In Honour of Saint Francis of Assisi

With the newly enthroned Pope Francis at the Vatican, we are wondering if Assisi will be finding itself very crowded with pilgrims this year.

Our Tuscany retreat is very much focussed around the energy and principles of St. Francis and St. Clare, and we take a full day visit to Assisi in our itinerary.

Since our first visit there, it has been such an inspirational place for me, not just the holy sites (of which there are many) but the actual streets and piazzas seem to just emanate a beautiful energy.

My favourite site is San Damiano where the Poor Clare Sisters were housed. It seems to have escaped the grand facelift that so many other places have been subjected to; somehow the vows of poverty and simplicity seem very evident there.

So with great excitement, we look forward to taking our group there in June. Arrivaderci!

To Drink, or Not to Drink... That is the Question

Photograph courtesy of Isante Magazine

We have had several enquiries of late about our retreats, and one of the questions that seems to be fairly high on the list... Is alcohol allowed?

Well we don't want to appear too austere, but having run retreats for a while our experience has been: With wine in the evenings, then we tried alcohol on the last night, and finally no alcohol, and believe me the last one came out best.

The practices and environment that we experience whilst on retreat take us into a very lovely place, sort of a natural high and as soon as someone has a drink then it brings them down and somehow negates the effects which we have clearly worked towards over the period of retreat time. In other words what does one want from a retreat? just a holiday with some yoga thrown in, or a really profound and sometimes life changing experience. I rest my case.

p.s. The food at Les Passeroses is all the nectar one could wish to consume :-)

Silva

Returning from France

We have returned from our France retreat at Les Passeroses feeling very positive and enthusiastic about next year. We have chosen to go a little earlier (Aug 6th to 12th) which means we should catch the amazing sunflower fields at their peak!

The first thing that one of our participants said as we walked through the gate was "wow you have so understated just how stunning and peaceful this place is" but you know what they say about a picture paints a thousand words so this year we took lots of pics.

Speaking of which, we noticed in one of the photos last year after a shamanic fire ceremony, that there was a large, full moon looking sphere behind the group. We have since done our research and realised it was a particularly beautiful orb.

We then started to look at other photos we had taken both last year and this, only to find there are indeed many orbs around, particularly when we have been meditating or chanting, check out the orb section on this site: www.dianacooper.com (I warn you it gets addictive, you won't want pics of the children anymore!)

Anandamayima Ashram Swamis

We are still feeling quite blissful after having the two Swamis over here from Anandamayima Ashram in India.

We organised three events, one of which was an amazing day of Yoga, asana, pranayama, mantra, meditation and the Swamis also delighted us with their chanting and traditional Indian devotional music. This was well attended and it was lovely to see many Yoga teachers from around the area. All proceeds go to maintain the children at the ashram school in Omkareshwar.

We are now focussing on our France retreat at the end of August. It's very hard to put magic into words but our previous experiences at Les Passeroses have been just that, it is a fabulous space to completely let go of all the baggage and get back in contact with the real Self, which manifests as a lot of smiling, happy, RELAXED people!

2009 Week Retreats

I just felt I had to share the amazing experiences of our week long retreats we had this year.
The first one in Les Passeroses in August, started with a bit of a disappointment, we only had five people,but the quality more than made up for the quality! the weather was just beautiful, so warm ( well hot actually) and the spare time that people had in the afternoons, was spent just dipping in and out of the pool, laying around, reading and dozing, and of course having therapies!
The transformation through the week was just magic, stress turning to bliss, overloaded minds became so calm and peaceful. The inner child in everyone seemed to want to just laugh and play, and the group of individuals that seemed very different in lifestyles, expectations, wants and needs, by the end of the week were a very close family of yogis, who really didn't want to leave.
Our hosts, Alex and Adrian were so friendly and hospitable, everything we could want and more. Can't wait for next year. Already have two bookings.

The second week which was in Norfolk, was completely different, and yet again the bonding of the participants was a delight, it seems that once we get past the exterior differences, we all have hearts that love to share and care, and this was so evident on this retreat.
The youngest was 7 months, and the oldest was nearly 80 (they didn't do too much yoga) the whole thing felt like a big family with many generations, we did our yoga practice in the huge sitting room with under floor heating (every yogis dream) every morning we went outside into the courtyard garden to chant to the morning sunrise, the evenings were just full of our own entertainment. Beautiful walks through the Norfolk countryside, we all walked up the hill to the local church on Sunday morning (it only opens once a month) no electricity, lovely pews with doors on. No-one minded the shouts of our baby, and the locals were delighted to have their congregation of six more than doubled.
We had a day in Norwich and went to St. Julians church and cell, which was really powerful, and of course we visited the Cathedral.
The cooking was shared though mainly done by Martin, he had plenty of help to chop veg. etc.
Just writing this brings back all those lovely feelings again, and the feedback has been amazing, things don't stop at the end of a retreat, they just begin in a much more positive and life enhancing way.

OM SHANTI Silva

Euro Proof Holiday !

This morning went out for a long bike ride along the Essex county lanes, a beautiful spring day with wall to wall blue sky the county side bursting into life, yellow daffodils waving their heads at me in the gentle breeze as I pedalled easily by.......
The blue brightness of the day transported me to the thoughts of summer holidays and off to the beautiful Charente region of France where the magnificent faces of the sunflowers smile at the sun....

We will be there in August for our first timers retreat!

Then I remember the weak Pound and poor exchange rate... but... How luck we are to be able to offer a near Euro proof holiday!

The price is in Pounds.... the amount of Euro spending money needed is small, limited to snacks drinks etc. whilst travelling, 25 Euros transfers to Les Passeroses from the train station or airport, an optional therapy from Jan ( 35 Euros I think), a few euros should you explore the area and feel like a hot chocolate and a croissant in a near by village. All other food, tuition and of course the accommodation is included!

If you are travelling from the south east of the U.K. you can join Silva and myself on the Eurostar and TGV. We have a group seat reservation expected price about £120 return. Should you wish to fly, early bookings can be a real good deal (last minute flights can be expensive!) .

Hooray! France is possible.....

Of course should Euros be your currency buying our cheap Pounds makes for a great value retreat.

Look on the "future events" page for more details or contact us, be happy to answer any questions...... once I get back from my bike ride of course :-)

Martin

After the weekend retreat.

After another brilliant weekend retreat ( March) the sun was shining and spring most definitely in the air, we were given a lot of food for thought.
The first one is about how powerful these weekends are, and how much people really detox; particularly, physically, emotionally, mentally. People that have been on these retreats before seem to be fairly o.k. i.e not having major headaches or feeling sick, but new comers do seem to have quite a reaction (don't let it put you off)
So we have decided to give participants some pre-course advice, about cutting down (or out) caffeine, teas, coffees, coke (cola) etc. and making an effort to drink more water leading up to the event. Also trying not to be flying around like a mad thing up till Friday afternoon, then of course everything just comes spilling out as soon as you stop!
I don't think maybe we realise how much holding on we do in this life, thinking we always have to have a brave face, not saying so many of the things we want to say, and also not actually having time to be with ourselves.
It never ceases to amaze us how people turn up on Friday evening looking stressed and somewhat anxious, and go home (not really wanting to) looking years younger, relaxed, feeling so much stronger and with some great tools in their Yoga tool box!
So many people say that time just isn't the same once you walk through that door, so much happens, so many positive changes.
Anyway if your reading this maybe try it for yourself!!!!!!! Shanti Silva