zen yoga retreat france

Hi i'm Valerie, I am a Zen Buddhist, Psychotherapist and Yoga Teacher who trains with Zen Master Daizan Roshi, Zenways, London.

I have studied, Zen Yoga, Gentle Therapuetic Yoga for healing, Yoga Nidra, Meditaion & Mindfulness and  Reiki. I am currently completeing a Diploma in Buddhism and I am learning to play the Tibetan Singing Bowls in the hope that I can in the future offer sound healing as part of our retreat program.  

In the Spring of 2016 I received the precepts of the Bodhisattvas in the Zen lineage of Gyokuryuji and was given the Dharma name Zendo Meigetsu, Zenways Bright Moon.  It was a very happy day and the future looked bright! 

By winter of 2016 I was struck down with a mystery illness that saw me bed ridden and in incredible pain.  Diagnosed with chronic fatigue, inflammation and pain throughout the body the illness bought the life I had once known and loved to an abrupt end. 

Of course in hindsight I should have seen this coming! I was career driven,  a perfectionist and loved to chase the goal. I had been sufffering from digestive issues for years, stress was a huge part of my life I constantly pushed myself to achieve bigger and better things, I did not take care of myself and in the end it all came crashing down. To start the healing process I had no choice other than to let go of all the things I had worked so hard for. 

During this period of my life Yoga became my anchor and even on my  darkest day when I could not drag myself out of bed I still managed to go through a sequence of Yoga poses that I had adapted for myself and that could be done lying on my bed. The sequence of breathing, stretching, and balancing was the most important part of my day and it was the only time that I felt good.

Fast forward two years and here I am in France, after buying an old farmhouse on impulse,  I  converted one of the barns and built a beautiful studio, another building was made into accomodation with enough bedrooms so that  guests could come and share this beautiful space, the healing  energy and the beautiful  practice  of Zen Yoga. So now I live a much slower life,  I have my daily practice of meditation & Yoga,   I am sorrounded by nature and take walks in the forest every day,  I am a devoted vegetarian.  Life is so rich in so many ways,  My body and mind have healed.

Sometimes we have to come crashing down before we wake up. 

Namste Valerie Meigetsu