Located on the shores of beautiful Port Stephens just over 2 hours drive from Sydney and 40 minutes from Newcastle, Peppers Anchorage is the perfect place to relax and unwind for a weekend yoga retreat. Ryoho yoga, meditation, food talks, beach and bush walks are all part of the 2012 autumn and Winter-into-Spring weekends.

YOGA TV host, Kris McIntyre and nutritionist and author, Michele Chevalley Hedge, will co-host this special weekend yoga, cleanse and nourishing retreat for mums and daughters on 28-30 October at accommodation at Peppers Salt Resort & the Golden Door Spa, Kingscliff.

Spring is the time of the year when your body naturally wants to cleanse itself. So it is a good time to allow your body to let go of all the stuff that it doesn’t want including toxins, bad habits and old aches and pains. It is a good time to allow the body to cleanse by eliminating toxins including dairy, sugar, bread, fats and oils, alcohol, coffee, tea and other stimulants including spices. According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Liver and Gall Bladder meridians are most prominent at this time of the year. The best foods to support the Liver and Gall Bladder are leafy greens and lightly cooked foods (steaming, light frying and par-boiling). Here’s some Spring side dishes from Linden Brooks.