‘It is the eye that discovers the mystery of light, not only the moon and the stars and the vast splendours of the Aurora, but the endless changes the earth undergoes under changing lights’ - Nan Shepherd
I’ve just come back from teaching in an amazing 7 night yoga retreat in Chamonix, France. This year we’ve teamed up with Bluerise Retreats and organised a yoga, hiking and spa holiday in a luxurious chalet with a stunning view of Mont Blanc and the Bossons glacier. The weather was so great that we practiced yoga outside overlooking the magnificent mountains next to a stream with lots of wild flowers. Spring is so magical in Chamonix!
The chalet had large outdoor Jacuzzis, a steam room and sauna which was especially nice after the alpine hikes. Suzi, our hike guide was lovely and very knowledgeable about the local wildlife. I even managed to see ibex and a golden eagle! We also practiced yoga in the mountain during one of our hikes.
We had a lovely mix of people from different age groups, nationalities and experience of yoga. Some people were training to be a yoga teachers but we also had a beginner that’d never practiced before. He said he really enjoyed yoga and wanted to do some more when he got home. We did an energetic class in the morning and restorative session in the evening. We had time to explore different practices such as Yin yoga, Yoga Nidra, Pranayama, chanting and mudras. I really enjoy teaching mixed abilities students and knowing that everyone can do yoga together.
The food at the retreat was exceptional. Lisa, the chef is a vegetarian and lovingly prepared 3 course meal for us every night even though she was heavily pregnant with twins. You could see that she loved cooking! I don't think I've had such a creative and delicious vegetarian food before. Her breakfast, lunch and snacks were equally exciting and tasty.
Bluerise retreat team made every effort to make us all feel at home. They were so friendly and delightful people to be around. They even arranged a luxurious Spa day out in Italy and a movie night with popcorn!
There were lots of organised activities but we also had free time to do other things. Some people went climbing together or just relaxed and enjoyed the Spa facilities!
On the last day of the retreat, we had an air hockey tournament and they organised some live music for us too! Eleanor, the founder of Bluerise Retreat, is a well known musician in Chamonix and sang and played guitar for us. Anna who looked after our every need also had a fantastic mesmerising voice too. It was such a perfect way to end an amazing holiday. Suzanne, one of the retreat goers said ‘this has been the best yoga retreat I’ve been on and I’ve been on quite a few!’ Uta, another student said ‘thanks for all the laughs!’
We talked about doing another yoga retreat in Sri Lanka together so watch this space! It will be lovely to work with Bluerise Retreat again.
In the meantime, Bristol Yoga Centre has organised another wonderful yoga retreat in France from 20-27th June 2018. We are currently offering 10% off, please see here for details.