Program

We keep a very relaxed vibe on the retreat and there’s no obligation to take part in any of the workshops. If you just want to walk in the dunes all day and come back at mealtimes, that’s fine. The idea is for everyone to find their own rhythm according to their needs.

Just please turn off your mobile phone, don’t bring alcohol or drugs and treat everyone with respect.

Below you can see what the program was for 2024. It will be similar for 2025 but with some changes to the teachers.

The Yoga and Creative Voice & Movement Retreat 28 January – 3 February, 2024

Every morning there will be yoga workshops that are designed to meet the needs of both those new to yoga and those who already have a steady practice. There is no particular yoga style that we focus on but we encourage a playful, non-dogmatic approach to extending the range of the body and calming the mind.

Angeline Morand is a yoga teacher from France who has also lived in the UK. She came on the Sahara retreat as a guest a couple of years ago and is now returning to teach. She says@

“I turned to yoga in search of meaning to my life and it has given me both an anchor to the present moment and a refuge to retreat to when I need to reconnect to myself.

Practising yoga in the Sahara is one of the strongest experiences I’ve ever had – yoga, just like the desert, invites us to let go of the blah blah of our daily lives and discover who we are through our bodies and our breath.”

No experience is needed and you don’t need to be in great shape – yoga isn’t a competitive sport 🙂

 

Creative voice and movement

Tom Thumb has been running the Sahara retreats since 2011 and will lead  afternoon workshops exploring new ways to use the voice and body.

What do people hear in our voices beyond the words we use? What are our bodies saying when we stand, walk and run?

Drawing on elements of dance, theatre games and voice work, we’ll playfully explore how to express ourselves in ways that might surprise us. The workshops will on one hand be playful affairs where we  encounter some of our habitual patterns of posture and movement and shake it all up a bit!

A previous participant getting into the spirit of play

But for those who choose to go deeper there’s the chance to release stuck emotions and connect with yourself in a way you might not have imagined possible.

No experience is needed – just a sense of humour and curiosity..

 

The Meditation & Joy of Movement Retreat 18-24 February, 2024

meditation teacher in morocco

Laura is a Latvian dance and movement therapist and Rebirthing breathwork guide and she also loves improvisation, so her classes are creative, free and inspiring.

“For me, so we don’t have to learn to dance or move, we have to relax our mind and thoughts to let ourselves be in the now and find the movements that are waiting inside us.

But do we do that? Through breath! I look forwards to meeting the moment with you, as many moments as there are grains of sand! Mindfulness for me is about being in the present, thinking less about what tomorrow will bring, not dwelling on  memories, but seeing and enjoying what is  clearly here and now.”

 

The joy of movement

Maria Sofia Giliberti is a psychologist, dance movement therapist and contact improvisation teacher.

“I like to create safe spaces in which to explore new possibilities of being in one’s body and in contact with what lives inside and outside.

We will have the great privilege of being surrounded by a unique and special landscape, we will move this encounter with the desert starting from the listening and the contact with ourselves and with others.

There is such simple joy in expressing and understanding ourselves through movement. With an emphasis on playfulness and spontaneity, we will discover new possibilities with dance, listening, balance and contact. You don’t need any experience to take part and the only thing you need to bring….is your body!”

 

Sharing Circles

After we’ve eaten at night and the stars have come out we’ll gather around the fire to play music, tell stories and also from time to time share our experiences through talking circles, a Native American tradition designed to encourage an atmosphere of listening and empathy. Year after year we see long-lasting friendships formed in the retreat as each person finds their self-expression and a new capacity to relate.

We will also be going for walks in the desert, climbing the high dunes for sunset, playing some games and Tom Thumb will also do some storytelling – modern fairy tales to let your imaginations go wandering through journeys of myth and metaphor…

 

Schedule

  • Welcome dinner in the village of Hasalbied on Sunday  at 9.30pm. We’ll sleep there and in the morning put our bags on the camels.
  • Monday we walk out into the dunes and hold our opening circle.
  • Each of the following days will be structured around meal times, meditation, workshops and music round the fire at night.
  • Then on Saturday morning we’ll load our bags onto the camels again and head back to town. You can stay an extra night in the village or take the night bus out.