Art de vivre coaching

Embrace Your “Second Spring” ✨️✨️

I am pleased to invite you to a 
Yoga Retreat for Midlife Women
Essaouira, Morocco
17–21 June 2026

💛 Reconnect, recharge & bloom 

Midlife is a time of transition, full of change but also freedom and renewal.

Take a moment for yourself to reconnect with your body, rest, and appreciate this new phase of life with gentle yoga and circle talks.

Join me and Chrystelle, menstrual educator, to share, learn, and prepare for this journey with awareness and ease. Immerse yourself in daily yoga, meditation, and workshops focused on wellness, connection, and empowerment. 

Experience the magic of Essaouira with like-minded women in a serene and inspiring setting.

💛 Reconnect, recharge, and step into your Second Spring.

Highlights:
- a four-day retreat to relax and chill
- Morning yoga and meditation 
- Menopause daily workshop for holistic well-being to help prepare your “Second Spring”
- Cultural excursions in Essaouira’s historic medina and aroundf
- Sunset gatherings and community circles

The retreat will be held in French and English.

Accommodation:
Charming maison d’hôte in a green setting on the outskirts of Essaouira, offering Moroccan charm, comfort, and tranquillity. Includes daily brunch, dinner, and unlimited tea and water.

Investment:
Early Bird Pricing (until 31 March 2026):
500 pounds (shared room)
650 pounds (individual room)

Includes: Accommodation, meals, yoga sessions, pre-menopause workshops, and excursions (flight to Essaouira not included - Ryanair flies there direcly on those dates).

✨️ let me know in comments if you need more info 😊

🌿 Turning 49 today. 🌿

A few years ago, I started to dread my birthdays. Turning 40 brought a wave of questions, doubts, and an unfamiliar fear of time slipping away. But today, I choose to celebrate. Aging isn’t something to fear—it’s a privilege, especially when you’re blessed with good health, love, and the curiosity to keep living fully.

My 40s were a decade of expansion. I stepped out of my comfort zone, explored new paths, and craved more—more experiences, more connections, more meaning. I learned that every year is a fresh chapter, an opportunity to grow, to reinvent, and to embrace life with open arms.
So today, I’m not counting the candles on my cake with worry. I’m lighting them with gratitude. Because aging isn’t just about the years—it’s about the connections, the experiences, the resilience, and the freedom that comes with them. And that, to me, is the greatest gift of all.

To anyone who, like me, has ever feared turning the page: Life isn’t measured in years, but in moments lived with purpose. And the best ones are still ahead. ✨



And you how do you feel about ageing?

Latest read from

is a tough book. She talks about the life of a twin girls born in a Kurdish family in the 70s, first in their homeland and then in London.

Shafaq unveils the dire feminine condition in this remote corner of the world.

The reason behind one sister's move being honour which sadly prevailed over love...

As Pembe emigrates to London, for a while it seems the pros seem to outweigh the cons, even if her marriage falters. Until strikes again.

The passage which I found the most dreadful is the one where the dad's twins says : "I am glad I did not have a son or he would have had to kill you". Then orders everyone to leave the house and his wife takes out ropes so that his eldest daughter hangs herself.

Not a cheerful read, pass this one if you need a feel good book. But if you are keen to understand the mechanics of honour and toxic families/masculinity, and are like me, always under the spell of Elif's story-telling, do read it. I imagine that this book made her quite unpopular in Turkey. But this story needed to be told...

We ended 2025 in the Canary island

Rebecca Anderton-Davies is an investment banker, yoga practitioner, and sometimes teacher, author, community-builder, wife and mother of two who lives in London. Her definition could have added feminist and Diversity and Inclusion advocate.

NB: If you replace investment banker and add coaching, this could be me:)

In her book 'shifting the dials', she argues for a more nuanced version of work/life balance by creating a dashboard representing your dials (i.e goals / activities you pursue or wish to get into) and their varied levels according to your current priorities and seasons in life.

Dials can be anything such as work (and this various elements from career to learning to pay), relationships (again multifaceted), community and impact, health and spirituality, culture and leisure.
Her approach is not too disimilar to the wheel of life used in coaching to get a state of play of life satisfaction. But she highlights the need for dynamism, in the sense that at certain moments in your life, some dials will be higher than others (think family for parents of young kids).

Her approach has merits as indeed it puts life in perspective and is a way to ensure we live an intentional life, which guides us to achieve our own personal notion of success if we can stay true to our values and own definition of what is a life well lived.

