This is an intensive
retreat designed for experienced yoga practitioners who sincerely wish to
further their practice and are prepared to work seriously. It involves over
4 hours of intense and focussed practice every day, and is
therefore not suitable for complete beginners although it might suit people who
have seriously practiced other paths, such as martial arts or meditation. To apply for this course, you
must have an established daily practice, and be able to sit completely still for
20 minutes.
Note however that this workshop is not about doing advanced asanas but about developing an intelligent practice and learning to
use one's current flexibility, strength and skills fully to advance further in one's
practice.
Yoga teachers are
very welcome and will greatly benefit from doing this workshop.
This retreat will involve periods of noble silence, and for the duration of
the course, we ask participants to abstain from contact with the outside world,
so your mobile phone will have to be turned off for the whole week (we will pass
on any emergency calls if need be), and you won't be able to access the Internet
or check emails.
In the afternoon, we invite you to join us for karma yoga (work :) in the garden
or in the kitchen. This Karma yoga practice is intended to give you an insight
into the many practical challenges involved in living an ethical and sustainable
life.
Cost: there is no fixed price for this retreat. When applying for the retreat, you will
be asked how much you are planning to pay for it. We will let you know within
two week if your application is successful, and if so, you will be requested to
send a 50% deposit on this basis. Note that this is
not an auction :) and the price you put on the retreat is not the main
criteria to decide on the success or failure of your application; so if because
of your current financial circumstances, you cannot afford to pay much for the
retreat, just explain this in your application.
To apply for this retreat, please fill in an application form (click here for a application form in MS Word format or here for a PDF version).
The teachers:
Between them, Christophe and Ciara have over
25 years of experience teaching yoga retreats in
Ireland and abroad. Their practice and teaching have been influenced by
a number of yoga styles, particularly ashtanga (which they
have studied with John
Scott, Graeme Northfield, Nancy Gilgoff
and a number of other senior teachers), and the atma vikasa style of Venkatesh (from Mysore). Ciara
has also
studied Vanda Scaravelli's teachings under the guidance of
Rossella
Baroncini. Christophe originally trained as a Iyengar teacher in the
late 90s and has studied pranayama with Sri OP Tewari.
In addition to their daily asana
practice, both Christophe and Ciara regularly practice
Vipassana meditation.
Daily time table:
08:30 Morning meditation
09:00 Morning asana session
12:00 Lunch and rest
14:00 Karma yoga, working in the garden or in the kitchen, house cleaning
duties, etc.
17:00 to 18:00 Yoga Philosophy, Pranayama or chanting
18:00 to 19:00 Afternoon asana session
19:00 Dinner
20:00 Evening meditation
You will be asked not to communicate with other course participants (noble
silence) between the evening meditation and lunch the following day