About Us & Our Teachers

Hi! Here’s a lil about us..

Trika Retreats was born out of Trika Yoga, a yoga studio which is our home base on North Street, south of the river in Bristol. On a deeper note it was actually really born out of the desire to want to share the two things I love that keep me grounded, give me space in my brain, and realigns my perspective in life - travel, nature and yoga. Oops, that’s three things!

Simply put, these locations of our retreats here are personally special to me. They’ve each been places that I’ve found peace and headspace again, places where it’s given me the sense of ‘aah. phew.. and breathe’. And I then get a big urge to share and show these nature filled spots that have something special to them, so others can get this same feeling of rest, pause, a break, an adventure..

It is no coincidence that all our locations are surrounded by nature - whether it is being in the middle of a snowfield, up a mountain the the Summer sunshine, stretching the eyes with endless views of the sea, swimming in mountain-surrounded lakes; I truly love creating these retreats where can be immersed in natural surroundings, so we can take a break from our day to day. Not to be cheesy.. but it really refreshes the soul.

Yoga is one part that has personally helped me with so much strength when I needed it - in all honesty it really kept me going when at one point I wasn’t so sure how to. Classes on our retreats encourage fun, lightness, a joy of practice, many laughs, much rest, much balance, and me and our teachers on retreat with you are there to simply share practices that we love, in surroundings that have helped us. All abilities are welcome - whether or not you’ve touched a yoga mat in your life at all as that really doesn’t matter! Our retreats are really underpinned with values of Nourishment • Nature • Rest & Relaxation and they are 100% that. Come join us sometime!

xx
Charlene

a smiling girl in a yoga pose surrounded by ice. She is in the snowy mountains, with a big smile on her face. On a Yoga retreat by Trika Retreats.

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean. ”

— ~ John Muir

Our yoga teaching team

an oriental asian woman in a side plank on a yoga mat in a yoga studio. She is holding her left toes with her left hand and looking upwards to her toes.

Charlene Lim

"Just relax.."

Charlene started her yoga journey 15 years ago.. What initially started as 'I guess this is an activity to get into' changed rapidly into 'wow, why didn't I have this in my life sooner?'. From her first class to the present moment, it is safe to say yoga has changed her life as in Dec 2016, Trika Yoga, Bristol was born, and now Trika Retreats as she combines her love for yoga with her love for the importance of being in nature, and adventuring.

Her home practice is in Ashtanga Yoga; where she really enjoys drawing on the wisdom of the lineage, strength of the practice and discipline of the method. Her classes encourage keeping a solid focus, grounding and emphasis of a breath-led practice but also placing importance on practicing with a light heart and being comfortable with bursting into a smile and having fun during practice. Laughs are encouraged - always :)

Personally, she does voyage into other styles of practice; Vinyasa some days, restful practices other days, and often bring into her practice a big mixture of everything. She believes in really listening to oneself day to day, and learning to practice Yoga in a way that positively supports your body and mind wherever you are at. She holds a 400 hour Yoga Alliance qualification; with focused study in Anatomy, and continues to learn more each year so she can best learn more to share the practice with others.

a woman with short dark hair looking downwards. she is sitting on the floor with one leg crossed over the other, with her knees stacked. she has her fingers interlaced and is stretching her arms by holding on to her knee.

Jess Fellows

Jess is interested in creating space within the body, mind and heart so that we allow ourselves to be open to all experiences and live more fully in the present - on and off the mat. Her classes promote relaxation and awareness while building on strength and flexibility. Her teaching stems from a traditional hatha lineage and are light hearted and accessible to all as she encourages a sense of self-exploration and playfulness. Jess continues to expand her knowledge by attending workshops and intensives, most recently in restorative and yoga therapy; giving her an insight into working with students with specific health concerns.

A diagnosis of type one diabetes led Jess on a personal search for the underpinnings of health. Since then the powerful nourishment of diet and yoga has maintained her blood sugar control. A love of movement and expression through dance and sport has always been integral to Jess's life but she found yoga at a crucial age in her late teens and loves working with people to help them find a yoga practice that makes them feel their best. Jess encourages students to practice safely and to honour the uniqueness of their individual bodies, while challenging them to discover their inner strength and inner stillness. The atmosphere in her classes is always relaxed, enabling her students to enjoy connecting their bodies with their breath - to find their place of peace, and space to understand themselves more. Jess's philosophy as a yoga student and teacher is to listen to the body - to respect the body, each and every day.

A woman with blonde hair in a high ponytail that is on her hands and toes. ona yoga mat. she is pulling her left knee towards her left elbow as she looks towards her knee. she is smiling happily!

SARAH PUGH

Sarah teaches regularly at Trika, teaching Mum and Baby classes and also Core and Strength ones! She completed her training in Singapore where she has lived for the past decade. Her training is in Anusara inspired yoga (alignment based Hatha) but her teaching style mixes in vinyasa flow and yin poses.

With a background of teaching group fitness and personal training she enjoys teaching a strong and challenging Asana class but firmly believes that yoga practice shouldn’t just be about the physical asana practice but also the spiritual through using breath and meditation in our practice. Her own practice has evolved to use more mediation, pranayama and restorative yoga.

A woman with dark hair in a low ponytail who is in a chair pose with her fingers reached behind her and up on her tiptoes. Behind her in the background there is a stack of bolsters on bars.

ELYSSA KILL

Elyssa came to yoga as a method of healing her mind and spirit from her struggles with mental health. She fell in love initially with the challenge of dynamic practices; focusing all her attention on what she was doing for fear of falling on her face.

Elyssa believes yoga has saved her countless times, in fact, it taught her it was ok to fall and it gave her the courage to get back up again. Today she teaches in the full knowledge of how empowering and grounding being on your mat can be. This is where her passion to teach came from. She hopes that she can help people recognise the light that lies within them and the strength that they hold.

She is committed to sharing yoga with everyone and strongly believes it should be accessible to all. Whether someone is new to yoga, or an old-timer, she works with them to help facilitate a connection between their body, mind, breath, and spirit. She brings energy and light-heartedness to classes where we can all flow and all fall without fear of judgement.