HELENE RAVLICH: NATURAL BEAUTY
A life lived well: Claire Robbie and Luke Sniewski of Jack & Olive Retreats When yoga teacher and walking advertisement for wellness Claire Robbie talks about the power of making a “life transformation”, she most definitely knows what she’s talking about. Several years ago she had just left a successful career in broadcasting and a job at TV3 to travel to Los Angeles to live with her now ex-husband, not knowing what the future would bring. Come late 2013 she was making the move in the opposite direction as a confidant yoga teacher, wellness retreat leader and pregnant with her first child to her equally as inspirational new partner, Los Angeles lifestyle transformation coach and trainer, Luke Sniewski. Now teaching yoga at Ponsonby’s Urban Ashram, Claire was fresh from her first New Zealand retreat under the Jack & Olive moniker when we spoke, which took place in breathtaking Queenstown. I was lucky enough to be a participant in the week -long getaway, which included everything from Power Vinyasa yoga classes to early morning metabolic fitness sessions, kayaking, hiking, restorative work and the tools for transforming your life. Incredible food and fine wine were also a factor, and our home base at the luxurious property known as The Rees apartments meant that once you’d hiked, down dog’ed and press upped your way to exhaustion you had a front row view of glassy Lake Wakatipu to read a magazine or fall asleep to. Our group was kept small-but-perfectly-formed as per Claire and Luke’s general modus operandi, and there is already a follow up with yoga and fun in the snow to come at the same location in August of this year. Claire is loving planning ahead for a week-long retreat in Fiji come November as well, along with some wellness weekends close to home that will be happening at a couple of luxurious properties with a view in the Auckland region. “The retreats I led in the US and Costa Rica were purely yoga-focused,” she explained to me over coffee at Foxtrot Parlour, “so it’s amazing to utilise Luke’s skill set as well as include fitness, goal setting and nutrition for a more holistic focus. I believe for a healthy, happy life you need a wide variety of different facets to come into play.” The three day long wellness retreats based in Auckland are perfect for those needing to “check in” with themselves and kickstart some healthier habits, and Claire and Luke also offer a “design your own retreat” option that lets you and a group of friends, family or workmates create something that is exactly in line with what you need right now. “We’ll help you find the ideal location and create an itinerary that is catered especially to you,” she says, “whether it be a corporate wellness getaway, a healthy and adventurous bridal shower, or a couples yoga retreat. We combine yoga, fitness, nutrition and wellness education with whatever you desire - fine wine, healthy, locally sourced cuisine adventure or just plain old relaxation.” Luke is training and mentoring from a gym in Grey Lynn at the moment, along with finishing his first book - A Million Ways to Live - and working with Claire on the evolution of Jack & Olive. Luke started his career in health and wellness as a personal trainer but soon realised that there was more to health than just a good workout. He became obsessed with the body and all of its interconnected systems. He learned the most important detail regarding human health: every little detail matters. It’s the whole lifestyle, not just a fad diet or exercise programme but how people eat, move, laugh, think, love, learn, and socialise that creates a healthy individual and feeds his buzz. His ultimate goal is to make his clients their own wellness guru. He has been featured as an author and health professional in magazines like Entrepreneur, San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, Men’s Health and Marie Claire, and spending time with him is an absolute joy. His enthusiasm is truly infectious. “I am definitely not in the business of training clients three times a week and pushing them into the way I think they should be living,” he explains. “I’d rather help them to create a sustainable programme that will help them to understand their strengths and weaknesses and learn to work for
themselves. For me the keys are: real food, movement, rest and relaxation, love, lifelong learning and community - if you have those six things in your life you are healthy, and you’re also able to create the life you want to live to stay that way.” It’s a philosophy that I agree with wholeheartedly, and know many others that will too. “We’re both just finding our footing in New Zealand at the moment,” Claire says with a smile, “using the tools we’ve brought from Los Angeles to hopefully really make a difference in people’s lives.” It’s a bright new adventure for the pair, and for everyone who crosses their path. (HELENE RAVLICH) F PN www.jackandoliveretreats.com
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72 PONSONBY NEWS+ March 2014
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