The Yoga of Resilience and Grace
Chiang Mai, Thailand 2019 dates coming soon
Do you sometimes wish you had the tools to look at your life in a more positive way?
Have you read the articles and books on how to create a happier and more fulfilled life but still feel overwhelmed and dissatisfied?
Do you give a lot and feel you need to recharge your batteries and perhaps change your perspective before you can give more?
Are you parenting children who need extra care, or work in a challenging career, and would like to hone self care strategies that specifically work for you?
Perhaps you feel you're not getting the love and support your expecting from those close to you and you'd like to become more reliant on yourself; to draw on your own inner friend and support system.
Would you like to learn how to strengthen your inner resilience?
Would you like to learn how to communicate better with your inner guide and cultivate more calm?
This full five days Yoga, meditation and relaxation retreat is about being with like minded people, doing wonderful Yoga and learning invaluable skills for building inner resilience and calm.
What's it about?
On Yoga retreat we create time for self examination and observation. Time to look at what we like about ourselves as well as the more shadowy not so gorgeous stuff.
What is resilience?
We all know those days when little things seem to be against you and it all builds up into a "terrible day" enveloped in self pity. We all have times of frustration, sadness, feelings of lack, disappointment and loneliness.
Yoga teaches us to be aware of and navigate better through those tedious days and to recover quickly without numbing or blaming. When we train ourselves be more present on the good in our days and put the niggles in a more manageable perspective, we build a stronger bank of resilience.
This is the nitty gritty of self care.
This then builds inner strength so that when bad times hit, the life stopping stuff, we are able to bounce back more quickly, adapt and support ourselves through the dark times and even support others as necessary.
On this retreat we'll also be rejoicing in the good times. You will learn how to deepen and prolong positive feelings when they come, recognising and celebrating our and other people's successes as well as exploring what it is in life that makes your hearts shine.
Staying with all these feelings, the good and the bad, becoming aware of how they arrive and feel in our bodies, minds and hearts is Yoga. Learning how to recognise them all as temporary, tolerable and necessary is vital learning in becoming a more complete, calm and stronger person as well a nice person to live with and be around.
We will do all this through Yoga posture work, meditation, visualisation, breath work, the amazing teachings of Hindu myths and deities, journalling techniques and my own personal stories.
I'm also very aware how taking a break away from the family is something we all dream of and yet few of us ever do. I can't stress how therapeutic and transformational it is to retreat from the world and reflect on life.
To have all your practical needs taken care of so you can focus on Yoga, relaxing, learning, reading, having fun and connecting with others is the best luxury I can think of. If you have never done this before, I highly recommend it!
Not only will come back refreshed and inspired, you'll also have a clearer and more positive perspective on your life.
I have learnt that to be happy and have a good full life we need to truly take care of our bodies, minds and hearts.
In this retreat you will strengthen and deepen your Yoga poses, learn how to focus more on the good in your life and how to build tools to manage the inevitable not so good.
You'll also have a lot of fun with great people and eat the best Thai food of your life!!
So join us!
““Sarah’s workshop really opened my mind (and heart!) to a new way of being. She offered several practical ways I could enrich my busy and often overwhelming lifestyle by taking time for myself, in small, manageable ways. I’m now determined to put these changes into practice. I hadn’t realised how much I was neglecting my own self-care. I feel rejuvenated, energised and inspired by her warmth and gentle guidance. She is also very down-to-earth and explained everything really well. Thank you Sarah!!”
— Bethan Morgan - London based Yoga teacher.”
PAYMENT AND REGISTRATION
The Early Bird price SG$1290 until September 30th
Normal price SG$1390.
*Please note as soon as you pay, PayPal sends me an email with your details and I will contact you the same day to officially welcome you to our retreat. The email address you use to pay is the one I will email too, so if it is an address you don't often use, please email me with your usual email address.
This retreat will not only nourish your body, mind and soul. You will have time and space to:
Banter with lovely people, joke and share ideas (I've had the best book and film recommendations from the people I've met on retreats) knowing you'll have the time and space to really chat.
Spend time alone reading, journaling or just napping and dreaming.
Relax knowing other capable and caring and people are running things.
Take time to sort out your thoughts. Reflect on your life
Really savour wonderful buffet meals. I can't tell you have much everyone loves this. Here in Chiang Mai where the food is Thai rustic village food at it's best and you feel you have all the time in the world, meal times are a real treat.
I have learnt that to be happy and have a good life we need to take care of our bodies, minds and hearts.
In this retreat you will learn through the teachings of Yoga and positive psychology how to focus more on the good, to tolerate the not so good and through that will build resilience, connection with others and with yourselves.
"The good life as I conceive it is a happy life.
I do not mean that if you are good you will be happy.
