WE ARE Yoga Retreat
We are the music makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams...
Early bird ends 1st March 2024
An overview of the retreat
WE ARE is a yoga retreat with a difference. Morven and Gina offer you a week of yoga, reflection and daily invitations to explore the arts. Exploring creativity can be a healing modality, a fun way to spend the morning, and a way to connect with others and yourself.
We are not exaggerating when we say that The Mill Retreat Centre is a precious oasis of heaven on Earth, just see the photos and know that they cannot do justice to the beauty of the venue and location. It's the perfect place to retreat, explore creativity and enjoy social time or quiet reflection.
The beauty of this experience is that there is no expectation to produce anything, or create something "pretty". We are gathering together to have fun and to see what happens when we follow our intuition.
Your hosts are senior yoga and mindfulness teacher Morven and yoga teacher, writer and arts facilitator Gina. They will guide you through twice-daily yoga, daily creative workshops and will lead yoga nidras and gong meditations in the evenings. You will have the opportunity to take part in craft sessions, making your own mala and creating a nature mandala. One of the days on retreat will be devoted to a field trip to coastal Dieppe, where you can paint or draw on location or enjoy sightseeing and the beach.
In the creative workshops, Gina and Morven will be holding a space you can visit to play with painting, drawing, words, voice and movement. Each day will offer something different and we invite you to join as your mood takes you.
In all of our group sessions, the emphasis will be on having fun, being with yourself and soaking up the restful, reflective atmosphere of the retreat in the company of like-minded people.
Yoga will take place before 9.30am breakfast and before 7pm dinner every day except Friday, when we will take a (optional) day trip to Dieppe.
Creative workshops will take place mornings after breakfast on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
In the evenings, you can sit outside and chat at the firepit, enjoy the cosy living room, relax with yoga nidra and gong or make your own mala (yoga prayer beads).
EXAMPLE OF DAY'S SCHEDULE
Silence until breakfast (optional - please respect others in silence)
7.30 am Meditation for early risers
8 am Yoga
9.30 am Breakfast
10.30 am Creative Workshop
1 pm Lunch
2 - 5.30pm Free time to paint, draw, relax or watch a French film in the improvised movie theatre
5.30 pm Yoga
7 pm Dinner
9 pm Yoga nidra/ gong meditation/ crafts
Silence until morning (optional - please respect others in silence)
ABOUT THE YOGA
We will start the day early with morning meditation for early risers, followed by a wake-up holistic yoga practice before a 9.30am breakfast. Evening sessions will be a blend of restorative and Yin yoga. Yoga nidra and gong meditations will be offered after dinner.
Beginners and seasoned practitioners will be encouraged to explore their limits and deepen their understanding of the body in movement. We will explore the body in relationship to the Earth and space, playing with shapes and conversing with gravity. Much of this work involves developing interoception - your perception of your inner space - taking cues from the inner body about how we can move mindfully with joy, integrity and grace.
Yoga is a life-affirming practice which has at its roots the concept of "So Hum" - I am that. Through physical movement, breath work and concentration we come to understand our essence as an awareness that is beautiful, enduring and connected to all that is. You can't be "good" at yoga - you just simply are, and that is mind-bogglingly wonderful in itself.
Every yoga practice will include movement (asana), meditation (dhyana), relaxation and breath work (pranayama).
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
CREATIVE WORKSHOPS:
We are artists
In this workshop participants will experiment with mark making using various pencils, charcoal, conte crayon and pastels. We'll explore the expressive qualities of line through doodling. Then we'll dip our toes into the craft of field journaling by sketching and documenting our observations and interpretations of the natural world around us.
We are painters
In this workshop, participants will play with paint as they explore various watercolour techniques and experiment with brushes, opacity, texture and mixing colour. Watercolour can have a mind of its own and is full of surprises. In this workshop you will learn how to take advantage of these unexpected "mistakes" and incorporate them into your creative play.
We are writers
In this workshop, participants will spend time with their journals through the medium of self-writing to explore their past, present and future. Using timed prompts we'll dive into our own stories and memories. People who spend time writing about where they came from, who they are and their future goals tend to be happier, less anxious and physically healthier than those who never introspect.
