Archives for March 2018

Only one place left to enjoy Tuscan magic with Maggie

This picture, by Watermill paining tutor Maggie Renner Hellmann, perfectly captures the beauty and timelessness of the Tuscan countryside. No wonder she calls it Tuscan Magic.

Maggie is back with us for another of her inspiring Courageous Color Workshops this May – and there is only one place left (or two sharing). See below for links to grab that place.

Maggie says of her course here last year: “A perfect blend of Art and Adventure, with an immersion into the joys of Tuscan life… a real bucket shop experience!” Here’s another Tuscan painting by Maggie, this time in acrylic:

Maggie has built up quite a portfolio of works from her visit to the Watermill last year and we are looking forward to seeing even more great paintings when she returns this May. Here’s another delightful acrylic, caled Last Light Tuscany.

Maggie Renner Hellmann is a contemporary California artist who paints with love, passion and energy. Her work is characterized by a unique blend of loose, energetic brushwork and strong compositions of exuberant colour. She says: “I love the joy of color and the poetry of brushwork.”

Maggie is also an enthusiastic tutor who has been teaching for more than 15 years – and loves it! Her workshop here this May will cover oils, acrylics, pastels and watercolour. Here’s what one of our guests said about her course here last year: “Our experiences at the Watermill were definitely the highlights of our tours! Maggie’s gentle and helpful manner coupled with technical skill and aesthetic sense opened the gates of motivation for students, making them comfortable in their new surroundings and primed for an exciting creative experience in those beautiful hills of Tuscany. I also appreciated Maggie’s husband, Lou’s ready assists for our physical comforts. What a dream adventure, the two of you, along with Bill and Lois, prepared for all of us!”! “

Another commented: Maggie is good at teaching in all mediums and with all levels. She did wonderful demos in watercolour, acrylic, pastel and oil. Every day we did critiques together and learned from each other. I highly recommend this art workshop as well as the most wonderful accommodation with great food and wine. A little piece of heaven in experiencing Italy.”

19-26 May 2018

Maggie Renner Hellmann

Oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolours

One place left (or two people sharing)

To learn more about Maggie and her course at The Watermill, please click here.

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Only one place left on Sarah’s Italy-inspired knitting week

29 Mar By Bill Breckon

Sarah and her pupils in concentration mode. Picture Phil Wright

We have only one bedroom left on Sarah Hazell‘s Knitting and La Bella Vita week in May. It’s our lovely Ghiberti bedroom, with stunning views over the walled garden and the high Appennine mountains beyond. This double bedroom is available for single occupancy, or for two people sharing. Why not make it yours for a week inspired by Italian design and the Italian lifestyle?

Here’s what one of our guests had to say about last year’s course: “Thank you for the invigorating knitting experience last week. The weather cooperated beautifully and the food at the Watermill and the other locations was excellent and varied. It is a plus for you that Sarah will return next May. She is prepared and organized; flexible and patient with attendees of all capabilities with a good sense of humour.”

Sarah’s relishing her return, too: “A knitting holiday at The Watermill offers so much – splendid location, delicious food and opportunities to explore some of the local region. There is also a real sense of community, with Bill and Lois employing and supporting lots of local people. And then there is the knitting of course!”

Sarah has been developing the special projects she and her guests will be working on during her knitting week here. There are two specially designed projects incorporating cable knitting and sequence knitting, and a third for those who have already tried the sequence-knitting project and would prefer an introduction to chevron knitting and stripe sequences. Sarah’s projects for her week here are inspired by the Watermill location and Italian design.

Creative Cables. Sarah says: “A cabled scarf/cowl reflecting all the twists and turns that you will encounter during your stay – from the winding landscape through to the vines at the Watermill.”

In the photo you can see Sarah’s example knitted in Mrs Dalloway (a stunning ochre), but it will work equally well in Ballet Russes (a luscious pink), Kanoko (chalky blue), Clarissa (a warm neutral) and French (a bold, purply-grey). You choose which colour you prefer.

