Tutor: Ruth Wheeler
Ruth is a practising artist and sculptor specialising in Wood Carving , Pyrography, Ceramics and Mosaics and is also a Yoga Teacher, a Holistic Wellness Coach and Indian Head Massage therapist. She has also run a successful Community Arts Organisation for 22 years in Godalming using the visual arts, sculpture and yoga to engage with schools, adults with disabilities, teens and adults in a creative and therapeutic way.
Ruth describes herself as someone that is there to guide you and share her skills and techniques in a friendly and gentle way. She has a way of getting anyone to find their creativity and uses years of experience to find a way in to your creativity.
Ruth is passionate about using earthy , natural materials and her own art is inspired by her own natural surroundings as well as patterns in architecture, furniture, fabric and landscapes.
She loves the warmth of working with wood and finds it very grounding. Ceramics is another love and again manipulating the earth in your hands is very therapeutic.
She has 27 years of experience delivering therapeutic art sessions and since her yoga training in Seasonal Yoga in 2015 she has devoted her time to working with all age groups and abilities, using her skills to engage the groups needs and to design creative sequences that relate to the energy of the season, chakras or particular meridians. She has since qualified in yin yoga, which is a mat based class that focuses on letting go mentally and physically and relaxing into postures, which works on your flexibility and mobility. In 2020 Ruth undertook a 5 day intensive training in Mandala Yoga which comprise yin and vinyasa yoga with spiralling and flowing sequences that involves specific Sun Salutes that relate to an Element or Season.
Since 2016 Ruth has also been working on her holistic wellness business Seasonally Holistic and educates people in how to live a more natural, green life style by incorporating therapeutic grade essential oils into our lives to help support our minds, body and spirit as well as giving Indian head massage to help reduce stress and anxiety.
Ruth set up her popular Yoga Creative Retreats 5 years ago and runs up to 5 retreats a year in the UK. Morocco is Ruth’s first international retreat. She says that “the retreats were a dream come true for her and they encompass everything that she practises herself.”
Every day Ruth likes to feel creative and uses her tools such as mindfulness, meditation, essential oils and asana practise to live a happy, relaxed life. So she can’t wait to bring her retreat to Holidays with Heart and to share her yoga philosophies and creative practices to help you feel relaxed refreshed and restored.
“Ruth’s relaxed and friendly nature made me feel comfortable and after the first welcome yoga class I felt like I was in the right place with the right people. I was worried about the yoga option on the retreat as I hadn’t done it before and I have a few injuries. Ruth is clear when she teaches and is very encouraging.” Claire Edney
“I was feeling nervous about the creative options, but Ruth didn’t push me into anything and made me feel comfortable about not joining in the creative workshops if I didn’t want to. But after a few days of seeing and hearing others talk about how much fun it was and how they found it so relaxing and how they lost themselves, I actually joined in and I totally surprised myself… I will be back! “ Nessy Welsch
Morocco is one of Ruth’s favourite places to visit and she has travelled around Morocco many times since her twenties. She finds it an incredibly inspiring and interesting place and she can’t wait to share her love of the arts and crafts from local makers as well as the views around Taroudant and the Atlas Mountains.
Community is so important to Ruth that she chose her first retreat abroad with Holidays with Heart because she feels it important to have a connection with her retreat venues. She is looking forward to meeting the families and the community as well visiting the charitable projects and hopefully getting involved more with them too.