I mean that if you are happy you will be good" Bertram Russel
Our retreat will take place a hand-built by women for women, village-style retreat centre in Mae Rim, about an hour from Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.
We will have the whole retreat centre to ourselves.
You will have 24 hour access to the library, meditation room and living areas. There is wifi access in the main living room.
There is a village nearby within walking- or biking- distance with a great coffee shop and small local shops.
Our accommodation at IWP is simple, clean, 'ashram-style' with shared rooms and bathrooms.
There is no air conditioning but the average temperature in November is a very comfortable 24 degrees C or 77 degrees F and all rooms have fans.
Our meals are prepared with love and full of local flavour and amazing fresh ingredients. Our workshop Sala is set among rice fields. Our guest house is hand-built rammed earth.
We will be surrounded by nature.
A full sky of stars, the noises of tropical birds and insects and lush green vegitation.
The retreat centre can comfortably sleep and cater for 25 people, however for extra comfort and attention this retreat is limited to 15 participants.
Chiang Mai is small and beautiful city in northern Thailand full of history, temples and wonderful people. It has an international airport which is a super convenient 15 minute drive from the city. Our retreat centre is about 45 minutes from Chiang Mai. Transport to the retreat centre from Chiang Mai is all organised for you.
Here is a video recently made by the people who run this retreat centre. It was made specifically as a fundraiser for a new site they are planning on building, but it gives you a good idea of the wonderful feel of the centre.
You will not only enjoy great Yoga classes and deepen your practice, you will also learn about the more spiritual side of Yoga, meditation and deep relaxation.
We'll be looking at Yogic teachings from the Chakras, Yogic texts and stories about Hindu gods and goddesses.
These teachings are not only fascinating and entertaining, they can be applied to every day life guiding you to a more fulfilled and balanced existence.
You'll learn valuable lessons from the teachings of positive psychology as well as how to bring more creativity and resilience into your life.
"After the Yoga of Caring workshop I felt invigorated, refreshed and yet calm and serene. Sarah made the yoga fun with her lovely sense of humour and encouraging manner. Her warmth and enthusiasm was infectious and she was very welcoming to all. I look forward to attending other workshops hosted by Sarah" Tassy Moochalla, Artist
Each day I will lead you through two blissful Yoga classes with building Resilience and Calm as our central themes.
Our morning sessions will be dynamic and up-lifting. Each morning I will guide you either through a Vinyasa style Slow Align Flow where the focus is flow and fun or a Hatha class where we learn more about individual poses and alignment.
Our afternoon classes will be more contemplative and restorative with guided meditations, stories and visualisations as well as more teachings from Hatha Yoga including the breath.
We will also explore the therapeutic and meditative qualities of longer held poses in Yin Yoga.
"Sarah after your Yoga of Caring workshop I felt deeply calm and relaxed, as I always do after your classes and workshops. It was also a great reminder of how important it is to look after yourself, both physically and mentally. I love the way your teaching is holistic. So great for the soul!"
Jasmine Scott, Primary school teacher.
The Teacher
I started practising Yoga at school when I was 16.
At that time Yoga helped me to stretch out my tight sport addled body. That, and some help with relaxation, was all I wanted from it then and I continued to practice different types of Yoga after leaving school, going on to university and then traveling.
It was when my first son was born with autism was when my Yoga practice really began. Yoga became a sanctuary for me.
It helped me to learn patience and tolerance towards others as well as to observe and understand myself.
I have honed and dug deep into my practice and come back to it daily.
I do Yoga when times are good, tedious, busy or boring and when anxiety about my son- or any other life matter - has me in its grip.
It soothes and comforts, challenges and stretches me and I know I wouldn't be as patient or aware if it weren't for my Yoga practice and the insight it brings.
I want to pass that learning on to you.
My passion is to guide others to find their best true selves.
To guide people to bring creative outlets into their lives, to find a Yoga path that suits them and to and ignite a zest for living life with purpose and poetry.
I'm also a keen writer on all things Yoga and have been published in various magazines. I'm also a regular contributor and the Singapore editor at YogiTimes.com.
I have been teaching Yoga for 10 years and am qualified to the highest level with Yoga Alliance US. I teach Vinyasa, Hatha, Restorative and Yin Yoga.
I have lived in England, Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Spain and currently live in Singapore. I am the mother of two dear boys aged 10 and 16 who are my greatest teachers.
I love sharing all I have learned from living in very different countries and cultures, bringing up my two wonderful sons, maintaining a marriage of over 20 years and all I have learned on my 30 year Yoga path.
I strive to demonstrate kindness, skill and above all, love.
"Sarah is very good a picking up on the different levels of her yogis and helps to offer variances for poses, understanding that every body is different and even each day is different for your own body.
