Charlotte Church launches wellness programme to help people 'connect with nature'

• ITV Wales Journalist Siôn Jenkins reports

Charlotte Church has launched a wellness programme which aims to "help people connect with who they are and why they are here".

Song of the Soul combines ancient traditions and her personal experiences with sound to help people reconnect with nature.

The Welsh-singer songwriter said she believes a lot of people have "lost connection... connection to self, connection to others, connection to nature".

"But also connecting spiritually with something more, something bigger."

The programme lasts for five days and four nights at The Dreaming retreat, in the Elan Valley, and is led by the singer herself.

Anyone who goes can expect forest bathing, breath work, silent discos to "dance up the dawn", chanting, and even a power ballad night.

By the end of the five days, punters will have even written their own folk song.

Charlotte says she felt the need to create the programme because she "sees the suffering that people are going through".

"A lot of people are really missing that meaning and purpose," she said.

But she was also motivated by her "psychologically tricky" experiences in the spotlight as a child star.

She said: "There have been times in my life where I was so observed that I was always in protection mode, and I wasn't feeling free to be vulnerable."

She was afraid "people will say 'she's a weirdo'.. and people do, but I am a weirdo!"

Nature is at the heart of the experience, something Charlotte believes "has a way of freeing ourselves."

Part of the programme will be "singing to the land" as "a way to get people out of their head, out of their ego, out of their insecurity.

"When you're singing to a tree, or to a bee, it has a way of getting us back in that childlike state, of play and curiosity and openness, rather than full of adult stresses and difficulty."

Charlotte hopes people will leave Song of the Soul "feeling like they have a real sense of self and where they're going".

She said: "I want them to feel excited, mischievous, and joyful."

Prices start from £800 per person.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know…