Great Nature is a collaborative of nature guides and Yoga teachers that offer transformational retreats designed to facilitate a radically empowering relationship with nature, and to life itself.
Slowing down to be with nature in silence is perhaps the most powerful way to reveal individual and collective purpose, and cultivate an authentic connection to the dimension of being.
Combining daily Yoga classes with training in meditation and mindfulness, as well as solo time in the wild, at the heart of our gatherings is a progressive journey of letting go; Being with Nature. As habitual tensions are released, they are gradually replaced by self-acceptance and a deeply energising feeling for the essential unity of life.
All sessions are hosted at beautiful eco-conscious locations offering a variety of accommodation, from camping to private rooms, set in a spectacular natural environment.
We also create custom events for organisations and would love to explore tailoring a special session for your group.
Namasté,
David Elliot, Founder
*Please note: On this page you’ll find an overview of upcoming retreats. Please get in touch or follow on Facebook for latest info on the schedule and accomodation options.
Retreats in Nature
Being with Nature
At the heart of all our gatherings is a transformational process to help with opening to nature. Alone and in silence, when we move beyond our enjoyment of nature's beauty, a space can open where we perceive nature directly. This awakens a part of the mind where words and thoughts are secondary — what the famous wilderness guide John Milton calls "source awareness". Weaving together a variety of methods from diverse schools of spirituality, psychology, theatre and shamanism, each session is tailor made for participants and follows the emergent field of the group to create a unique event.
Daily Yoga and Meditation
All initiation is self-initiation and all forms of Yoga and meditation conjure the same essential magic; nurturing a new relationship to ones ordinary mental activity to allow a different quality of attention to appear. Regardless of whether you are an advanced practitioner or a complete novice, it is this other attention that transmits a truly transformative influence. Do not be concerned if you have tried to meditate and given up...As John Milton says: “All of Nature supports your being in the present moment. You do not even have to meditate."
Diet and Fasting
Food plays an essential role in how we feel and for all residential retreats we provide carefully sourced organic vegetarian food as well as guidance and support for optional fasting, including 24 hour and multi-day fasts. To help in cultivating inner and outer sensitivity all sessions are drug and alcohol free.
Mindfulness practices
Working with sense perceptions, receiving impressions and noticing, self-observation or witness-mind. Both sharing and silence as a practice.
Coaching
Dealing with ego defences; fear and other obstacles, self-sabotage, facing contradictions, healing and letting go of past trauma.
Sharing and Play
Talking circles, journaling, poetry, co-creation and improvisation, maze-making, music, dance and social theatre...
Bringing it home
Ongoing community and practices to support integration and returning home.
"We can hardly imagine what the Earth will offer us in return for its being seen and understood by the whole being of Man. Earth and Nature need this from us more than anything else. And only from this inner transformation of the mind can right action toward nature and the Earth be pursued without ultimately resulting in 'the same old story' — that is, division, conflict and violence."
— Jacob Needleman, An Unknown World: Notes on the Meaning of the Earth
Getting out of the Way
"Presupposing the existence of a non-existent entity and then wanting to get salvation for that imaginary "I" through various forms of Yoga and spiritual development, is like a thief turning himself into a policeman in order to catch the thief, who is actually none but himself ."
— Sri Ramana Maharishi
This story, like the well known parable of the elephant in the dark, highlights the challenge of seeking something that necessarily lies beyond the grasp of the ego or the rational mind.
Normally because we are so busy with answering to life, successfully or not, it takes an unanswerable shock such as the death of a loved one or major illness for the ego's grip to be loosened. However in supportive conditions, the intimate recognition that we are not separate from nature, can momentarily bypass the ego's constant filtering and allow us to experience the bliss or ananda that comes from feeling the interconnectedness of the living world. Of course, the experience may not last long, but just a taste of this state can radically alter ones outlook and become the basis for an authentic connection to core purpose. The Netflix documentary My Octopus Teacher is a lovely showcase of this principle.
Yoga and Meditation
"Training in Pratyyãhãra begins with quietening the mind and withdrawing the senses of perception and the intellect, (associative thinking) from objects. Pratyãhãra acts as a bridge to cross from the external... to the inner world,...where passivity and pensiveness of both body and mind can be experienced and noted."
— B.K.S. Iyengar, Core of the Yoga Sutras.While most Yoga classes primarily emphasise Prãnayama and Asana, our retreats aim to offer a holistic and experiential introduction to all eight branches of the tree of Yoga accessible to everyone, regardless of prior experience.
