You can tell when a person’s passion for what he or she does in life runs deep. Like a master chef who lives to create perfect meals, Elite Fitness and yoga instructor Andi Redden lives, breathes and digests her love of fitness, wellness and transformation with the enthusiasm of a gourmand.
While having trained and finely tuned individuals’ fitness levels for the past eighteen years is her claim to fame, nothing is more thrilling to her than what she is about to tackle – leading a weekend yoga and wellness retreat in the idyllic hills of California’s wine country. “This is a dream of mine,” says Redden. “Practicing yoga it in a beautiful setting like this is just as much about personal transformation as it is about the physical practice of yoga. People who enjoy yoga will gain a deeper understanding of the practice as well. ”
Redden’s menu throughout the weekend of June 22-24th at Calistoga’s Mayacamas Ranch includes both Yin (a practice of opening the body through stretching poses) and Vinyasa Flow (uniting breath with a series of poses that flow into one another, both of which have amazing physical benefits). There will also be evening meditations, mini-seminars, healthy food, fireside chats and even time to hike, learn to paint and get a massage.
Having practiced and studied yoga in Bali, Redden insists on building upon her already extensive knowledge and will be heading to Thailand in October to instruct as well.
“I discovered yoga as a way to center my scattered focus, calm my spirit and focus on life’s most important gifts, which is why I am so adamant about introducing the benefits of it to as wide an audience as possible,” says the petite, toned instructor. “When something has the potential to make such a difference in people’s lives, sometimes you feel as if it’s your calling to expose them to it in the hopes it can help them as well.”
Although this retreat became an early sell-out, Redden intends to plan subsequent weekends like this. Stay tuned for the launch of her long-awaited web site, AndiReddenFitness.com for more information, regular blogs, instructional videos and class schedules.
Feel free to LIKE Redden’s Facebook page and watch for on-the-scene blogging throughout this special upcoming weekend to get an idea of what’s in store for her future retreats.
In the meantime, Namaste!
(written by writer friend/student Dena Kouremetis because Andi is so thrilled to teach everyone else the beauty of fitness and yoga, she barely has time to sleep…)
