The retreats feature two full days of coaching, and they’re deliberately very intense. Each day begins with a grounding meditation led by Jessica on the terrace if the weather is fine, or inside if not, which Jessica can lead if you’ve never meditated before. Then there’s a four hour coaching session in the morning, followed by a few hours of downtime to digest what has gone on, which can be spent walking the local mule paths or just relaxing – these gaps are deliberately built in by Jessica to enable her clients to ‘get out of their heads’. A shorter follow up session takes place before supper every evening. As it is just the two of you, Jessica can vary the times according to your mood and energy levels.

During her daily sessions with you Jessica dips in and out of an impressive tool kit of techniques she has developed over the years to help you brainstorm ideas, get clarity on your points of confusion and work out a practical way forward. Many of the ah-ha’s come through the conversations you’ll have with her and she might do a ‘values test’, so you can get clarity on what your life values are and which of those you might not currently be honouring.

She might also use The Passion Test, a method for finding your passions and purpose in life devised by Janet Bray Attwood and Chris Attwood which we found particularly funny, clever and revelatory on our retreat with Jessica. Or Jessica will draw on the The Work of Byron Katie, a form of meditation designed to raise your awareness of your thought processes in any situation.

The retreats are open to everyone, of any age and from all walks of life, but tend to attract professional men and women with a personal or professional issue they want to deal with. Although Jessica tends to work with the bigger issues in life, such as whether to leave your job or relationship, or checking you’re on the right path in life, within that you might need help deciding something detailed, such as what to say at a business talk, or how to handle certain people in your life. Nothing is excluded and she asks you set an intention before your arrival so she can ensure that together you cover everything.

You’ll have one massage with a good local therapist included on the first evening – more can be booked in advance. During your retreat you’ll also visit one of the famous Alpujarra white villages and have the opportunity to buy local crafts and foods. Just a couple of minutes from the house are small meadows terracing the hillsides, and an era – a magical medieval threshing circle – ideal places to sit for quiet meditation and calm thinking, drawing or painting, or doing nothing at all.

Walking solo is a super way to digest everything during this retreat, and from the house or B&B you can walk out on rocky, Moorish tracks through the mountains and enjoy plenty of flowers, fig orchards and mulberry trees. Natural springs pepper the tracks where you can fill your water bottles. Some walks take you along the Trevelez river valley, others up and over the ridge from where you can enjoy spectacular views of the Sierra Nevada’s snow-capped peaks.