Mini retreats

Gentle, nourishing yoga, walking countryside meditation, shared Thai massage and delicious vegan lunch in tune with the seasons.
April 28 (spring moving into summer), 10-4pm at Barcombe Village Hall.
£85 per person (£160 for 2 people booking together or to book both days).

Spend a luxurious morning exploring quietening, somatic, meditative movement, expanding breath awareness and creating space for deep rest and reset of the nervous system in tune with nature and the shift of seasons (within ourselves and in nature).

We will then be served an incredible vegan lunch (gluten free, please let us know when booking if you have any allergies) cooked by creative chef Lynne Mason @theveganexperienceuk. There will also be cake! All veg will be provided by local organic farm, Barcombe Nurseries.

We will then take a silent, meditative walk (weather allowing), followed by an afternoon of simple shared Thai massage techniques to ground ease out tension.

Not to be missed, this will be a day of soothing the senses and feeding the soul.

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Feedback from Autumn mini retreat:
“Just to say how thoughtful the day was in every way, a recognition of the human being and all our individual needs – you noticed and noted all of them. From our needs to drink, to be alone, to be silent or chatty, to listen to ourselves. Everybody and every body was welcome to just be.” Anya

“I just wanted to say thank you so much for such a wonderful day on Sunday. I don’t ever remember feeling so calm and so regulated. I arrived home feeling very serene and realised just how far from that state I live! Also, for showing us how powerful it is to be given permission to be ourselves. I never realised just how much my nervous system would love that too. I could feel my whole body giving such a sigh of relief. I could just be me.” Pippa

“I slept so well Sunday night! Thank you so much for providing such a restorative day.” Nola

“On Sunday night I slept for 9 hours straight, it was the best sleep I’ve had in a long long time, thank you!” Kim

Easter class dates

Slight changes to usual class dates over the April/Easter holidays as follows:

NO CLASSES:
Bank holiday Monday, 10 April, at Hanover Community Centre
Tuesdays 4 & 11 April, at Boulder Brighton
Wednesdays, Yoga for Menopause, 5 & 12 April, at Hanover Community Centre
Bank holiday weekend Saturday 8 April, at Hanover Community Centre

All other classes are as usual, look forward to seeing you after the Easter break if not before.

alexa de castilho

Join us Wednesday 21 February, 7.30-9pm upstairs at the Hanover Centre, for a very special session of Yoga for Menopause with midlife mentor Alexa De Castilho.

Following our usual explorations in movement, breath and meditation to come home to our bodies, Alexa will lead us in a Journaling and journeying session, both being ways to heal the past, grow your nervous system capacity, move forward a to find safety, regulation and growth.

Journeying is designed to be a mix of exploration and acknowledgement, meditation, visualisation and hypnotherapy based on neuroscience, using our senses as well as imagination and energy alchemy.

We get to transform our inner ecology.

The hypnotic brain wave created in the journeying allows you to bypass your analytical mind and change your subconscious, connecting and forming new neural pathways and experience. As you journey, you’re creating your new reality because the brain does not know the difference between real and imagined. By strengthening this new visual reality you have created in your journeying, your inner ecology starts to transform. Growing new synapses and new pathways makes them new gateways and beliefs.

95% of our life is lived in the subconscious, as though we are on autopilot..
We wake up and the rest of the day is a series of learnt behaviours, decisions and conditionings we learnt from the ages of 0-6. We only live 5% of the time in our conscious mind. So within our journeying we re-imagine and reprogram some of the conditioning we have adopted, stored in our subconscious, so we can begin to move, behave and choose from a place that is deeper aligned to our present truth.

Like gardening, we are pruning what no longer serves and allowing the new to grow and flourish, changing your inner landscape.

We work on the ecology of self, where you are the medicine. The deepest work often doesn’t require us to go as deep as we might think.

A common misconception is that the harder, deeper and faster we do the work the sooner we heal. But the nervous system doesn’t work like that. The incredible thing about our autonomic nervous system is that it speaks a non verbal language. Meaning it communicates with us through sensations, imagery, emotion, movement.

