Writer and yogini Caroline Sylger-Jones road tests some of the best yoga retreats in Britain and Ireland for Yoga Abode.
First up: an unusual Yoga and Sound retreat.
The Essence
Each year Yoga and Sound teacher Judith Seelig leads two retreats at Earth Spirit, a holistic retreat centre in the tranquil village of Dundon in rural Somerset.
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The focus is on a theme that makes being human difficult or challenging, and combines group sessions of talking and listening with bodywork sessions featuring Judith's distinctive take on yoga.
The Setting
Earth Spirit is a deeply peaceful converted farm centred around a restored medieval barn where eating and meeting take place.
There's a cedarwood hot tub you can use throughout your stay - costumes are optional, and people bathe in silence. Basic single, double and communal rooms are available, some with ensuite bathrooms - you can also choose to camp in the meadow.
Home-cooked vegetarian food is served three times a day - special diets can be catered for at a small charge. Energising local walks include a short trek up Lollover Hill, from where you can enjoy the inspiring sight of Glastonbury Tor. The local churchyard boasts a giant ancient yew tree.
The Yoga
Judith uses the gift of her considerable vocal range to help people move into, and properly experience, each asana. Moving in, staying in, and moving out of an asana are also, of course, linked to the breath.
Her teaching is based on the idea that each yoga posture makes a distinctive shape whose frequency can be translated into sound. Wordless and unusual, the sounds range from chants to shamanic babbling, and aim to help us bypass our chattering minds and reconnect to our bodies.
When I first heard Judith making her sounds I felt odd, slightly embarrassed and highly self-conscious. With each new asana, however, as I breathed more deeply and made each move more slowly, the sounds began to make sense to my body and my mind shut up.
Unexpected and effective, the bodywork informed the whole retreat, which saught to free us from self-consciousness, self-judgement and our relentless habit of taking things too seriously.
The Surprise
Judith has a refreshingly positive approach to yoga and life, and she laughs easily. I was with her on a ‘Feeling Guilty' weekend, because the title in my inbox had caught my eye.
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We didn't talk about feelings of guilt, however, which Judith says are ‘unavoidable'. Instead we learnt how to tap into the ‘grace, beauty and wisdom' that form the bedrock of who we already are, to enable us to deal with ourselves more easily.
The trick, she says, is to ‘stop ploughing'- to stop trying so hard, to stop analysing the past, to give up ‘having and holding' in the way that we've been taught.
By learning to let go of everything with each moment, using the breath as our tool, our already wise and graceful selves will inform our actions instead.
The Challenge
Each retreat ends with an optional sweat lodge in the native American tradition, in keeping with Judith's shamanic leanings. A thanksgiving to the four elements, ‘the sweat' also symbolises individual renewal.
I had no intention of doing it on arrival, but ended up infront of a roaring fire holding hands with 14 other people before crawling into the lodge to sit in darkness on damp grass. And yes, we were all naked.
Watching the hot coals and sweating profusely, I wondered if my ‘om' was suitable to chant amid the shamanic noises I heard all about me.
It was a bizarre and slightly scary experience, but there was something incredibly lovely about how unself-conscious everybody was, how unthreatening the atmosphere felt and the serene side of me that had emerged by the end of it.
The Atmosphere
Judith's retreats work on a subtle level, and her sense of community is crucial to their effectiveness. She honours and includes everyone, and encourages everybody to do the same.
In a retreat made up mostly of Judith's existing students, I began feeling self-protective, limbs wrapped tightly in my lovely Shavasana wrap from Manuka
I quickly shifted to feeling expansive, and hugely accepted. Groups often make me fearful, yet I left with a calm feeling of inclusion and an open, happy heart.
The Detail
The next Earth Spirit retreat is August 17th to 24th 2008, and costs from £390 for a shared room. Judith also runs regular classes in London and interesting journeys abroad.
Bottom image shows Judith. For more information about the Yoga and Sound method see www.yogaandsound.com
Caroline Sylger-Jones is the author of travel resource book Body & Soul escapes Her second book, Body & Soul Escapes: Britain & Ireland, will be published in November 2008 (and can be pre-ordered here).
