2020 - Retreat Cancelled due to Coronavirus
At this seven-night retreat you will enjoy twice daily yoga, daily holistic wellbeing workshops, a one-on-one wellbeing consultation, and have ample time to relax and enjoy the beautiful Tuscan countryside, food, and culture which surrounds the artist-restored hamlet of Peralta. Join Meredith Starck and Sophia Englezos on a expanding and healing journey exploring the practice of embodiment.
INCLUDES
Seven nights accommodation at Peralta - with your own bedroom and bathroom
All Meals at Peralta
(Gluten-free and Vegetarian options available)
Daily Morning Yoga
Daily Evening Restorative Yoga/Pranayama/Meditation
Daily Holistic Wellbeing Workshops
A one-on-one Holistic Wellbeing Consultation
Transport for Day Trip to Pietrasanta
Retreat Workbook
COST:
€1550
Does not include:
-Transfers
-Lunch on Wednesday (day trip to Pietrasanta or day off)
-Dinner on Thursday (hike to local restaurant)
Register your interest at the bottom of the page
The Yoga Practice
The two-hour morning session each day will be a yoga vinyasa flowing with ease through guided breaths using sound and rhythm - as we express our breath to release within, our body retains the memory and the healing process unfolds. Each day we will continue to build a practice to lighten the joints and learn to self adjust. The practice of preparing your body to be open to a ritual of self-care and harmony is the foundation of my yoga teaching. After exploring many different practices of holistic body work, my classes resonate with the important focus of getting in and out of asana. Asana or posture should feel light and fluid. As we add more preparation to move with ease from one posture to another, the whole body feels more freedom. Afternoon sessions will support our morning practice by adding more meditation, breath and chakra healing through yoga chakra momentum.
About Meredith
Meredith Starck has maintained a strong interest in health and fitness since her teenage years when she began practicing yoga in daily life. Growing up between Canada, the Caribbean, and North Queensland, and with Canadian and Dutch-Indonesian parents she absorbed an early appreciation of the taste of foods from a diversity of cultures. In the early 1980’s as a young adult she set out to explore the world. She went to Washington D.C. where she opened a catering business called Contemporary Cuisine. Her food caught on and soon was in demand with a number of high profile clients. These included corporations, embassies, the arts community, and even the White House.
During her three years in Washington she was also introduced to and undertook three years of intensive training in a unique natural form of inner exploration and expressive dance known as Synergy. Subsequently, she has incorporated elements of Synergy into her ongoing practice of yoga to develop her own unique style of body movement. This natural union of inner exploration and expressive movement is a realm where rhythms and harmony meet. This is the movement of energy and is the focus of our quest for balance and health. A class starts with slow rhythmical circular movement stimulating the energy pathways of the chakra system and progresses into stronger more flowing dance movements.
“Becoming a yoga teacher is a small part of the journey. I have been given amazing opportunities to continue to grow and develop a practice. My teaching took a radical change with my ongoing Scaravelli training under Diane Long and Paddy McGrath, both master teachers. Elemental practice in nature is an essential part of my teaching. Each class offers a new guided experience.”
Meredith has been teaching Dawn Yoga on The Strand Headland, Townsville (Australia) for twenty years along with chakra dance, chair-based yoga, and weekly chakra yoga at Belama House, Magnetic Island (Australia). Several times each she facilitates holistic retreats in wonderful natural spaces.
Holistic Wellbeing Workshops
The Beauty of your body
Embodiment, Self-Love, Poetry, Art, Trust, Body as your Guide
The Energy Body
Chakras, Meridians, Koshas, and Models of the Energy Body from all over the world
The Physical and Energetic Characteristics of Food and Water
Knowing and understanding the importance of Food Energetics
Self-care & Physical and Energetic cleansing of the body
Dinacharya, Eliminating Toxins - including from your surrounding environment, Cleansing the Energy Body
Connection with Nature, The Elements, Seasons, and Balance
Connecting with the Elements of your body and Nature, the many physical and energetic benefits of Nature
Integration
Practice in everyday life, Life as your Practice
About Sophia
Sophia Englezos is a Cardiac Physiologist, Holistic Health Coach, and Wellbeing Consultant, passionate about illuminating the many connections that exist between body, mind, spirit, and self, and how they all fit together to create holistic wellbeing. “Conventionally” trained in science and cardiology, she uses this background to bridge between it and the many effective Traditional Schools that exist including Ayurveda, Yoga, Chinese Medicine, Western Herbal Medicine, and various Native and Spiritually-based Traditions, to bring about holistic health in the most effective way possible. Having experienced a number of health problems from a young age, it was the experiences of healing from these through combining modern medicine with traditional schools which brought about her healing and passion for seeing this healing take place in others. Her webpage, alignednature.com, is a free resource for connecting with her writings on body (particularly the existence of the energy body and its connection with the physical body), mind, spirit, and self, and the connections and integrations that exist between them all.
Sophia holds a Certificate of Integrative Nutrition Health Coaching, a Bachelor of Sport & Exercise Science, Graduate Diploma of Exercise Physiology, Diploma of Cardiac Sonography, and a Master of Business Administration.
Sample Day
8:00 - 10:00 Yoga
10:00 - Light Breakfast
13:00 - Lunch
16:00 - 17:00 - Holistic Wellbeing Workshop
17:00 - 18:00 Restorative Yoga/Pranayama/Meditation
19:00 Dinner
The Food
Breakfast
Breakfast will be light and self-service of whole, organic options including homemade gluten-free seed & nut loaf, seed & nut granola, fresh fruits, organic teas, and coffee. Breakfast is designed to be light so your body is light for and after the morning main yoga practice.
Lunch
A traditional Italian affair of local produce and dishes
Dinner
A traditional Italian affair of local produce and dishes including a glass or two of wine if you like
ABOUT PERALTA
Peralta is a small Tuscan hamlet situated in the hills overlooking Camaiore Valley in Lucca Province -known for its landscapes and medieval villages. Found almost abandoned in 1967, it was loving restored, lived-in and worked-in by artist and sculptor Fiore de Henriquez and other artists she hosted. With its artistic heritage Peralta is a unique and inspiring place to be. You can enjoy the views of the valley and sunset from one of the many terraces, take a dip in or relax by the outdoor salt pool, or take any number of stunning hikes originating from the hamlet.
Fiore's work is found throughout Peralta and there is a short video clip about her and Peralta below.
Inquiries and request for registration details:
Payment DETAILS
Payment
€400 deposit at the time of booking
Balance of €1150 due by 1st of August 2020
All payments are to be made in Great British Pounds (£) equivalent by bank transfer
Cancellation and Refund Policy
If you cancel:
Deposit will be refunded, less a £50 administration fee, up to 31st of March 2020, after this date the deposit will not be refunded.
50% of balance paid beyond deposit will be refunded up 26th of August 2020, after this date no refunds will be given for cancellation.
If the retreat is cancelled due to events out of our control you will be refunded. We cannot cover costs associated with your travel to and from the retreat if it is cancelled. It is recommended that you take out travel insurance.