This will be a wonderful week of Yoga, Meditation, Hikes, Learning about Local Medicinal Plants, Writing, Drawing, Painting, Relaxing and Sightseeing.   Yoga and Meditation classes with Marina Guarnero and Sharlene Bund.  Learn about Medicinal Plants and the art of journal writing with Fernanda Botelho and drawing classes with Sara Simoes.  Please go to Marina's Cozy House by the Sea website to learn more about the beautiful facility and location. 

Please scroll down to read the Bio's of Fernanda and Sara since their websites are in Portuguese.  I recommend you click on their names and go to their sites as well.    

Registration by February 10, 2012 is  $1829.99.  Includes accommodation, food (breakfast, light lunch and all dinners ) workshops, yoga classes,  transportation to and from airport and to and from sightseeing adventures.   Space is limited to 9 people.  Please register ASAP. 

After the 10th of February cost will be $1895.00 for the week. 

Flights are extra.  Flights to Portugal non stop to Lisbon are between $800 - $1000.00.  If you have frequent flier miles the sooner you book the more likely you can use them.   I have a wonderful Havertown travel agent we can book through.  

To ask questions or to register please do so here. 

Also you can call or email Sharlene at 610-203-4141 or cercatrovayoga@verizon.net

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Biographies of Fernanda Botelho (Naturalist-Educator), Sara Simoes (Illustrator)and Marina Guarnero (Yoga Teacher, Educator, Translator, Carpentor, Owner of Beautiful Cozy House by the Sea with her husband Philip Groen).  

Fernanda Botelho:
Fernanda Botelho was born in Tojeira, Sintra, Portugal, in August 1959. At 17 she traveled to London to study and graduate as a Montessori teacher. She also studied Waldorf pedagogy, Photography, taught courses on medicinal plants, worked in a kindergarden and in an herbalist store. She became a member of the UK Herb Society in 1997. At age 37 she returned to Portugal and developed several projects on environmental education in schools, cultural organizations and municipalities. She studied children’s literature with specialist Portuguese writers António Torrado and Margarida Fonseca Santos, and completed the Botanic Garden Guide course. She published As Plantas e a Saúde, a first-aid herbal guide, as well as a 2010 Diary (on medicinal plants) and a 2011 Diary (on trees).  She participates in the Portuguese Eco-Schools project and organises workshops on medicinal plants and herbs. She writes for different magazines and sites, such as Portal do Jardim. In her garden, she shares her days with a profusion of spontaneous and cultivated herbs, her huge elderberry bush, an old fig tree, lots of birds and some cats. Her blog is: malvasilvestre.blospot.com.

Sara Simoes:
Sara Simões was born in Lisbon in 1980. From a very early age she showed a special talent for drawing. In 2002 she graduated in Industrial Design and furthered her training in similar areas like animation, web-design, computer 3D modelling. Between 2005 and 2008 her interest in nature observation led her to study scientific illustration with biologist Pedro Salgado, and later to take part in drawing field expeditions to Berlengas and international Douro, in Portugal, and the Amazon, organised by Grupo de Risco, an organisation focused on disseminating the environmental heritage and biodiversity through art. She is a designer and illustrator and has lent her talent to various activities from furniture design to stands for fairs, creation of characters, environments and storyboards for 3D animation, and graphic interfaces for educational software. She authored the book Uma mão cheia de amoras, and has published her art work in scientific magazines, novels, exhibition catalogues and a field guide. A small part of her creativity can be followed on her blog: velhadaldeia.blospot.com.

Marina Guarnero:
Marina, was born in Portugal from Italian parents
Her life's path led her to live in many countries and gave her the opportunity to have first-hand knowledge of different cultures and languages from an early age.  As she grew older the need to follow up new and challenging experiences did not diminish, on the contrary it increased. She worked in many fields, such as translator, cook, carpenter, kitchen furniture designer, making and selling her own crafts and teaching English to children.  Her love for yoga started when she was a child, lost during part of her teenage years to be found again at the age of 18.  

