Reflections post retreat at the Burren Yoga Centre.
Dear Yoga Friends,
On yoga retreat we undergo a shared learning journey together. I love to take you a bit deeper into the understanding of what happens to the body, the brain, the nervous system, and our patterns and tendecies, as we immerse in daily practice. I am a science-geek and I love teaching; this piece gives you an idea of how a retreat might unfold in terms of what we learn, experience, and absorb in the yoga space.
I’ve sent it to the very happy participants on our first yoga retreat in The Burren Yoga Centre and am sharing it with you here so you can get a flavour of what structured daily practice might look like. Familiar to many of you, my favourite practices, music and quotes are outlined below. Please enjoy!
Meditation Practice was very influenced by Dave’s intentions to support you in developing a daily practice and by my Masters in Mindfulness from UCD (MSc MBI).
Yoga was simple, classic Hatha yoga with doses of strength and playfulness! You can practice online with me here.
Philosophy was influenced by the book “The Path of the Yoga Sutras: a practical guide to the core of yoga”, by Nicolai Bachman.
Music is on Spotify from my ‘Yoga Chill’ playlist, you can follow me here. You particularly loved ‘Gayatri Mantra’ by Deva Premel and LA1 by Moby.
Yoga Nidra.
The script I use is here. You can purchase a 45 minute audio of the Yoga Nidra practice here. Once you purchase you can download the clip to you own device or access it any time from my website by using a code you receive upon purchase, essentially it’s yours forever. It’s also available as part of a bundle of my online classes, The Zen Collection - three 45 minute yoga flow sequences, two guided meditations and the audio Yoga Nidra. You’ll get to practice with me from my yoga mat inside my house.
Practices:
The instructions for sitting well with good posture for your meditation practice is outlined here.
Simple breath awareness is here.
Progressive relaxation with the breath. The script for the practice you experienced is here.
Golden thread breathing is here.
Loads more blogs, reflections and snippets of wisdom on my blog page here.
Poetry:
Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
Victor Frankl. ‘Man’s search for meaning – life in the pause’.
The Goal of Yoga (No, it’s not the Handstand)
The yoga pose is not the goal. Becoming flexible is not the goal. Standing on your hands is not the goal.
The goal is to create space where once you were stuck. To unveil the layers of protection you’ve built around your heart. To appreciate your body and become aware of the mind and the noise it creates. To make peace with who you are. The goal is to love, well … You!
Come to your yoga mat to feel, not to accomplish. Shift your focus and your heart with grow.
Rachel Brathen.
By cultivating strength without rigidity and relaxation without collapse in your asanas you are helping create a balanced imprint on your nervous system. You are training your mind and body to be awake and calm regardless of the external circumstances. Pause and gain strength before moving forward.
Jason Crandell.
Every time you get lost in thought – which you will thousands of times – gently return to the breath. I cannot stress strongly enough that forgiving yourself and starting over is the whole game.
Dan Harris.10% happier.
In meditation take care not to impose anything on the mind, or to tax it. When you meditate there should be no effort to control, and no attempt to be peaceful. Don’t be overly solemn or feel that you are taking part in some special ritual; let go even of the idea that you are meditating. Let your body remain as it is, your breath as you find it, and remain in your natural condition of unchanging pure awareness.
Soygal Rinpoche.
Acceptance is not something you can immediately turn on. Rather is it making some gesture towards not immediately triggering a range of automatic responses.
Seagal, Williams and Teasdale.
Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one’s attidude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s now way.
Viktor Frankl.
Remember to use your body as a way to awareness. It can be as simple as staying mindful of your posture. Just patiently practice feeling what is here, and the body is always here, until it becomes second nature to know even the small movements you make. It’s very simple, practice again and again bringing your awareness to the body. This basic effort, which paradoxically is a relaxing back into the present moment, gives us the key to expanding our awareness from times of formal practice to living mindfully in the world. Do not underestimate the power that comes from feeling the simple movements of your body throughout the day.
Joseph Goldstein, Insight Meditation, 1993.
Do not try to save
the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create
a clearing
in the dense forest
of your life
and wait there
patiently,
until the song
that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know
how to give yourself to this world
so worthy of rescue.
Martha Postlewaite.
The Namaste Poem.
When I am in that place in me where I am truly me, and you are in that place in you where you are truly you, there is one of us.
Author Unknown.
Authors, references, further reading:
Dr. Andrew Huberman, Huberman Lab Podcast. Patrick McKeown, Oxygen Advantage. Dr. Kristen Neff. Joseph Goldstein. Tara Barach. Jon Kabat Zinn.
I’ll be back in The Burren Yoga Centre in October, November, next February and June, I’d love to see you there!
Hugs and love from my kitchen on a peaceful, rainy Bank Holiday Monday!
Love,
Sylvia.