Yoga Say

Crete Yoga Holiday

yogadmin — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 16:57:41 +0000

Here are some pics from my last yoga holiday that I led at Kissamos Beach, Crete – May 21-28th. Thanks to Zoe and her Mum for being the first to re-book from the previous year, they officially win the award of being the fastest bookers! Also to Kasey, Athina & Karrine for returning for another yoga holiday with me. A big thanks to my Mum who came again and made it to nearly all the classes. Also to Jill, Simone and Chris who took a risk coming on a yoga holiday with an unknown teacher and style. Im so happy that everyone enjoyed the holiday and would return again. Mike and his Mum make your stay so welcoming and homely that you feel you have to come back to see them. I will be re-booking and leading the holiday again next May. Check out http://www.freespirituk.com/

Falasana Beach - 10 mins from Kissamos

The Yoga Deck

Partner Yoga

Simone, Chris & Karinne - Partner Yoga

Partner Yoga

Kissamos Beach,

Lotus Family Gathering – Bavarian Forest, Germany

yogadmin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 11:30:24 +0000

Myself and some friends, teachers (Kerys, Babs & Leigh & Sophia & Winni) would like to invite you to join us for one week of sharing, connection and play as we co-create the Lotus Family! This 7-day seminar will take place at the magic Höllbachhof (www.hoellbachhof.net), a community with a beautiful back to nature retreat centre surrounded by the Bavarian forest. The programme will include rejuvenating activities for adults, children and for the whole family, combining nature, community and spirituality. Our offering includes Yoga, Meditation, arts and crafts, nature excursions, Thai yoga massage, Ayurvedic cooking, Experiential Education, music, chanting, storytelling and much more. Come and dive into your true nature to rise from the muddy waters like a blooming lotus! The course will be taught in English with German translation available. Please register in advance since places are limited. Om shanti!

Energy exchange and registration

Including accommodation, organic vegetarian meals and the course program. All prices are per person.

Early Bird (until June 1st, 2013)

Adult price: food & accommodation in tents 246€ + course fee 350€= 596€

Adult price: food & accommodation in shared rooms* 300€ + course fee 350€ = 650€

Teens ages 13 – 18: food & accommodation in tents 228€+ 122€ course fee = 350€

Teens ages 13 – 18: food & accommodation in shared rooms* 258€+ 122€ course fee = 380€

Children ages 5 – 12: food & accommodation in tents/ shared rooms* 90€+ 130€ course fee = 220€

Prices for children and babies 4 years old and younger are on donation

* Shared rooms are with other families

** SCHOLARSHIP FUND is available. Please contact us for more information.

*** FAMILY DISCOUNT: 1st Adult normal price, 2nd Adult 25% discount off the course fee.
1st child normal price, 2nd child 25% discount off the course fee, 3rd child 50% discount off the course fee.

REGISTRATION: Please register with Babs or Winni or contact them should you have any questions.

Babs: e-mail: kalaayana@googlemail.com or Tel. +49 (0)160 96478354

Winni: e-mail: winni@flying-yogis.de or Tel. +49 (0)179 4325545

Juice Fasting and Healthy Eating Retreat, Faralya Hotel, South-west Turkey

yogadmin — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 10:13:29 +0000

I am excited to work with Jiva Healing on one of their most beautiful fasting retreats in Turkey. I will be teaching daily yoga classes and offering Thai, Osteo Thai massage. There is also an option to join without doing the full fast!

To book contact Jiva Healing, email, jivahealing@gmail.com, or phone: Melissa Kendall (UK) +44 7786 363 553

Workshops in Berlin – Sky Yoga Studio

yogadmin — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 06:22:06 +0000

I will be teaching a w.end workshop in Berlin at Sky Yoga Studio. This w.end will be a devotional practice from the heart shared with my beautiful friends Mischka & Lulu who will be playing live during the body, breath, flow class. Mischka & Lulu will also have a evening concert.

Please see their music here.

http://www.pozible.com/project/18623

Back to the Heart Retreat with Spring Groove and Helen

yogadmin — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 05:58:04 +0000

Please join me in a joyful and mindful daily practice that will restore you to the Best possible version of You and Spring Groove who’s “MUSICAL MEDICINE”-LA Music Connection Magazine & Mantra “WILL FILL YOU WITH POSITIVE VIBRATIONS”-La Repubblica and entice you to “SING YOURSELF ALIVE”- NYC Village Voice – “THE VOICE of YOGA”- Yoga Journal

Allow the delicious, traditional Greek cuisine to nourish you, its majestic mountains and ancient rocks to inspire you and the powerful clear blue Libyan Sea to invigorate your soul at one of the most beautiful places on earth, Pavlos Taverna on Triopetra Beach, Crete Greece.

