Happy Healthy Living
Louise Luiggi
My story revolves around islands and sea. Little did I know how much island life & the water would influence me, having started my life in Nottingham, which is quite a trek from any coast-line. But for many years I was living unconnected to myself, following the path of years of conditioning - uni, career, marriage, wife & mother - all the traditional labels that had to be ticked in order to experience so called success.
This external striving for acknowledgement & recognition inevitably took its toll on my body and health. My kidneys gave me all the warning signs that something was amiss but I battled on, ignoring the causes, simply treating the symptoms. How ironic that the organs linked to water and flow were screaming for me to listen, to head for the sea and STOP. But for many years I didn't....
I married a Corsican, which means I married into a huge Mediterranean family, on a tiny island with a very different culture. This is where I found the sea, my saviour, my healing escape when island family life became too much. I discovered how the power of water helps us feel connection, oneness, and began to understand its natural healing qualities.
I practiced yoga regularly during my 20s and 30s as a means to maintain flexibility. As a child I had competed as an elite gymnast, having always loved movement and so some challenging yogi stretching suited my competitive ego perfectly at this time.
I'm not completely sure of the precise moment when I felt something was missing in my life - but the combination of screaming kidneys and a snapped Achilles tendon brought everything to a grinding halt and my life was forced to slow. Suddenly I could see, feel and acknowledge.
However, the true discovery of Self only really began in earnest when after searching for alternatives, I fell upon Kundalini Yoga. What a life-changer the year-long teacher training course turned out to be!
A light was lit, showing me the way. All struggles and obstacles disappeared as my path, my destiny, shone brightly. The world of Watsu, healing through water, came into my life effortlessly, as did the Indian Ocean and my second island of influence, Sri Lanka.
My first visit on retreat was in 2016, and the connection was instant. I have returned on multiple occasions, several times a year ever since. I am deeply in love with this healing place and its natural ability to enhance the yoga experience.
I now work in partnership with the very talented Ranjan de Alwis to create healing retreats in Sri Lanka throughout the year.
Ranjan de Alwis
Ranjan lives in Galle, Sri Lanka. He's a fully qualified Ayurvedic healthcare practitioner with over 20 years experience in Ayurvedic healing, offering a wide range of treatments to bring balance, health, and happiness back into people's lives. He is also a Hatha yoga instructor who teaches sensitively and with a deep understanding of the body and its connection to the mind. His observation of movement during class enables him to deliver a very personalized and healing massage during the daily Ayurvedic treatments on our retreats. We are also incredibly fortunate to have Ranjan deliver his Hatha Yoga practice to us online, live from Sri Lanka.....it's a gem of a class!
Ranjan is an intuitive and wise teacher, who comes from a family immersed in Ayurveda, having had these healing traditions passed down to him from father to son; which means healing lies deep within him. He uses his knowledge of Mother Earth's gifts - her plants, herbs, spices and foods, to show us the way towards balance and harmony with ourselves and the planet.
Why Immortelle?
Corsica is the Mediterranean home of Louise's partner's family. It is also the home of Immortelle, the distinctive and aromatic flower that grows profusely along the coast and the inspiration for the name of our yoga business.
It has many healing properties, particularly for the skin, and its unique scent encapsulates the essence of Corsica.
Immortelle is just like the teachings of Yoga & Ayurveda.....everlasting. An incredible flower that never dies, its beautiful scent surviving the seasons, going on and on....
Qualification
Louise has practiced Yoga for over 20 years, starting with Hatha and now sharing the sacred teachings of Kundalini Yoga.
She graduated from a year-long Kundalini Teacher Training course in November 2017. KRI (Kundalini Research Institute) Level 1. And she is deepening her practice further as she works towards Level 2.
Louise is also a fully qualified Watsu Practitioner (water therapy treatment), registered on the WABA list of worldwide Watsu practitioners.
Go to Watsu and find out more about this powerful healing therapy.
Ranjan has practiced Hatha Yoga & meditation for over 25 years. He is a fully qualified Yoga instructor, continuously updating and expanding his knowledge.
