Kildare… The beginning of one thing fantastic
Cliff at Lyons – Mill Entrance Door
The Nollaig na mBan Wellness Retreat on the Cliff at Lyons Lodge & Nation Retreat in Kildare
Enjoyable on the Cliff at Lyons
Dinner within the Orangery, with its beautiful backyard views, is a should
Kildare… The beginning of one thing fantastic
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Full disclosure; just a few years in the past, I’d have laughed up my sleeve on the thought of a yoga retreat with a gaggle of individuals I did not know.
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Full disclosure; just a few years in the past, I’d have laughed up my sleeve on the thought of a yoga retreat with a gaggle of individuals I did not know.
Positively not for me, I’d have thought. Holidaying with all these strangers? The touchy-feely sharing of a retreat? No thanks.
However that was then.
You get to a sure age and it’s nigh on inconceivable to have escaped a few of life’s knocks. I’m of a sure age, and up to now few years have skilled sure of these knocks. Which has made me, a lot to my very own shock, one thing of a wellness junkie. I’ve dragged my finest good friend, a former scoffer of the best order herself, on this journey (sure, I stated it), with me.
The result’s a burgeoning wellness pastime between us that’s quick turning into an costly behavior to feed. Previously the type of people that sniggered at inspirational quotes and scoffed at any discuss of therapeutic, we are actually the kinds who go to crystal workshops, guided meditations, intention setting seminars and who power upon one another telephone numbers of sound healers and reiki practitioners.
Naturally, it frequently spirals into aggressive one-upmanship. “I’ve discovered an incredible new Pilates class,” certainly one of us will announce breezily. “Meditated currently?” the opposite will hit again. There has, of late, even been discuss of a silent retreat (me; of but it is a step too far for herself).
The Nollaig na mBan Wellness Retreat on the Cliff at Lyons Lodge & Nation Retreat in Kildare
Cliff at Lyons – Mill Entrance Door
Enjoyable on the Cliff at Lyons
Dinner within the Orangery, with its beautiful backyard views, is a should
Earlier than we went the total mum, we determined to strive our first retreat within the first week of the brand new 12 months. Again to work nervousness was hitting a peak as we set off for a two day, one night time, occasion on the Cliff at Lyons Lodge & Nation Retreat in Kildare.
The Nollaig na mBan wellness retreat was designed to have a good time the ability of feminine power. What we’re all about these days, we congratulated ourselves smugly within the automotive on the way in which down. The Cliff at Lyons is about as removed from the form of yoga crustiness I as soon as feared from retreats as it’s attainable to get. It is made up of a set of historic granite and slate buildings together with cottages, a mill and a former dovecote; initially an 19th Century village. It is solely half an hour’s drive from Dublin, however you immediately really feel as if you’re tucked away behind past. Set on the sting of the Lyons Demesne, the orchards and kitchen gardens of the property sit on the banks of the Grand Canal.
Yoga teacher Lou Horgan was main occasions. For the uninitiated, of whom I used to be one, Lou enjoys one thing of a cult following on the planet of yoga. Her retreats promote out shortly, attended by her extensive following of devotees.
The retreat would see us participating in two courses, interspersed with plenty of consuming – nothing restrictive on the menu, Lou assured us, dismissing the concept of the form of miserable-punish-yourself meals January sees a lot of.
The Cliff at Lyons boasts what may be one of the crucial excellent rooms for a yoga class; the excessive ceilinged corridor of Shackleton Mill, a big, picket clad room with enormous open fireplaces and a wall of floor-to-ceiling home windows which look out on a small waterfall and fast-flowing river, which offered an extremely soothing backdrop as we stretched and bent.
Lou started with a chat, setting out her stall, so to talk. Fascinating stuff; I might have listened for hours. Yoga, she defined, was invented by males, for males. It’s the truth is the oldest boys membership on the planet. A lot of the normal strikes weren’t made with girls’s our bodies in thoughts, she identified, noting how girls’s wants will not be at all times met by conventional yoga teachings. She spoke at size about variations between women and men’s power cycles, a person’s being every day, 24 hours, a girls’s month-to-month, and the respect we should always pay to differing power ranges we expertise all through the month. Lou’s philosophy is to align oneself with the rhythms and cycles of the pure world. In lesser palms, this might need sounded wishy washy. From Lou, it felt calming and reassuring, and like essentially the most smart factor you’d heard shortly, notably within the face of the post-Christmas worry that was simmering inside us all.
Enjoyable on the Cliff at Lyons
Cliff at Lyons – Mill Entrance Door
The Nollaig na mBan Wellness Retreat on the Cliff at Lyons Lodge & Nation Retreat in Kildare
Dinner within the Orangery, with its beautiful backyard views, is a should
Now in her mid-40s, Lou has been practising yoga for about 20 years.
She is with out query essentially the most spectacular practitioner of her commerce I’ve encountered. As is our manner with our wellness practitioners, the BF and I immediately imprinted upon her, and commenced a silent best-girl-in-class one-upmanship. The smug revelation that she had truly practised being pregnant yoga with Lou, gave the BF an immediate edge.
Submit yoga there was an opportunity for some me-time, within the vernacular of retreats. A few of our group determined to stroll the canal, we determined to relax in our room. In case you needed to be extra energetic, bikes can be found.
Dinner was within the Orangery, an exquisite eating room overlooking the gardens. Each eating places at The Cliff supply produce from the adjoining kitchen backyard. Every part was contemporary, and scrumptious.
The considered holidaying with a gang of strangers had been one of many causes I had hesitated on the thought of a gaggle retreat. All that small discuss.
The truth is, after we arrived, between the 2 of us we found we already knew half the group; pals, colleagues, acquaintances. Hanging out with this group of ladies proved to be one of many nicest components of the resort. “It is a disgrace it isn’t per week with these folks,” the BF mirrored after dinner.
The next morning Lou hosted a second yoga class, after which we feasted on a breakfast which made lunch just a few hours later redundant. The retreat completed with a sizzling stone chakra therapeutic massage on the The Nicely within the Backyard spa, a restored carriage home on the rear of the property. The ready room with its cosy high-backed armchairs, a number of rugs and comfortable cushions, and bleached white partitions, was one thing of a retreat in its personal proper.
None of us needed to depart. Reluctant to return to actual life, we tried to ebook to remain one other night time however there was no availability.
We shall be again.
Getting there
Dinner within the Orangery, with its beautiful backyard views, is a should
Get pleasure from a calming break in Cliff at Lyons Kildare, with the proper mix of relaxation, exercise, pampering and scrumptious meals to can help you rebalance and go away you feeling completely satisfied and revitalised.
* The Stretch & Spa bundle consists of one night time’s lodging, a three-course dinner in The Orangery restaurant, €15 spa credit score per particular person for the luxurious Nicely within the Backyard spa, a mortgage of a seven-piece yoga pack, and a information to yoga.
* Breaks price €177 for a single room or €255 for 2 folks sharing, with the choice of reserving a one-to-one yoga class for €50. Friends can avail of quite a few actions together with walks, paddleboarding or biking.
Extra particulars at www.cliffatlyons.ie
This function initially appeared in The Sunday Unbiased.
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