Balance in the bush: a wellness retreat in Klaserie Private Nature Reserve

Posted on 12 December 2012

On day three of a wellness retreat in the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve, we began our salute to the sun (a sequence of classical yoga postures) as the horizon lightened with the first tinge of slivered lemon. We continued our coordinated movements for another half an hour, as the sun rose and the bushveld revealed itself in soft, warm colours.

A dawn tai chi session

The tai chi, qigong and yoga sessions were suitable for beginners. More advanced retreats can also be arranged.

Simply saying that the ‘the sun rose’ seems inadequate. Those three words don’t convey how the darkness began, almost imperceptibly, to lift. They don’t show how the light began to spill over a low bank of cloud on the horizon, or how its opaque shafts made the dew on the grass dance. They don’t echo the music of the dawn, or how this harmonious chorus of birdsong was scented with the promise of rain and the last dust of the dry season.

The deck at Angela's Camp

The deck at Angela's Camp became yoga, tai chi and qigong studio.

It wasn’t just this sunrise that was extraordinary. The entire wellness retreat, facilitated by Lisl Bennett, Nicole Meyer Schuttelaars and Karen Tilney from Bush Retreats, was a special experience; so special that I’ve been reluctant to write about it.

I’ve been holding onto that golden dawn in case sharing it dilutes my memory of it. Today, waking up to another perfect morning in the lowveld, it struck me that it wasn’t really the sunrise that was different that day; it was me.

I had arrived at the retreat straight from a conference in Cape Town, carrying all the stresses of a busy year. Like parasites, they had colonised me completely and the few days in the bush that I’d booked had become just another item on a long to do list, one that I was trying not to resent.

Lisl leading a tai chi session

Tai chi, qigong and yoga were offered twice a day. Lisl led the tai chi and qigong classes and Nicole led the yoga classes.

As I joined the other seven retreat participants, I focused on the panoramic views over the Klaserie River from the deck of Angela’s Camp that would become both tai chi and yoga studio for the next couple of days. I sipped tentatively at the hibiscus tea served to welcome us and listened to a pair of crowned lapwings calling from somewhere within the lengthening shadows. Later, a leopard coughed softly in the darkness.

That night, we ate an exquisite mango and lentil bake with a fresh herb salad prepared by whole food chef Karen Tilney, who did the catering for the weekend. By now, I knew that if nothing else was nourished on this escape, my body would be. I fell exhausted into bed and, being simultaneously desperate and too wound up for it, couldn’t sleep.

“There goes my retreat,” I thought, almost sobbing with frustration.

Angela's Camp

A total of 12 guests can be accommodated at the 6 chalet's at Angela's Camp.

Being so tightly wound, it wasn’t easy to begin to relax and I don’t know when it started to happen. It could have been with the delicious, freshly squeezed juice made with the unlikely (but delicious) combination of celery, parsley, carrot, cayenne and pineapple that was brought to my room at dawn the next morning. It could have been at the first qiqong session with Lisl, where I had to learn how to breathe again; to find stillness in gentle, coordinate motion, and movement in stillness, according to the principles of this ancient practice.

Healthy, wholefood meals

Delicious, healthy, whole food meals were prepared by chef Karen Tilney.

It could have been at the introduction to tai chi, where our movements seemed attuned to the slow, solemn turning of the earth and the abundant energy that animates it, so visible in the bush around the camp, where elephant, kudu, impala, giraffe and white rhino came to browse, graze and drink.

It could have been at the massage session (my choice; there was also the option of shiatsu), where Nicole’s magic hands worked with the scents of geranium and lemon to relax my tense muscles and stimulate my circulation. It could have been in the ample down-time between sessions, or on one of the game drives, where we saw about 28 wild dogs, including a dozen pups, that ran inquisitively around the vehicle. It could have been over one of Karen’s delicious, detoxifying vegetarian meals, prepared with so much love and skill that it was its own kind of therapy for both body and soul…

Nicole giving a massage

Nicole's aromatherapy massages were in demand throughout the wellness retreat.

Perhaps it was the unique combination; healing foods, relaxing exercise, the ancient arts of yoga and tai chi, some simple qiqong, massage, meditation and a couple of game drives, spread over 3 nights and four days, in the wild and beautiful heart of this reserve adjacent to the Kruger National Park.

Whatever it was, by day three the sunrise was no longer a passive occurrence or something I just witnessed. It was a participatory dawn. When the sun’s rays reached out into the bushveld around me, I reached back and met them half way. As its glow intensified, I stretched towards it in gratitude. As it kissed the deck where I was participating in Nicole’s dawn yoga session, I felt completely alive and connected and in the moment; I felt as if the sun was rising with me.

Wild dogs

Seeing a group of about 28 wild dogs was a highlight on 1 of the game drives through the Klaserie Private Nature Reserve.

To keep the glow of that sunrise alive, I have joined a regular yoga class and am trying to practice some of the good habits Lisl, Nicole and Karen made so easy on the retreat.

 

Bush Retreats can tailor a package to your needs and budget and also offer shorter workshops and weekend breaks. You can request one of their experience facilitators, or even bring your own. For more information, contact: [email protected] or visit the Bush Retreats website.

Sunset at Angela's Camp.

The hour after sunset at Angela's Camp.

 






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