Devon retreat reflections... buttercups, tortoises and rose petal cake

This past weekend was our wonderful yoga retreat. We arrived with bright sunshine and were welcomed with heaps of elegance and charm and a fabulous country house and garden, and were greeted with freshly baked cake adorned with rose petals from the garden. 
 
 
Inspired by tortoises
We stepped into the slow pace of life and enjoyed the roaming tortoises in the huge walled vegetable garden living their best life. There were fields of buttercups up the lane, sheep grazing down the lane, and very relaxed owners who indulged us with homemade cakes, fabulous vegetarian food, homemade apple juice and ice cream, all served on antique crockery.

Their slow-paced lifestyle and attitude was such a gift in helping us all to land and wind down.

It was well deserved
We were beautifully spoiled which was delightful and well deserved. We all had our own reasons for coming. Some of us needed some downtime from stress, some in need of space and time, healing, deep rest, others sought comtemplative time, to address aches and pains, or to have an experience of yoga that is beyond what we normally have time and space for.

Find your rhythm
The yoga room was sunny and warm with character-filled paintings overseeing our practice and the gently ticking clock keeping rhythm for us. A rhythm that we all benefitted from tuning into and aligning with as we stepped out of the busy demands of our everyday lives. 
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Deeper dive into yoga experience
We explored wonderful yoga practice. Morning yoga to energise and set us up for the day, evening meditations, and afternoon restorative sessions. Plus a workshop on Saturday where everyone came with their own curiosity, questions and we took a deep dive into new areas of yoga that were waiting to be discovered. Did you even know that tweaking 'how' we breath can have such a profound effect what we get from a yoga practice?  
 

Space for everyone
Some took a lie down in the field of buttercups during a country walk, a swing on a tyre, a swim in the river, and there was lots of lounging around on the lawns or on the veranda with a good book.
 

Here are a few wonderful comments from the weekend:
 
"Lovely environment and food, felt cared for and comfortable and so peaceful. Gorgeous."
 
"The house and room are beautiful. Food delicious!"
 
"Truly lovely and special."
 
"Great to be able to explore things I've wondered about for years."
 
"I feel inspired to learn more and carry on the journey."
 
"Everything was offered gently ... and I tried different things I thought I couldn't do"
 
"My back stopped hurting on day 1 and my cushion was no longer needed!"
 
"10/10"
 
 
I run yoga retreats regularly so please do join me on the next one as it is such a wonderful, valuable and fruitful way to spend a weekend.