13/03/2018

Spring is in the air and only one month away from our first Yoga and Wellness Retreat of the year!

I am sure you would agree; it’s been a hard-core winter with freezing temperatures and lots of snow. At one point we had to evacuate the place we were staying, as it’s quite high above sea level and more affected by the elements. The roads became impassable and we were burning through too much wood, so we moved in with the parents for three days – aren’t we lucky to have had this “bolt hole” as an option.

This week the temperatures have been rising and didn’t even need a thick coat on our walk today. We went out for a walk to enjoy the spring air and decided to take the litter picker and some bags, and collected 2 large bags of rubbish. Included in our litter collection was plastics that had been rotting for years, bags of dog poo(!) and even found a canoe which we are hoping to up-cycle! We had a lot of comments from the public about how we shouldn’t be doing this, and that some people need to just stop throwing rubbish. Totally agree, but why shouldn’t we all lead by example and show people that drop litter that we do care about our country and we want to look after our precious forest, rivers, sea and land?

Forest Retreats want to inspire to all of our guests and the local community to care more about our precious environment. We have a long way to go in becoming sustainable and plastic free but we are on an exciting journey. I think the rubbish is a reflection of the chaos that humans are enduring and have personally found Yoga is also a “bolt hole” that we can escape too inside ourselves. It gives us the calmness, tools and perspective to be less angry and more proactive into making a difference. This “difference” doesn’t need to be ground breaking, just picking up a bit of litter when walking the dog can be the difference that inspires others to do the same.

Namaste.