Seeds from the Past
Friday
A quiet writing practice. We breathe with a regret or an old wound, hold it with tenderness, and write a letter to our younger self from the heart rather than the rulebook. It's yours to keep, and no one needs to share it.
To Gather presents its first gathering
Spanda:
Blossoming into Love
A spring yoga retreat with Léa Baxerres & Conor Byrnes
Friday 23 – Sunday 25 April 2027 · Château de Forbin, Marseille
Love blossoms when we arrive here, now.
Register your interestThe retreat
Love in all its forms
Love is one of the most mysterious yet most often-used words we have. We throw it out in any situation: I love pizza, I love my cat, I love you. Yet most spiritual traditions, in one way or another, point toward the experience of love as the highest goal and the heart of the path.
In spring, everything that has been waiting underground begins to awaken. The teachings call this pulse of life spanda, the throb of the heart that expresses itself as the whole creation, and they speak of the heart's vikāsa, its blossoming. Thich Nhat Hanh taught that life is only available in the present moment: if we miss the present, we miss our appointment with life, and with the people we love. This retreat brings those two teachings together. Love blossoms when we arrive here, now.
“The path of yoga, in its shortest summation, could be described as learning how to relax the mind into the heart.”
Over one spring weekend, we'll practice exactly that: in the body, in the breath, in mantra and meditation, and in the ways we meet one another.
It's a retreat about cultivating love in all its forms. Come alone, with a friend, with a parent, with a partner, with your coworkers. All that matters is that you show up.
Three days
The arc of the weekend
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Friday
The Seed: Arriving
The restless mind is like a horse running away with its rider. Someone asks where you're going, and you answer, "I don't know, ask the horse!" We begin by stopping, so that we can arrive. The past isn't gone; it lives in us now as seeds of habit, memory and hurt. We can't change what happened, but we can change how it lives in us, starting now.
I have arrived, I am home · Śrī Kṛṣṇaḥ śaraṇaṃ mama
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Saturday
The Opening: Presence
Presence is the first gift of love. Thich Nhat Hanh's first mantra of love is "I am here for you," and you can only say it truthfully if you can actually be here. We practice giving and receiving love in the way that we breathe: nobody can only inhale or only exhale.
Śivo'ham
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Sunday
The Bloom: Joy
The future is made of the present. Fear and projection don't build the future; they only steal the present. Taking good care of this moment is the only real way to take care of what comes next. With Gaṇeśa, the placer and remover of obstacles, we loosen our grip on control and return to the playfulness of a heart that isn't running.
Oṃ Gaṃ Gaṇapataye Namaḥ
Going deeper
Workshops
The Breath of Love
Saturday, led by Léa
Love is like the breath: the inhale is receiving, the exhale is giving. Drawing circles of love from yourself out to family, friends, community and the whole world, we explore where love flows freely in our lives and where it gets stuck. We look at how we give, and at the often harder question of how we let ourselves receive. The workshop includes deep listening in pairs and closes with a meditation where the breath travels through every circle.
The Future Is Made of the Present
Sunday
Letting go of control through movement, play and meditation. Then a closing circle of blessing: each person writes a word of love to someone in their life and carries it home.
The days
Daily rhythm
Friday
- Arrival from 15:00
- Opening circle and practice at 17:00
- Dinner
- Seeds from the Past
Saturday
- Meditation and prāṇāyāma at 7:30
- Jivamukti practice
- Brunch
- Time in the gardens
- The Breath of Love at 15:00
- Dinner
- Evening breathwork or kīrtan
Sunday
- Meditation at 7:30
- Jivamukti practice
- Brunch
- The Future Is Made of the Present and closing circle
- Departure around 14:00
What's included
- Two nights at Château de Forbin
- Freshly prepared vegan meals
- Daily meditation, prāṇāyāma and Jivamukti Yoga practice
- Chanting and philosophy
- Three workshops, and opening and closing circles
Level: open to all.
Not included
Travel to and from the venue, and travel insurance.
Le Château de Forbin
A castle in Marseille, with gardens, a pool and a quiet pond, about twenty minutes by taxi from Marseille Saint-Charles station. Before the retreat, we'll open a WhatsApp group to share information and organise transport.
Your teachers
Conor & Léa
Conor Byrnes
Conor Byrnes is an internationally teaching yoga and meditation guide whose work has taken him across five continents — leading retreats, trainings, and workshops in Brazil, Sri Lanka, Bali, Morocco, India, and Indonesia, alongside a European circuit running from Paris and Berlin to Barcelona, Milan, Stavanger, and beyond.
An Advanced Certified Jivamukti teacher (800+ hours) by formal training, his own teaching has grown into something independent and synthetic, grounded in the philosophy of Nondual Śaiva Tantra. From this he has built his own body of work, including the Spanda U teacher-training system and his triple-register krama sequencing. He has mentored at international teacher trainings in India and beyond, and guides emerging teachers toward certification.
A neuropsychologist by training (MSc, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) and a former Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, Conor has always paired his teaching with ecological and humanitarian work. That commitment began in Senegal with the Jango Project — clean water, schools, and reforestation in rural communities — and continues today in the founding of Safara Lekki, a regenerative sanctuary in Casamance.
Léa Baxerres
Léa Baxerres is a certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher and practitioner based in France. Her teaching combines physically demanding, rhythmic sequences with slower, restorative work. She sees yoga as one of the guiding lights in the constellation of health, including a holistic approach using breathing, sleep, nutrition and mental balance.
Every project she leads is different. The people involved, the setting and the timing all shape what the gathering becomes. Her aim is to create spaces where each person feels they belong and can settle into the practice at their own pace.
A few weeks after the retreat, Léa and Conor will celebrate their own wedding at Château de Forbin. This retreat is their way of sharing the season, and the place, with you.
Before booking opens
Rooms & prices
All prices are per person and include two nights, all practices and workshops, and freshly prepared vegan meals. Rooms are between 25 m² and 70 m².
- Four-bed shared room with bathroomSingle bed
€800
- Three-bed shared room with bathroomSingle bed
€900
- Two-bed shared room with bathroomTwo single beds, or one double bed to share if you are retreating with your partner
€980
- Private room with bathroomA room to yourself
€1,200
- Day passSaturday and/or Sunday
€250 per day
A non-refundable deposit of 50% confirms your place. The remaining amount is due by 23 March 2027.
Register your interest
Our booking form is not switched on yet. Write to us and we will put your name down, and let you know as soon as booking opens.
Write to us to register your interest