Devon yoga retreat reflections

It's a week now since we were heading down to our Devon Yoga Retreat at Ashley Court where we spent a wonderful weekend. 

It's only 1.5 hours from Bristol where we discovered this delightful country estate run by Tara Fraser and Nigel Jones. The weather was wonderful, the food they put on for us was fresh, delicious, home made and some of it home grown! The house is a delightful restoration project for them with a story behind every painting and bath tub. The attention to detail, the great location and beyond everything else, the amazing group of women who came along. 

10 wonderful guests came and it was a very special weekend. The theme over the weekend was nourishment, to nourish ourselves at all levels.
 
We enjoyed nourishing, slow yoga practices and meditative pauses, nourishing food in the wonderful backdrop of Ashley Court in the Devon hills where the sights, sounds and smells were nourishment in themselves.

Slow down

We took the opportunity to slow down and really give space to our yoga practice and to go deeper. Each practice was longer than a usual class giving more time to delve, spend time exploring poses or pauses for longer and gaining familiarity with the ‘health mantra’ to cultivate our health and nourishment.

Nourish

​It could sound self-indulgent to spend a weekend like this, but truly it isn’t. Each of us needs nourishment so that we can show up in our everyday lives with more energy, kindness, patience and good humour and do all the things we need to do better. The hope is that periods of deeper practice rekindle the love of regular practice to inspire you to continue to nourish yourself regularly, to show up on your mat and avoid running on empty for too long.

Breath

The interest and discovery of breath was a real take-away for many. The workshop seemed to gravitate towards this through the interest of everyone there. It was so great to have time to experiment with the effects of breathwork in our practice and to understand how it can profoundly change our state and effect how we feel energetically, physically and mentally.  
 
Working with the breath takes patience, I remember working with a breathing technique for 5 years (!) before I finally got it and was able to gain the benefits from it. Yes it was worth it! It can be such a useful and vital aspect of ourselves to cultivate.
 

Results

The feedback from the weekend has been wonderful.

“Beautiful house, gardens, great food and very friendly. I enjoyed it so much and learned so much about the breath which I think has transformed my practice and I'll take forwards. I loved how relaxed it all was and a perfect gentle rhythm to the days. Thank you so much.”

“An outstanding weekend”

“A fabulous weekend. Feeling relaxed and grounded. Thank you.”

Continue

I’m already looking forward to the next one and will be planning it soon. Watch this space as the last one has been fully booked since last December.

In the meantime, keep yourself nourished, including through your yoga practice.

I have weekly classes which keep you practicing reguarly, offer 121s to support you with starting or developing your home practice, have online resources to help you practice in a fruitful way, and some nourishing Autumn workshops available soon.

Please get in touch if I can help or give me a ring if you want any guidance on your yoga practice or getting started. 
Clara x