Venue -Trealy Farm, Wales
£995 to £1190 ALL INCLUSIVE (Tuition; accommodation; facilities; all meals) depending on accommodation choice
Maximum of 10 participants

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With David Moore

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David Moore has been teaching the Alexander  technique and yoga for 40 years and runs training courses for Alexander teachers and yoga teachers in Melbourne, Australia. He is a registered Senior Teacher with Yoga Australia, He is the author of "Smart Yoga: Use the Alexander technique to enhance your practice, prevent injury and increase body awareness."

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About the retreat

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With forty years of teaching experience in the Alexander Technique and yoga David brings fresh and practical insights into how the Alexander Technique can contribute to yoga practice. 

More than an instruction manual, his book, complete with visual examples, offers readers a critical approach to yoga practice. Furthermore, this guide accommodates the needs of people with a diverse range of movement, in terms of injuries, structure, strength and flexibility. Offering comprehensive advice in modifying yoga practice, David takes account of the huge variability in people doing yoga practice and examines how to deal intelligently with this variability. 
 

• Applying the Alexander Technique for safe and effective yoga practice
   

• Altering poses to suit a range of body types, flexibility and strength, structural issues and injury
   

• Dealing with pain and injury
   

• How Hatha Yoga, Patanjali, and Buddhist insight practices relate to

the Alexander Technique

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• Bringing the practice into daily life
   

• Balancing the autonomic nervous system
   

• Mindfulness and meditation

 

• Changing habit
   

• For Alexander and/or yoga teachers - developing teaching skills and hands-on guidance

Retreat Program Overview
 

This retreat is designed to provide an immersive experience in both yoga and the Alexander Technique, with a balance of structured learning and personal time. Each participant will receive a private lesson during the retreat.

The schedule includes:
 

•            An opening afternoon group session followed by a shared evening meal on the first day

•            Daily sessions focused on experiential learning, movement exploration, and reflective practice

•            Time allocated for rest, integration, and exploring the surrounding countryside—especially on days when participants are not scheduled for private lessons

•            A closing morning session on the final day

 

This retreat combining the Alexander Technique and yoga offers a deeply integrative experience that nurtures both body and mind. Participants typically gain:

Physical Benefits

•            Improved posture and movement efficiency: Learn to release habitual tension and move with greater ease and coordination.

•            Enhanced breath and vocal freedom: Discover how posture and awareness affect breathing and vocal expression.

•            Pain relief and injury prevention: Mindful movement helps address chronic tension, back pain, joint discomfort, and repetitive strain.

•            Increased flexibility and strength: Yoga complements the Alexander Technique by building functional mobility and core stability.

Mental and Emotional Benefits

•            Heightened self-awareness: Participants develop a refined sense of how they use their bodies in daily life, leading to more conscious choices.

•            Stress reduction and emotional regulation: Mindful movement  fosters calm, resilience, and emotional clarity.

•            Renewed energy and vitality: Releasing unnecessary effort often leads to a sense of lightness and rejuvenation.

 Learning and Integration

•            Embodied mindfulness: The retreat environment encourages deep listening to the body and present-moment awareness.

•            Tools for daily life: Participants leave with practical strategies for sitting, standing, walking, speaking, and practicing yoga with less strain and more grace.

•            Creative exploration: Participants learn how to apply the technique in diverse contexts—such as movement, voice, artistic expression, and interpersonal dynamics—fostering curiosity and adaptability beyond the retreat. 

Community and Environment

•            Supportive group dynamics: Shared learning fosters connection, empathy, and mutual inspiration.

 

•            Immersive setting: Nature, silence, and spaciousness amplify the effects of the practices and offer a break from habitual routines.

David offers comprehensive guidance on modifying yoga practice to accommodate the wide variability among practitioners. His approach emphasizes intelligent adaptation, ensuring that each individual’s unique needs, capacities, and challenges are met with care and precision.

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The Daily Program

The program will be structured to allow for intensive yoga and Alexander Technique work plus a private Alexander technique lesson for each participant over the course of the retreat. In addition it will allow for sufficient time for people to be able to enjoy the surrounding countryside. The program listed below is indicative and may be altered somewhat in consultation with the participants.

 

In addition to the work with David, each participant is being offered a one to one session with horses. Horse contact is safe and need not be physically close to be powerful. Horse contact is facilitated by  Ruth Tudor, host of Trealy Farm, Equine Facilitated Therapist, and Coach,
Psychotherapist and Farmer. 

The course will be taught in the dedicated group meeting space of the Pavilion. The course will be taught in the dedicated group meeting space of the Pavilion. Be inspired by stunning views of the Black Mountains. Wake up with a dip in the natural swimming pool, walk in the wood, relax in one of our saunas – wood fired and infrared.

The course runs from lunchtime on 13th and ends mid-morning on 19th  

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The daily program is as follows:

 

7 – 7.30 Meditation

7.30 – 9.00 - Yoga

9.00 – 10.00 - Breakfast

10.00 – 13.00 Alexander Technique Group

13.00– 14.30 Lunch and free time

14.30 – 15.30 private lessons and/or free time 

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16.00 – 17.30 group

Between 2.30 and 3.30 there will be a program of private lessons with David. Everyone will get one of each of those sessions during the retreat.

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In addition on one day of the course we will be having a group session with horses. Horse contact is safe and need not be physically close to be powerful. Horse contact is facilitated by Ruth Tudor, host of Trealy Farm, Equine Facilitated Therapist & Coach, Psychotherapist and Farmer.

Those not participating in one of these sessions,will have time to rest and/or explore the beautiful countryside.​

Venue and accommodation
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trealy Farm is a 138 acre organic mixed farm on a hillside looking out towards the Black Mountains and Brecon Beacons. It's inspiring, beautiful, wild and secluded.

