Spring Newsletter 2023

I don’t know about you but I feel worn out this time of year..

 Spring really cannot come fast enough.. the long Irish winter still remains a challenge even after 23 years in Ireland. I have been living in my long winter coat pretty much six months now.. To make matters worse,  I got another flare-up of iritis… and when we went away for a little much needed holiday, Stuart’s dad passed away three days into our trip.

So while  I had planned to talk about the equinox and new moon, new beginnings, planting seeds and creativity,  my heart just wasn’t in it, and I was putting it on the long finger… then the word ‘resilience’ came to my mind… 

For a bit of context, those who followed my journey last year may remember that I have been on a detoxing mission, primarily to heal my eyes. I have had recurrent flare-ups of uveitis (inflammation of the iris). I have been trying to reduce inflammation in the body and learning a lot about detoxing and the foods that cause mucus and acidity and those that do not. I did a 60 day juice fast and felt amazing, and bit by bit I have limited my nutrition to a whole raw food diet. 

I have a good discipline, perhaps a legacy of growing up in communism. Health has been my passion most of my life. And I trust that I am on the right path…

Yet, exactly a year after the last flare-up – here I am again with inflammation in both eyes, and copious amounts of steroid drops for 2 months.

I won’t lie, I felt despair. I thought to myself – why bother – if all my efforts do not amount to anything. Why don’t I just lie on a couch and eat burgers and crisps?? (I have never liked either of those things, but you get my sentiment) 

So back to resilience..

“Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.” 

― Elizabeth Edwards

After the initial few hours of feeling sorry for myself, I have bounced back fairly quickly. Knowing deep inside that what I had done last year, all the detoxing and learning, is now keeping me going through this flare-up.

When your diet consists of mostly fruit and veg, the one thing that is very hard to keep under wraps is peace and optimism. I know that with the help of a clean raw diet, lots of yoga, and a positive attitude I will heal from this. I will just have to have patience and the wisdom to know that some things take longer.. Gene HLA-B27 (or whatever you are called) – your days are numbered!

Yoga is the perfect tool for cultivating resilience.

I would not be the human being I am now if it wasn’t for over two decades of consistent yoga practice, meditation… and a few ice baths too! 

When you are in a challenging yoga pose, your mind is screaming – ‘get me out’,
yet you are able to pause, observe your discomforts while breathing deeply and being present,  you are cultivating resilience – and not just on the mat.

Through our yoga practice,

we become strong, we become bendy like the willow tree, and we are able to bounce back quicker from whatever challenges life throws at us.

And that, I believe, is what the journey is all about.

So dive in dear friends,

we have created an exciting schedule of wonderful retreats for spring and beyond.
For full schedule click HERE

You can choose from

Residential Weekend Retreats and Longer Retreats

for those who want to truly retreat and go deeper..

We have inspiring guest teachers bringing their own teachings and life-experiences to us, take your pick!

As I write this, there are 3 spaces left for Sharon Ni Chuilibin’s

Women’s Healing Retreat

21 – 23rd April

*****

We are excited to welcome Liam Oragh to teach

Sound Therapy Weekend

19 – 21st May

*****

We have another  popular Wim Hof Retreat,

with John McKeown of Loving Oxygen

7 – 9th July

*****

James Boag is returning to teach a week-long intensive

Whole Life Yoga Immersion

13 – 20th July

*****

And we have our annual

August long Weekend of Yoga  and Outdoors

4 – 7th August..

Day Retreats

for those with limited time but who recognise that self- care should be high on anyone’s list of priorities.
Our Day Retreats book out fast so here is a new date we have just added.
Saturday 29th April.

Alex Rederer – a Germain lady and an experienced Oriental Dance teacher is coming back to teach a Day of Bellydance on the 27th May