Exploring big experiences to find healing – like intensive retreats, cold plunges, forceful breathwork or even intensive talk therapy – may make you feel like you come back to square one, or you just feel stuck all over again, Our nervous system doesn’t work like that: It craves slowness, gentleness, space and time. We can experience so much depth and transformation with so much less activating work.

Get in touch to book your place if you would like to explore how Alexa journies to change your inner ecology, which inturn transforms your outer reality.

Classes are £12 drop-in for the first class, then £70 for 6 consecutive classes. And please share with others who you feel would benefit from the support, some space to explore and rest within a lovely, inclusive community.

Booking now for weekly sessions, £12 drop-in, £70 for 6 consecutive sessions
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Festive dates and treats

Christmas class dates:
Last classes Mon 19 Dec, all resume January 4 2023.
NB There is NO yoga for menopause Dec 14 or 21, back Jan 4.

FREE holiday online classes
As a gift, we are are offering you a month of FREE yoga and somatics classes, whole health webinars, and a special festive package of daily meditations and physical practises to support your wellbeing over the festive break. Simply register for a complementary month of Whole Health using code CW100 at checkout.

And don’t forget, I have vouchers for Christmas for yoga and therapeutic Thai massage for you and your loved ones to enjoy a truly memorable, deeply nourishing, extra thoughtful (and not least sustainable) gift.
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Yoga for strength

Really excited to be restarting this weekly class at Boulder Brighton, from Tuesday September 6, 9.30-10.30am. In this playful, focussed class we will explore strength, stamina, mobility and flexibility to complement your climbing – although you don’t need to be a climber to come along. There will be the opportunity to work on particular areas, such as hip flexibility or core strength, as well as working with injuries.

Cost is on a sliding scale of £10, £5 or £0 according to your ability to pay, as both myself and the lovely management at BB are keen for this to be an accesible, community-building class. No previous experience or level of flexibility necessary.

Email me for more info or to book, or just drop in. Payment by BACS, cash or paypal

Brighton Yoga Festival

Leo doing yoga in Ovingdean

Come and join me 5.50-6.35pm Saturday 23 June at Brighton Yoga Festival, St George’s Church, Kemptown. I’ll be in the Red Zone, sponsored by Infinity Foods and Brighton Natural Health Centre. As usual, I’ll be teaching an intuitive, expansive and joyful practise that empowers you to listen in to your body and breath with respect and kindness. Simply come along on the day, paying what you can, and enjoy a day of fabulously varied yoga classes.

New year classes

So welcome to 2022! How are you? Feeling ready and motivated or sluggish and tired? To be honest, it feels like a lot of us (myself included, we all had Covid for Christmas, the joy!) are low on energy. With this in mind, classes will be gentle, expansive and responsive. We’ll be focussing on the breath as key to bringing in new energy and releasing stagnation. We’ll explore self-massage techniques to relieve aches and pains and start from the ground up, moving in ways that restore rather than deplete. Most importantly, however you are, you are welcome. Whether you’re new to yoga, restarting a lapsed practise or continuing, join a warm and joyful community that will lift your spirits and increase your feelings of connection. So look forward to seeing you.

Saturday 9.30-10.30am Vajrasati yoga drop-in, Hanover Community Centre: In-person. £10 drop-in, £80 for 10 classes.
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Monday 9.30-10.30am Vajrasati yoga drop-in, Brighton Natural Health Centre: Online and in-person. Book class

Monday 7.30-9pm Vajrasati yoga drop-in, Hanover Community Centre: Online and in-person. £10 drop-in, £80 for 10 classes.
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Summer class changes

As I write this, it looks as if some summer weather may be coming our way (finally!). I hope that you are staying well and in balance despite the ongoing restrictions, anxiety and confusion with the virus. I will be offering most classes as usual throughout the summer holidays with just a few amendments:

July 15: Last Mama & Baby class at Brighton Natural Health Centre. Mama & Baby classes will not be running online or in person throughout the summer.
July 17: No class at the Hanover Community Centre
Aug 18: No pregnancy yoga at Hanover Community Centre
Aug 19: No Evening yoga on Zoom
Aug 20: No class at the Hanover Community Centre

I am also offering limited therapeutic Thai massages so get in touch for your treatment throughout August of for September.

Leo x