Gardoussel Retreat



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Women's Retreat - with Frances Yates & Nel Beentjes

Dates: THIS EVENT HAPPENED IN SUMMER 2003, click here for current events.

Overview

This week is a unique experience for women designed to nurture and strengthen our 'natural state' and reconnect with our heart centre: a place of peace and tranquillity where we can be still. It is an opportunity to let go of all the clutter in your daily life and clear away old traumas and mental patterns that are holding you back.

Frances and Nel are both professional therapists trained in a wide variety of healing techniques from many different cultures. They bring with them a broad tapestry of wisdom and experience.

Frances has been studying and practising yoga for 30 years and currently teaches in Scotland. She is also a trained nurse as well as a massage and craniosacral therapist.

Nel is a regression / past life therapist. She is a professional member of the NVRT (Dutch association of past life therapists). Her work focuses on mental patterns: recurring personal problems whose roots often extend far into the past. Nel is also experienced in astrology and shamanic techniques.

Participants will be guided and supported by both facilitators who will have been in touch with each member before they arrive. What we practice and experience together will shape itself as the week unfolds.

As such, there is no specific agenda for this retreat. You may be meditating, stretching, singing, dancing, watching your surroundings or watching your breath. Or you may be writing in your diary, crying, sharing, laughing, forgiving, loving …

This week is a retreat in every sense of the word. It is an opportunity for change using the various skills offered by Nel and Frances. A chance to practise techniques which can change the whole cellular structure of your body.

Nature is a powerful healer. The setting that has been chosen for this experience is incredibly beautiful, tucked away among green oaks, sweet chestnuts and pine trees in the Cévennes mountains of southern France. In the grounds a glass-fronted meditation cabin that can be used for different activities. Tucked away close by is a Mongolian yurt which is a welcoming space for group gatherings. Down in the woods are hammocks where you can swing peacefully listening to the sounds of the birds and the leaves whispering in the trees. Set under a canopy of sweet chestnut foliage is a large wooden deck to practise yoga, dance or just watch and listen.

Accommodation is in four twin-bedded rooms with a kitchen, toilet and shower, plus a large converted loft overlooking the valley. The food is vegetarian. Most of the vegetables are grown locally and there is fresh goats' cheese made in the hamlet. Our breakfast and lunch will be self-catering while our evening meal will be a shared celebration of each day's experience.

You will be expected to join in with the work that is needed to maintain our living space. There may be mosquitos at this time of the year so bring some form of insect repellent. Because some of the area is quite rough underfoot, it is advisable to bring sensible shoes for walking.

Frances Yates

Frances has been practising and studying yoga for over 25 years and trained to teach the discipline with the British Wheel of Yoga in 1975. She is also qualified as a Registered General Nurse and a massage therapist. She later gained a qualification in craniosacral therapy with the Upledger Institute UK. Drawing on this blend of experiences, she is able to give valuable advice on new ways of looking at posture, breathing and relaxation techniques.

Read more about Frances at her own website:

http://www.francesyates.co.uk

Nel Beentjes

Nel works with regression-past life therapy. She is a professional member of the NVRT (Dutch Association of Past life therapists). Life patterns are relationships, thoughts, and problems which are repeated. Like an onion, there may be tears as new layers are peeled away. But courage melts fear, and the most painful lessons of the past are usually the ones which teach us the most in our present. Growing through those lessons is what brings true wisdom. You must conceive a wiser, happier, and healthier future before you can start building it. By using soul exploration to connect us with our own personal heritage and by defining our present life ideals and patterns, we can clear a path towards our best possible future. Nel's interest in astrology and shamanic techniques add to her skills as a powerful, intuitive healer.