Yoga for Women’s Well-Being

Retreat at Burren Yoga in the West of Ireland

September 3rd – 9th 2010

A fabulous opportunity to spend a week practicing Shakti yoga in the magical, prana filled environment of the Burren.

Uma will be leading daily yoga sessions designed to enhance your vitality, working with asana, pranayama, mudras, bandha, yoga nidra and meditations.

This retreat is about yoga for women’s health and vital energy. It shares techniques to feel, nurture and build the feminine energy of Shakti for the practical healing and benefit of women in all stages of life. The course presents therapeutic and enlivening yoga practices to support all experiences of femininity throughout a woman’s life.

It is for beginners to yoga as well as those who are regular practitioners and also suitable for yoga teachers who sense that yoga could be of more practical use to all women in managing health, vital energy and well-being.

Yoga teachers will find this retreat to be an excellent opportunity to deepen their skills and understanding of how to respond to the needs of women’s health issues in their classes. Uma will provide tutorial support and professional development for teachers wanting to grow their skills in this area.

The programme includes morning Shakti yoga and meditation, mudras and mantras for lunar practice, restorative yoga, yoga nidra, and also theory classes. The morning hatha class will be a fully integrated practice of asana, (postures), pranayama (breathing), mudra and bandha (energy locks and gestures) threaded with mantra (sound). Every hatha class will be specifically tailored to meet the needs and abilities of the women attending, with particular attention to respecting the different points in the menstrual cycle, or the cycle of life (postnatal, perimenopausal, menopausal) which each woman finds herself in that day.

As an experienced yoga therapist, Uma will be tailoring the practices to meet the needs and abilities of every student. There will also be opportunities for one-to-one yoga therapy consultations on women’s health issues, and sessions of restorative yoga for vitality and peace: supported postures using props, to enable everyone to access the deep essence of poses with zero effort. This approach to yoga is deeply restorative and reviving.

The usual amazing vegetarian food is prepared by Paddi the chef, and daily organised outings into the Burren hills and by the sea with Dave Brocklebank who runs the centre.

The course is presented in an enjoyable experiential way, and there are also theory classes which will give you background information and understanding of the principles behind the enjoyable yoga classes and the use of yoga to manage women’s health issues including menstruation, pre-menstrual tension, fertility, sub fertility, optimal fertility, assisted conception, feminine sexuality, and perimenopausal mood swings, headaches and hot flushes. Yoga practice will also address health issues related to the pelvic floor, including postnatal recovery and prolapse, and other issues of concern to women.

Devi puja (goddess worship through mantra) can be a very heart warming and empowering part of yoga for women; recognising and acknowledging the presence of the goddess within! So if you are interested, and the other course participants are interested, Uma can also lead sessions of mantra (chanting) focusing on the many aspects of the divine feminine energy within each and every woman.

The retreat combines theory and practice to offer you fresh perspectives, new understandings and a deep appreciation of the healing power of yoga as therapy to optimise your health and delight in feminine energy and vitality.

Cost,  €690 (€650 unwaged).

All the bookings for this retreat are handled by Burren Yoga.

Yoga for a Seasonal Boost

Long weekend retreat at Burren Yoga in the West of Ireland

October 22nd – 25th 2010

A fabulous opportunity to spend a week practicing Hatha yoga in the magical, prana filled environment of the Burren.

Grow your confidence and well-being for the Winter ahead!

Suitable for all levels and all ages – from beginners to seasoned yogis and yoginis.  For women and the men who care for them!

This bank holiday weekend will focus on key techniques to ensure optimum vitality, confidence and wellness as we enter the dark winter months.

Sessions will include effective sequences of asana and pranayama (movements and breathing) to promote the free flow of energy throughout the body. There will be deep relaxations and Yoga Nidra (psychic sleep) to tune into your own requirements at this time, enabling you to rest and heal profoundly in preparation for the winter months. All sequences will be tailored to the needs, abilities and intentions of each person attending, so everyone can work at their own level and promote their own well being most effectively.

Also we will build a personal toolkit of joint freeing sequences, postures, breath and sound work, and simple but profound meditations and awareness practices to utilise as you need in daily life.

There will be a mixture of energising, revitalising and restful practices, responding to the needs of the season, and the feel of the moment. Each session will reflect the nature of the day, time, and experiences of the group at that time. This approach to yoga, as a therapeutic and personal practice is a really fabulous way to establish or refine your own approach to yoga, and to boost your own deep sense of health, self-esteem, well-being and power for the winter ahead.

Our reference work for the week is Uma’s first book: ‘Feel Confident – Yoga for Living’; and each person attending the weekend will be provided with a complimentary copy of the book, which includes valuable yoga programmes for everyday life, and clear descriptions of many of the practices planned for this weekend.
Bank holiday weekend reduced to €390 (€370 unwaged)

All the bookings for this retreat are handled by the lovely Dave at Burren Yoga

Shakti Rising Winter Celebration 2011

February 2011, Hawkwood College, in the Cotswolds

Women’s Yoga and Tantra Retreat for Healing, Empowerment and Positive Connections

At Hawkwood College, Stroud, Gloucestershire
starts 4.30pm Friday 11 February  until
12 – 4pm Sunday 13 February 2011

For a flavour of the programme for 2011, please download the programme from 2010 which worked so well we are thinking of repeating something very similar. So many wonderful yoga sessions to choose!  provisional programme for Shakti Rising Women’s yoga retreat in February (pdf).

