When I signed up for a "karma yoga" retreat in the tiny hamlet of Caudet in south-west France, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I imagined some gentle stretching, perhaps a bit of meditation on the benefits of karmic deeds. But I didn't connect it with spending a morning lugging sandstone building blocks up a hill.
The flyer that Tom, the retreat owner's son, thrust into my hand at a weekend camping party in the Sussex countryside a few weeks previously whilst my girlfriend and I were discussing our impending tour of Europe on a shoestring, understandably focused on the full-board, full-price yoga retreats offered at Radhua Caudet. But Tom's insistence that his mum, Danuta, and her husband Steve also invite people to stay on the cheap if they're prepared to work was enough to arouse our budget-conscious curiosity. All we knew was that €10 a day would cover us for whatever was in store.
Our satnav delivered us as far as the medieval church in the hilltop village of Marsolan – a near-vertical ascent that no 18-year-old campervan should have to endure. The absence of a single soul in the village had us hunting for mobile network coverage to call for assistance. Within minutes, Steve's friendly face poked out of a Citroën window and led us down unmarked lanes to their hamlet. Although it was evening, the early October sun was still strong as we sat in the old square taking in the view below – the sort that tempts you to break out the watercolours. Steve and Danuta upped sticks from Kent three years ago, and scoured Europe for a location to house their yoga centre before they found and bought four of the five derelict 18th-century farmhouses that make up the hamlet of Caudet, in the unfashionable Gers region of south-west France, an area which nevertheless boasts all the charm of its more anglicised neighbours.
We set up camp, our van door opening on to that five-star view, and although it wasn't strictly part of the deal, we were invited to dinner while the terms of our stay – and the concept of karma yoga – were explained. Danuta teaches the Radha tradition, encompassing Kundalini and hatha yoga, chanting, meditation, discussion – and karma yoga. Karma yoga uses the concept of selfless service as one of its core tools: physical work done in a meditative way, focusing on the process rather than the outcome. All the guests participate in it to greater or lesser extents, whether they are on the full-board, €450 retreat or, like us, trading four or five hours a day of karma yoga for free camping, while self-catering and paying €10 per day towards regular yoga tuition. Our fellow guests for the week had chosen the mid-range €25 per day option, with the same karma yoga tasks as us but with full-board accommodation in Steve and Danuta's farmhouse.
After a delicious, mostly home-grown, dinner, our three-day crash course in the ancient Indian Kundalini system began with an introduction to contemplative practice. Meditation and chanting were used to tease out our the burning questions we each held within – this was to be the focus of everything we did on the retreat. The fundamental difference to any other yoga I had experienced was that everything was done with notebook in hand as we scribbled down our resulting thoughts and feelings.
Frankly, we were both a little overwhelmed to be contemplating the meaning of our existence within three hours of arriving, but our hosts made sure we were happy taking on all the physical and spiritual activities. The warm, welcoming manner of the small group made for a comfortable, supportive environment so I rolled up my spiritual sleeves and got my metaphysical hands dirty.
The following morning began with a gentle hatha yoga session, easing us into the physically daunting karma yoga ahead – helping Steve move fallen sandstone building blocks from the land beneath their terrace back up to the house for their ongoing renovations. It sounded more like hard labour than yoga to me, but Steve's passion for renovating these beautiful sandstone farm buildings was contagious. Another session spent rotivating and manuring one of the two large vegetable plots ready for the next crop of potatoes was equally physically demanding – but in contemplative spirit from the morning's meditation, I was able to link the work back to the symbolism of turning the earth, rejuvenating the land and nurturing. Alas, this spiritual insight did nothing for my freshly calloused hands and aching back.
The morning before our departure, our karma yoga "treat" was to help shop for produce at the weekly market in nearby Lectoure, a handsome hilltop spa town. We bought cheap, locally grown figs, small, sweet new potatoes, artichokes and a cured Parma-like ham, yet all our budgeting efforts were ruined when we were lured into buying the most expensive yet deliciously sweet, nutty artisan cheese in the market by a man resplendent in beret and D'Artagnan moustache. In the spirit of our stay, as Danuta and Steve shared their dining table with us that evening, we shared our exorbitantly priced cheese and reflected on a most fulfilling experience.
• Radha Caudet (00 33 5 6268 8795) offers tailormade or scheduled five-day retreats and weekend workshops. Five-day retreats from €450. Weekend workshops from €200. Accommodation and full-board karma yoga, €25 per day. Camping and self-catering with karma yoga, €10 per day.
