A Yoga, Massage and Singing Retreat in Nature
2-4 August 2019 at the Quadrangle farmstead, Kent

Welcome to the summer of our lives…

Would you like to find the time and space to slow down, relax and be?
Would you like to reacquaint yourself with the sacredness of life?
Would you like to immerse yourself in nature, and remind yourself that you are nature?

Yes, there’s an urgency in the world right now – we are the ones we’ve been waiting for! – yet by nurturing ourselves, and connecting with nature and the sacred, we can be better equipped to be of service to ourselves, as well as others, society and the greater whole. Love and compassion is an inside job, and it begins here.

Our summer gathering was so gorgeous last year, so we felt to offer some similar flavours this summer. Somewhere between and retreat and a mini-festival, this will be a weekend of restorative yoga, healing bodywork, singing, chanting and sound healing, nature connection, delicious seasonal food, magical time in community, inspiring conversation and discussion, as well as time and space just for you.

Each day will consist of the gentle rhythm of yoga, heart-expanding singing and time in nature, new moon intention setting and letting go by the fire, and communal meals. You can also treat yourself to a transformational massage and bodywork treatment during the weekend. Through these practices we can find our flow again, and reconnect with ourselves and the world around us.

There will be plenty of time for relaxation and quiet contemplation, as well as group discussion and any free-flow, freestyle jams and activities if you feel the call. It’s up to you how much you participate; the space is yours to hold as you wish.

Join Katy for morning and afternoon Transformational Yoga sessions – a heart-centred yoga practice combining postures, breathing exercises and mantras, helping you to reconnect with your body and inner self.

Michelle will hold heart-expanding chanting, sound healing and singing to the land in the beautiful nature that surrounds us, allowing each of us to find our voice and feel more connected with our hearts and the universe.

All levels and abilities welcome for both the yoga and singing sessions, and feel free to bring your own instruments to play with!

You will also be nurtured through the sharing of vegetarian meals lovingly prepared by Shan.

Choose a 60 minute treatment with Maja who offers Ayurvedic Yoga Massage and reflexology, or Michelle who offers intuitive bodywork and sound healings. These treatments are available at an additional cost of £50/hour.

We’re happy to invite you to our home-away-from-home, the Quadrangle – a Victorian farmstead built in 1870. This beautiful rustic farmhouse setting is away from any hustle and bustle. We have already hosted many retreats here and know it’s the perfect place to slow down, connect and quietly observe and reflect on Mother Nature.

Run as a centre for sustainable living and the creative arts, the Quadrangle has beautiful elements with which to enjoy our stay: the main barn for our group practices and communal dining, the shepherds barn with woodburner to put your feet up with a cup of tea, the garden for fireside meditation and contemplation, a living permaculture forest garden, and a stream running through for some wild dipping! The hills and vales of the Pilgrims Way are in reach just a short walk cross-country.

It is the perfect setting to look away from the outside chaos and journey into our inner peace. In doing so we can become better aware of who we are and where we are heading.

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
– T.S. Eliot

Timings

Arrive from 4pm onwards on Friday
The retreat ends on Sunday afternoon after lunch

Cost

Dorm: £225-£325 (sliding scale, please pay what you can afford)
Sharing twin room or Airstream: £300
Sharing Bell Tent: £300
Private room or Airstream: £350
Private Bell Tent: £330
Own tent or camper van: £195

Bring a friend and receive a 15% discount! (applicable for dorm, own tent and camper van)

For concessions and those on low income, please don’t let finances be a barrier to you coming to this retreat – contact Katy to discuss your situation and see how we can get you here with us!

What’s included

Morning and afternoon yoga and meditation sessions each day, singing circles, 3 delicious vegetarian meals per day, accommodation, walk in nature, campfire.

What’s not included

Reserve your place

Email Katy to reserve your place or go directly to our registration form.

