With guests shortly arriving for our fitscape ski & fitness holiday on Sunday (27 March) in the Italian Dolomites, Kathryn and the team have gone out a couple of days earlier to re-aquaint themselves with the mountains.  She’s there with, pictured from left to right, George (personal trainer and expert skier), Lisa (assistant host) and James (yoga teacher).  The great news is that there is still loads of good quality snow and the weather is gorgeous (but chilly) – all in all, ideal conditions for a late season ski trip to the magnificent Italian Dolomites.

Our base for the week is the 5 star Relais & Chateaux hotel Rosa Alpina, in the charming village of San Cassiano.  This ultra comfortable hotel, run by the Pizzinini family for several generations, is very close to the cable car and will provide our guests with the perfect environment from which to enjoy a wonderful skiing holiday.  The hotel is surrounded by one of the world’s greatest ski areas:  the Dolomiti Superski. It consists of 12 valleys, 460 lifts and 760 miles of ski runs and all are accessible under one ski pass. The skiing is, quite simply, amazing.

The luxurious Rosa Alpina hotel, recently voted the best hotel spa in Europe by Conde Nast Traveller, is exclusively for the enjoyment of our guests and it’s the perfect haven to return to after a day on the slopes. With roaring fires, excellent service and exceptionally spacious, comfortable bedrooms, Rosa Alpina is a magical place to stay and experience a fitscape ski holiday.

Days start with a morning stretch, lead by George, to get any tired limbs warmed up before we head out on to the slopes with our team of expert guides and instructors.  All guests that wish to join these small guided groups will be allocated to one of their experience and skill level.  Some days we will be heading to less well explored parts of the mountains, away from the pistes, to try snow shoeing or cross country (also known as skinning) skiing.  It’s great exercise and a delightfully novel experience for those of our guests who have never tried it before.

We return to the hotel for afternoon tea and healthy snacks, followed by (for those that wish to join in) a fitness training class and then an evening restorative yoga class.  Of course, there’s always the award winning spa for guests to enjoy instead.

And, as a very important aspect of the week, guests will enjoy and benefit from delicious, nutritious healthy cuisine created by the hotel’s expert team of chefs, headed up by Norbert Niederkofler (Michelin star).

There’s still some late availability!  To find out more, please see fitscape ski or call us on 0845 458 0723

Alli Godbold will be known to many of our in:spa guests as she has been a nutritionist on several of our retreats in recent years. What you might not know, however, is that she has just published a book of terrific healthy recipes called ‘Feed Your Health’.  We happily recommend it! To give you an idea of what it’s all about, here’s the helpful blurb on the back cover:

Known from her numerous appearances on TV and radio, Alli Godbold is a nutritionist who loves her food! Here is a collection of her favourite recipes, tried and tested at her popular cookery workshops. Alli believes healthy eating should be delicious – all about exciting flavours as well as maximum nutrients, and not about denial. You will be inspired to cook dishes that will not only delight your friends and family but also enrich their health!

Try a couple of these recipes and you will be hooked; never again will you reach for a ready meal! Easy to prepare, most of the dishes are ready in under 30 minutes and don’t require any fancy culinary skills Get chopping, invite your friends over, and feed your health …

A nutritionist regularly interviewed on TV and radio and quoted in the press, Alli began her career as an international model. Traveling the world gave her an opportunity to sample many local cuisines – including those of Japan, Italy and France – and presented her with a mission to combine exciting culinary experiences with optimum health. Alli currently provides services as a nutritional therapist for in:spa retreats and New You Boot Camps as well as managing her own practise, offering private consultations and cookery workshops from her home in London. She also works in the community, teaching healthy eating and cooking to people with disabilities through the Adventures in Eating project and with the Asian Centre in Wood Green, London.

Order: if you would like to order a copy of Alli’s book, at just £13.99, please click here

Whilst we have hosted several highly successful fitscape fitness holidays in the summer at Hotel Rosa Alpina in the Italian Dolomites, it will be our first fitscape ski & fitness holiday at the end of March.  So, as always, we take a great deal of care to make sure that everything will be absolutely ready and perfect for when our guests arrive on 27 March.  Therefore, one of the company directors, Kathryn Brown (pictured left), is spending a few days there at the moment getting everything 100% sorted.  And, as luck would have it, the weather is absolutely gorgeous and – as we would expect – there’s tons of snow, so Kathryn has been out today exploring the pistes.  It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!

However, this is the Dolomiti Superski, one of the world’s greatest ski areas consisting of 12 valleys, 460 lifts and 760 miles of ski runs – all are accessible under one ski pass.  So, we don’t expect Kathryn to cover the full extent of the ski area, but imagine that she’ll be doing her best.

This part of the Dolomites has spent tens of millions of euros over the last few years installing snow making machines in order to be able to guarantee snow until the end of the season on 10 April.  We are reliably informed that for the last 10 years they have not ben required and, judging from the great cover at the moment, it’s not expected to be necessary again this year.  But it’s great to have the back-up, just in case.

