Yoga & Meditation at Trasierra, in the Hills of Southern Spain

Trasierra, Seville | 15th-19th May 2019

Take a deep dive into nature and your practice and dedicate the time to emerge refreshed, empowered and connected at the beautiful Trasierra, perched among the wild hills of Cazalla De La Sierra, Southern Spain.

Five days of yoga, meditation, delicious and healthy food, chanting, pranayama, drawing, star-gazing, walking in the hills, nature connection and ceremony, with plenty of free time to relax, explore and assimilate.

• Daily Yoga classes by Amber Scott, Ruby Reed and Christabel Reed

• Delicious, healthy and nourishing meals

• Walking in the surrounding hills

• Evening Meditation, Chanting and Pranayama

• Plenty of time to relax by the pool, soak in the sunshine, read and sleep

Amber has been running yoga and hill walking retreats at Trasierra for almost a decade. Her teaching style summons up the intelligence of the student so that the practice becomes truly integrated. This is our second retreat collaborating together and it is sure to be just as wonderful as the last. Connecting neurological pathways in the physical body means that each movement we make provides a pathway to greater understanding of the self and the way we operate. Deep shifts are given space to occur and the practice becomes truly transformative.

We will spend lots of time outdoors on walks in the surrounding hills. Getting fitter and stronger this will also be an opportunity to reintegrate into the natural world and feel connected to the Earth as a source of strength. We will walk and explore and use art, craft, breath-work and meditations as ways to move beyond the mental space and enter into a creative and connected realm, shaking off the burdens and effects of our mechanised, systemised fast-past world.

The days will end with peaceful chanting, gentle movement, pranayama and meditation led by Christabel as a way to reconnect with the heart while becoming aware of our innate power and ability to re-wild, to un-peel the layers that prevent us from connecting to our most wild, natural and thriving selves! 

Each day you will also have the opportunity to relax in the beautiful house and garden or lounge by the pool, paint, draw and read, or go on walks in the surrounding, magical hills and forests.

All inclusive prices from £850 depending on which room you choose. To reserve a place and choose your room please contact us. We will then ask you to pay a £200 deposit before paying the full price by mid April.

For more information on the practitioners and hosts, please see the following websites:
www.christabelreed.yoga   •   www.rubyreedyoga.com    •   www.amberscottyoga.com   

I will be teaching alongside Amber Scott and Christabel Reed. Please read on for more info:

Amber Scott

Amber was born and brought up in Spain, spending her time surrounded by nature in the hills north of Seville. She travelled extensively with her family around India from the age of 5; this is where she got my first taste of the inspiration that would later draw her to the practice of yoga. Over the years, her mother practised with devotion and began to host yoga weeks in Spain with various fantastic teachers, one of whom started her off on her own yoga journey at the age of 17. She began to attend classes during these retreats and was lucky to receive some wonderful instruction from different teachers that visited them from London.

Amber went on to cultivate a strong self-practice using books, primarily ´Light on Yoga' by B.K.S Iyengar and 'Asana, Pranayama, Mudra, Bandha' from the Bihar School of Yoga. She learned for the first time how to breathe properly, and went to live in India, where she immersed herself deeply in self-practice while teaching English to children. A year later, she travelled to Nepal where she commenced her training in the Thai healing tradition at the Healing Hands Centre in Kathmandu. She undertook a course in Hatha Yoga and continued to cultivate her self-practice, learning the practice of yoga nidra, which she continues to teach. At the request of friends and guests, Amber began to teach some students in the spirit of sharing her learnings and knowledge. Travelling next to Rishikesh, Amber studied with Usha Devi, a strong teacher from the Iyengar tradition. On this trip she began to explore the teachings of buddhism and on a ten day silent buddhist retreat had her first experience of teaching a group, leading a daily class aimed at preparing the body for long periods of sitting. Back in London Amber enrolled on a degree course in Sanskrit and the study of religions at SOAS, continued to teach private clients and worked as a massage therapist around the city. It was at this time that she started a family, and shortly after met Ruth White with whom she did her yoga teacher training. Ruth taught Amber to hold back within the physical postures, which enabled her to cultivate a deeper awareness in her practice.

 Amber's method of teaching is called Karuna Yoga, the yoga of compassion. It is an adaptation of the rigorous Iyengar training; it is precise, clear and safe, all of which are qualities of teaching that Amber has adopted and for which she is deeply grateful. After many years training with Ruth, Amber began to run her own retreats combining yoga and hill walking at her beloved family home in Spain, Trasierra. She has also begun to follow her interest in healing through the therapeutic application of yoga and has trained with another truly great teacher, Tias Little. Tias founded Prajna Yoga, a method that pays particular attention to the yoga of the subtle body.  The emphasis is on slowing down and cultivating sensory awareness to remove obstacles to freedom. 

Currently studying an MA in the Traditions of Yoga & Meditation at SOAS University in London is giving Amber the opportunity to read about the roots of this practice that has given her so much, adding a much needed dimension to the practical works. She continues to run retreats, teach privately and locally, deepen her own practice and learn through her teaching. As often as possible she makes her way back to India to absorb the immediacy of spiritual life. 

Read more: http://www.amberscottyoga.com/

Christabel Reed

Christabel is a yoga teacher, activist and the co-founder of the environmental and holistic wellbeing platform Advaya Initiative. Currently completing a 4 year advanced teacher training with Colin Dunsmuir in the tradition of Professor T. Krishnamacharya & T. K. V. Desikachar, Christabel is working towards becoming a Yoga Therapist and is deepening her knowledge of how the many tools of yoga may be applied to all kinds of individuals, meeting them where they are at and developing individual practices so they may evolve as efficiently as possible and overcome whatever they feel afflicted by.

Teaching many weekly 1-2-1s as well as group classes in West London, Christabel is fascinated by the concept of peeling back the conditioned layers that prevent individuals acting from their inherent peace and power and thriving as they naturally should. Uniting breath with movement whilst honing their awareness, students are encouraged to develop compassion for themselves alongside acknowledging their power to act, replacing limiting or unhealthy patterns of action, thought and attitude with positive ones that nourish their relationship with themselves and the world around them. Christabel teaches that yoga is fundamentally a tool for freedom.

Practicing yoga as a teenager helped liberate Christabel from years of chronic anxiety and the constructed narratives that limited her ability to fulfil her potential and really enjoy life. This transformation led her make the resolution to learn how she could apply these tools to others. During Christabel’s History BA at Manchester she went back to India to do her first teacher training in Hatha Yoga. After graduating Christabel went on to do a second training in Viniyoga and Vinyasa Krama before beginning her Masters at SOAS, University of London, in The Traditions Of Yoga & Meditation.

Read more: https://christabelreed.yoga