As ever, the Swedish Forest Retreat was delightful. Four days surrounded by beautiful woodland, wonderful people and lots of laughter. My highlights? Always the bread, Jonas’ homemade sourdough is just amazing, but this year there was a woodfired pizza oven too and a steady stream of different toppings. Marscapone, walnut & honey pizza with a nice glass of Italian red hit the spot perfectly.

Every year on retreat, there are insights and new things to learn about yoga: deeper meditations and new aspects of asana to incorporate into your practice certainly, but also how important it is to stay light-hearted in your yoga practice, because developments in yoga come easily when your heart and mind stay open. I thought of this as I watched Erika come into Svarga Dvijasana (Bird of Paradise Pose), her balance was awe-inspiring, her focus too, but the pose only became truly beautiful when she relaxed a little, when she smiled.

I will be back there next year in a place that is coming to feel like a second home to me, a global pandemic couldn’t keep me away and a 14 day quarantine when I got home was a small price to pay.

Retreats work, they throw you in at the deep end, they let you spend time alongside likeminded souls, they give you time to explore, be brave, ask questions and grow. The things you learn on retreat stay with you for months to come and work their way into your practice slowly but inexorably.

Thank you to Nina and Jonas for instinctively knowing how best to look after people when they are on retreat, for throwing open the doors to your home and welcoming us all in and providing such an inspiring place for retreat.