Our intimate Sark retreat!
Well we enjoyed another marvellous retreat on Sark, this one our first intimate yoga & wellbeing retreat in conjunction with Caragh, Sark’s amazing qi gong and yoga fusion teacher as well as being a very wonderful chocolatier!
It was new for us all, the seven ladies staying in Caragh’s accommodation up near her chocolate shop and us using the cider room in Stocks for the classes. This space is amazing, Stocks is a wonderful hotel and is held beautifully by the magic of Dixcart Valley as well as the beautiful gardens which are looked after so well. There is certainly love on this retreat, not least at Stocks but in Caragh’s houses, Pourquoi Pas and the The Old Forge.
As a family, we got to enjoy the Chill Inn, which is a wonderful home from home spot on the East coast run by Helen and Carl, who are really hospitable and lovely. The location offered incredible view of the sunrise and made for quite a bike ride out to the dolmen on our last night. It was magical and well worth the trip, a shooting star greeted me as I walked in the dark down the final path to the dolmen, and there was a crystal awaiting me too, I LOVE Little Sark.
E and the boys joined me for two of the nights, not that I got to see that much of them but we did get down to Dixcart for a swim (well done Elijah) and they loved cycling around on their bikes. E was grateful my Dad joined them for one of the days, but this was the day that Eben just couldn’t decide which bike worked best testing everyone’s patience, but such is life with a wilful 6 year old, just yesterday turned 7!
It was funny actually, because some of you will remember that fateful night 7 years ago (the exact same weekend I was this year on Sark leading this retreat) when I was then on Herm leading a much larger retreat while 33 weeks pregnant. This was on a super full moon and I’d been going on about the power of the full moon and lo and behold that Saturday night my waters broke and I had to be taken off Sark in the middle of the light, with the full moon almost laughing overhead at me, in rough seas on the life boat, and in an ambulance to the hospital on Guernsey.
The question of course - what was I thinking running a retreat at 33 weeks pregnant?! Well Eben stayed in my tummy another 4 days, and a year later I took him to India the day after he turned 1 for my first Goan retreat (again what was I thinking). So this time of year certainly has some memories of crazy retreats and putting myself under pressure somewhat!
But this recent retreat on Sark did show me that we do indeed live and learn and life does change, because while the intimate retreat on Sark of course had its challenges - the afternoon boat on the Friday that many of us were booked to take was cancelled due to rough weather so we had to pack quickly and get on the 10am sailing that morning instead - I didn’t really get that stressed, hoorah for that!
Intimate for me is the way forward and I have provisionally booked Stocks for 12-15 April 2024 as another two or three night yoga & wellbeing retreat, with veggie breakfast and evening meal. I’ll be leading this alone as Caragh will be focusing on her other work next year, and Stocks have kindly agreed to host the role retreat, luckily those who get to enjoy its beautiful healing and uplifting energy! More details on the retreat will follow.
Just to say a huge thank you to all of you who joined me or who facilitated, hosted or otherwise helped in the running of the weekend. We love Sark and are grateful for the opportunity to visit and immerse ourselves in the healing energy and magic of this, well, magical island!
Love Emma x
P.S. These are the only two photos I took all weekend, bar the ones of the stones, I guess that indicates present living?!
