Body & soul retreat

Join Renee Holden, Fitness Professional, Personal Trainer, Movement Specialist, Thai Massage Practitioner, and Certified Yoga Tune-Up® Teacher at the fabulous Lodge at Pine Cove on Ontario’s French River. For five days and four nights, let nature, paddling adventure, and riverside lodging in exquisite cottages with lovely linens, fine food, wonderful wines and Renee’s personal brand of instruction take you to the next level of relaxation and help rejuvenate your body and soul for the fall.

Renee will assist you in learning techniques to self-sooth, massage, and re-hydrate tissues that limber you up and help you to either maintain or progress toward a pain and stress-free life. You will gain tools to make self-care a part of your daily routine and have an opportunity to head out on the river for a meditative kayak or canoe adventure.

No prior yoga or paddling experience is necessary. Students of all levels are welcome.

Special Guest

Renee Holden

Fitness Professional, Personal Trainer, Movement Specialist, Thai Massage Practitioner, Certified Yoga Tune-Up® Teacher

Renee Holden says, “It is great to see people become more fit, but my real love involves enhancing people’s lives through movement.” With over 30 years in the fitness business, Renee has done everything from lead fitness classes to provide personal training services. Over the past 19 years, she has focused on promoting self-care through health-care and has drawn upon her combination of skills to develop a unique mode of practice that embraces yoga but also integrates structural alignment, mobility, strength, and stress reduction. “Movement,” says Renee, “is medicine.”

Under Renee’s guidance, you will explore the principals of Soothing by gently stretching, kneading, and untangling your body’s tissues. Following a series of postures designed to improve breathing capacity, release stressed muscles, and increase your range of motion and strength, your body and soul will relax. Over the five days of this retreat, you will become better acquainted with your unique anatomical architecture and gain insight into how you can soothe and gently stretch it to regulate and tune out tension. Renee’s Bliss Workshops will give you specific techniques to un-kneed your muscles, create spaciousness, stability, and increased range of motion by using Yoga Tune-Up® Therapy Balls. Re-Boot Workshops will re-awaken muscles that co-exist to create a strong, centred core.

Karen Agro: A classical guitarist, Karen will play for us during the the retreat.

More about Renee

2024 Package Options and Fees

1) Friendly Package
$1125 + gratuities (10%) + HST (13%) per person

Based on two people sharing a bedroom with twin beds in a two or three-bedroom  (first-come, first served) cottage with shared 3-piece bathroom, fully equipped kitchen, screened in porch overlooking the water. Tuition includes: accommodation, three meals per day plus snacks, a pair of Yoga Tune-Up Therapy balls and optional paddling and hiking.

2) Cottage-Share Package
$1290 + gratuities (10%) + HST (13%) per person

Based on having a private bedroom in a two- or three-bedroom  (first-come, first served) shared cottage with a shared 3-piece bathroom, fully equipped kitchen, private bedroom , screened in porch overlooking the water. Tuition includes: accommodation, three meals per day plus snacks, a pair of Yoga Tune-Up Therapy balls and optional paddling and hiking.

3) Private Studio Cottage Package
$1450 + gratuities (10%) + HST (13%) per person

Based on having a private studio cottage (first-come, first served) , private 3-piece bathroom, fully equipped kitchen, screened in porch. Tuition includes: accommodation, three meals per day plus snacks, a pair of Yoga Tune-Up Therapy balls and optional paddling and hiking.

4) Private Deluxe Cottage Package
$1590 + gratuities (10%) + HST (13%) per person

Based on having a private single-bedroom cottage with a king bed, 3-piece bathroom, fully equipped kitchen, screened in porch overlooking the water. Tuition includes: accommodation, three meals per day plus snacks, a pair of Yoga Tune-Up Therapy balls and optional paddling and hiking.

All cottages include:

• Complimentary fine teas and Ashanti coffee
• Natural soap, shampoo, conditioner and body lotion
• Hamper breakfast delivered to your cottage

* If two people wish to share a 1 – bedroom private cottage (w/twins or king), the cost would be $1290 + gratuities + HST each. 

** If a partner wishes to join a participant but does not participate in the Yoga retreat please add;
No dining – $290/night (includes a hamper breakfast)
With lunch/dinner – $365/night (includes a hamper breakfast)

Registration -Information for Applicants

Enrolment in the retreat is limited to 20. Applications will be accepted on a first-come-first-serve basis so the earlier you apply the more likely we can confirm a spot for you.

Please email us at info@frenchriver.com and ask to be registered in the retreat.

Please let us know what package you would prefer and if possible a second preference. Also let us know if you have any food allergies or anything else we or the yoga instructor should know about. Full payment is due upon  registration.

To understand how beautiful the lodge is, please visit The Lodge at Pine Cove website, browse through some of the 250+ reviews on Trip Advisor, or “Like” us on Facebook . Our guests will tell you about their canoeing, kayaking and hiking experiences, the quality of our food, our hamper breakfasts, immaculate cottages, friendly staff, and attention to detail. You will learn that the Lodge at Pine Cove offers a very special kind of peace, one that will undoubtedly contribute to your retreat experience.

Cancelation policy

If an applicant is unable to attend the retreat due to illness or other health
problems, he or she will receive a refund for the amount paid, minus a
$245 application fee, ONLY if we can fill their spot at the retreat. We will
endeavour to fill a spot left vacant due to illness or other health problems,
but we are not able to guarantee it.
You may consider purchasing trip insurance with a service such as: Trip
insurance store