Sequence Knitting: “This project uses the sequence knitting technique to create a beautiful shawl with lots of drape. It is knitted in West Yorkshire Spinners Illustrious DK and comes in a choice of Old Lace (cream) or Sandstone (marled ochre): you decide which colour you prefer.”

Missoni-inspired chevron patterns. Sarah says: “This project will enable you to design your own scarf using a simple chevron pattern. We will explore how different colours relate to each other, look at some of Missoni’s sketches and designs and discover how altering the proportion of colours within a striped sequence can affect a design.”

Sarah adds: “Workshop sessions tend to start with a technique focus linked to the projects and then a chance to work at your own pace with me on hand to offer support or advice if you need it. I am always happy to help with any other projects that you bring with you.”

Sarah will be joining us again for her Knitting and La Bella Vita week from Saturday 5 May to Saturday 12 May 2018. We’d love to welcome you here to join the dozen enthusiastic knitters already signed in?

5-12 May 2018

Sarah Hazell

Knitting and La Bella Vita One place left

To find out more about Sarah and her course, please click here.

Knitting under the shade of the vines in the Watermill garden

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Only a few places left with our fast and loose watercolour tutor Andrew Geeson

28 Mar By Bill Breckon

Our inspiring watercolour tutor Andrew Geeson is renowned for his fast and loose painting style and we are looking forward to watching him work around the Watermill and in our lovely Tuscan countryside when he visits us this June.

Andrew will be with us from Saturday 23 to Saturday 30 June 2018. We already have 10 bookings for this course, and we have two bedrooms and one apartment suite left. There’s a link to more details about his course below.

Andrew Geeson, from Leicester in the UK, has been a professional watercolourist for more than 20 years. He has taught hundreds of students on holidays and in workshops and, increasingly, on-line were he enjoys a large following. He says: “I love the simplicity and joy of watercolours and my passion and aim is inspire and encourage students to paint in a loose a free manner. The joy it brings is unmatched and everyone should try it. I am keen to share my excitement with others.” As one of his students says: “Superb work. Beautiful loose style, this is how watercolours should be!”Andrew specialises in a wet-into-wet style of watercolours: “This quick, fun and rewarding approach to watercolour painting allows you to capture your subject, whatever it may be, in the most atmospheric way without the constraints of over detailing. Being spontaneous, immediate and atmospheric, it allows you to express more than the subject of the painting Come along and give it a try. I think you may find a new world of painting.”

Everything is included in the cost of your holiday at the watermill: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport and an excursion by train to Lucca or the Cinque Terre). You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest!

23-30 June 2018

Andrew Geeson

Watercolours

Three or four places left

To learn more about Andrew and his course at The Watermill, please click here.

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Enjoy an afternoon in Lucca – and a morning, too!

27 Mar By Bill Breckon

Here’s a vivacious watercolour by Watermill painting tutor Sandra Strohschein. She calls it Afternoon in Lucca and it captures the atmosphere of that vibrant, quintessential Italian city.

You, too, can enjoy an afternoon in Lucca, and a morning, too, on Sandra’s inspiring painting courses here this June. It’s one of the venues for our Wednesday excursions during our painting weeks.

Lucca is perhaps our favourite Italian city: imposing red brick city walls, wide enough to walk (or cycle: hire a bike) all the way round. The centre is wonderful with superb architecture, notably the San Michele church, the Cathedral, the houses of the Piazza del Anfiteatro echoing the shape of the old Roman amphitheatre, the classical splendour of the Piazza Napoleone. And there are shops where you’ll find great shoes and leather goods, particularly in the elegant pedestrian shopping street, the Via Filungo.

On your excursion, you take the train from nearby Aulla, heading slowly on the single-track railway, meandering through the Alpi Apuane regional park, with impressive marble mountains, sparkling rivers, hilltop villages. It is technically our tutors’ day off, but often they accompany our guests, sketching in the city and gathering material for paintings like the one above and that below, another of Sandra’s studies, called Looking up in Lucca, below.

