Somatics Training Retreat for Yoga Teachers with Charlotte Watts at Emerson College
Can be attended as part of Charlotte’s Teaching Therapeutic Somatics course, or simply to experience Somatic practice and restore resources – includes a Soundbath event on Saturday night!
Upcoming dates:
Emerson College, Forest Row*
November 10th-12th 2023
April 19th-21st 2024
*options for non-residential at this venue
These retreats are also held at Gayles, Sussex
August 4th-6th 2023 - Gayles, East Sussex

This teacher training retreat is open to yoga teachers, yoga therapists and anyone else interested with at least a year’s yoga experience (although you will need to be a qualified teacher to continue the full module, see below). Whether you simply need the therapeutic effects of a weekend of deeply nourishing Somatic practice or want to take this into your teaching, this will be a retreat of deep connection, self-compassionate practices and embodied awareness.
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Yoga & Somatics for Healing & Recovery: moving beyond stress, trauma, burnout, anxiety, fatigue and post-illness through embodied awareness – the more theoretical, philosophical and enquiring part – 100 hours
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Teaching Somatics: the art of leading others inwards towards whole – the more experiential and practical component including this retreat – 70 hours
The course/retreat can be taken simply for 15 hrs CPD experience and understanding of Somatic practice or as part of the total 70 CPD hours of the Teaching Somatics course for Yoga Teachers.
The retreat content:
FRIDAY
3pm - arrival
3.30pm – afternoon tea (pay as you go)
4.30-6pm - Central axis and skull-sacrum polarity: spine undulations, forward and side
6.15pm - dinner
8-9pm - Continuing earlier content into stillness
SATURDAY
7.30-8am - Qigong-inspired practice
8–9am – breakfast
10am-12pm - Shoulders, neck and jaw: reptilian to all-fours/ dorsal sheath
12.45pm – lunch
3.30pm – afternoon tea (pay as you go)
4-6pm - Hips, sacrum and belly: prone and baddha konasana/ ventral sheath
6.15pm - dinner
8-9pm – Soundbath with Ruth Summers
SUNDAY
7.30-8am - Qigong-inspired practice
8–9am – breakfast
10.15am-12.45pm - Diaphragm, ribs, lungs and heart: twists/ spiral sheath > moving to remaining part of Arms, legs and eyes: moving and reaching/ core sheath (standing parts of this practice included in two pre-breakfast sessions)
12.45pm - lunch
3pm – departure

Prices, payment terms and booking
- All single rooms (shared bathroom and communal kitchen to use) - £450 for 2 nights and training
- Non-residential option (ie for those who can stay in the area but not on-site) - £320 for training, lunch and dinner
Concession rates available for those on low income – please email [email protected] to enquire.
Included: all food, yoga, training as advertised & accommodation (unless non-residential option)
Not included: travel
**Please email me prior to registering if you have any questions: [email protected]. Places will be offered on a first come, first served basis**
A non-refundable deposit of £80 is required to confirm your place. To pay your deposit, select the date you would like from the boxes below.
The balance is due no less than 6 weeks prior to the event and can be paid with credit or debit card or by any of the methods below. You may also pay in full at the time of booking if you prefer or in installments if arranged in three parts. Bookings made less than 6 weeks prior to the event must be paid in full.
You will be the contacted for the remaining balance to be paid 6 weeks before the start date of the retreat. See the cancellation terms below.
Please note that whilst I will do everything possible to adhere to the programme and details laid out above, some things are outside my control, and therefore I reserve the right to make changes if necessary.
November 2023

Somatics Retreat at Emerson College
November 10-12, 2023

Somatics Retreat at Emerson College
November 10-12, 2023

Somatics Retreat at Emerson College
November 10-12, 2023
April 2024

Somatics Retreat at Emerson College
April 19-21, 2024

Somatics Retreat at Emerson College
April 19-21, 2024

Somatics Retreat at Emerson College
April 19-21, 2024
Cancellation terms
If you then cannot attend for any reason, please inform us in writing, but the following conditions apply:
Whilst we would wish to treat cancellation sympathetically our spaces are limited and the following charges must be applied. If your space can be filled, there may be the possibility of transferring your place to a future retreat, but this is at our discretion, otherwise:
- From registration to 6 weeks (44 days) before departure – loss of deposit (*if I can fill all 18 places, deposit can be transferred to a future retreat if you need to change)
- 43-28 days before departure 50% of total price
- 27-14 days before departure 65% of total price
- 13- or less before departure 100% of price
If you are not sure you’ll be able to come, please let us know as soon as possible so we can discuss and find the best outcome.

Accommodation
Places on the retreat are all for single rooms, which are within a large, separate accommodation block within the lovely grounds of Emerson. They are pleasant and clean, with shared bathroom facilities and a communal kitchen where you can make your own tea, coffee and store any snacks or specialist foods you may need to bring.
Food
“Since ethical, sustainable living is central to everything we do at Emerson, our food is made from seasonal, locally sourced, organic produce wherever possible. Much is grown in our own biodynamic garden and green houses. All our meals need to be pre-booked which minimises our food waste. We actively compost to support the soil health of our garden.
Fresh, delicious homegrown and cooked food is prepared daily with love and care by our experienced kitchen team here at Emerson. All our meals are vegetarian with a vegan and gluten free option. We have set mealtimes as we believe that food brings people together. The ringing of the gong announces that lunch or supper is ready to be served, calling people from classrooms, offices and houses.”
Special Diets
Our meals are vegetarian and we can also cater for the diets listed below:
• Vegetarian – No meat, fish or any products derived from slaughtered animals (rennet, gelatine, lard, fish oils, etc.)
• Vegan – As for vegetarians plus no product from any living animal such as milk (cows’, goats’ or ewes’), cheese, eggs, cream, lactose, honey, etc.
• Gluten-free – No product containing gluten, such as wheat, oats, spelt, rye. Suitable starches we use are buckwheat, millet, rice and potatoes
• Dairy-free – Dairy product/dairy/milk products are products derived exclusively from milk. ‘Milk’ is obtained from animals that include cows, goats, sheep and buffalo. We always have alternatives to milk as standard e.g. rice or soya drink.
Unfortunately, the venue are not able to cater for further allergies and intolerances. You have use of self-catering facilities if you need.

Location
Emerson College is situated at the edge of the beautiful village of Forest Row (nearest station East Grinstead) in the Ashdown Forest, where the Winnie the Pooh stories were based.
It sits within a 22-acre Botanic Garden with beautiful ponds, lawns and flower beds, a vegetable garden, an apple orchard and a wood full of blue bells in spring. It has many rare trees and over 100 medicinal plants. All the land is managed biodynamically and is fully Demeter Certified. You are encouraged to wander around the estate with its, a medicinal herb garden and many sculptures and flow forms created by students - a very relaxed environment for anyone visiting.
There is a Kitchen Garden (small biodynamic vegetable garden) on campus, providing fresh greens, lettuces, spinach, tomatoes, flowers and much more. For everything else, Tablehurst farm – a community owned biodynamic farm with great shop and lovely outdoor cafe – is just next door and can be visited over the fields on foot.
You can also walk across the fields to Forest Row, which takes about 20 minutes. There are also many great country walks in the area including Ashdown Forest and bikes to hire for the national cycle route Forest Way.
Location
Emerson College
Hartfield Road
Forest Row
East Sussex RH18 5JX
United Kingdom
Nearest train station East Grinstead (an hour from London Victoria) – 12 mins by car or taxi away