Yoga Journey

from ‘I'm not flexible enough to do yoga’ to running my first Yoga & Fitness retreat

Last year an opportunity came up to take over the whole of Quinta Do Rabaçal in the heart of Portugal to design and run my own retreat. I’ve organised plenty of photography holidays around the world but never a yoga retreat. If you’d said to me 25 years ago when I first started practising yoga that I’d become a teacher and one day run a retreat I’d have laughed - never did ballet nor gymnastics, about as flexible as a plank of wood, not very strong either. The strength has changed as I’ve swapped spinning for lifting weights, and the flexibility has changed perhaps a little bit in 25 years of practice but plenty of days I still feel stiff as a plank.

I’m pretty sure some of you have had the thought ‘nope, I can’t do yoga, it’s not for me because I’m not flexible enough’. But modern yoga has an image problem. You’d be forgiven for thinking yoga is purely about making perfect looking 'correctly' aligned shapes in expensive lycra, preferably on a beach, with a sunset, or in a fancy pricy studio somewhere trendy. It’s apparently all about mastery of these shapes with a bit of Sanskrit thrown in as tokenism to its eastern roots. But neither the Yoga Sutras nor the Bhagavad Gita contain any mention of the modern day postures, only that the physical shapes (asana) should be ‘Sthira Sukham Asanam’ or steady and full of ease, and even that was in relation to a seated posture for meditation. 

But all of this focus on flexibility misses the point, although I too initially thought yoga was just a flexibility practice that might help with too much time on a bike, and it's also fine if your primary motivation to come to yoga is to help with flexibility. Yoga is an internal practice, like meditation but with movement. Any strength or flexibility gains I see as a happy byproduct. The shapes are tools we can use to practice this internal awareness - what do we notice going on in the body and the mind as we try making some of these shapes. Can we practice bringing a degree of steadiness to the mind by noticing the thoughts but then returning the focus to the breath or to the feel of the ground beneath us. Can we see how thrown about by our minds we are, so many thoughts, so much judgement, what a monkey mind we have! Can we make skilful choices how to move today on the mat based on what we notice right now? 

What I now know from years working in yoga studios largely within gyms is that the physical side of yoga (asana) as practiced in studios around the world is self-selecting. There are a disproportionate amount of hypermobile yoga teachers (the ones that can do the bendy pretzel thing) who rely on this genetic condition to use their connective tissue - ligaments and tendons rather than muscle - to find the range around the joints to get into a lot of these frankly quite weird shapes, just like contortion. And many of those participants who can do the complicated shapes are hypermobile too. These extreme ranges have nothing to do with the amount of practice and everything to do with skeletal proportions and whether you are hypermobile or not. A lot of yoga teachers are ex-dancers or gymnasts and whilst I’m sure they have the best intentions in the world to be inclusive yoga teachers, the reality is a lot of people going to studios feel disheartened or get injured by what is offered to them in class. Our bodies are built differently and yet we try to force them into these shapes or we don't go to yoga full stop. And then we say someone has an 'advanced' practice because they were born with genetic hypermobility and can do difficult shapes - that is nonsensical.

So with that as background, it has often felt a challenge to be a non-hypermobile teacher, offering classes which aim to be as inclusive as possible. However, in a sea of inaccessible yoga shapes (which are based on influences like gymnastics, Indian wrestling and British army calisthenics routines) I’ve found that there are huge numbers of people who want an accessible and sustainable yoga class, who, just like me are not hypermobile so can’t do a load of the shapes you see on instagram or in the media, and who want plenty of options so  they can adapt the shapes to their bodies. We can still engage with shapes that make us stronger or more flexible and enjoy the physical benefits but shifting the emphasis from the aim being harder and harder shapes or ‘peak postures’ to awareness of what we can do right here right now on the mat today changes everything.

So it felt the right time to run a retreat, and because I love resistance training and have come to appreciate the health benefits especially for perimenopausal and menopausal women who really need to be prioritising resistance training because of the decline of oestrogen, I ran a Yoga & Fitness retreat and brought along a female Strength and Conditioning coach with me. 

And what a magical week it was. Everything on the schedule was optional but it was the perfect opportunity to try new things in a supportive and non-judgemental atmosphere. Plenty of the participants hadn't done much resistance training before but just like the yoga sessions there were options for everyone from using bodyweight through to heavier weights. Minds were changed from 'I can't do' or 'I don't like' strength training. It was amazing to watch. There was also plenty of time to chill by the pool, hike, have massages or be in the sauna, and then enjoy incredible locally sourced meals and a glass or two of wine if wanted. 

For a tiny glimpse of the retreat have a watch of my instagram reel:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6vMMg7IETA/

May 2025 retreat details will be open for bookings soon. For early access to the details and rooming schedule as soon as the retreat goes live please contact me to be on the early bird email list.

I also offer yoga in the workplace, private classes and drop in class during summer months in Hyde Park, plus a weekly 60 minute dynamic yoga via zoom for those who want to practice from home. Do get in touch to enquire about classes or 2025 retreat.