About us

Katy – “I studied yoga and meditation under the direct guidance of Swami Vidyanand at the SriMa School of Transformational Yoga in India. I’ve been practising since 1999, leading me to deeper studies with different forms of yoga over the years including Transformational, Scaravelli-inspired, Sivananda and Yoga for Anxiety and Depression. I take an integral approach to teaching – incorporating physical postures (asanas), breathing practices (pranayama) and dhyana (mantra meditation), as well as meditation and deep relaxation (yoga nidra). Connecting body, breath, heart, mind and soul has brought an awareness and inner stillness I didn’t believe was possible before. I love being in this space of teacher and eternal student, and hope we can share the magic of yoga too. Take your focus inward, breathe and become present to your intention. All-comers welcome – from absolute beginners to yoga masters! When I’m not running a retreat or facilitating a workshop you’ll most likely find me working and playing in alternative communities and in nature, inspired by a more beautiful world our hearts know is possible. (hat tip to Charles Eisenstein)” mahayoga.org.uk / facebook.com/mahayogaschool

Maja – “I’m an intuitive healer and professional bodyworker. I’ve been passionate about the subject of health and wellbeing for the last 15 years. Having studied psychology at university, I soon turned my interest to spirituality, and exploring a more holistic and embodied approach to healing and personal development. Since then I’ve trained in Holistic Massage, Reflexology, MLD, Reiki, Traditional Tantra & Hatha Yoga TTC, & Siddha Kundalini Energy Healing. I most recently trained with James Winstanley – pioneer of Ayurvedic Yoga Massage, who studied directly with its creator Master Kusum Modak in India. I believe the body holds a lot of intelligence and can be the key to our well being and happiness. The human touch is a powerful and universal tool for healing and reconnection, and I really enjoy lending my hands to help the healing process. I also love nature, dancing, meditation, yoga, vegetarian food, festivals, travelling, being silly and creative, and laughing.” facebook.com/headtohealmaya

Michelle – originally trained as an opera singer and has experience in musical theatre as well as the concert platform. She fell in love with chanting a few years ago and is a passionate kirtan drummer, and runs her own chanting circles as well as sound healing journeys. “I am an intuitive healer, musician, singer and composer and have realized the powerful effect that singing Mantras and sound healing can have on the body, when incorporated into my sessions – alongside intuitive touch and massage. I recorded my first Mantra album “Journey of The Heart” aptly titled after my own personal heart opening healing journey. My music is conducive to meditation, yoga, relaxation and a sense of wellbeing. I love sharing my creative passions and taking my audiences on heart opening journeys of deeper connection within themselves.” facebook.com/Michelle-Crozier-1686611308248921

Shan – “I spend a fair amount of time feeding people, professionally and otherwise. It genuinely thrills me that a simple basic need can also be one of life’s most profound pleasures. I am a dedicated carnivore (and practicing butcher), whilst happily thriving on a plant-based diet (and moonlighting as a vegetarian and vegan chef). This is not as contradictory as it might sound, and means I think about food A LOT: its provenance, its sustainability, its taste. There is a certain universality in deliciousness – and there’s nothing like sitting down to break bread together to start the process of turning a group of strangers into a community. (Also, baking and fermentation are basically alchemy and magic.) When forced out of the kitchen, I work as an editor – mostly books, mostly non-fiction. Whilst I seem to have accidentally developed a bent for utopian economic and political theory, I’ve also tackled books on art, urbanism, music, forests and myriad other fields. I see my literary and culinary skills as fairly transferable: words are really just another set of ingredients, to be combined and recombined to produce the tastiest and most thought-provoking results.”

Transformational Yoga is an integral approach to yoga combining asanas (physical postures), pranayama (breathing exercises) and dhyana (mantra meditation), to purify our physical body and awaken our subtle bodies. Our practice will be focused on the chakras and understanding of the wheels of energy. A great purification, even for the teachers among us to re-energize your practice. For beginners it is a step into consciousness. No previous experience of yoga or meditation is necessary to participate; any experience level and ability welcome, from absolute beginner to yoga master.