We had a wonderful course with Sandra last year and our guests thoroughly enjoyed themselves. A couple of their comments: “Sandra was full of enthusiasm and talent and made every day a joy. To have two chances most days to paint was utter heaven and in such wonderful surroundings. I didn’t paint a masterpiece but thoroughly enjoyed my week. I hope to remember some of the tricks Sandy taught us and use them in the future.”

“Many thanks to you both for a fabulous week. Your forethought, hard work and professionalism are very much appreciated. Nothing was too much trouble and nothing was at fault. You have created a gem. Please pass on our sincere gratitude to all your lovely people.”

Sandra Strohschein from Michigan, USA, has achieved an extraordinary mastery of her medium, transparent watercolours. She works in a fast loose impressionistic style, but above all, she produces passionate, emotionally charged paintings, full of energy.

As for her teaching, people frequently tell her about how much fun they have on her workshops and how nobody ever wants them to end. Another painting guest on her course at the mill said: “Watching your demonstrations was such an education and your kind and patient individual help was invaluable.”

Sandra Strohschein

Watercolours

To learn more about Sandra and her courses at The Watermill, please click here

26 May-2 June Fully booked, waiting list open

2-9 June One single place

9-16 June One place left (or two, sharing)

16-23 June One place left (or two, sharing)

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Painting to the sonorous rhythms of the day

26 Mar By Bill Breckon

Church bells punctuate the day during our creative weeks at the Watermill, providing a sense of history and regulating the rhythms of our lives. So I thought I’d share with you a couple of lovely bell tower pictures by our effervescent and inspiring painting tutor Terry Jarvis, who will be back with us for another sun-filled, fun-filled week this July.

Italian have an affection for the bells of their own town or city, giving them a sense of pride of place and of belonging. The call it campanilismo, from campanile, a bell tower – and you can share our Posara bells, as well as those of the historic towns and villages we’ll visit during your painting week. Above is Terry’s atmospheric Shadows of Lucca, with an elegant clock tower.

And this is Terry’ painting of the main square in Fivizzano, where we go to paint on market day, with the campanile proudly in the background:

And here’s a village in the foothills of the mountains surrounding the Watermill, again with its church tower:

Come hear the bells and paint the towers with Terry this Summer.

He will be running another inspiring course in watercolours* at The Watermill, from Saturday 7 July to Saturday 14 July 2018. *Terry works in oils, pastels and acrylics, as well as watercolours, and is happy to teach in those media too.

Here’s what a recent guest said: “I wanted to thank you for a most wonderful stay at The Watermill. Your treatment of us was terrific. Six stars doesn’t come close! I enjoyed every minute. Terry’s course was great. He is an excellent teacher – very encouraging and knows how to bring out the best in his students. He has a great personality.”

Terry is one of Australia’s leading watercolour artists and a great fan of the watermill and the surrounding area of Lunigiana. He was inspired at an early age to draw and paint the landscape, as well as people and animals. He now exhibits widely and is a popular tutor at workshops around the world. He loves drawing and helping his students to develop their drawing skills.

7-14 July 2018

Terry Jarvis

Watercolours (and oils, pastels and acrylics)

To learn more about Terry and his course at The Watermill, please click here.

*** Why not bring your non-painting partner as well? There’s a generous £250 discount for him/her if they share a room with you — and there’s plenty for them to do. Have a look at our Partner’s Activities suggestions by clicking here.

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This yoga tip is so simple you can do it with your eyes closed, says Amy

24 Mar By Bill Breckon

To have a deeper sensory experience of your yoga practice, try closing your eyes, says Watermill yoga teacher Amy Rogg. Of course, you should establish your pose or a movement, first, but Amy says: “We use our eyes to take in information and scan our environment and doing so can also stimulate our intellectual system, causing our brains to analyse, compartmentalize, judge, and compare. This causes a “busy-ness” in the body. Once our eyes close, it’s easier to drop into the simplicity of feeling and to sense the body moving in space. It also brings our focus in instead of out. When we have an inward focus, we become aware of our emotions, physical sensations, and the rhythm of our breath. “Busy-ness” begins to ground and we find ourselves in a calmer state–we shift from our head to our heart, our intellect to our feeling body.

