This was the group Fiona and I led a few weeks ago at Cortico Romero in Southern Spain.
What a gorgeous time we had exploring movement and stillness, sound and silence all the while held in the embrace of the rolling hills and mountains of Las Alpujarras. It was our second time back teaching there since the world came to abrupt halt. Last year we had an intimate group of 8 women and no second course running at the same time (as is usual at Cortico Romero) so we had the whole place to ourselves which was very special. This year there were 2 courses running along side each other at the same time and we had a group of 12 mostly (90%) women and one very honoree and lovely man!
The days were long and lazy with two daily sessions of movement, breathwork, chanting and singing, lots of eating delicious meals and time spent either resting in the amazing grounds, going for a walk in the beautiful surrounding area or sharing time with new found friends.
We had students we knew well that had studied with either or both of us before, new people and mix of those who were experiencing energy issues as well as others who were just wanting a slower paced practice. I think it fair to say we did a pretty good job of meeting everyone's needs and we encouraged everyone to really feel into what was right for them in the moment, whether that was to come to a session and explore what was being offered or simply lie on the mat being part of the group and listening to the sounding or simply resting under a tree in the orchard. Full permission was explicitly given to do whatever you wanted or needed to do, putting your own needs at the top of the list for once! This may well have been the most difficult practice for some of us!!!
One day we took a trip up to the mountains and pottered around Pampaneira, the lowest of the 3 white villages on the southern face of the Sierra Nevada at 1058m above sea level. The name of this village originates from the Latin word pampinus, meaning "vine shoot", which refers to the luxuriance of its lands watered by the river Poqueira.
While there we mooched around purchasing locally made handicrafts (pottery, baskets, hand woven rugs and homemade chocolate from 'Abuela Illi' to name but a few) and sipped iced coffee in the village plaza. Some of the group then went off for a walk through the local campo (countryside) guided by the intrepid and very amiable guide Paul.
We explored making natural sounds in our sessions such as sighing and yawning to begin the journey of opening ourselves up to making sounds in public - so not English! and opening our mouths and allowing whatever was needing to be release to have the space to do so. We also explored more structured sounding in the form of chanting and singing together - all optional - coupling the well known and profound benefits of sounding in community with gentle movements and a clear intention.
Here is what a couple of participants had to say about the week:
"Thank you for an amazing week in Cortijo Romero. Absolutely loved and enjoyed every single minute of it." Kasia
"I would like to say a HUGE thank you to you and Fiona..... for such an amazing week...... I really enjoyed yours and Fiona's approach to yoga and really enjoyed the chanting aspect so that's something that I'm going to look into more now." Sonja
"I had a wonderful week with Leah and Fiona at CR -it was everything I wanted and more- so relaxing - lots of fun - beautiful scenery and tasty meals. Leah and Fiona were both understanding and caring and we had lots of laughs too." Linda.
If you would like to join us next year we will be holding our annual retreat in late September (23rd - 30th). All information is on Cortico Romero's website though their programme for next year isn't up yet but should be shortly.
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