Winter Yoga - Retreat Day Away: A Guide to Tuning into the Season

Preparing our bodies and minds for the shift to Winter

Friday 20th October 2023
10am - 4pm - Lunch included

Join us for another restorative wellness day on the beautiful Hawarden Estate for autumnal vibes in the great outdoors. Winter is a time for rest, relaxation, and introspection. It's a time to slow down, connect with nature, and nurture our bodies and minds. We’re taking our popular retreat days away at The Walled Garden School into the next season.

Inside this magical space, in what feels like a world away; that’s perhaps just on your doorstep in Hawarden, North Wales.

Following our successful, sell-out May and September events we’re delighted to be hosting this third session.

Connect yourself with nature

Be prepared to layer up and connect with nature. Being in the great outdoors is just as important in the cooler seasons. Experiencing natural sunlight can boost your mood and productivity. We start to enjoy hearty, seasonal food like root vegetables to give us that warmer feeling of fullness within the body. It’s a time to be aware of the change in the season, with the different colours of the trees and wilderness around us, allowing awareness in our bodies to also adapt and move through this new season towards that cosy hibernation feeling. We still need to activate our parasympathetic nervous system (the ‘rest and digest’ part) and move our bodies; just a little slower and a little more mindful.

The schedule

9:45am - 10am: Meet, greet and meditative walk through the walled garden

In this restorative day for yourself; and maybe friends or loved ones, we’ll start the day with a hot drink around the fire pit, before heading off for a meditative walk around the beautiful walled garden. We’ll take this meditative walk up to the ‘old castle’, where we’ll enjoy some various breathwork techniques, designed to warm us up from the outside in; whilst enjoying the breathtaking rural views from the top of the of hill.

11:15am: Move, breathe and flow

We’ll head back to roll out our yoga mats in The Walled Garden School which is sheltered from the cool wind and undercover, allowing you to take in the fresh air and still feel connected with the natural world. We’ll enjoy flowing movement to expand our bodies and hearts. When we expand and open our chest, we can fully feel our inner power within. Our posture is greatly improved and we can allow ourselves to stand taller and fully embrace the coming cooler seasons ahead.

12:30pm: Refuel (lunch from the award-winning Hawarden Estate Farm Shop is included)

We’ll break for a hearty, warming lunch to fuel our bodies and minds and chat with like minded new friends around the fire pit.

1:30pm: Self-care for our bodies in cooler seasons

The afternoon’s workshop will take you through a step by step guide into taking care of yourself and in particular during and after injury. At some point in our lives we experience pain, disease or infection and this session will give you the tools and knowledge to ease the pain, reduce inflammation, and especially in the cooler seasons. You’ll go home with your own creative flowing yoga sequence that individually benefits you, to practice daily.

3pm: Restorative deep relaxation

Winter is a time for hibernation and we should allow our bodies and minds to recuperate overnight with at least 8 hours sleep. In our final session of the day, we’llprepare a relaxing, warm space to cocoon ourselves and enjoy some restorative,resting positions on our back to fully relax the body and mind.

4pm: Finish

Bring your own mat. We’ll have a handful to borrow if needed.

This workshop is not suitable for young children.

Suitable for all, seasoned yogis and also complete beginners new to yoga.

This is a day of knowledge and learning and also a restful, restorative day allowing you to reconnect with yourself and with nature.