The Hotel Rosa Alpina, our base for the fitscape ski week, is generally regarded as the finest hotel in the Dolomites.  The team and, no doubt, our guests are greatly looking forward to the week later this month and we still have some rooms available for those of you who are interested in joining the week at the last minute.  Prices start at £1,695 per person for 7 nights to include half board, guided skiing by professional instructors every day (in small ‘same level’ groups), afternoon fitness training sessions and evening yoga classes.  We anticipate that ‘the best spa hotel in Europe’ (as voted by readers of Conde Nast Traveller in February 2010) will also tempt lots of guests for a treatment or two too.

As always on a fitscape holiday, all meals will be delicious, healthy and nutritious.  We believe that a holiday can’t be brilliant unless the food is amazing too!

For further information, prices, pictures etc., please visit fitscape ski or call us on 0845 458 0723

Yoga is an important part of in:spa retreats and we are delighted to add two new teachers to our team of highly regarded yoga teachers.  All our teachers teach a blend of styles that they have created over years of experience, ensuring that all our yoga classes are accessible, enjoyable and suitable for all levels, from beginners through to advanced.  Class sizes are small, allowing the teachers to develop each individual’s awareness and understanding of the benefits of yoga.  There are two yoga classes each day on in:spa retreats, with the morning classes being dynamic and energising whilst the evening classes are more relaxing and restorative after a busy day.

All classes and activities on in:spa retreats are entirely optional, but most of our guests find that the yoga is a thoroughly worthwhile and beneficial part of the retreat.  Even those that arrive on the retreat having never tried yoga before.  Many of our male guests ( in particular) think of yoga as not challenging enough from a fitness perspective, but soon change their mind after trying the dynamic morning yoga class!  And after a week they’re hooked.

Sophie Lewis:  Sophie’s experience and practice of yoga has been built over 10 years, with a broad range of teachers of dynamic hatha flow and steady, meditative posture. She is fully qualified with Registered Yoga Alliance, having trained in India and London. She teaches strong, safe alignment to build flexibility and strength conditioning equally, encouraging breath awareness to focus body and mind harmony and dismantle old patterns. Specializing in yoga for triathletes and athletes, she has developed a unique yoga programme to benefit sports. Excercising with awareness to improve the wellbeing of all students, she believes yoga can have transforming results beyond the mat.

Amy Redler: Amy is a health and well being expert with over 20 years experience of working with individuals and organizations as a yoga & pilates teacher and Thai Yoga Masseur. She assists on a BWY yoga teacher-training course in London and has just completed a first year of a psychology degree. She has studied extensively in Thailand and India. She was named one of London’s best complementary health practitioners in The London Evening Standard, and her work has been quoted and acknowledged by the media over the past 10 years, appearing in numerous publications such as The Times, The Sunday Times; Vogue; The Scotsman on Sunday and London’s Time Out, Shape Magazine, Tattler and numerous other heath magazines. She is a regular speaker at the Vitality show in London and founded their first yoga world.

To read about all our yoga teachers, please see in:spa yoga teachers

The guests on our recent 8 night destination yoga holiday to India, staying at Shreyas, have all returned safely. We are delighted to report that everyone loved their trip and the holiday was such a great success that we have already confirmed another week over roughly the same dates for next year. Namely: 28 January to 5 February 2012. British Airways flys direct from London Heathrow to Bangalore, and local transfers – which take about an hour – are provided within the holiday cost which starts at £995 per person all inclusive (ex flights).

Everything is so well managed at Shreyas and all the staff are exemplary. Nothing is too much trouble. This allows Katrina Repka, our much loved and very highly regarded yoga teacher, to concentrate on her guests and their yoga classes, and therefore maximise the benefits and the experience of all the guests.

Shreyas is a haven of luxury in the countryside an hour from the hustle and bustle of Bangalore. The indoor and outdoor yoga spaces are magnificent; the bedrooms are all meticulously prepared, stylish and very comfortable; the tranquil spa has a wonderful range of sublime treatments on offer; the swimming pool is heaven for a cooling dip; the food is delicious; and there’s even a private cinema! No wonder everyone had such a wonderful time and are already planning to book for next year.

For full details about our next trip to India, please see destination yoga shreyas

John Brierley, one of our excellent personal  trainers and manager of the British Athletics Team at the recent Delhi games, gives his advice on how to get refocused on your fitness after the Christmas holidays.

If you’ve over indulged during Christmas and New Year and want to start making changes, then knowing where you’re at before you start is important (if at times depressing!). If you want to draw a line and move forward, you need to know your start point. Only then will you be able to measure your progress. If you can’t face the scales, then find something you can measure your progress by – like the notch on your belt or how puffed you are at the top of your flight of stairs.

Recognise that only regular work over time will bring about the lasting changes you seek, and look at your daily schedule to see how you can best fit in some exercise – with as little disruption as possible to your important family or work time. if it’s easy to absorb it into your schedule, then it’s easier to maintain.