Between the lines, it appears clearly that Rebecca has enormous amounts of energy and drive, which is outside the norm. And she avoids the topic of working too many long hours and being preoccupied by work outside of it, which is the situation that many people complaining about poor work-life are in. She recognises that she made a choice to not being able to control fully her working hours, but in exchange her work gives her plentiful money, a good amount of holidays and parental leave and many other benefits.

This chapter on choices / trades on life - what struggle we are choosing for which benefit is one of the best ones in the book. It's not often that self-books say too much on this, and trust me I have read quite a few.

Being an investment banker, she highlights the cumulative benefit of early investment in the stock market.

With my book club, we read Black Milk from my beloved a Turkish born writer who leaves in London. I adore her books and this one did not disappoint. The topic is around being internally conflicted between the desire to write, to make a mark on the world and becoming a mother, as well as baby blues (hence the book's title).

I enjoyed knowing about the struggles and inner world of Elif, who has meanwhile become a mother of 2 and an internationally acclaimed writer. The book prompted a vivid discussion between the joy and sacrifice of being a mother, often unknown to society or relatives. It left us wanting for a sequel to have her views now that her children are a bit older.

How did she manage to combine her dream of being a writer and motherhood? What sacrifice did she make or not? Are her children complaining that they don't count or less than her books?

These are all questions I would love you to answer dear Elif :)

Une après-midi avec un de mes auteurs préférés, un américain amoureux de la France . Dans ce superbe roman l'après-midi, il nous parle de Paris dans les années 80 (ses troquets et camel si bien contés), de l'amour de sa naissance à sa fin, de la passion adultèrine, de l'ambition, du fait de vieillir, des illusions et désillusions. Tout ça avec un souffle incroyable et une rare compréhension des sentiments humains et de nos ambiguïtés.

Un grand merci ! C'est toujours un plaisir de vous lire.

In times of trouble, when others do or say things that could create ruminations, I remind myself of The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

Especially the second one — Don’t take anything personally — it’s a game changer. It helps me stay grounded, protect my peace, and respond with clarity instead of pain. 🧘‍♀️💭

These 4 timeless principles have helped millions transform how they think, feel, and live.

Which agreement resonates with you the most? 💬👇

What is happening in is unbearable.
Over 55,000 have been killed—more than 17,000 of them children. Entire families, neighbourhoods, stories wiped out. Gaza is starving, suffocating, under siege. And still, so much of the world stays silent, indifferent.

Those who speak out—or wear a keffiyeh—are too often accused of .

But we must be able to say clearly: criticising the government's actions is not antisemitic. It is not antisemitic to demand an end to indiscriminate bombing, to collective punishment, to the destruction of life and hope.

Many Jewish individuals and organisations around the world are raising their voices against the violence. They, too, are demanding justice, dignity, and an end to this inhumanity. Their courage reminds us: standing for Palestinian lives is standing for humanity.

Gaza is not just a headline. It is home to two millions of people. Children with dreams. Parents who just want to keep them safe. Artists, teachers, medics, students—caught in a nightmare no one should endure.

This moment matters—for Gaza, and for the soul of our shared humanity.
We cannot stay silent. Being “from everywhere” means caring everywhere.
If we believe in human rights, we must believe they apply to Palestinians too.

So share your outrage everywhere!
On social media, in the streets, at work, with your MP, MEP, write to those in powers, to the media, boycott those organisations who are profiting from this tragedy. Follow .albanese.unsr.opt

You’ve seen what I stand for.
But here’s what I refuse to stay silent about. ✊

We’re not just here to dream and heal — we’re here to stop what hurts us.
As a coach, as a yogi, as a diplomat, as a mother, and as a woman in today’s world, I know that inner peace is not passive. It’s an active stand. 🖤

This is my line in the sand.
If it speaks to you… you’re not alone.
Swipe through, share with someone who needs it, and drop a 🕊️ in the comments if you're standing strong too.

This Is Me — Behind the Work, Beyond the Title. 💫
What I do isn’t just a profession.
It’s a reflection of who I am and what I stand for.
These aren’t just words. They’re my compass. 🧭

✨ Peace — because we all need a pause in this noisy world. And because arms should be silenced.
❤️ Love — not just romance, but the kind that fuels connection.
🤝 Collaboration — because we rise higher together.
🌱 Hope — the quiet fire that keeps me going.
🪞 Openness — to listen, to learn, to evolve.
🧠 Learning — always. Forever.
🌍 Diplomacy — because bridges are better than walls. And because I believe in friendships between nations too.

This is the soul of my approach to life.
This is the soul of me.

If any of these values resonate with you…
Let’s connect, talk, grow. 💌

👉 Swipe through.
📥 DM when you're ready.
💾 Save if it spoke to your heart.