It includes Dawn Light Meditations in the Woodland Meditation Space, Hatha yoga sessions to enliven and energise at every stage of women’s lives, Yoga Dance sessions in the main hall at Hawkwood, Woodland walks in beautiful Cotswold Hills, uplifting music and song, and more!

All served up with warm Cotswold hospitality and gorgeous meals in sparkling company. Take a look at the timetable, and treat yourself (and your sister, mother, best friend, daughter, favourite students!) to a place.
We are looking forward to seeing you there.

If you would like to chat about the event, please call Uma on 07595 322 779.

We will be honouring and affirming the feminine energy through yoga, dance, chanting, story telling, positive connection networking, meditation and relaxation. The programme includes morning hatha yoga and meditation, mudras and mantras for lunar practice, restorative yoga, yoga nidra, vegetarian food, chanting, dancing and gorgeous country walks in the Cotswold hills.

There will be vibrant goddess yantras for tratak, and mantras and poems in praise of the divine feminine spirit.

An irrestible and inspiring array of yoga workshops on offer with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli and colleagues from yoga and ayurveda: including sessions on mantra, mudra, asana, pranayama, mudra, bandha, tratak. Also puja, arati and kirtan (devotional singing). Yoga therapy and ayurvedic healing for the cycle of woman’s life: from menarche to menopause and beyond.

Also one to one sessions of healing therapies (reflexology, Shiatsu, Thai yoga massage and Ayurvedic therapies) available.

There is a bubbling spring with beautiful healing waters in the lovely grounds of Hawkwood College, splendid Cotswold views, cosy accommodation with roaring fires, plenty of delicious vegetarian food (all dietry needs happily accommodated at breakfast, lunch, supper and two breaks – morning teas and snacks, and afternoon tea) and friendly staff to take care of all our needs, two lovely light practice studios and and a woodland meditation space.

We celebrate together the stages of a woman’s life cycle – from girlhood through menstruation, fertility, infertility, pregnancy, post-natal phase, menopause, wisdom-phase – all with yoga.

Provisional programme includes:
Friday evening: Welcome, deep relaxation and orientating your yoga practice with insights from ayurveda and tantra.
Saturday: from dawn til 10pm, a choice of seven yoga, tantra, dance, movement and healing workshops around the issues of coming into womanhood, menstrual cycles, fertility, pregnancy, mothering with rituals and yoga.
Sunday: from dawn til 4pm , a choice of six yoga, tantra, dance, movement and healing workshops to support postnatal recovery, mothering, peri-menopause yoga and yoga for the great change, the movement towards our wisdom years.

Costs

Residential :
The full stay: Friday afternoon – Sunday afternoon: £299
full price for room shared with one other person £260 early bird
booking price (before 31 October 2010) full stay (sharing)

£330 full price for single room
£310 early bird booking price full(before
31 October 2010) stay (single room)

Sisterly bargains:
for women booking more than one place at a time: £270 each full price if you are coming with your mother/grandmother, sister/daughter/niece/best friend or yoga sister and you share a room together.

Non-residential rates:
£190 Friday afternoon – Sunday afternoon
including suppers Friday and Saturday

£50 per day (Saturday and
Sunday) not including suppers
£15 Friday evening women’s yoga sessions
7.30 – 9.30pm

Pregnant women welcome. Babes in arms welcome. No extra charge for babies.

Price should not be a barrier to attendance, please email Uma to discuss concessionary rates and skills/energy exchange options.

BOOKING:

You can pay for the retreat by paypal (this is our preferrred way of payment: any credt or debit card is accepted, no need to have a paypal account), or if this is not possible, then by sending a cheque
made out to Uma Dinsmore-Tuli for the amount appropriate to your type of booking.

Please enclose with the cheque your contact details, including email. Send to Shakti Rising 2010, Tanglewood, Gunhouse Lane, Bowbridge, Stroud, GL52DB. Thank you.

RESIDENTIAL RATES

EARLY BIRD BOOKING OPTION:
Book before 21 December for a special low-cost price:
£260 for fully residential place, sharing with one other woman.

Shakti Rising 2010 Residential Full stay, full price for room shared with one other: £289

Shakti Rising 2010 Residential Full stay, full price for single room: £320

Shakti Rising 2010 Residential Full stay, Sisterly bargain for women
booking more than one place at a time: £270 each full price

Non-residential rates:

Shakti Rising 2010 Non-residential Friday afternoon – Sunday afternoon
£190 (including suppers Friday and Saturday)

Shakti Rising 2010 Non-residential day rate: Saturday or Sunday not
including suppers: £50 per day

Shakti Rising 2010 Non-residential: Friday evening session only 7.30
-
9.30pm: £15

For any questions or further details please email yoga@sitaram.org

Photos from previous years’ Shakti Rising

Baby Eric leads the morning hatha class

A gorgeous campfire and singing was part of the programme

Yoga for the great change with Wendy and the giant balls

Chanting in the yurt with Uma