Could a star-bathing retreat help calm your frazzled mind?

From the Yorkshire Moors in England to the South African wilderness, star bathing is emerging as a transformative wellness trend – offering awe, calm and a cosmic reset.

I lie in an empty Victorian bathtub on heather moorland in the Yorkshire Moors in England's north. Above me, more and more stars appear as the sky slowly darkens from blue to violet to navy. Beside me, in her own bathtub, my star-bathing guide Gemma leads a meditation.

"Allow yourself to be awed by the incredible sky view that you're witnessing," she says softly. "Appreciate that we are here, right now, on this beautiful evening. Focus gently on the sky… and your breath. Just be." 

I feel cold and self-conscious. I am trying to suspend the part of me that is deeply sceptical because I desperately want an escape from the anxiety that has plagued the past three years of my life. A search for relief has led me to wild swimming, drumming, yoga and now to star-bathing – an emerging wellness practice that is being offered in hotels and retreats around the world.

Star bathing is not about identifying constellations, it's about losing yourself in the night sky; and a growing body of research suggests that it can help calm the nervous system, increase happiness and foster a sense of perspective.

So here I am, wrapped in blankets, on a weekend of stargazing run by Broughton Sanctuary, a 16th-Century historic house and collection of cottages located at the foothills of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, a designated International Dark Sky Reserve. There is a strong focus on the healing power of nature here – the 3,000-acre grounds are home to one of the UK's largest rewilding projects – and star bathing is just one of many activities designed to bring guests closer to the natural world.

The meditation ends and silence falls on the moors, broken by the distant hoot of an owl. I look up, trying not to think about the stressful week I've had. As the sky continues to darken, new stars appear as though by magic. My breathing slows. Suddenly I feel something shift. I realise that I am not just looking up at the universe, I am part of the universe. It is impossible not to feel awed by the vastness and beauty of the night sky above me.

The psychological benefits of experiencing awe are well documented – it has been proven to lower heart rate, increase the presence of oxytocin and reduce inflammation – and it's one of the reasons that stargazing is so good for our mental health.

"Experiencing awe regularly is deeply beneficial for our mental wellbeing because it helps us to feel connected to something bigger than ourselves," says Mark Westmoquette, an astrophysicist and yoga and meditation teacher who runs mindful stargazing retreats across the UK and Europe. "As we look up at the night sky and become aware of our place within it, that sense of wonder and awe can really shift our perspective around who and what we are."

While the mental health benefits of being in nature are well documented, it's only recently that researchers have begun to study the effects of being in a nocturnal natural environment.

In February 2024, a new Night Sky Connectedness Index was published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology. It showed that a greater connection to the night sky is positively related to a person's mental health and happiness. The Office of Astronomy for Development, a joint project of the International Astronomical Union and the South African National Research Foundation, is currently researching the potential of using astronomy as a tool to improve vulnerable people's mental wellbeing, with encouraging results.

At the end of our star-bathing session, Gemma, me and the other two participants drink hot chocolate and then make our way down the hillside. We can't take our eyes off the sky, which becomes more and more dazzling the longer we look at it.

The following night, after a day spent exploring the grounds, relaxing in the spa and wild swimming in a freezing cold former reservoir on the estate, I take part in a stargazing session that is part of the annual Dark Skies Festival. After eating a two-course vegetarian meal around a bonfire in the "fire temple" – a sheltered wooden structure set in pretty woodland – a group of about 20 of us walk to Broughton's kitchen garden where astronomer Chris Higgins is waiting with a powerful telescope.

Higgins talks us through various constellations and planets, and we take it in turns to look at them through the telescope. I am awestruck by the sight of Venus, which appears like a crescent moon, as well Jupiter with its four moons and its light and dark bands.

The group bonds quickly – our natural reserve seems to disappear as we ooh and aah at the cosmos. It's a freezing night, but no one wants to go inside. It feels like a gift – this clear, beautiful night – and we can't stop staring at the sky. After a while, I let go of trying to understand the science and just gaze up, letting the cool light of the stars calm me. I love the idea that while almost everything on our planet has changed since the beginning of humanity, the beauty of the night sky has remained the same. I am staring up at the same view my ancestors marvelled at, and there is something deeply grounding about that.

I am hooked. When I return home, I start searching for star-bathing retreats. At the top of my wish-list is luxury off-grid retreat centre Bliss & Stars, located two hours from the nearest village in South Africa's Cederberg Wilderness Area. Launched in 2019 by Daria and Heine Rasmussen, it offers three-night star-bathing retreats, featuring guided stargazing sessions, nature immersion, mindfulness, breathwork under the stars and night hikes. 

Daria tells me that many visitors have profound experiences gazing at the night sky. "One guest, numbed by years of trauma, experienced a breakthrough while observing Saturn's rings, describing it as 'awe as exorcism' that rebooted his capacity for joy," she says. "Another guest, a grieving mother, found solace in our wilderness night ventures and naked-eye stargazing, saying: 'It felt like the universe was mourning with me.'"

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Also high on my bucket list is Chile's Atacama Desert, which features the world's darkest, clearest skies. Elqui Domos Hotel has been designed specifically for appreciating these pristine night skies – it features geodesic rooms with retractable roofs to allow guests to look straight up from their bed. Hotel Ranga in Iceland, meanwhile, features a state-of-the-art observatory, and offers the chance to take part in mindful stargazing from outdoor hot tubs fed by geothermally heated water.

In the Scottish Highlands, Cairngorm Excursions runs star-bathing parties, bringing people together for a night of stargazing far from any light pollution, with hot drinks, traditional stovies (a Scottish dish made from meat and potatoes), blankets and log seating. This being Scotland, the evenings also feature a gin, whisky and rum sampling experience put on by a local distillery.

Aboriginal Australians are thought to be the world's first astronomers, and a growing number of experiences offer visitors a chance to learn about Indigenous astronomy. Aboriginal-owned Ngurrangga Tours offers an overnight trip in Western Australia's Millstream Chichester National Park with an evening of camping, exploring the wilderness and learning about Indigenous star stories. In Sydney, Fantasea Cruising offers an Aboriginal Sky Dreaming Cruise on the harbour, with an Aboriginal astronomer sharing stories of the Sun, Moon and stars that have been passed down by ancestors. 

For now, I go out into my Bristol garden on clear nights and lie down on a blanket. The sky is nowhere near as dark as it was in Yorkshire, and light pollution obscures many of the stars, but I find that I can still slip into that now familiar sense of peace.

Perhaps it doesn't matter how many stars I can see. As Westmoquette says: "Even if you can only see one star – that light's been travelling across the universe for hundreds and hundreds of years to hit your eyeball at that precise moment. Against all the odds, you're seeing that ray of light. That means something."

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