Start by choosing an activity you enjoy and that brings satisfaction when completed. Start steadily and record the details of each exercise session – writing down what you did and how hard it felt. Writing it down will motivate you to exercise again and it will enable you to see evidence after a few sessions that you are making progress. Writing it down will also show you blanks in your diary when you should be resting but will also serve to remind you when you haven’t exercised and could have done.

At this point, give serious consideration to broadcasting what you’re doing to a close circle of people who can support and encourage you at times when your motivation may vary – and this will help keep you on track. Psychologically people are more likely to find it easier to give up if they are only answerable to themselves.

A new exercise habit will impact upon your appetite, mood, sleep and other daily patterns and you should expect to start to feel better in yourself after around six sessions – so promise yourself that you’ll commit to at least this in the next fortnight! The key point then is consistency. The more you become familiar with a chosen exercise routine, the easier it will become, and the more you will improve. This will help to reinforce your belief that the changes you’ve made are taking you in the right direction. Once you have noted that progress seems to be coming you will be more driven by that glowing post–exercise high and it will be easier to keep going.

Good luck!

Of course, if you need an extra push, book yourself an in:spa retreat or a fitscape fitness holiday.  Next trips start on 12 and 23 February respectively.  Oh, and the weather will be warm and sunny too!

http://www.inspa.co.uk/

http://www.fitscape.co.uk/

Congratulations to Andy Brodziak for achieving 7th place overall in the Vineman Ironman Challenge with a time of 10 hours, 13 minutes, but earning 2nd place for his age group.   As Andy says:

“What a day! The plan was to swim solid and hold back on the bike but stay strong, and then use my running legs to reel them in on the Marathon stage.  The swim was fine but slightly slower than planned (but that’s how it goes) and the biking section was great – I got nutrition in fine and had no stomach issues.  By the time I got on the run it had warmed up to at least to 30 degrees but wasn’t too horrible.  I was 18th or so after the biking section but moved up in position steadily on a hilly, slow marathon course and managed to finish 7th.

Well, it’s not often you get to say in Ironman that you had the perfect race, but I DID!  Just the best feeling in the world; thanks for all the support, emails and texts.”

Andy works with us as a trainer on both in:spa retreats and fitscape fitness holidays.  He’s represented both Great Britain and South Africa in Triathlon at the World Championships, and also does Triathlon coaching for beginners and intermediate levels.

Heather Elton will be hosting her first destination yoga holiday from 24-31 October this year at Triopetra, located yards from the sea on the island of Crete.  Prices for the 7 night holiday start at £795 per person.

Heather began Hatha Yoga in Canada in 1986. She has taught Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and Dynamic Flow Yoga in London and on international retreats since 2004. Her teaching style integrates yoga philosophy with breath and asana to reveal the spiritual path underlying the practice and the technology to stabilize the mind, so we can liberate ourselves from suffering. Heather’s approach is a deep physical and psychological practice that moves beyond a mere physical experience to make the yogic inquiry authentic and relevant to real life. Heather is certified at the highest level with the Yoga Alliance (E-RYT 500) and offers Yoga Teacher Training in Goa.

Heather says:

“My intention is to inspire people to empower and heal themselves, to release hardness and soften the body, to focus the mind and cultivate inner space, and to take this knowledge off the mat and into your life, so you can walk the earth with ease and grace.”

At Tripetra, apart from twice daily yoga classes, guests can swim in the sparkling sea or the pool, enjoy a massage, chill in a hammock or simply sunbathe; tranquillity will find you here. Maybe you’ll fancy snorkelling to meet the local sea life, taking yourself away on an exhilarating hike along an endless beach, exploring local history or just strolling to a nearby taverna.

Every spacious, en suite bedroom has a stunning view of the Mediterranean from its balcony or terrace.

For full details about this destination yoga holiday, please see our yoga holidays or call us on 0845 458 0723

Andy Brodziak, one of our personal trainers, is at 6,500 ft (overlooking Lake Tahoe in California) in the final stages of preparation for his forthcoming Ironman Challenge…. Good luck!  We’ll let you know how he gets on but, if his track record is anything to go by, we expect him to do pretty well.

Andy works with us as a trainer on both in:spa retreats and fitscape fitness holidays.  He’s represented both Great Britain and South Africa in Triathlon at the World Championships, and also does Triathlon coaching for beginners and intermediate levels.

Zephyr will be teaching next summer at Santa Maria del Sole from 16 – 22 July. We’re very happy to have another great teacher join the burgeoning destination yoga team.

Zephyr trained at The Life Centre/Yoga Campus and has been teaching Yoga since 2002. She’s been a Mentor on their yoga training programme since 2006 and currently teaches at Yoga Centres around London, as well as private classes, and at The Recovery Centre (a treatment centre for addiction, depression and other dependency problems). Zephyr yoga style combines elements of creative movement, flow and dynamic sequencing, focusing on alignment, prana vayus and kinesiology. As well as the physical side to Yoga Asana, Zephyr integrates psychology, yogic philosophy and the attraction of self study within her practice, teaching and life style. Her aim is to pass on a safe, steady and serene yoga practice to all her students.

For further information about this wonderful destination yoga holiday, please click here