“So, the next time you are resting in a pose or even doing a dynamic movement like cat/cow, try closing your eyes for a few minutes and notice what happens!”

Amy and her colleague Joanne Brohmer are running a wonderful yoga retreat at the Watermill this Summer. So close your eyes and dream of beautiful Tuscany, amazing food and restorative yoga. With their students using words like ‘joy’ and ‘magical’ about them, Amy and Joanne will help you to awaken and restore your true passion and self-worth. We are sure this is going to be one of our most inspiring retreats –a sun-filled, fun-filled week where we’ll nurture your mind, body and spirit.

Amy and Joanne’s week will run from Saturday 25 August to Saturday 1 September 2018. The theme of the retreat will be ‘Connection’ – to yourself, to others and to nature.

Amy Rogg is a yoga teacher and movement facilitator working on transforming the human spirit through holistic arts. She is based in San Francisco, California, USA. Amy helps people to awaken and restore their passion and self-worth, inspiring them to move towards their vulnerability and authenticity. She brings people back into their innate knowledge and wisdom, through a deeper connection to their body, breath, and personal expression.

As a healer, Joanne Brohmer offers a range of modalities that helps others enter into their own depth and set their anchor deeper, where they can begin to claim and feel what has been hard to reach. She helps bring what has been blocked forward into the safe home of acceptance and embrace. She facilitates bringing others to that soft, open, vulnerable place in a way that feels safe.

Participants on our yoga retreat with Amy and Joanne enjoy SEVEN nights at the Watermill, with full board. Everything is included in the cost of the retreat: workshops, accommodation (including all linen and towels), tours, pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and wines (including outings to charming local restaurants) and all local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport and an excursion by train to Lucca). You get to Pisa, Italy, we do the rest! You can see a draft itinerary by clicking here.

Come and practise your yoga and meditation in the tranquil heart of rural Tuscany and let us nurture your mind, body and spirit.

Amy Rogg & Joanne Brohmer
25 August to 1 September 2018 – still plenty of places
Yoga retreat
To learn more about Amy and Joanne and their course at The Watermill, please visit their Tutor Page

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Thirty-two babies and it’s not getting easier! Jo on the birth of her new book.

20 Mar By Bill Breckon

Our talented and inspiring writing tutor Jo Parfitt has just published her 32^nd book and she says: “I have often compared writing and publishing a book to having a baby. Not only does it take about nine months to gestate but then, once it is in your arms, it takes over your life!”

Monday Morning Emails is co-authored with Canadian Terry Anne Wilson, who, like Jo, has lived abroad for about three decades, has sons in their twenties and is not quite sure where to call home. This book is very different from Jo’s usual ‘how-to’ books, telling of the vicissitudes of living abroad and bringing up a family: “The birth was fairly long and painful. The third stage of labour took us to well over 25 edits and read throughs, times when gas and air did not quite hit the spot and we needed wine. But, in the end, about a month ago, our baby slithered off the press, silky skinned and gorgeous.

“My heart was on my sleeve and as the book arrived in the world, my heart was in my mouth… Until Monday Morning Emails I had not really known how it felt to be faced with writing raw, authentic, vulnerable truth about myself and those close to me.”

Jo and Terry Anne had bared their souls, so what would people think? Jo says: “I felt like hiding behind the sofa, ready to be judged for what I had written. Was I a terrible mother? Had I worked too hard when the children were growing up? Had people suffered too much because we made the choice to keep on moving from country to country?”

The Watermill at Posara for painting, knitting, creative writing, Italian language and yoga holidays/vacations/retreats, Tuscany, Italy.

Terry Anne Wilson and Jo: a successful birth.

