„I was working in Cairo and came to study yoga with a woman teaching out of her flat. I found that this started to help me feel more grounded amongst the beautiful chaos out on the streets and all the travel that I did. It started as a small space of solace.

When I moved again, I was able to continue to practice at home, but I reached a point where I wanted to learn more. I asked her for recommendations and came to Samahita Retreat for a three-week holiday. I was able to develop a practice that I could take with me anywhere, and was also introduced to pranayama, kriyas, meditation techniques, and philosophy. I found this very empowering. It helped me to look at what was actually happening inside and around me. It started to open my eyes to more. Everything was presented in an honest and sincere manner – it was an intelligent and well considered approach to integrating yoga practices in anyone’s lifestyle.

If you wanted to learn more, which I did, there were teacher trainings, advanced anatomy courses, philosophy courses, pranayama courses, etc, to further your studies. I continued to come back over the past seven years, taking in what I could, and studying more deeply some of theses areas in other places around the world.

This place offers a strong lineage, but also practical approach to integrating practice into a modern lifestyle. The current incorporation of fitness, cardio, strengthening exercises, and nutritional education really rounds the package. And of course you can enjoy a coconut on the beach, relax, breath in fresh clean air, go for a paddle, eat delicious Thai food and enjoy the tropical setting. But if you want more, it can give a strong base to develop a healthy lifestyle, not just physically, but also mentally and emotionally, and to start asking broader questions around what it is that we are really doing here, and to examine your life in a meaningful way.

Before this I was teaching Environmental Science and Visual Art at an international college in Italy. It strove to teach peace through dialogue and communication. Here, I am helping people find strength and peace within themselves, so that they can more effectively extend that to other facets of their lives, to their relationships, and communities.“

Sarah Pierroz, Wellness Advisor and Fitness Instructor. She is from Toronto, Canada.