Sarah also focuses on the mind-body connection, incorporates meditative and breathing exercises and shares experiences from her own journey as a yogi. I particularly enjoy the pieces of poetry or stories Sarah shares with us they often give me a new perspective or a valuable reminder."
Roxan Toll- Vice president of ZappiStore.
“I have been practicing yoga on and off for over 10 years now and can truly say I LOVE Sarah’s style of teaching Yoga. The real point of difference in her teaching for me is the clear, concise, knowledgeable and considered instruction she gives. She has a wonderful way with words and an exemplary duty of care for her students.
Through Sarah’s thorough, expert teaching I now understand poses so much better and pay more attention to turning on/activating individual muscles. Without fail I leave every class feeling alive, invigorated and relaxed!” Kirsten Spenser, Hillcrest student
Our days will follow this general pattern from Thursday to Monday:
6.15- 8.15 Hatha or Vinyasa Yoga
8.30 Breakfast
Free time for: massage, bike rides, exploring, going to the local coffee shop,
napping, reading, contemplation or chatting, sketching, dreaming, knitting- the possibilities are endless!
1.00 Lunch
Free time.
Excellent local Thai massage therapists are available for 1 or 2 hour bookings.
4.00- 6.00 Afternoon Yin, Hatha or Restorative Yoga
6.30 Dinner
One morning to lunchtime will be an optional excursion into Chiang Mai for a Thai cooking class and time to wander around the city.
* People wanting to come to the cooking class will need to give Sarah SG$40 at the retreat centre before the course.
This is for you if
You love yoga and would like to take your practice to a deeper level.
You've done a little Yoga and want to learn more from a patient and experienced teacher.
You'd like to integrate regular meditation into your life and would like practice and guidance on how.
You're craving quiet time to go deep, explore and reflect
You need time and space to focus on yourself
You love sharing experiences and being with like minded people
There is also an option to have fun!
Please note this is not for you if you have mental health issues, are undergoing intense psychotherapy have PTSD or are freshly grieving.
As a Yoga teacher I am not qualified to give professional advice outside the realm of Yoga.
If you are unsure about coming, please contact me at info@sarahbyoga.net
All meals (all vegetarian)
All accommodation
Access to bicycles, library, Yoga space and meditation hall during your free time and breaks
Land transport from Chiang Mai centre.
*The bus from Chiang Mai city leaves to the retreat centre at 11.30 pm on Thursday 15th November. We will then have lunch at the retreat centre, an afternoon Yoga class and dinner.
The bus leaves the retreat centre to return to Chiang Mai city on Monday 19th November at 11.30 am.
The meeting point is the front parking lot of Wat Suandok, located at 139 Suthep Rd, Chiang Mai. Wat Suandok is a beautiful temple complex and you can buy cool drinks and snacks there if you arrive early. I will be waiting there to greet you!
Not included:
Airfares (or other transport to and from your home to Chiang Mai)
Please note arrangements for flying to Thailand and for getting to the pick up point is your responsibility.
Travel insurance (a requirement)
Thai massage (which can be arranged in the afternoon spare time for a very modest sum.)
Fee for optional cooking class on Saturday 17th.
Accommodation at IWP is simple, clean, 'ashram-style' with shared rooms and bathrooms.
Meal are prepared with love are full of local flavour and amazing fresh ingredients.
Our Yoga Sala is set among rice fields. Our guest house is hand-built rammed earth. It's quite chilly in the mornings at this time of year so bring a few warm clothes.
PAYMENT AND REGISTRATION
Payment and registration
*Please note as soon as you pay, PayPal sends me an email with your details and I will contact you the same day to officially welcome you to our retreat. The email address you use to pay is the one I will email too, so if it is an address you don't often use, please email me with your usual email address.
The Early Bird price: SG$1290 until September 30th
Normal price: SG$1390.
Please note prices are in Singapore dollars.
To convert to your currency please click here.
Please read our terms before signing up.
Connect with Sarah's main Yoga website at www.sarahbyoga.net
"I feel very lucky to have found Sarah as my yoga teacher and I have been attending regular classes with her for 3 years.
She stands out from other teachers I have tried due to the diligence and care she takes with her students, her attention to keeping it all fresh and interesting and her ability to help you to understand yoga at a deeper level.
She is also a lovely person to be in a class with!” Helen Leeder, Occupational and Coaching Psycologist
Spend 6 days and five nights at wonderful retreat centre, eating amazing healthy meals, practicing yoga and meditation, reflecting, learning with a group of like-minded souls and really taking time for you!
Enjoy my support and guidance to relax, renew and revive.
If you'd like to Skype me about this retreat and discover if it is the right fit for you, please send me an email at info@sarahbyoga.net and we can set up a time to talk.
Sarah B has articles published in