Ayurvedic Yoga Massage (AYM) is a unique, relaxing treatment for the whole body, combining deep tissue massage, coordinated breath-work and yoga stretching. Ayurveda is the ancient Indian system of natural healing. AYM combines deep tissue massage with coordinated breath-work and yoga stretching. Its founder Master Kusum Modak has combined traditional Ayurvedic Massage with yoga adjustments learnt directly from BKS Iyengar. It’s performed on a floor mat allowing for a full range of stretching. In addition; the deep tissue massage dissolves physical tension, while the assisted stretches and breath exercises realign the body and stimulate the natural flow of energy. Organic sesame oil (a tri-dosha balancer), and ground calamus root (invigorates the skin / stimulates the nervous system) are used in the treatment.

Reflexology is a non-invasive complementary therapy, which works on pressure points and massage techniques applied to the feet. As well as the feel-good effects of the treatment, the practice and purpose goes deeper than just skin and muscles. It Is an all-encompassing treatment; where all organs, glands and body systems can be stimulated through the feet, and it actually helps induce a natural state of equilibrium. Reflexology is based on the theory that there are micro-systems reflected on the feet and by stimulating specific reflex points a healing response is induced in the corresponding organs and areas of the body. This therapy enables the body’s own healing mechanism to function at its fullest potential. By working all areas of the foot with gentle pressure, it allows the nerve pathways and congestion to release and promote the relaxation response for the entire body.

Intuitive Healing – a journey of transformation with Michelle through her intuitive healing sessions. Including nurturing touch, sound healing, warmth and total presence you will be left feeling deeply relaxed, honoured, enlivened and reconnected with yourself.

The Quadrangle is a large Victorian model farmstead built in 1870 near Shoreham in Kent. Part of it is owned and managed by The Quadrangle Trust which is run as a centre for sustainable living and the creative arts. The garden runs down through an orchard to the River Darent and a field and small woodland beyond. It’s setting in the valley is extraordinarily rural and peaceful in that it is only 20 miles from Piccadilly Circus as the crow flies. thequadrangle.co

Previous feedback

“Thank you for an absolutely wonderful weekend. You create such a safe space for everyone to explore their connection to themselves and their relationship with the world and people around them.”

“I kept telling people that the weekend felt like a beautiful dream, except it was real! I went on raving about how great the retreat was to my colleagues and may have convinced at least two of them to sign up for the next one.”

“It was very special to feel so accepted.”

“Here’s the poem I’d like to share with everyone. Beautiful things in life should be remembered in a way they deserve, because they’ll never be recreated the same way again. ‘Tis a poem to commemorate our wonderful little weekend Yoga Retreat in Shoreham.

Reminiscing on my weekend,
Like a beautiful dream in Kent,
Being drifted to a tranquil space,
A place called The Quadrangle,
With faces we’ve never seen before.

We had our stories and pains,
From our distant realities.
But despite our differences,
We desired one thing that brought us all together,
Getting away from the city noise,
In search for calmness deep within.

It was a weekend of Peace and Quiet,
In search for our spiritual self,
Through hikes in the woods,
And collective Om chants,
An unusually soul-soothing rhythm.

It was a weekend of Hopes and Fears,
To let go of our painful memories,
And welcome abundance of positivities,
Freeing ourselves from the prisons of our minds,
To achieve a truly liberated state of mind.

It was weekend of Love and Joy,
Where we embraced our own uniqueness,
Shared our profoundest wisdom and knowledge,
And rejoiced our singing voices,
Free from all kinds of judgment,
It was simply, blissfully, beautiful.

It was a weekend of New Experiences,
We’ve made lasting relationships,
From strangers to now familiar acquaintances,
Ain’t close enough to be friends,
Ain’t distant enough to be strangers.

Content and Grateful,
We bid goodbye,
Go back living our separate lives,
With a new perspective.
And that’s the beauty of life.”

“Thank you so much to the whole team for truly nourishing and nurturing me.”

“Thank you so very much for your incredible calming energy. You are a beautiful teacher and I would love to bottle you up and take you home!”

“Absolutely fantastic weekend – beautiful location and brilliant yoga!”

“This yoga retreat has been the BEST! Thank you all so much.”

“The most relaxed, loving, nourishing weekends imaginable with an affordable price tag!”