° BORDEAUX REGION °
ESTD 2013
The French
RETREAT
About the Course
You can expect fun and dynamic morning classes that vary in style from Classical Pilates right through to Barre followed by gentle evening sessions that combine Restorative and Yin Yoga. Picture all of that against a backdrop of fields, gentle spring light, sunshine and delicious home cooked food. Bliss!
No matter what your level this retreat is accessible for all.
Your Instructor
Claire Hawkins
Claire's love affair of dance began at 4 when she started tap, ballet and modern jazz lessons. She loved the combination of movement, music and performance and was officially hooked! That blossomed into a love of singing and acting that led her to broaden my training into the Performing Arts to become a Musical Theatre Actress, performing in the West End, London Fringe and UK tours.
It was around that time that she discovered a love of fitness – from running to weight training to boxing to aerobics. But amongst the cardio and strength work she felt something was missing. When she discovered Yoga 20 years ago she knew it was the missing piece. She remembers walking away from my first class feeling so calm and serene that she felt she could tackle anything life threw at her.
Her love of Yoga grew. It gave her strength and flexibility, an appreciation of the breath, the ability to settle the emotions and mind and helped discover a general sense of peace and wellbeing. It was then that she began my journey away from Theatre to become a Yoga Instructor, completing her 200 hour Yoga Alliance training and my Yin Yoga training over 13 years ago. Teaching Yoga for so long has been and continues to be a joy.
Coming back to her dance roots, 4 years ago she expanded her teaching repertoire to qualify as a Barre teacher under Barre Concept (International Accreditation). She then also went on to qualify as a Level 3 mat based Pilates teacher and a Dynamic Reformer teacher. So it’s back to core, precision, control and strength!
What ties all of these disciplines together is movement; finding expression and release through the body; it's about freedom and getting out of the head; it’s about discovering a strong, stable body and mind and taking that strength out into the world.
Claire's love of music and dance is very evident in her style of teaching and all of her classes are filled with energy, expression and the fluidity and grace of the body, with music often playing a large role.
Claire says: "Teaching has been and remains an inspiring, exciting and rewarding journey and I look forward to where it takes me next."