Seeds of Joy

~Kirtan, music, sound, nature, meditation~

Yesterday’s practice was so wonderful. Myself and Daniel came together to play and chant some mantras. We also had a little Dolly with us - she brought so much joy!

Kirtan is such a heart opening practice. Personally for me it allows me to open up my voice and merge with the sound of the mantra bringing a lot of grounding, presence and openness. I feel myself slowly opening more and more and letting my voice simply be the transmitter of the sound and words.

We will share some mantras at the upcoming Summer Gathering in on 27th June (Sat) in Co. Meath 4pm. The gathering is just a few days after the longest day of the year so come along to celebrate this beautiful time of the year in nature by the river Boyne with some yoga, Kirtan, rest, community and sauna ✨
You don’t need any experience to join :)

All info on my website ❤️

Wild Heart Women’s Retreat is back in the Yoga Barn 20-23 August 2026 🌿🌱🍃

This retreat is an invitation to reconnect with our wild nature (“wild” in Old English means in a natural state), drop the masks and roles we take on in everyday life to feel ourselves fully and truly.

This retreat is held in the countryside of Kilkenny in the Yoga Barn which offers a nourishing holding space for the unfolding of our wild hearts.

Over the three nights, we will come together in a group of 11 women moving our bodies, tapping into their wisdom, resting, releasing and tending to whatever needs tending.

This retreat invites you to show up fully as yourself with all your dreams and hopes as well as all that which feels messy, painful, uncertain. All parts of you are welcome.
We will come together to remember who we truly are regardless of where we are in our lives.

What to expect:
- space to be, rest and feel your body
- connection with other like minded women
- daily 2-hour sunrise Embodied Yoga integrating traditional yogic practices and somatic awareness
- workshops and rituals to deeper trust in your body’s wisdom, spark creativity and connect through movement, feeling, dancing, singing, self-expression
- waterfall excursion- expect a beautiful and wild experience! This is optional 🙏🏽
- daily access to sauna and cold dip on site
- wholesome vegetarian meals prepared by the amazing Michelle .chef ❤️🫶
- soulful weekend filled with movement, self-reflection, meaningful conversations, self-expression & incredible women

I can’t wait to welcome you there!

The nature in August is truly wild and we will be tapping into that energy supported by the land of Ireland 🌿🍃

You can check all the info on my website. We still have some spots available. Accommodation is shared and starts at 590 euro for triple shared room for 3 nights.

Much love,
Anna

~ So much gratitude for this Mother Nature, this land, the elements and the wisdom that’s held within the cycles of life.

Simplicity

Respect

Love

Attunement

Appreciation

Listening

Receptivity

🙏🏽🫶

🍀🌞🔥🌬️

- Over-identification ~

Lately this topic has been a huge one for me. While in India, I had a strong realisation how much I have been attaching myself to various identities. First, the artist, the dancer, then the Buddhist, the yogi, the yoga teacher, the philosopher and so on.

I recognised how strongly this over-identification affects me - essentially whatever I turned to for answers and support at some stage started to feel like a prison due to the over-identification.

While in the ashram in the south of India last month, I sat with myself, with my writing, with the plants, with the sun each day for several hours just being in my own company. It was not easy. So many should’s and shouldn’ts came to the surface. ‘You should be doing more yoga, you are in India, you shouldn’t be feeling this and that’

In spite of all the things I explored all those years - here I am with all these unconstructive thoughts.

I realised how much I can cling to something that offers me answers.

As a child I felt lost and confused so I sought answers through art, philosophy, movement.

I did find the answers. Many of them. But in the process I also created over-identification with the practices and tools I encountered. I understand why. They bring me safety and comfort. They provide what I was seeking.

However, there is a moment where this identification becomes unsustainable - it creates a self-imposed prison. And this was the biggest insight during my time in India.

It isn’t about what I do or what I believe in when it comes to the practices and philosophies I root my being in. I strongly believe in them and know how powerful they are. They bring me back to my essence in so many ways.

Instead, I am talking here about the story I have been telling myself about how I need to be when I do root my being in these practices/frameworks.

I realise this is a deep share but somehow it feels relevant. I feel that some things are not spoken about yet they affect all of us.

So this is my reflection and my musings for you today.

I choose to show up as me, an ordinary human being.

X
Anna

patterns

“Everyday is a journey and the journey itself is home” - Matsuo Bashô

Greeetings from the ashram in the South of India. I decided to take a couple of weeks to reconnect with myself and give myself space to be, get inspired, create.

I am doing some writing while here and sharing it via Substack. Check the link in the bio. This writing is a mix of my own journey and experience, yogic teachings, reflections on living in this body and on this planet.

❤️🙏🏽✨

~ In the Belly of Winter 2026 ~ We gathered over the weekend to rest in the belly of winter making space for the all that stirs underneath the surface.

After the weekend, my heart is so full of love. To come together with other women is such an honour, to see each person reveal more of themselves as the weekend goes on is simply indescribable.

Before everyone arrived Justyna read out the poem from Donna Ashworth “Just Women “ (in the picture) which then was read out by one of the participants the next day - this poem really captures the magic that took place over the weekend.

The words that came up repeatedly in our conversations and circles were TRUST & ALLOW. So many of us look for solutions to the challenges we face in our thinking mind which so often ends up in exhaustion, burnout, frustration.
This weekend was so much about dropping that & instead entering the realm of the body & tapping into its wisdom. It was about making space to feel both the uncertainly and the power in the body, to allow them to co-exist and to know we are not alone in feeling all those things.

This was my 2nd women’s retreat - I feel so grateful for having been able to witness all the magic that happened.

Last year when I decided to run my first women’s retreat, I wasn’t sure if it would work out but I knew I needed to create a space where all that I have been exploring and working with comes together. My heart melts when I see each woman showing up with so much authenticity and leaving the weekend refreshed, more trusting and more connected to her inner power.

Thank you to everyone who has made this retreat possible:
🥣Michelle .chef - for the incredible food that you made with so much love and passion! I’m so happy for you and your journey as a chef ❤️
👯‍♀️Jennifer and Justyna - my dear friends who were there to support me and who helped out with everything in between ❤️
🌿 - thank you for the beautiful essential oils - a gift to cherish during and after the retreat ❤️
🏠 for the amazing space
📷 for the Moon picture and all the other captures

With love, Anna

~ Body as a microcosm of the macrocosm ~

We experience this life through the body. It’s through the body we feel, see, hear, taste, speak. There is a deep connection between one’s body and how it interacts with others, the environment, animals and all that is.

The body is a gateway to attune to the life force that is within ourselves. Our body mirrors the natural world. It is as incredible as the whole universe. Yet we often forget about this life force, that it is so close to us, so close we cannot see it.

When we practice to see this life force within ourselves, we awaken a great connection to something incredible powerful - the source of all things.

I have come back to this realisation many times - we human beings forget about our magnitude, and how aligning with the life force within ourselves can shift completely how we view the world.

I regularity experience moments of utter joy, clarity as well as deep sadness, anger and disappointment. To return to a simple truth that is - you are a microcosm of the macrocosm- is quite a reassurance that you have all you need to move through whatever you are going through.

And the body is a gateway. When I prayed this morning, a stream of energy moved through the body - a spark of belief, a homecoming. The body experiences the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. To turn towards it is an act of listening.

How do you relate to your body? How do you return to this unchanging force that lives within you?

X
Anna