Realizing her interest lay in the mysteries of the human body and the different perspectives of energy that it emits, she studied Shiatsu, Reiki, Ayurvedic medicine and cooking.  Then she crossed paths with Filipa Sarawati (Yoga OM) and started a new kind of Journey!
In Yoga she found her true calling her inner strength and bliss!  Marina became a Yoga teacher, got her Baby Yoga and Kids yoga certifications!  After a reflection she decided to learn more about Yoga for the elderly and for children with special needs. ( Marina followed this up by taking an amazing course with Craig Hanauer: "Teaching Yoga to Children with Special Needs.)

 Marina's Yoga classes are a rich mix of different styles of Yoga, naturally influenced by her rich background and human interests.  Marina deeply  wishes to help students find their own quiet space on the mat while still creating a fun, safe and challenging practice.  Using Yoga to create a healthier body, clearer mind and to achieve a sense of peace that seeps to the outside world. 

She gives Yoga classes in her village, uses Yoga to teach English in her schools, volunteers in schools by teaching Yoga to children with special needs; ( ADHD, ASD,  SPD, LD).  and Yoga lessons in a retirement home, where her oldest student, Whinny (102) joins the lessons in her wheelchair and does the best she can.  The best moment is to watch as her eyes light up when we say Namaste!  Marina  is currently working on the loss of calcium with age and how to use Yoga to strengthen the bones.

Marina likes travelling, reading, walking and with age she has found a new activity: doing nothing.....where one´s attention turns inward towards contemplation. 

With Karuna and Paul Erickson

February 13-25, 2012

see yogakaruna.com for details

We invite you to join us on the magical island of Bali for this transformational yoga retreat and cultural exploration. We will practice heartfelt yoga and meditation, immersed in the rich and sacred culture of this land. Share the inspirational journey as you renew and replenish yourself in these heavenly realms. Bali, known as the island of the gods, is a tranquil and lush tropical paradise. You will be greatly touched by the graceful, spiritual essence of the Balinese people.

• Bali is a unique visual experience of unsurpassed beauty. You will be a part of the integration of daily spiritual practice and abundant traditional cultural expression. Learning about local culture, religion, art and life, you will discover a hidden Bali that most tourists never see.
  
• We will visit many of Bali’s sacred temples, which are sites for renewing contact with the spiritual world.
• We will journey to Bali’s sacred mountains: Gunung Agung, home to the Mother temple ‘Besakih’
• At Tirta Empul, home of Bali’s most sacred waters, we will take part in a purification and blessing ceremony with a local Balinese priest.
• We will attend both Balinese dance and gamelan music performances.

These days, when we can be so busy and crazy organizing the for holidays, closing the year and getting ready for another busy year. We often tend to forget the nurturing and reflection we have to give to ourselves, so that we can honor others, feel happy with who we are, where we are and how the year went.

Reflection brings direction. Relaxation, health and well being derives from self worth! Growth and lightness is the result.

"Get outside. Go within." is a unique retreat, a true chance to truely find balance within yourself, rejuvenate your body, clear your mind and elevate your soul - so that you reach your real goals for2012!

Our dates:
** Aspen, March 3-7
** Beaver Creek, March 9-11 / 12-14 Trip benefits & highlights

Don´t forget the Early Bird discount until January 20th! Sign up here for Aspen and here for Beaver Creek...
Read what others have experienced with your facilitators on former events...

Sonnia Höffken  & Stefan Grafstein
D: +49 - 179 -123 23 86  (Sonnia)  -    U.S.:  858 - 232 - 3158  (Stefan)
www.call-a-yogi.com
www.skiyo.info

We’ll be staying in a gorgeous private villa with a pool and accommodations for 10 participants, two per room. Our days will begin with a gentle yoga class each morning, followed by breakfast on the deck with a stunning view of the Cruz Bay harbor.

Our retreat will include:

• Day trips to Cinnamon Bay and Trunk Bay beaches (including admission), where     snorkeling gear is available for you to rent.
• Guided Reef Bay hike to experience St. John's tropical forests, ancient petroglyphs, and    sugar mill ruins. (Lunch provided)
• Island cocktail party at Coconut Coast, the art studio of Elaine Estern
• Yoga on the beach
• Several lunches and dinners at “home” at the villa

Please contact me if you have any questions.

Georgette DuBois, MS, RYT      (484) 995-3619      yogageorgette@gmail.com