Your Rustic Retreats journey
“In not only the physical science, but in the real mental silence, the wisdom dawns.” Satchidananda
“See how nature—trees, flowers, grass—grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… .We need silence to be able to touch souls.” Mother Teresa
“Yoga is the progressive settling of the mind into silence.” Patanjali Yoga Sutras
Many of the key teachings of ancient and modern spiritual masters involve lessons around the importance of silence, stillness and space. Yoga philosophy teaches us that we are all perfect souls, however we need to silence the ego and the ‘fluctuations’ of the mind in order to reveal this perfect version of ourselves. In this yoga retreat you will be looking deep within to find our inner teacher. You will learn from the wisdom of the stars, trees and flowers about how you can unfold and blossom in periods of silence.
You will start each day with a period of silent meditation, followed by a dynamic asana sequence. This will help you release tension, and find stillness and spaciousness within your bodies. From this place of calm you will then be using a variety of methods to explore and find a place of deeper silence and spaciousness within. Tanya will introduce a variety of different breathing and meditation techniques to help you still your mind and thoughts, and you will also have periods of silence during each day. You will explore space, stillness and silence from a number of different perspectives including writing, drawing and getting inspired by the natural world. This will help each of you, in your own unique way, learn to tap into your inner world and place of stillness.
Sample daily timetable
- 07.30 Pranayama or morning meditation
- 08.00 Morning Yoga practice
- 09:30 Breakfast
- 11:00 Workshop (practical/theoretical) or free time
- 13:00 Lunch
- 15.00 Free time
- 19.00 Evening Yoga practice
- 20.30 Meditation or yoga nidra
- 21.00 Evening meal
Times will vary slightly on each retreat. There is one workshop a day, it may be in the morning or afternoon. There is also the option to visit local markets on Wednesday and Sunday.
Styles of yoga to be taught
On this retreat we will be honoring the theme of creating‘space’ in the yoga asana practice. The morning yoga sessions will be inspired by Vinyasa yoga and will focusing on using heat and movement to open and expand our bodies, to create more length and internal space. Each class will focus on a different area of the body, and we will explore how we we can find sweet release in this area.
The afternoon sessions will be more slow and restorative drawing from slow-flow vinyasa, yin, and restorative yoga styles. They will be about creating space within our bodies and minds. You will learn multiple ‘take-home’ sequences that you can use and adapt for your home practice. As well as detailed instructions of the sequences and poses, once we have learnt an aspect of the sequence we will have the opportunity to practice this in silence. This will help us to learn to move with our own breath, trust our own instincts and learn to find space in the movements and practice.
Your workshop programme
The theme of this retreat is about Yoga, Meditation and Space. It is about learning to find space in our practice and lives to be fully present moment to moment. How can we learn to be still, sit with ourselves and accept where we are in the moment.
Workshop one – learning to be still
‘Did you ever sit quietly with your back straight, not moving, just only cherishing the beauty of silence?’ JidduKrishnamurti
Do you feel like you’re constantly running in life, chasing the next goal, ticking off things on your to do list (which never seems to get shorter)? Do you find it difficult to be still, to be away from technology, hard to switch off after a busy day at work? At this workshop we will be exploring how we can be stiller in our lives and find time for just being, and the things that nourish and sustain us. We will explore the ‘cult of busyness’ and look at how modern life and technology nudge us to always do more.
We will do some creative journaling exercises where we will look at the things that take up our time. Together we will explore these and develop strategies for creating more time and space. We will also explore some simple meditation, and mindfulness strategies for creating mental space.
Workshop two – Space and Nature
We are all made of space and stardust. In this workshop we will use nature and the space around us to inspire our own spaciousness and help us lighten our inner skies. First we will discuss nature and its relationship with space.
Next we will learn some simple meditation techniques, including sitting in nature, walking in nature and reflecting on the world around us. These will help us tap into the healing power of the natural environment.
Workshop three – Drawing Space
In this workshop we will create space and stillness for you to draw. We will start with a simple mediation where we will look deep within the still, peaceful space within us. Emerging from this we will explore some exercises to draw negative space.
The logical mind tends to try to focus on objects, identifying them and categorizing them. However with negative drawing exercises we focus on exploring the space around objects rather than the objects themselves. This will help us appreciate more fully the importance of space.
Workshop four – Yoga Nidra– moving into stillness
In this workshop we will explore the practice of Yoga Nidra. Yoga Nidra is a practice that is sometimes known as yogic sleep. It is a practice we lie still and go on a deep inner journey.
Firstly we will explore the theory of how yoga nidra works and helps us to create more spaciousness in the body by releasing preconditioning. We will then explore the correct way of making a sankalpa or yogic intention. After this we will experience the practice of yoga nidra for ourselves
Workshop five – Dancing Space
At this workshop we will explore our bodies and the spaces around them through the medium of dance. We will dance our dreams, hope and aspirations. We will dance alone, with a partner (if we like) and as a group.
As part of the dance we will explore non verbal communication. We will feel energized, push our boundaries and sweat! At the end of the workshop sink into a place of deep and complete stillness.