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It’s also easily accessible from the M4, M5, M50; train stations at Abergavenny, Newport; airports at Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff.

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All participants have use of the Pavilion - exclusive to the group during the Workshop. A cedar clad building with huge glass windows, balcony and stunning views. The Pavilion has a fully fitted kitchen, comfortable seating area, dining area and a luxurious wood fired sauna.

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All participants can also use the Natural Swimming Pool and an additional infrared sauna with many health benefits.

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A large covered Arena (40 m x 20 m) is available for horse work, dance, movement and for sitting around a fire when it’s raining. There are many special places on the farm for working outside and gathering, including around a firepit and under an ancient yew tree.

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Accommodation choices are as follows:

2 x Loghouses: self-contained fully insulated wooden shepherd huts for one or two occupants in double and single beds (double with single above as bunk), seating area, fully fitted kitchen and ensuite bathroom. Each one has a wood fired stove and a French window opening onto its own patio area. Beautiful and luxurious spaces which have everything you might need. The huts have electricity and are on the mains water system. Both are situated in the garden orchard of the farm house but are private from each other.

2 x Pods: self-contained wooden pods with double bed, seating area, kitchen and ensuite bathroom. Compact, simple and luxurious spaces in beautiful settings. The pods have electricity including heaters and are on the mains water system. Each one has a covered verandah and a firepit. POD OLYGFA is near the house and has stunning views over the valley to the Black Mountains.

POD Y COED is a three minute walk from the house and secluded - surrounded by pasture and trees with an open vista.

1 x Barn Room: Beautiful rustic self contained space on two floors: bedroom / seating area with beams and log fired burner in attic of traditional barn and fully fitted kitchen and bathroom with
shower on the ground floor. The Barn Room sleeps one in a double sofa bed or two: one in double sofa bed and one in a single bed.

4 x FarmHouse Bedrooms: double bedrooms in traditional 16th century farm house with access to two shared bathrooms and additional toilet.

1 x Sheppy the Shepherd Hut: Hut with double bed, basic kitchen and access to nearby toilet / shower room. Electric lights and heating. Access to fully fitted kitchen and additional bathroom in Pavilion and electric shower in Stable Block. Situated near the house

2 x Two berth Caravans: Caravans each with two beds (small doubles), basic kitchen and toilet. Electric lights and heating. Electric heaters and lights. Access to fully fitted kitchen and additional bathroom in Pavilion and shower in Stable Block. Caravans are situated near the arena, 2 minutes walk from house, and look up towards the hill and down towards the horse paddocks.

There are additional hot showers in Pavilion and Stable block and additional shower (cold water only) by the pool.

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To see images of the spaces at Trealy Farm visit:
https://thepracticeofthewild.com/the-space/

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Fees

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The price for the retreat includes al meals, accommodation, and access to all the facilities a the farm and ranges from £995 to £1190 depending on accommodation choice. All beds are doubles and some rooms are twins – reduce prices for two people sharing.
 

Log houses: £1180 (dbl occupancy £1880)
Pod: £1180 (dbl occupancy £1880)
Barn Room: £1190 (dbl occupancy £1900)
Farm House Bedroom: £1120 (dbl occupancy £1770)
Farm House Twin Room: £1130, (dbl occupancy £1800)

Shepherd Hut: £1080 (dbl occupancy £1700)

Caravans: £995

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The course runs from lunchtime on the 13th, to mid morning on the 19th July. Longer stays are possible.

 

 

What people are saying about David Moore and Smart Yoga

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"I have now been working as a yoga teacher for almost ten years and I have had the pleasure to work with many differently bodied people, including lots of people in chronic pain. I have seen the wonders that yoga has done in gently untying the emotional, physical and mental knots that people's lives, habits, choices and luck have created. I am and will be forever grateful to yoga's incredible transformative power. And yet, sometimes in my teachings, I would feel stuck in giving the right advice to students with certain deeply ingrained physical habits of coordination. My yoga teacher training did not prepare me for that level of analysis. Last July, I had the pleasure to host David Moore and Rossella Buono, in a six hour workshop at our studio in English Yoga Berlin. They brought the Alexander Technique into yoga and into my life. They provided me with the missing link" - Pinelopi -teacher at English Yoga Berlin

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I have lived with chronic pain for many years and this yoga has helped me so much. Each teacher has adapted poses for my needs and taught me how to tune into the needs of my own body. Can't thank David and the other teachers enough, - Marid Thorpe - yoga student, Melbourne

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Great yoga teachings, learning to perform the moves and stretches in keeping with the design of the body, and how we're meant to move. Love it! - Helene Goldberg - Alexander teacher in Melbourne

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What people are saying about the book "Smart Yoga"

 

Smart Yoga is a useful guidebook on navigating the Alexander Technique with yoga practices. The book is filled with diagrams and photos throughout to complement the text.

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The book explores tadasana, floor stretches, squatting poses, standing poses, twists, forward bends, backbends, hip openers, inverted poses and plank variations in great depth. I would recommend the book to anyone curious about the Alexander Technique and wanting to go into more details on the principles underpinning the methods as it relates to various yoga poses.

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It’s great to get another layer of perspective applied to poses, especially in preventing injury and building greater body awareness. I found the background and development of the Alexander Technique fascinating and can see how it would complement yoga practice. - from Yoga Today, the magazine of Yoga Australia

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 "This book is a must-read for modern day yogis searching for optimum coordination in poses to help them avoid the trap of trying to do yoga poses in a way that reinforces harmful patterns of thinking and movement" - From Amsat News - magazine of American Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique. - Suzanne Faulkener

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​For more information about Trealy Farm go to 

thepracticeofthewild.com
To book email ruth.trealy@btinternet.com

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