be wrong.

A practitioner's fee covers their session, their travel and their set up, and it is much the same whether eight people attend or twenty five. What genuinely moves the cost is the length of the day, how many practitioners are needed, whether your space has a kitchen and easy access, whether the food is hot or cold, whether drinks are a staffed bar or prepared in advance, and whether we are using your office or sourcing a venue.

All prices are exclusive of VAT.

Tell us your budget and what matters to you, and we will design to it.

Yes, and please do tell us if you have a figure in mind. We would far rather build something lovely inside a real number than send you a proposal you were never going to approve.

A smaller budget means different choices, not a lesser day, and most of those choices are invisible to the people in the room. Cold dosha boxes instead of a hot buffet. Beautifully made welcome drinks instead of a bar running all day. One exceptional practitioner rather than three.

There is no fixed minimum spend. There is a practical floor, because a practitioner's fee is what it is regardless of numbers, but we would rather look at what you have than publish a figure that would be wrong for most people.

Our packages are designed to be complete rather than a starting point you add to.

The Core Package, a half day, includes our food, our drinks, full styling and set up with mats and table styling, one guided workshop of an hour, and event facilitation and staffing. The full day includes three bowls across the day, unlimited drinks, full staffing and styling, and three workshops.

Nothing is hidden — everything is itemised in the quotation, and all prices are exclusive of VAT. Three things are worth knowing. Staffing is estimated and charged by the hour, so if the day overruns there will be extra, and if it finishes early you are refunded. We charge for taxis for any team working past midnight, and that is estimated in the proposal. And we may hold a small refundable amount against costs that can only arise on the day — additional consumption beyond what was ordered, staffing overtime, or breakages. If none of those happen, it comes back to you in full.

A deposit of 25% secures your date and comes off your total.

The deposit is refundable. If you cancel or postpone, it is applied against anything due under our cancellation terms and the balance is returned to you. If there is nothing to deduct, you get all of it back.

Full payment is required seven working days before the event, by bank transfer. Bookings made within ten working days of the event are payable in full at confirmation.

Keep us informed as numbers move, but we need final figures 72 hours in advance. Once the food has been ordered numbers cannot be reduced, though we can usually accommodate late increases.

Two hours before and around an hour afterwards for most events, more for larger ones. Where possible, being able to set up the day before is enormously useful and often reduces the cost.

If things run over on the day we will be flexible and it will not affect the food or the experience. Our team know that timings are estimates.

Yes, we are always happy to travel, and we love organising away retreats — we have places we can recommend for them.

Travelling further afield does carry a cost, in expenses and in time, for the whole team. Across a larger group or a two day programme it is absorbed easily and barely registers. For a half day with a handful of people it can feel disproportionate. We will always be upfront about it early so you can decide.

Yes, and some of it makes a real difference.

Tell us early whether there is an oven, a lift and somewhere a vehicle can stop. If your venue can take a delivery the day before and hold things for collection the day after, we can usually fit it into an existing run rather than paying for a timed slot. If furniture can be moved before we arrive rather than on the morning, that is time nobody is paying for. And confirming numbers early lets us buy properly rather than at short notice.

We can work fairly last minute and it is always worth asking, but honestly the more notice you give us the more you get.

Our practitioners are specialists with their own commitments, so when a date is in the diary early we can hold exactly the right people for it. At short notice we are working with whoever is free, which means putting something good together rather than the ideal thing.

We are used to working flexibly and to fairly last minute bookings, so we will always try to move a date rather than lose it. If we can agree a new date within six months, payments normally transfer across in full, subject to availability./p>

If you do need to cancel, we charge in two parts, because our costs commit at different times.

Food, drink, staffing and styling are not ordered until shortly before your event, so with more than 72 hours' notice there is generally nothing to pay for any of it. That is where we can be genuinely flexible.

Practitioner fees work differently. Our practitioners reserve the date and turn down other work as soon as it is confirmed, so those fees are charged on a sliding scale from 30 days out. They are always shown separately on your quotation so you can see exactly what that applies to.

Your deposit is applied to whatever is due, and anything left over is returned.

For larger events we sometimes need to book a chef or additional specialists further ahead. Where that applies we will tell you at the time and confirm it in your quotation.

Full details, including the scale, are in our terms and conditions.

