Hong Kong, 22 September 2008 - International yoga teacher Clayton Horton is headed to Chiang Mai this October. A frequent visitor to Asia as well as Europe and South America, his talents are in much demand round the world. In Chiang Mai, Horton will be facilitating the first of Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi's monthly six-night/seven-day Wellness Retreats as part of the hotel’s Ashtanga Yoga and Meditation Retreat package.

A student of yoga for more than 20 years, Horton guides participants during nature retreats and assists them in restoring balance to mind and body. Scheduled for 2 to 8 October 2008, the programme will focus on Ashtanga yoga, breath work and meditation – all in the perfect setting of northern Thailand’s lush countryside.

“The resort’s sixty acres of landscaped gardens, enchanting Lanna-style architecture and acclaimed Dheva Spa and Wellness Centre blend perfectly to form the ideal environment in which to gain optimal benefits from this latest of our Wellness Retreats,” noted Mark Bradford, General Manager of Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi.

Director of Greenpath Yoga in San Francisco, Clayton Horton conducts a practice rooted in the Ashtanga tradition and in Greenpath meditation. A student of Sri K Pattabhi Jois and the Greensufi, he is also a founding board member of the Green Yoga Association, a director of Teenpath Yoga for San Francisco teenagers and on the board of directors of the Yoga Society of San Francisco Brahmananda Ashram. In 2003 Horton received formal authorisation to teach Ashtanga yoga from Sri K Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharat of the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute of Mysore in south India.

The Ashtanga Yoga and Meditation Retreat package with Clayton Horton includes:

• Six nights accommodation in a Colonial Suite (single occupancy)
• Round-trip airport transfer
• Welcome reception
• Meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner)
• Morning/evening yoga and meditation
• Yoga philosophy discussion
• Kirtan chanting and music
• One health/lifestyle consultation
• Two spa treatments
• One inner flow therapy session

The Ashtanga Yoga and Meditation Retreat is priced at THB 117, 250 plus 10% service charge and 7% government tax.  To book this Wellness Retreat package, please contact the hotel directly on +66 53 888 929, via email at mocnx-reservations@mohg.com or contact the hotel through Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group’s on-line reservation service at www.mandarinoriental.com/chiangmai. For more information on upcoming retreats, please contact +66 (53) 888 983 or email: jennifers@mohg.com.

About the Dheva Spa
The soul of Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi, Chiang Mai is the Dheva Spa and Wellness Centre – Thailand's first world-class destination spa inspired by an ancient Mandalay Palace. Unique in both concept and design, Dheva Spa’s seven-tiered roof represents the journey guests will undertake and alludes to the seven steps to nirvana and the attainment of spiritual and physical perfection. Staffs are trained at an on-site academy to the highest levels of professionalism.

The Dheva Spa and Wellness Centre offers an extensive range of holistic therapies including healing, prescribed residential wellness programmes in addition to a world-renowned Ayurvedic centre. Beyond prescribed therapies the spa features spiritual and physical guidance through yoga, Pilates and exercise regimes.