Coming home to one's Self. Rediscovering your inner joy, creativity, presence and purpose.
An unforgettable experience to spend time surrounded by majestic ice-capped mountains in the summer sun.
A holistic retreat involving yoga, breathing practices, Buddhist philosophy, Psychotherapeutic concepts, meditations and tools to regulate the nervous system and to help one navigate the ups and downs of life from an easier, wiser and more spacious place.
Patterns of breath, physical tension, thought, nervous system reactions all develop in an intelligent way, at the time they are created they are serving the person in some way. This retreat aims to take a look at these patterns to learn about them, why they developed, are they still serving a positive purpose and to hold them compassionately in order to potentially heal them.
Breathing
We will look at the importance of breathing. How the breath greatly affects our nervous system, and also how we feel and think. We will look at current breathing habits, breathing for optimal performance and breathing patterns for nervous system regulation helping one become more resilient and less emotionally reactive in life’s daily challenges.
Psychotherapeutic Concepts
We will take a deeper look at the layers of personality to better understand our different behaviours. We will reflect upon why we act the way we do and look at the different personality structures that we have built during our lives through a compassionate lens. Once we have this deeper understanding it is much easier to integrate these parts/behaviours compassionately into our daily lives for a greater feeling of ease and wholeness. I truly believe the more compassion we can have for our different sides the more we can hold other people with the same compassion, especially when challenged.
Buddhist Philosophy and Meditation
We will use various meditation practices to both help with focus, presence and to help one find that place of compassionate rest amidst the inevitable ups and downs of everyday life. We will practice different meditations including: meditations to increase focus, investigative meditations of thoughts and emotions and also loving kindness meditations.
Yoga
We will be practicing different styles of yoga including hatha, yin and vinyasa. The different focuses will include: the health of the glandular system (its importance for overall health) and how it relates to yoga. Movements to awaken the organs and also yoga for regulating the autonomic nervous system.
Mindful Communication (Mindful Listening and Speaking)
We will use techniques in communication that can help us feel into our needs and the needs of others too, to make communication easier and life richer. These are truly amazing tools to have in any day to day relating. To be seen and heard is one life’s biggest needs and in the ever increasing pace of life I worry we are missing each other amidst each other. These tools have had a profound impact on my close relationships with my friends, partner and children
Creativity
We will look at methods to help one drop into stillness where creativity can flow through. Their will be journalling exercises, meditations and some exercises from Social Presencing theater .
Accommodation
We will stay in the charming ‘le dojo’, a previous farm house, converted into a beautiful chalet. Le dojo boasts its very own private Yoga Chalet, where we will practice every day.
With views over the quaint village of Samoens and surrounded by the sublime French Alps we believe this is one of the most magical places in the world.
Le dojo has 2 twin rooms, 3 rooms of 3 and a room of 6, some en suite and some shared bathrooms. It is of course also possible to have your own room at an additional cost.
Please let us know which room you would like. We will only reserve it once the payment is made in full.
Cost
Double room with private bathroom: 1400 Euro's per person
Studio: (with small kitchen and private bathroom) 1400 Euro's per person
Triple room: 1200 Euro's per person
6 bed: 1155 Euro's per person
Yurt: 1085 Euro's per person
Some reasons why Samoëns is 'tres magique'
It is a natural heritage site!
Samoëns is the only French mountain resort classified as national heritage. Daily life revolves around a picturesque marketplace, whose centrepiece is an imposing lime tree, Le Gros Tilleul, planted in 1438.
Easy to Get to, Easy to Explore, Easy for Everyone.
You can fly direct from Stockholm with Easy Jet or SAS and direct from London with Swiss Air, Easy Jet or British Airways.
At just one hour (55km) from Geneva Airport, and under eight hours from Calais you can enjoy a beautiful drive to our destination.
Lakes and waterfalls
We are surrounded by pristine lakes and over 30 sparkling waterfalls to swim in and step into natures bath.
A Typical Day on Retreat
Each day we rise early in noble silence and roll into a therapeutic yoga class. Each class has a specific theme, eg re-training the nervous system and finish each session with a meditation and breathing practice.
After class it's time to sample the delicious local food with a delicious breakfast and tea. This is followed by some downtime to mingle, digest and energize then its a more active class followed by lunch. After lunch there is time to explore the magical surrounding.
We meet again in the afternoon for a softer practice, followed by dinner. Each day is rounded off with a talk and meditation.
Other top tips!
- It can get a bit cooler hiking in the mountains or at night, so bring something warm to snuggle around your body.
- If you want to hire a car so you can get around easier in the afternoons let us know and we can give you some recommendations.
- If you are into photography we really recommend bringing your camera as the scenery is breathtaking!
- Last but not least, don’t forget your swimwear for the lakes, the waterfalls….. and the hot tub under the stars!