The book was launched the book in The Hague on March 7^th and at the Families in Global Transition conference two days later: “And only then did I dare to peak over the back of the sofa where I discovered words such as: “I wanted to thank you both for putting those issues on the table in such an honest and compelling manner. Already, it has been a catalyst for my parents to discuss decisions they made all those years ago, and ask me what I think now, as an adult.” “It’s the best thing you’ve ever written.” “Thank you for starting the conversation.”

Jo says: “As with the birth of any baby. The hardest work of all begins after it arrives. Terry Anne and I have work to do. There is a website, a new blog, flyers, reviews to elicit, a book trailer, book club questions, promotions, articles to write and readings to do. Thirty-two babies in and it has not got any easier…”

So, we’re not promising book writing is easy, but with Jo as midwife, you can begin the exciting process of giving birth to your own creation during her unique and inspiring Writing Your Life Stories courses at the Watermill.

We’ve had such a demand for Jo’s courses this year, that, with her first week fully booked, we’ve opened a second week for her. If you’d like to give birth to some of your life stories, be it a full-blooded memoir, or a shorter journal, or even a blog, we’d be delighted to welcome you here. Jo’s new week will run from Saturday 18 August to Saturday 25 August 2018. We’ve been told that this is an ideal time for many people, such as people who work in schools and universities, who can only take time off in the academic holidays and, of course, anyone who want to come is welcome. You won’t regret it! As one student on Jo’s last course here said: “I can honestly say it’s been life changing for me and the setting could not have been more perfect.”

Bring your experiences to life

Jo’s Write Your Life Story creative writing courses are designed to help you produce your best work, to find your true writer’s ‘voice’ and to write authentically. Among other things, you’ll discover the secret of SPICE, the seven steps to writing life stories, and put this into practice right away.

Jo Parfitt has published 32 books herself, has helped more than 100 authors get into print and more than 1,000 people to begin writing. She’s an inspiring, compassionate and encouraging teacher: her motto is ‘sharing what I know to help others to grow’. Jo says: “The course at the watermill will provide a safe haven in which to unlock your creativity, write from your heart and hone your writing craft. It will also help to remove blocks to your writing. Sessions at the mill will empower students to write in a compelling way that makes real experiences come to life.”

Jo adds: “The class will include several methods and genre and is perfect for anyone wanting to write about their own lives for an effective journal, memoir or blog. If you would enjoy an injection of inspiration in a safe and supportive environment this course is for you. It is appropriate for students of any level.”

Jo Parfitt
18 August to 25 August 2018 AND

22 September to 29 September 2018 Course full

Write Your Life Stories

To learn more about Jo and her course at The Watermill, please click here

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A space suddenly available for Claire’s inspiring painting holiday

19 Mar By Bill Breckon

Due to a cancellation we suddenly have a place available on Claire Warner‘s inspiring painting course this September. If you’d like to come, please let us know as soon as you can: we’ll allocate the place on this much sought-after course on a first-come, first-served basis.

Claire will be with us from Saturday 15 September to Saturday 22 September 2018 for a special week-long course in watercolours (and oils and acrylics). We are really looking forward to meeting her and working with her.

As well as being a talented artist, Claire is also an experienced tutor, having taught all age groups and abilities for more than 20 years. She will teach primarily in watercolours, but is also happy to help with oil and acrylics, too. All levels of artists can benefit from her teaching, and she offers plenty of help and individual attention. Claire says: “My aim is to teach and encourage each student gradually to build up knowledge and the confidence to create their own style. I’ll demonstrate step by step with explanations, and offers plenty of individual attention when and where needed. I like to tease out their full potential with patience and a sense of fun.”

Claire’s watercolour above is called Early Morning, Ullswater. She says: “The still calm waters of the early morning, create fascinating reflections. The silence is broken only by perhaps birds marking their daily territory.”

This watercolour below is of a café in Provence, in the South of France. Claire says: “Always a fascination, cafés offer so much interest with the shapes of tables and chairs, parasols and clothes. Observing people, in discussion, in thought, in action. So much to reproduce into a painting.”

