Booking form never asked a single thing about my health, am I being precious or is that a bad sign

So I have finally got as far as actually booking something, a week of yoga, "cleansing" food and a daily sauna and plunge circuit at a place that looks genuinely lovely. Went to book tonight and the whole form was name, address, room type, dietary preference (vegan / veggie / none) and card details. That was it. Nothing about health, nothing about medication, not even a tick box.

Thing is I have high blood pressure, medicated and fine, and I take something for my thyroid every morning on an empty stomach. Neither is a big deal day to day but the sauna and plunge thing gave me pause and the "on an empty stomach" bit might clash with whatever early sessions they do.

Part of me thinks great, they are not nosy, I do not have to explain myself to a stranger. The other part of me is going hang on, they are about to put me in a cold pool and feed me juice and they have not asked if my heart works?? Is a form like this normal for the industry or is it a tell. I genuinely do not know what the baseline is here.

Not normal for the good ones, in my experience. Every retreat I have rated afterwards had a proper questionnaire, some of them annoyingly long, injuries, conditions, meds, pregnancy, mental health, the lot. The two that asked nothing were also the two that were basically a hotel with a yoga mat. Might be coincidence but I doubt it.

The cold water side of this I do know about. Any decent cold water place I have been to makes you fill in a health declaration before you go anywhere near the water and they ask about heart and blood pressure by name, because the first ten seconds in the cold is when your pulse and pressure spike. A place running a plunge circuit as part of the programme with no health question at all is either new or careless. Not a scam necessarily. But careless around cold water is not something I would pay for.

Also the sauna to plunge switch is the bit that gets people, not the sauna on its own. Worth knowing.

BurntOutAt38 said:

they are about to put me in a cold pool and feed me juice and they have not asked if my heart works??

You are not being precious. A retreat that runs a heat and cold circuit and a restrictive menu, and asks nothing about the health of the people it is putting through them, is showing you a gap in its own process, and that gap is a fair thing to weigh against the nice photographs.

To set the baseline you asked for: an intake or health questionnaire before arrival is standard practice at well-run retreats, and its absence is one of the more reliable early signs of a place that has not thought about who it is hosting. Reputable operations ask about heart and blood-pressure conditions, diabetes, pregnancy, recent surgery or injury, medication and its timing, allergies and mental health, and they ask because the answers change what they offer you. That is not nosiness. It is the difference between a programme that adapts and one that runs the same timetable over everyone.

On the two things you mentioned, in general terms only. Heat and cold both place real demand on the heart and circulation: a sauna can cause dehydration and a drop in blood pressure, and cold immersion triggers a cold shock response in the first seconds that sharply raises heart rate and blood pressure, which is exactly why anyone with a heart or blood-pressure condition is advised to get medical advice before doing either, and why the hot-to-cold contrast should always be optional. Medication taken on an empty stomach at a fixed time is a scheduling question the retreat needs to know about so early sessions and mealtimes can be arranged around it, not the other way round. Whether the circuit is safe for you specifically, with your blood pressure and your medication, is not something this forum or the retreat can decide; that is your own doctor's call, and it is worth a short appointment before any money moves.

Practically, I would write to them with both conditions and the medication timing and ask, in plain terms, what they will adapt. A well-run retreat answers specifically and often asks a follow-up question or two. A vague reassurance, or the suggestion that a cleanse works better if you skip a tablet, ends the conversation. The wellness retreats with a health condition guide covers what to declare and what a good reply looks like, and the heat and cold cautions are set out in saunas and cold plunge. Keep your prescriptions exactly as normal for the whole stay, whatever the programme says.

From the teaching side: I would far rather know about a bad back or a heart condition on a form than find out mid class. A place that does not ask is making my job harder and your week worse. That form is not for them, it is for you.

Update. Emailed them with the blood pressure, the thyroid tablet and the empty stomach thing. Took five days to reply and the reply was one line: "our programme is suitable for all fitness levels" and a smiley. Did not address the medication at all. Meanwhile my GP fitted me in for ten minutes, said the yoga and the sauna in moderation were fine for me, and that she would rather I skipped the cold plunge given the blood pressure. So I now know more about what I can do than the retreat does, which is a bit backwards. Booked somewhere else that sent me a four page questionnaire before it would even confirm a room. Felt like a good sign this time rather than an annoying one.