Our story
Satvada Retreats is headed by software developer Darren and ex-journalist Lucia, both also trained yoga teachers.
Together they also own and run yoga studio Yoga at the Mill, established in Chelmsford centre in 2012, and yoga bookings business reservie, launched in 2015,
A previous life saw Lucia train and work in London as a journalist for B2B magazines and latterly as a freelance writer for yoga, travel and wellbeing publications and for The Guardian.
Darren worked for various software companies before setting up his own software business in 2006.
For both Lucia and Darren working in high-stress jobs with long commutes and sedentary days at the computer, yoga offered a refuge where they could re-connect with their minds and bodies and step away from everyday pressures.
The yoga bug was well and truly caught and led to a decade practising in London under a range of highly respected teachers including Norman Blair (yin yoga), Catherine Annis (Scaravelli yoga), Sarah Powers (yoga and mindfulness), Michael Stone (yoga and mindfulness) and Ed Halliwell (mindfulness).
After some years attending and writing about retreats for health and wellbeing publications - during which she had also trained as a yoga and mindfulness teacher - Lucia wondered if this insider knowledge could be harnessed by running retreats.
And so Satvada Retreats was born, initially specialising in weekend retreats in Suffolk and at Hotel Tigmi, Morocco, which Lucia had been commissioned to review for a travel article.
Both she and Darren were immediately captivated by the startlingly vivid colours and starkly beautiful landscapes of Morocco, together with the unfailing welcome of the people, not to mention the tagines and desserts!. Their love affair with this country had begun.
Accumulating many glowing press reviews and repeat guests along the way, the range and scope of retreats grew to reach a dozen a year pre-Covid. Whilst the pandemic halted all overseas trips, workshops and day retreats continued online.
Their long-running Norfolk mindfulness weekends and Essex silent day retreats resumed in 2021.
The fully booked small group February 2024 Marrakech retreat sees them thrilled to return to a favourite and trusted Marrakech Riad and raring to experience future Morocco adventures!
Founders
Lucia
Darren
After ten years in journalism, and feeling unfit, frazzled and disconnected, Lucia knew she needed a change in direction.
In autumn 2007 she booked a month-long intensive Sivananda yoga teacher training course at an ashram in Northern California.
This first 200-hour qualification allowed her to dip a tentative toe into teaching, initially leading friends and family and then starting a weekly class, which would in time become a yoga studio, in Chelmsford.
Over time the balance between writing and yoga teaching tilted towards the latter and subsequent trainings saw her study yoga under teachers including Sarah Powers (yin yang yoga; mindfulness), Norman Blair (yin yoga), Catherine Annis (Scaravelli), Judith Lasater (Restorative Yoga) and Charlotte Watts (Somatic Yoga).
Inspired by the teachings of Jon Kabat-Zinn and Sarah Powers, she later went onto take the gold standard mindfulness course MBSR with Ed Halliwell, still one of her main teachers today. It was a light bulb moment and the training gave her new kind ways to be with her thoughts and feeling.
Training to teach mindfulness came some years later with a two-year postgraduate course from Bangor University.
Lucia feels immensely privileged to have hosted and taught yoga and mindfulness classes, workshops and retreats in the UK, abroad and online since 2007. She says: ‘some of my most vivid retreat teaching memories are of leading groups through sun salutations or a restorative yoga posture amongst a sensual backdrop of incense, the call to prayer and wafts of that evening’s tagine cooking slowly in the Riad’s kitchen.’
‘It’s always a deep pleasure to spend a retreat in the company of so many wonderful guests. The retreat experience uniquely offers a safe, transformative space in which to really notice and absorb the gift of present moment experience. With an absence of distractions and demands and with the backdrop of stunning locations this journey of coming home is heightened and intensified.’
Outside the retreat environment Lucia loves to swim, write, tinkle at the piano, walk on the beach near her home at Frinton-on-Sea and tend to her cockapoo Ella and four cats!
She loves to travel (with a particular penchant for rural cabins!) and go on retreat as a student. She takes any opportunity to get outside in nature, knowing she feels so much better for doing so.
A seasoned software professional in the telecoms industry, Darren initially turned to yoga as a respite from the stress and tension that accompanied long hours spent in front of a computer, crafting intricate lines of code.
The tranquil haven he discovered in yoga captured his heart from the very first class, becoming a safe, restful space amid the demands of his career.
Guided by teachers such as Norman Blair, Darren delved deep into the world of yoga through classes, workshops, and retreats.
Notable mentors like Simon Low and Michael Stone further enriched his journey, shaping his understanding of the ancient practice.