We are singers and players
This workshop is all about getting out of the head and into the body. Morven will lead you through a voice workshop, where we will practise some voice-freeing exercises and then collaborate in groups to create musical phrases with our voices and words, culminating in a mini-choir. This will lead us into a session with Gina where, through playing a variety of improv and theater games we'll explore body language, communicating through movement and responding without overthinking. Reconnect with your inner child and get ready for lots of silliness, laughter and clowning around.
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS
Gina Beach is an American artist, writer and yogini who lives in the Welsh valleys. She is a 200 hour RYT, Vipassana meditator, and National Board Certified fine arts instructor. She has over a decade of experience leading writing and creativity workshops designed to allow participants to play with ideas and tap into their inner artist.
Morven Hamilton is a yoga and mindfulness teacher and trainer, flautist and singer. An English and French Literature graduate, her teaching is influenced by her love of words and music. She weaves themes through her teaching which invite you to integrate the broader teachings of yoga through conscious embodiment, inner journeying and reflection. Her teaching is authentic, non-dogmatic and light-hearted. Morven is based in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset.
TRAVEL:
This location has been especially chosen for its proximity to the UK, removing the need for air travel. There will be a minibus provided by The Mill, which will leave Folkestone at 1pm on 9th Sept. 2024 and take us to the retreat via Le Shuttle tunnel. We will be dropped off at 3pm on the 15th September at Follkestone Station. The cost of minibus transport is £90 pp return.
It's also possible to drive to the retreat centre, or alternatively you can get the Eurostar from London to Paris and then taxi to the retreat.
For air travel, the nearest airport to The Mill is Paris Charles de Gaulle. Please ask if you need to arrange taxis from and to the airport.
FOOD:
You will be served three delicious vegetarian meals per day, which will be eaten together as a group in the dining room.
If you have any dietary requirements, please let us know well in advance so we can accommodate you.
ACCOMMODATION AND PRICES: EARLY BIRD PRICES TBC
Price includes food, yoga, workshops and a day trip to Dieppe on Thursday 12th September.
Dorm with up to 4 people sharing, shared bathroom: Early bird £900/ Full Price £990
Wagon by the lake (see photo in the gallery below): Early bird £850/ Full Price £935
Single room shared bathroom: Early bird £1130/ Full Price £1230
Single room en suite bathroom: Early bird £1250/ Full Price £1400
Double/Twin room shared bathroom (two people sharing): Early bird £990pp/ Full Price £1090pp
Double room en suite bathroom (two people sharing): Early bird £1080pp/ Full Price £1180pp
Private barn (two bedrooms shared kitchen, living room and bathroom suitable for two - four friends): Early bird £1180pp/ Full Price £1280pp
AMENITIES AND FACILITIES:
The Mill Retreat Centre boasts its own lake, river and 30 acres of grounds for us to enjoy exclusively.
Go boating or swimming in the lake, take a walk in the nearby stunning countryside or borrow one of The Mill's 6 bikes to explore on wheels.
The nearest town is Aumale, which has some interesting architecture dating back to the 16th century and is a lovely place to wander.
Take a look at the photo gallery below to see the grounds, workshops, food, the rooms and the yoga space.
PAYMENT & BOOKING
Select the desired option for your accommodation and click "BOOK NOW" to go to the booking form. A £300 deposit is required to secure your place. Final payment must be made by 1st August 2024
If you would like to pay by payment plan, you can set up a monthly payment which we will agree on together. Please state your preferred payment option on the booking form.
If you would like to travel in The Mill's minibus from Folkestone, the travel supplement will be £90, which covers your return passage. The journey from Folkestone train station to The Mill is approximately 3 hours.
The trip to Dieppe on Thursday 12th September is included in the cost of the retreat.
NOT INCLUDED:
Travel to Folkestone on the 8th Sept or onward travel from Folkestone on the 15th Sept.
Minibus journey Folkestone to The Mill £90 supplement
"I found the sessions to be very powerful as it really opened me up emotionally and I found some deep themes came up so thank you for that! I think you are one of those yoga teachers which somehow goes very deep."
Katy (online)