Mark your calendars! On Saturday April 18 and Sunday April 19, I’ll be running St. Martin Spring Camp, a wellness week-end retreat at the sumptuous Belmond La Samanna in St. Martin. Inscriptions here

Based on a mini-version of the St. Barth Summer Camp Yoga Challenge I run every year in St. Barth, I’m delighted to offer you the first edition of the St. Martin Spring Camp.
Whether you are an experienced practitioner or a complete beginner, consider this workshop your personal wellness oasis and a great opportunity to spring yourself forward to better self-care and higher levels of physical, spiritual and mental hygiene.
Choose from one, two, or three half-day creative workshops, intuitively designed to help you explore and incorporate simple-to-follow wellness, yoga and meditation techniques into your daily self-care routine. Take an inspiring hatha yoga class suitable for all levels, learn useful methods to help minimize stress, explore your medicine wheel, celebrate your body at this beautiful seaside property that is the perfect place to reset your cursor. We’ll take full advantage of La Samanna’s beautiful surroundings to breathe in, breathe out and say, “Ahhh!”

On Saturday morning, we set the stage for our wellness weekend with a meditation circle.
Meditation, like all other practices, can be taught and learned. Though there are a myriad of techniques and styles of meditation and mindfulness practices, I teach a simple-to-follow method that is easy to apply and wonderful to experience. Breath, gaze, the rotation of consciousness, postural awareness are all part of the tools you learn to practice placing your attention, setting your intention and practicing presence and awareness.
Steeped in calm, enjoy a personal pause at the hotel bar to drink in the view and hydrate ourselves, we’ll take to the yoga mat for a 90-minute Hatha Yoga class suitable for all practice levels. I’ll lead a class where the iconic sun salutation is broken down step by neurological and anatomic step. You’ll receive detail – rich instruction that meets you wherever you are and covers all the categories of postures : Standing, Sitting, Twists, Forward and Backward bends, and Inversions (modified). This marvelous morning practice is a wonderful way to start the day.
After breakfast, we’ll delve into The Anatomy of Relaxation. Learning the physiology behind stress, what happens in the brain when we are stressed, and learning and practicing interactive exercises for managing stress and enhancing mindfulness are part of our late morning cursus. Together, we’ll be establishing the parameters of mindfulness and presence, and creating a personal template to use in stressful times.

Afternoon Module
14h -16h Therapeutic movement – In a workshop setting that is experimental and creative, learn corrective therapeutic exercises and modified yoga postures that can be incorporated into your every day self-care routine.
The result of this challenging and highly spirited yoga practice is a sense of spaciousness, awareness and freedom, improved balance, greater core strength and the development of inner skill like mindfulness. Body Tuning Yoga is suitable for all practice levels, from absolute yoga beginners to advanced yoga practitioners. Please dress comfortably so that your clothes do not inhibit movement.
16h30-18h Medicine wheel. This transpersonal session will allow you to explore the medicine wheel model, an indigenous tool for looking at the cycles of life, its mysteries. A wonderful and moving practice for gaining understanding, fostering forgiveness, self-acceptance and a sense of acceptance and peace with life events.
18h-19h Restorative Yoga and Meditation. During this evening class that prepares you for a wonderful night’s sleep, you’ll practice restorative, slow-paced movements that allow you the time to rest your body, use gravity wisely, and switch to the para sympathetic nervous system. This deeply meditative and restful session ends with a meditation, all set to a beautiful musical background to enhance the releases.

Sunday MORNING MODULE
7h-8h30 Yoga on the beach. We’ll work with sun salutations, breathing exercises (pranayama) and fantastic stretches to energize and calm the body.
9h-10h Water Yoga— in the pool or in the ocean, this Aqua Yoga Class makes uses simple props- water noodles- safe even if you are water-shy. A series of conditioning exercises take asana principles into water, where balance is a moment-by-moment event. We’ll work with pelvic floor to strengthen core muscles, and through locomotion and static exercises, alternate cardiovascular conditioning and strength training with a yogic awareness. Extremely effective in improving micro-circulation, combatting cellulite and toning your entire body, Aquavit Yoga is also excellent if you are recovering from surgery, nursing a wound, or contending with mobility restrictions that require effective reduced impact activity. Please come in bathing suit and bring towels, water goggles (optional), and a good supply of sun screen, water hats and sun glasses.
11h-12h30 In a final workshop setting, we’ll review the poses and the work we’ve done. This is a period set aside for questions, demos, discussion, and free exchange. Our final group mandala will be a perfect ending to a wonderful weekend together. To reserve your spot, please visit lasamanna website and go to St. Martin Spring Camp for information on registration. I look so forward to spending time with you at La Samanna.
See you soon!
Diana

Inscriptions: Belmond La Samanna invites you to share in an exclusive and unique experience, a two-day series of wellness workshops hosted by acclaimed self-care specialist, Diana Bourel!