Yes, and transforming a workspace is something we particularly enjoy. We use styling, lighting, scent and layout to make a meeting room or open plan floor feel genuinely different. We will look at your space in advance and tell you honestly what will and will not work.

For mat based sessions like yoga, allow roughly 2.5 to 3 square metres per person — a standard mat with clear space around it. As a guide, a clear 50 square metre room comfortably takes around 18 to 20 people. Not everything needs that much: breathwork, meditation, martial arts and self-defence are done standing or seated, and creative workshops just need table space.

Beyond that, somewhere to serve food and drinks, and reasonable access for delivery. The practical things worth checking early are your power supply and whether there is an oven, whether furniture can be moved before we arrive, whether there is a lift, where a vehicle can stop, and whether anything can be stored overnight.

If your room will not take everyone at once, we will usually split the group and run two sessions in parallel.

We source venues across London and the surrounding counties, from light filled studios to heritage houses set in beautiful grounds. We also have places we particularly recommend for residential retreats.

Of course, and we would recommend it. A site visit lets us see the facilities and carry out a risk assessment at the same time.

It also matters for the things that do not show up on a floor plan — flights of stairs, how far equipment has to be carried, where a vehicle can stop. Those affect both time and the number of hands needed, and it is far better to know beforehand.

Usually not, and it comes up more often than you would think. We can give the venue our insurances, risk assessments and references from other venues, which is normally all they need, and if we are new to a venue we carry out a full site visit and risk assessment beforehand.

Occasionally a venue charges a fee for suppliers outside their list, so it is worth asking them early.

Yes, and it suits a great deal of what we do. Movement, breathwork, nature walks and reflection all work beautifully outside, and many of our partner venues have grounds. Our food formats include outdoor BBQ and campfire style dining.

If you are thinking of a public space rather than private grounds, do check with the local council first, as many restrict gatherings above a certain size and some do not permit structures or even folding tables. We will always plan a wet weather alternative.

We have 5 stars for our hygiene rating, and all our team hold hygiene certificates suitable to their role.

We use seasonal, sustainable and ethical ingredients, sourced locally where possible. Our menus are entirely plantbased, which does a good deal of the work on its own.

We also only order food that has been pre-paid by the client, so waste is minimal. What is left we separate into compostable food, general waste, recycling and oil, and we choose environmentally friendly packaging where we can.

All our suppliers provide references, trading standards forms and hygiene certificates, and we hold meetings and site visits before working with anyone new.

Free Spirit brings together specialists in luxury events, catering, nutrition, yoga, fitness, breathwork and immersive styling. Our team includes:

• Yoga instructors
• Fitness trainers
• Level 5 Nutritionists
• Breathwork & meditation guides
• Wellbeing workshop facilitators
• Immersive stylists and event designers

Every experience is delivered by qualified professionals and unified through Free Spirit's creative direction, so it feels like one considered day rather than a series of separate bookings.

We will tell you who is leading your day, and you will usually meet them before it. Occasionally a practitioner becomes unavailable and we substitute someone equally qualified — we will always let you know.

We are fully insured, and we are happy to provide insurance certificates, risk assessments and references to your venue or procurement team on request.

Our practitioners hold current DBS checks where their work requires it. If DBS clearance is a condition of your booking, tell us early and we will confirm it for everyone attending.

It starts with a discovery call — your team, your objectives, your space, your budget and the moment in your calendar you are designing around.

From there our event manager will come and see your space, walk you through what is possible in it and carry out a risk assessment at the same time. If your own space is not right, we will help you find a venue. We will then propose a programme with a shape, a menu and drinks matched to it, refine it with you, confirm practitioners and venue, and handle every element of delivery on the day.

You will have one point of contact throughout. We do not run free taster sessions, but between the call and the site visit you will have a very clear picture of the day before you commit to anything.

Same legal entity, different brands. Free Spirit is a trading name of PenniBlack LDN Ltd, and both sit within the PenniBlack Collective — a group of brands working as one across design, food, staffing, wellness and experience, sharing insurance and standards.

What they do is quite separate. PenniBlack is a creative catering and events company. Free Spirit designs wellness experiences. They are run as distinct brands with their own teams and their own way of working.

The advantage is that if your day needs event design, catering, or bar and front of house staffing alongside the wellness programme, it can all be arranged together — one standard, one conversation, one invoice.