Taking as our starting point Patanjali's definition of Yoga in Sûtra I.1-2, Yoga therefore begins with pausing to notice the fluctuations of our inner state in the moment. The subtle detachment required to observe ones experience is called Pratyãhãra, the intermediate limb of Yoga that is the link between the inner and outer disciplines.
Similar to the psychoanalytic process, Pratyãhãra demands that we let go of wishing to change anything that is seen and just note what is observed without judgment. This kind of impartial seeing requires training because the very act of observation is already a change of state. This is why we do not normally see how we actually are most of the time !
As we learn to recognise different inner states and work with the quality of attention present, our prãna or sensitive vital energy accumulates (ahara literally means to take in nourishment). This new more balanced energy enables us to be comfortable with less and less external stimuli so we can approach the next level, Dhãranã or concentration, followed by Dhyanã or meditation. Without some time first practising Pratyãhãra though, our efforts to meditate are a bit like driving a car on empty.
After a few days in supportive conditions, it becomes more and more possible to experience the essential action of Yoga, (Sutra I.2), Yoga chitta vrtti nirodah, or “Yoga brings stilling of the ordinary mind”. If we persevere with sincerity, we may even glimpse “the direct perception of things as they are”, or Samãdhi!
Aum shanti.
Guides
Klara Puski
Jivamukti Teacher, Paris.
Dancing since the age of five, Klara went to ballet school and completed her teacher training in New York, with Jivamukti founders Sharon Gannon and David Life. The last few years she has been studying with incredible teachers like Dona Holleman, Maty Ezraty, Simon Park and Krista Cahill. Yoga entails finding an honest space through intelligent sequencing --creating a deeper connection with the present moment to allow ourselves to pause and feel the moment in it’s depth to create a transformation. Klara now teaches at different studios in Paris and around the world.
David Elliot
Founder of Great Nature
David spent his youth wandering the English countryside with his pet eagle flying overhead. His passion for the natural world compelled him to search for the meaning of life and so he left school at sixteen to drive overland to India. After a year in an Ashram practicing meditation with a 90 year old Buddhist monk, he returned to complete his studies and pursued a career as a sustainability expert. Living on five different continents he has been fortunate to spend time with remarkable teachers from different schools and traditions, including Hesychasm, Yoga, Shamanism, Vipassana and various Sufi orders.
Friederikke Sofia Krogh
Yoga Teacher at Skoven Kalder, Sweden
Friederikke is a Yoga teacher at heart. Her love for the present moment and living from the heart, opens up to letting the body and mind awaken. Guiding from her roots in Hatha Yoga and listening into what is needed in the room, Friederikke blends acceptance, openness and free expression to come into the present moment and connect with our true nature.
Pamela Von Sabljar
Guide at Skoven Kalder, Sweden
Pam is a muse, guide, radiant heart-opening, love-channeling, Swedish forest spirit. A self-described powerhouse of curiosity and authenticity, Pam is a radical facilitator with the gift to awaken the passion and creativity that leads to freedom in all areas of life.
Marine Caillé
Guide at Île de Bréhat, France
Energy healer, intuitive magnetic resonance magic-maker, artist, island dweller, rock fairy. Marine offers her healing wisdom and unique access to her ancient family haunts and sacred sites on the Island of Bréhat just off the coast of Brittany.
Booking
Take the plunge ! Imagine combining an overdue vacation with something both liberating and empowering; reconnecting to your own core purpose whilst relaxing in nature...
Getting there:
For all retreats we offer a pick up or shared travel options from the nearest airport/station.
Food and Fasting:
All sessions include organic vegetarian or vegan food options, as well as support for fasting. At the end of each session there is always a celebration and feast.
Accommodation:
At each location there are from 12-20 or so places that offer a limited number of single and double private rooms, shared rooms, dormitory accommodation as well as independent camping with your own equipment. Please get in touch for more information about accommodation availability as early as possible for the event you are interested in.
Pricing:
Four day sessions including all meals, Yoga and meditation classes etc. range from £320 camping and £600 for a private room. Week long retreats range from £600 to £1,800 depending on location, accommodation and food options. We try to keep costs to an absolute minimum and need to have at least 8-12 participants for a session, so please spread the word!
We also offer one or two substantially discounted places for those not earning in exchange for help with set-up and logistics, etc.
To ensure all gatherings are Covid responsible, all activities including meals may take place outdoors as needed. Also, whilst we require a deposit upon booking, it is 100% refundable if your plans change due to Covid restrictions.
