2012 Upcoming Events, Workshops, Classes.....

Wild Rose http://www.wildroseyoga.org/

Sat 25th Feb - Partner Yoga Playshop 5-7pm

Wed 15th & Thurs 16th March, 6 - 7.45pm - Anusara Inspired class

Sat 17th March - Morning & Afternoon Workshop, Transitioning..

10 -12.30, 2.30 -5pm

Mon 26th March - Sat 31st March - 5 Day Luxury Retreat, Sark

http://www.stockshotel.com/the-ultimate-yoga-break/

• Island of Sark, Channel Islands, UK - Hotel Stocks - Sark

  As we move into Spring, give yourself a chance to rejuvenate and restore balance to your body, mind and spirit amidst the changing seasons and everything that this brings.
  
  This five-day yoga retreat will incorporate practises to allow you to detox and let go of anything that isn’t serving you; shedding the safety net of our winter hibernations to allow us to embrace the fresh new world of springtime. This transformation will be supported by practises to uplift and energise, creating new spaces for you to move into, physically, emotionally and psychologically, during this time of rebirth, rejuvenation and growth.
  
  Guests will arrive on Monday 26th March and have time to relax at the hotel or explore the island before meeting the group and Helen on the first afternoon session. The final session will be in the morning on Saturday 31st March enabling guests to depart during the day on either the morning or afternoon boats.
  
  The package costs £850 for a single person or £1150 for 2 people sharing a room and includes:
  A dynamic morning practise (before breakfast, 8am-9.30am) to ground, energise and uplift.
  In the late afternoon a slower, more introspective session (before dinner, 5pm-6.30pm).
  An early morning meditation and breathing class (7-8am) for the early risers.
  5 nights accommodation in Stocks’ luxury twin or double room.
  Full continental and cooked farmhouse breakfast each morning.
  Dinner in Stocks’s fabulous fine dining restaurant each evening.
  Time to explore Sark on foot or bicycle, or just relax and unwind in the comfort of Stocks Hotel.
  
  Classes will be suitable for all levels, including complete beginners as well as those with more experience; modifications and variations will be offered to suit all abilities. Helen will also be available to give individual healing sessions outside of class time (not included in retreat rates), including Thai Massage and Singing Bowl therapy.

April 11th - 22nd May - Teaching & giving treatments (Thai, Osteo thai massage & Singing Bowl Therapy) in & around Brighton & London, UK 

Times, locations to follow.

May 22nd - 29th - Yoga Holiday in Kissamos, Crete

http://www.freespirituk.com/

Please join me for a 7 day yoga holiday at the gorgeous island of Crete. My first visit last year was so wonderful I had to return! Its a bargain price for Europe but spaces are limited so please contact http://www.freespirituk.com/ to book a place ASAP, price includes yoga, accommodation, breakfast everyday & 4 eve meals. There will also be opportunity to receive dynamic, Osteo thai massages & Planetarium Singing Bowl Therapy.

Flights are to Chania airport and you can fly there from Gatwick / Manchester / Stanstead / Glasgow airports. Cheapest at the moment is Ryan Air from Stanstead. For a quick look at flight prices look on www.travelrepublic.co.uk. do however also look on the Monarch website as they often have sales if you book direct, most people seem to fly Monarch from Gatwick.

There will be 2 yoga classes a day, the first will be dynamic practice to revive and awaken our spine, heart and mind; allowing us to start the day with a feeling of lightness & freedom.

Through a playful dance of asana, restorative yoga, Thai yoga massage, chi gong, Singing Bowls & meditation, incorporating breathwork throughout, the therapeutic afternoon class will be a chance to explore our bodies: bringing back mobility in our joints, restoring the natural rhythm of our spine and the free flow of energy, whilst getting in touch with our inner essence of being.

I look forward to sharing with you.

June 4th - 10th - Sunshine House, Osteo Thai for the back with David Lutt

http://osteothai.com/

July 6th - 9th - Barcelona Yoga Conference, Spain

http://www.barcelonayogaconference.cat/

August 14 - 26 - One World Festival - Berkshire, UK

Join me at this wonderful festival where I will be teaching Anusara Inspired, Partner yoga, Breathing & meditation & giving Dynamic thai/ Osteo thai massages.

http://www.macrobios.com/event/6/95/

August 27th - 2nd Sept - One World Festival, Barcelona, Spain

Join me at this wonderful festival where I will be teaching Anusara Inspired, Partner yoga, Breathing & meditation & giving Dynamic thai/ Osteo thai massages.

http://www.macrobios.com/event/10/

September 7th - 9th - Geneva Yoga Festival

Details TBD 

Jan 4th 2012 - Mother nature crashed me to the earth...

Since the 9th of Jan I returned back to Chiang Mai to the comfort of a city you know, people you love & share so much in common with.  This time i arrived in a bit of a state, arriving with 2 black eyes, a fractured nose & a injured back!  4 days prior to leaving Sri i got taken out by a wave, literally as i was walking into the sea.  I would love to say i was doing something exciting like surfing or wake boarding but it was just simply the power, force of nature, the sea picked me up & crashed me to the ground.  I did a huge backbend & was thrown to the floor with my chin & nose being squashed into the sand.  When i eventually made it up which seemed like forever, i had blood streaming out of my nose, bikini fallen all over the place!   The rest of my time in Sri lanka was spent observing the pain i felt in my face, having a swollen face & fractured nose however really brings you into the present moment as the pain feels like you are looking at yourself from behind.  It reminded me of wearing a mask!  What i felt afterwards that it was mother earth telling me that 2012 needed to be a year of more grounding, not moving around so much so that i can settle into a place, teach, massage, learn & grow & not continually moving.