Claire Warner

Watercolours (and oils and acrylics)

15-22 September 2018

To learn more about Claire and her course at The Watermill, please click here.

Come and join us a savour the magic of The Watermill!

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Watermill creative courses: current availability

18 Mar By Bill Breckon

Here’s a March note to keep you up to date on current availability on the world-famous Watermill creative holidays.

As you see, quite a few courses are fully booked (but there are waiting lists if you are keen on a particular tutor and there may be cancellations). We’d love you to join us on one of our sun-filled, sun-filled, inspiring courses, so if you’d like to come, now is the time to reserve your place.

*** Why not bring your non-participating partner as well? There’s a generous £250 discount for him/her if they share a room with you – and there’s plenty for them to do. Have a look at our Partner’s Activities Page for suggestions.

Painting courses

Paul Talbot-Greaves
28 April to 5 May 2018
Watercolours (and acrylics)

Fully booked, waiting list open

To learn more about Paul, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please visit his Profile Page.

Maggie Renner Hellmann
19 May to 26 May 2018
‘Courageous Color Workshop’

One place left (or two sharing)

To learn more about Maggie, her course at the mill and to see more of her pictures, please visit her Profile Page

Sandra Strohschein
Watercolours

26 May to 2 June 2018 Fully booked, waiting list open
2 June to 9 June 2018 Fully booked, waiting list open
To learn more about Sandra, her course at the mill and to see more of her pictures, please visit her Profile Page

Sandra Strohschein
Watercolours

9 June to 16 June 2018 One place left (or two sharing)
16 June to 23 June 2018 One place left (or two sharing)

To learn more about Sandra, her course at the mill and to see more of her pictures, please visit her Profile Page

Andrew Geeson
Watercolours

23 June to 30 June 2018 Three places left

To learn more about Andrew, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please visit his Profile Page

Terry Jarvis
Watercolours (and oils, pastels and acrylics)

7 July to 14 July 2018 Still plenty of places

To learn more about Terry, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please visit his Profile Page

Rebecca de Mendonça & Nel Whatmore
Pastels

1 September to 8 September 2018 Three places left

To learn more about Rebecca & Nel, their course and to see more of their pictures, please visit their Profile Page

Mike Willdridge
Watercolours and drawing (also gouache and acrylics with an emphasis on sketching and drawing on location)

8 September to 15 September 2018 Fully booked, waiting list open

To learn more about Mike, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please visit his Profile Page

Claire Warner
Watercolours (and oils and acrylics)
15 September to 22 September 2018 One place left (or two sharing)

To learn more about Claire, her course and to see more of her pictures, please visit her Profile Page

Vicki Norman
Oils en plein air

6 October to 13 October 2018 Fully booked, waiting list open

To learn more about Vicki, her course at the mill and to see more of her pictures, please visit her Profile Page

Tim Wilmot
Watercolours

13 October to 20 October 2018 One place left (or two sharing)

To learn more about Tim, his course at the mill and to see more of his pictures, please visit his Profile Page

Knitting holidays

aperitivi and laughter

Sarah Hazell
Knitting and La Bella Vita
5 May to 12 May 2018 One place left (or two sharing)

To learn more about Sarah and her courses at the mill, please visit her Profile Page

Marie Wallin – course full, waiting list open
Knitting and La Bella Vita

14 July to 21 July 2018 Fully booked, waiting list open

To learn more about Marie and her course at the mill, please visit her Profile Page

Lisa Richardson
Knitting and La Bella Vita

29 September to 6 October 2018 Fully booked, waiting list open

To learn more about Lisa and her course at the mill, please visit her Profile Page

Writing course

Jo Parfitt
Write Your Life Stories

18 August to 25 August 2018 Still plenty of places
22 September to 29 September 2018 Fully booked, waiting list open

To learn more about Jo and her course at The Watermill, please visit her Profile Page

