How are you? With all of the rain we’ve had this recently, I thought it would be a good time to share my photos from the yoga retreat I recently photographed in Andalucia, Spain, so we can remember what sunshine looks like! 😉

I was so delighted when Ruth from Gin & Yin Retreats booked me to photograph her recent retreat near to Marbella. I started getting into yoga at the beginning of this year, and I have been really keen to go to a yoga retreat. With the name ‘Gin & Yin’, I knew that this would be a great one for me!

Firstly let me talk about the venue for the retreat. Shanti Som is a short transfer from Malaga airport and as soon as you walk in, you feel like you’ve been transported to somewhere much more tropical. I honestly felt like I was in Bali for the weekend! Shanti Som has such a lovely relaxed feel to it and the staff treated us like long lost friends as soon as we arrived. I could literally feel my shoulders drop the moment I walked through the door.

This is the very lovely Ruth Clougherty, the founder of Gin & Yin retreats. During the weekend, we planned a few mini personal branding shoots, so that Ruth has some gorgeous photos to share on her website and social media. It’s so important that we show ourselves in our branding, your potential clients want to see the face behind the business.

We wanted to show both the ‘Gin’ and the ‘Yin’ side to Ruth and her business. We started with the gin side! 😉 Shanti Som was the perfect backdrop for Ruth’s photos.

There was a wonderful yoga session each day of the retreat. The yoga was nice and gentle and suitable for beginners…it was the first time I’d tried restorative yoga and I loved it so much I’ve asked for a bolster for my birthday!

Here are some photos from one of the sunset meditation & yoga classes. The yoga pavillion was the most magical place I’ve ever done yoga in…yoga in a studio or in my living room will never be quite the same again!

The group of ladies on the retreat were all so lovely and with such varied jobs between us…there was a painter, wine bar owner, police officer, singer, textile designer and more. Some of the group had never tried yoga before, but wanted to spend a few days away from the hustle and bustle of every day life. It was wonderful to see all of the deep chats and bonds that were created, around the pool and over the delicious meals that were served at Shanti Som. And of course, over gin in the evening! It’s testament to Ruth and her brand that she attracts such lovely people to her retreats.

Here is the whole group together, and if you look closely you’ll see I’ve managed to get into one of the photos at the bottom left!

During the retreat, Ruth organises a couple of mini wellness classes, where the group take some time out to think about the balance of their lives, what they’re grateful for and what their goals are. How often do we actually carve out some time to take an objective view of our lives right now and what we need/want to work on? Everyone seemed to get a lot from these sessions and I know I’ve looked back at my own notes from it a number of times since the retreat.

And let’s not forget the fab goodie bag that we were all greeted with on arrival, who doesn’t like a nice swag bag!

One evening, we all went into Marbella old town for a wander around and then onto the most amazing beach club for dinner. This was the view that was waiting for us when we got there.

We went on a guided hike up into the mountain one morning. It was a tough climb but totally worth it for the stunning views at the top where we could look down at the gorgeous hotel pool that we’d be spending the afternoon relaxing by.

Here was the second part of Ruth’s personal branding shoot, this time showing the ‘yin’ part of her brand! And the lovely yoga teacher Yuka makes an appearance here too!

And then the day we left, we had this magical sunrise yoga class…I will never forget the feeling of doing yoga and watching the sun rise in that beautiful space.

Wow, I feel more chilled just looking at these photos! A huge thank you to Ruth for creating such a magical retreat experience, to Shanti Som for their kind hospitality and to my new retreat buddies (and my lovely roomie!) who made it such a wonderful weekend.

If you run your own business and would love to get some gorgeous photos of yourself that you’re actually excited to share, check out all of the details here.

And you can see details of the business retreat that I run for big-hearted entrepreneurs who want to grow their personal brands and get more visible in their business, The Visibility Retreat.