However, it wasn't until a pivotal juncture in his software engineering career that Darren, alongside Lucia, decided to embark on a new venture – the birth of Satvada Retreats and Yoga at the Mill.
The decision to become a yoga teacher was a surprising yet necessary turn of events, driven by the passion to facilitate the growth of their burgeoning enterprise.
Undergoing rigorous training at Yoga Campus in London, Darren acquired the skills needed to guide others on their yoga journeys.
In addition to his role in the yoga community, Darren wears another hat as the founder of reservie.net, a software company providing essential services to businesses within the yoga sphere.
Balancing both worlds, he integrates his technological expertise with an underlying understanding of the yoga landscape.
Darren's love of retreats stems from a desire to explore diverse cultures. He recognises the power of a retreat environment, where rest and self-exploration outside one's typical surroundings can lead to profound personal growth.
In Darren's world, the convergence of technology and ancient wisdom come together, shaping both the path of his software company and the transformative experiences offered through the retreat journey.
When Darren is not at work, he likes nothing more than spending the day walking with his dog, Ella and going out for a good meal.
Our teachers
Vikki Stevenson
Vikki first started practising yoga around 25 years ago while at university. First drawn to yoga from a physical standpoint she kept returning to practice due to how yoga made her feel.
She explains: ‘Until yoga I hadn’t realised I was living in a state of flight or fright, constantly feeling on edge. Yoga helped her find calm and eventually allowed me to live with a regulated nervous system.’
Vikki went on to learn to teach yoga fifteen years ago after being made redundant. As her classes filled up this became her full-time job alongside raising two children (now almost fully grown!).
In time Vikki found she was drawn towards the therapeutic, healing aspects of yoga and was being called to support more and more people with health conditions.
After studying several courses in these areas including yoga for cancer, yoga nidra, yoga for women’s health and restorative yoga she went on to take a two-year 1000 hour yoga therapy course and is now a fully qualified yoga therapist.
Vikki splits her time between teaching group classes and 1:1 yoga therapy work supporting people with a range of health and mental health conditions.
Vikki loves teaching on retreat. She says: ‘A retreat offers a safe space to go deeper into practice. By stepping away from busy lives for a few days we can learn how to live in a more balanced life once back at home.
‘It is wonderful to see the change in people over a few days of being on retreat; how their whole being can soften; such an honour to witness.’
Magali Swift
French-born Magali took a 200 hour ashtanga-based yoga teacher training in India in 2017 after graduating from drama school. She describes the intensive training as her first big life-altering milestone’ and one that led her to dive into teaching yoga retreats around Europe.
She says: ‘Having led quite a nomadic childhood, moving from country to country, I found it difficult to identify my place in the world - never fully feeling like I belonged anywhere and always asking such questions as: what is my purpose? How can I make a difference? Questions I am still figuring out and which only my yoga practice offers answers.’
‘I don’t really have the words to explain how this time teaching retreats changed me. It offered me the opportunity to not only become a better teacher, but also a more adaptable human. I got the chance to meet and connect on such a deep level, with people who, like me, were searching for more meaning from life. ‘
It was during this time of travel and growth that Magali attended further yoga teacher trainings in hatha and vinyasa and when she met her now-partner in Essex. It was this that eventually led to a big decision to make a home with him. At this point Magali started teaching regular classes for Yoga at the Mill, Satvada’s sister company.
Magali’s second life-changing milestone was motherhood: Isla arrived in 2021 followed by a dark period of post-natal depression. Magali says about this time: ‘I felt all kinds of guilt and shame, and had thoughts such as: ‘I’m a yoga teacher, a wellness expert - surely I should know what to do?’ I sought professional help and slowly made it back to my mat. One day at a time I managed to breathe a little more. Slowly I was meeting myself again.’’
Magali says that, rather than perfecting a perfect pose, to her yoga means a deep process of re-connecting: ‘Yoga practice is about creating space, letting go of doubt and showing myself that I am capable; offering myself forgiveness for the times I wasn’t perfect - and most of all offering myself love for everything that I am and everything that I do.’
Magali describes her style of practising and teaching as ‘free flow movement’ based closely on vinyasa: ‘There is no right or wrong way to move; just you and your body. I incorporate aspects of qigong, body tapping, meditation, breath and energy work. I also like to have a laugh!’
Outside yoga teaching, Magali can be found walking her beloved rescue dog, reading books and hosting a weekly podcast on the trials and tribulations of life and motherhood.
She says about leading the New Year 2023/24 Atlas Mountains retreat: ‘I can’t wait to see you all and give you a big warm hug! No obligation, but be warned - I’m a hugger!’