Chiang Mai has been a good start, since arriving I have not moved from the guest house i am staying at "More Relax" & i have been teaching at http://www.wildroseyoga.org/ & at http://www.namochiangmai.com/.  The community in Chiang Mai is amazing, everyone supporting one another, playing & eating together.  People have more time here, as life is a much slower pace, although you can still become super busy if you choose just like any other city.  However making time for one another, giving & receiving massages & any therapy you need is part of everyday life here!  Ive also been getting back into climbing at crazy horse, 40mins from Chiang Mai.

Christmas at Ulpotha then Beach time in the South for new beginnings of 2012...

After a beautiful xmas spent with my new friends from Ulpotha & also joined by old friends from Chiang Mai I ventured to the south of Sri lanka to explore & relax by the ocean.  A beautiful place to visit is near to Matara, called Polhena.  Polhena village resort is a cute small place with its own beach & turtles that come right to shore to lay their eggs.  The staff were super friendly & it had a v. relaxed atmosphere about the place.  A few weeks drift by before you know it!

Kathmandu to Sri Lanka

As I left Kathmandu I definitely felt i had a love hate relationship with the place.  I felt privileged to have met the wonderful inspiring women who i worked with & the western yoga teachers based in Kathmandu who cope with daily life in the craziness of the city & are working hard to create a Kula (community).  I was happy that I was able to put them in contact with the organisations I had been working for so that they could continue teaching the women.  I also would miss my lovely friend Tamzin, whose enthusiasm for life & everything I was doing was in abundance, my golden angel amongst the dirt, hectic, crazy city.  I know that we will have more fun times to share in the UK.

I would not miss the traffic & crazy driving, the smog, micro buses & zipping all over the city but the people I would miss.  I I learnt a lot from the people & how I can survive & grow even in a city I do not like.  Once again I realised how important community is to me, it doesn't matter where you are in the world, what we need is love & support & people who have similar values & out look on life.  The number one principle in Anusara is to see the beauty first, see the bigger picture, not getting lost in detail of life, this is not always so easy but if you can do it in a place where chaos is all around you, you can do it anywhere! Life is good, its all a question of perception!

Ulpotha - Sri Lanka

Arriving at Ulpotha couldn't have been more of a contrast from Kathmandu.   Ulpotha  www.ulpotha.com set in beautiful jungle area in the north of Sri lanka.  A retreat centre where there are no signs for the place as you enter & only certain taxi drivers even know where the place is.  I arrived in the middle of the night, thankfully picked up at the airport.  I awoke amongst noses of birds, frogs & wonderful nature.  I stayed in the colonial style house for the first night & then moved to my mud hut.  The huts are re-built twice a year because they got infested & eaten away by termites!  They are very lovely larger mud huts, not as basic as they sound & each one individually placed out in the jungle! The only thing you have to worry about is the monkeys who may come & steal your things if your not careful!  Being in nature with no electric, only paraffin lamps at night & no internet for 3 weeks was heavenly.  Just arriving at Ulpotha felt like taking a huge in breath & your whole body & mind relaxed.  Most people who arrived at Ulpotha were taking a rest from their hectic work schedules, time for detoxing & rejuventating.  I was able to teach a wonderful ecletic mix of Anusara inspired yoga, chi gong, restorative, acro & singing bowl sound baths.  Everyone who came on the retreat were lovely & open to lots of different things.  In the evenings we would hang out having dinner, chatting, dancing, singing , usually being in bed by 9, 9.30pm!   It was wonderful to go to bed early & then wake with sunrise!

Photos from Nepal, more Bouddha & Nagarkot..

View of the Himalayas from Nagarkot

Love backbends

Ganesh Cottage, The end of the Universe guesthouse, Nagarkot..

I finally made it out of Kathmandu to a place 2 hours away from the city, where the air is fresh & you can see beautiful views of the Himalayas.  Im staying in a place called "The End Of the Universe"! My room or hut which is kind of like a tree house is called "Ganesh Cottage".  Ganesh is the Elephant God & is said to be the remover of obstacles, lord of beginnings & lord of obstacles.  Quite apt for me at the moment as life this week has been more challenging but as I prepare to leave Nepal new beginnings are on there way in Sri lanka!

Today i taught a 4 hour thai massage course ..

To add into my already busy schedule Thurs & Fri this week i have been teaching a 4hour thai massage work shop to the therapists at a spa in Kathmandu! The women are lovely & picked it up relatively quickly, its fun teaching something other than yoga.  The yoga is great but i teach the same sequence to each of my 5 groups so that they get some structure & can remember it when i go next week! I do my best to add a little dance or something to keep each class a little interesting, at least for me!

Being in Kathmandu has proved to me that you can manifest anything you want, at the beginning of the month when i arrived i thought oh no, i haven't got any classes to teach but set my mind on making it happen & now at the end of the month i have almost too many classes & people who want massages every day!  The 5.20am starts & all the micro travel & smog, has meant i am getting a little tired & starting to look forward to the peace & tranquility of Ulpotha (www.ulpotha.com), Sri Lanka.