Italian language course

Giulia Balestri
Italian language

30 June to 7 July 2018 Two or three places left

To learn more about Giulia and her course at The Watermill, please click here

Yoga retreat

Amy Rogg & Joanne Brohmer
Nourish – mind, body and soul

25 August to 1 September 2018 Still plenty of places

To learn more about Amy and Joanne and their course at The Watermill, please visit their Tutor Page

Everything’s included in your watermill painting holiday, yoga retreat, creative writing holiday, knitting week or Italian Language course

Don’t forget that everything is included in the cost of your week: tuition, accommodation (including all linen and towels), pre-dinner aperitifs, all meals and local transportation (including transfers to Pisa airport; an excursion by train to visit the ancient walled city of Lucca or the stunning seaside villages of the Cinque Terre). All you have to do is to get to Pisa airport and we do the rest.

Whether you’re travelling alone or with a partner you can be sure of a warm welcome, and that you’ll be well looked after. We have built our reputation on the comfort of the mill and the care we provide.

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Empower your yoga practice with intention says Joanne

17 Mar By Bill Breckon

Here’s another handy hint from our enthusiastic and inspiring yoga teacher Joanne Brohmer.

She says: “Everything we do in life is a living metaphor, a reflection of what we are thinking and feeling, consciously and unconsciously.”

That’s why setting up an intention before starting a yoga session is so important. Joanne says: “When we set an intention, it brings our conscious mind into focus, brings you present as being the creator of your own experience and sets the energy in your life into motion to align with this. Whatever energies that have been lost or stuck begin to flow, your body intuitively knows what to do in the moment, in those poses to help you get there.”

She adds: “Showing up to your mat with an already set intention or creating one when you arrive can set the tone and even send signals throughout your body that will help it move in ways that can bring you in alignment with this intention. Try setting a simple intention at first and notice the subtle shifts that happen inside you and see how the effects continue the mat and off the mat.

“It challenges you to raise your vibration, breathe a little deeper, encourages you to make that stretch. It’s an inner guide. Intentions can be a spark in your life that set things into motion. The Buddha says: ‘Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the single candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.’”

Joanne is running a fantastic yoga retreat at the Watermill this Summer with her colleague Amy Rogg. We are delighted to welcome Joanne and Amy, two amazing young American yoga teachers. With their students using words like ‘joy’ and ‘magical’ about them, Amy and Joanne will help you to awaken and restore your true passion and self-worth. We are sure this is going to be one of our most inspiring retreats –a sun-filled, fun-filled week where we’ll nurture your mind, body and spirit.

Amy and Joanne’s week will run from Saturday 25 August to Saturday 1 September 2018. The theme of the retreat will be ‘Connection’ – to yourself, to others and to nature.

Amy Rogg is a yoga teacher and movement facilitator working on transforming the human spirit through holistic arts. She is based in San Francisco, California, USA.

Amy helps people to awaken and restore their passion and self-worth, inspiring them to move towards their vulnerability and authenticity. She brings people back into their innate knowledge and wisdom, through a deeper connection to their body, breath, and personal expression.

Come and practise your yoga and meditation in the tranquil heart of rural Tuscany and let us nurture your mind, body and spirit.

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Archives for March 2018

Only one place left to enjoy Tuscan magic with Maggie

Only one place left on Sarah’s Italy-inspired knitting week

Only a few places left with our fast and loose watercolour tutor Andrew Geeson

Enjoy an afternoon in Lucca – and a morning, too!

Painting to the sonorous rhythms of the day

This yoga tip is so simple you can do it with your eyes closed, says Amy

Thirty-two babies and it’s not getting easier! Jo on the birth of her new book.

A space suddenly available for Claire’s inspiring painting holiday

Watermill creative courses: current availability

Painting courses

Knitting holidays

Writing course

Italian language course

Yoga retreat

Everything’s included in your watermill painting holiday, yoga retreat, creative writing holiday, knitting week or Italian Language course

Empower your yoga practice with intention says Joanne

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