Tree House Retreat

TREE HOUSE YOGA RETREAT 13 SEPTEMBER 2020

Finally, after the world had grinded to a halt for a few months, Nicky and Ineke were able to organise a yoga retreat on Sunday 13 September 2020! This retreat had been in the planning for a long time and we were so pleased to be able to finally realise it. The weather was gorgeous, the Tree Houses in a beautiful location in the middle of the woods near Beaulieu and we were delighted to be able to take 16 people on a yoga journey for the day.

Nicky and Ineke arrived early to set up and to make sure that the yoga mats were spaced out in accordance to government guidelines. After meeting everyone and making sure there were all comfortable in their respective Tree House, the day started.

We began with a classic 1.5 hours of Hatha yoga (relaxation followed by asanas, pranayama, meditation and relaxation). In Tree House 1 we were accompanied by a beautiful, big, albeit very noisy dragon fly. The yoga however soon calmed it down!

Following on from the yoga, one group went off with Ineke to do a walking meditation in the forest and the other group went off with Nicky under the guidance of Vee for a beautiful walk through the forest. During this walking meditation mobiles and other electronic devices were left at the tree house and there was no talking during the walk so you learn how to engage all of your senses. A lot of people walk their dogs every day and sometimes it feels like a chore. Using the meditation techniques not only the dog gets something out of a walk but so do you!

However, tea and cake were beckoning! Nicky had made Tom Kerridge's Courgette and cardamom cake (from his book 'Lose weight for good') and Ineke had made vegan chocolate cupcakes, dairy free apple cake and kefir cinnamon rolls (all recipes available on this website). Ineke had also brought some homemade kefir and kombucha for people to try, both which can have a positive effect on the digestive system.

As the weather was so gorgeous, we were able to sit on the spacious patio at the back of Tree House 1 in the middle of the forest. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and there was a lovely, peaceful atmosphere.

Nicky and Ineke swapped Tree Houses for the afternoon and we started off with a relaxing 1.5 hour Hatha yoga session. In this session we flowed into a Moon salutation and meditated on a beautiful pebble. Nobody felt like moving a lot after filling up on lunch and cakes so it was a wonderful, slow moving, peaceful session!

This was then followed by tea and more cake! In this tea break Nicky demonstrated a lovely hand massage using Tropic skincare hand scrub. Hands have never felt so smooth and smelled so nice.

We ended the day with Yoga Nidra – a lovely long relaxing 30 min. I am sure a few people were close to sleeping! It was difficult to leave after that, the atmosphere was so quiet and peaceful that no one was in a hurry to go back home. We sat down on the patio, soaking up the last bit of sun and had a bit of a chat together, ate the last pieces of cake, tried the last glass of kombucha and kefir and then it was really time to say ‘Goodbye’ or rather ‘see you at the next Yoga Retreat’. Everybody left with their own pebble with inscription that we used for meditation, a lovely card with a little surprise and a hand out (information on the basic mudras, forest bathing, hand reflexology, the pros and cons of kefir & kombucha, an example of the sun and moon salutation and a copy of ‘The Invitation’ by Oriah Mountain Dreamer)

It was a beautiful, relaxing, peaceful day away from a hectic world on our own little island in the middle of the forest!

UPDATE: The next yoga retreat at the Tree House has been tentatively booked for the end of November. We are keeping a close eye on Covid developments and government guidelines. If you are interested please let us know so we will have an idea of numbers. This retreat will only go ahead if guidelines allow us.