Team
Let's introduce ourselves
Aurore
“Let Food Be Thy Medicine and Medicine Be Thy Food.” said Hippocrates.
Aurore shares this belief that wellbeing starts on the plate. Her aim is to feed you a healthy gourmet cuisine, made with seasonal local ingredients, sometimes following recipes, but always being led by inspiration, whether from the guests, the beautiful nature around, or from life itself.
With love and a creative approach, everything is possible, and not only in the kitchen! All you need is to take the time to savour. Aurore is looking forward to meeting you at the table!
Benoit
Benoit grew up in Saint-Jeannet and has many stories of childhood adventures in the hills, valleys and caves that make up its surroundings. It was his passion for sharing his part of the world that led to his setting up the frogs’ house.
Shortly after passing his certificate as a Mountain Guide, Benoit began practising yoga. At first, as is often the case, his focus was on the practice of postures (Asanas), But a meeting with Somasekha, whom he went on to follow as his guide, introduced him to silent retreats, where he discovered other facets of this age-old discipline: the practices of concentration (Dharana), meditation (Dyana), breathing techniques (Pranayamas), yogic moral codes or ways of living (Yamas and Niyamas), and the understanding of the limits of our senses and the practise of detachment from them (Pratyahara). But above all, what motivates Benoit on his yogic journey is the awareness of the subconscious part of us, the questioning of everyday habits, and recognition of our cultural conditioning. This may sound at odds with a holiday which afterall was set up to introduce his culture to his guests. But come here and you’ll see that his invitation is not to reject and dismiss, but to be present and conscious in all that we do.
Benoit graduated from Yog Nisarga International Training School for his 200H-TTC, and from Sampoorna Yoga School for his 300H-TTC, both based in India and both certified by Yoga Alliance, the largest non-profit association representing the yoga community, whose mission is to promote and support the integrity and diversity in teaching yoga.
His practice is inspired by the teachings of Jean Klein who introduced Kashmir yoga, which one could call a traditional style of yoga, to Europe and the United States.
Ronald
Ronald looks after not only our guests, but the frogs’ house itself. Breakfasts are his department. With training in French culinary arts from Aurore, Ronald brings a taste of his Peruvian origins to his legendary vegetarian and vegan brunch options. In addition he is multi-skilled when it comes to taking great care of the frogs’ house: from gardening to electrics, from carpentry to decorating, he maintains and repairs the house with love and dedication, and always a great sense of humour. Ronald speaks French and Spanish, so if you want to communicate in English with him, get practising the language of gestures!
There is also...
Hélène
Hélène discovered Non-Violent Communication in Brazil, where she lived for 10 years. As a sociology lecturer at the University near Rio de Janeiro, she introduced NVC as part of the training curriculum for teachers, for which she was responsible from 2013 to 2019. Both a sociologist and biofield therapist, she zooms in and out between subtle detail and the big picture in her approach to communication and social relationships.
Ali
Ali and his partner came for a winter break to Saint-Jeannet from London in 2021, when they were on parental leave after the birth of their baby. Through a series of serendipitous events, they ended up moving here. Ali now manages the frogs’ house’s behind the scenes operations, but is always delighted to spend time with the guests, and our private retreat hosts, to learn what works best for us and what new and wonderful things we can cook up together! He’s also been known to teach the odd dance class here and there when the guests ask for it!
The team of independent massage practitioners we work with...
Florence
After working as a physiotherapist in neuro-paediatrics, Florence started practising the healing and relaxation techniques which she had developed and refined over time while working with children who were not able to talk. She combines sensitive touch with sounds produced either by her own voice or by Koshi chimes.
Myriam
Myriam has been practising massage for more than 10 years. She is certified in traditional Shiatsu. She has developed her own holistic technique, combining her knowledge of this traditional discipline with her own intuitive approach. Her aim is to welcome everyone as a whole person and help create a space of balance and well being. She is also a certified practitioner of Bach flower remedies and uses them in her work on the emotional aspects of our being.
Jean
Jean is specialised in what might be seen by some as two ends of the yoga spectrum: Ashtanga Yoga and Yin Yoga. For us of course, there is no spectrum, there is just yoga and Jean practises it in his teaching in the moment and in harmony with the needs and abilities of the guests.
He started his Yoga practice in India in the city of Calcutta 20 years ago. His philosophy is based on the idea that through the practice of Yoga, we can be our best selves, reduce our own suffering, and that of those around us, and feel a sense of oneness with the Universe.
His teaching focuses on the breath and how to integrate it in a physically active yoga practice in order to create and balance strength, freedom, and lightness of being. Jean and Benoit are primary school friends who both, in different ways, discovered yoga. They have stories to tell about their times in the hills of Saint-Jeannet!
Claudia
Certified in tuina with training in China, Claudia offers an enveloping oil massage which allows a gentle and deep relaxation. By listening to your body in its present state, and through fluid movements, acupressure points and a release of tension, body and mind are invited to open up to their natural state of tenderness and to profoundly relax. Claudia also offers Thai foot and lower leg massage.
Jean
(again, this time with a different hat!)
The "Peter Hess" sound massage is a very effective method using Tibetan bowls to release blockages and tensions and to stimulate and strengthen natural defences of the body. A sound massage also helps improve circulation, proprioception, sleep, and just a sense of joy of life, helping the recipient reconnect with themselves.
How it works practically: after an initial conversation to understand the needs of the client, the practitioner places one or more singing bowls on the client's body before making them ring with a mallet. The recipient is encouraged to wear comfortable clothing which they keep on during the massage. The bowls produce vibrations of different frequencies, with different body parts responding to different bowls. The sound massage is very often described as "refreshing" by the people who receive it.