Also available; excursions to local villages, boat rides, private voice instruction and Dynamic Thai Massage & Singing Bowl Therapy.

26 May- 2 June

PRICES- From 650 Euros to 850

RESERVATIONS and INQUIRIES- helen@yogasay.org www.yogasay.org
http://springgroove.com/
spring@springgroove.com
info@kretashala.de

FLIGHTS- Fly to Hania or Heraklion
http://www.skyscanner.net/ http://www.kayak.co.uk/flights

BYC Blog Post March 2013

yogadmin — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 07:40:15 +0000

STUDY THE DIVINE DANCE OF THAI MASSAGE

04/03/2013 by yogasayom

Over the last couple of months I’ve been fortunate enough to spend time in the traditional place to study Thai massage; Chiang Mai. My love for the sangha community that congregates at this time of year, means that I get to meet my favourite teachers and practitioners of Thai massage. Like Chiang Mai, the art of Thai massage is constantly evolving. With innovative teachers such as David Lutt holding courses in Dynamic Thai and Osteo Thai both inside the city and out at a magical place “Om Waters”, Sri lanna national park (http://www.facebook.com/omwaters?fref=ts). His OsteoThai for internal organs held with water all around was the best course yet in my oppinion! Check out www.osteothai.com for courses.

Then there are the traditional masters such as Argent Pichet who teaches 30 minutes outside of Chiang Mai. A visit to him is an experience in itself, as you enter the temple room, it is filled with candles, incense and offerings from everyone who is studying with him. He may or may not turn up to teach and if you’re lucky enough to see him, the morning will consist of a dharma talk (‘too much thinking, tension tension, too much yoga!!) and chanting. He may then pick someone to work on and tell them how many problems they have! The afternoons are spent practicing.

Teachers such as Krishna Takis and David Lutt, Kaline, Till Heeg and many more all began their sacred journey into Thai massage at Lahu village (http://www.thaiyogamassage.infothai.com/coursesvillage.html), one hour from Chiang Mai. A traditional village where you go back in time, live in nature with the pigs running around, enjoy local dance and music, Lahu language and traditional dress. If you are thinking of learning this wonderful practice, Lahu village is the place to begin and I’d recommend Sunshine network. You will get into the basic living as its your roots living in nature and your heart will be full with joy and love by the end.

If Thailand is a little out of your reach and you cannot get there anytime soon, do not despair as there are lots of courses happening in Europe this Spring and of course you get to experience Takis, Kaline and David together at BYC this year. (Early Bird tickets available nowhttp://www.barcelonayogaconference.cat/index.php/en/register ). Takis will be teaching a pre-conference day and both David and Takis will hold a 4 hour workshop through the w.end. Check out the Sunshine House video for a taster of what the 10 day Thai massage courses are all about.

http://youtu.be/zSH4oSONM54

The next upcoming course that I can highly recommend is with two wonderful teachers Till and Pau at Om Shanti, Barcelona (http://omshanti.cat/index.php?option=com_contentandview=articleandid=229andcatid=4andlang=en). Till and Pau have spent many years studying at Lahu village and with Takis at Sunshine House, Greece. Till has been a physiotherapist for many years and Pau is an incredible acro yoga teacher, this provides a winning combination of structure, anatomy with the fun and games of acro yoga , all blending together into one amazing 10 day course. This course is almost full so if you want to learn with them sign up ASAP. I was lucky enough to receive a massage from Till in Chiang Mai and what a wonderful 2 and half hours it was. As one of my friends described this kind of massage, “it’s like you’re taken apart and then put back together again, whilst creating a connection to one another hearts”. Till’s touch is gentle and caring, working throughout the body combining dynamic Thai, OsteoThai and Till.Thai’s own sweet touch. I was taken on a journey around my body, rocked into a dream state with many deep moments of silence and then gently brought back around with a gentle hand on my head and heart.

Begin a journey that will change and rock your world. Join the Sunshine Thai Massage Sangha.

Metta xx

Writing for Barcelona Yoga Conference (BYC) Inspiration

yogadmin — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:33:34 +0000

Since August 2012 I have been writing short articles for the BYC Inspiration blog, under the name ‘yogasayom’. So I thought I would share them on my website as well. There are also lots of other interesting articles about the Yogic Path to inspire you, so take a look and come and join the BYC 2013 from July 4-8th. http://barcelonayogaconference.org/

CELEBRATE WINTER SOLSTICE

21/12/2012 by yogasayom

Its the run up to Christmas and as the hustle and bustle goes on around me, I take time to reflect on why we celebrate Christmas? As I sit in my sister’s flat in Vancouver with her two young kids (ages nearly 1 & 4) I know that Christmas in this house hold is for them, especially as little Louis turns one on Boxing day and it’s a white Christmas already.

For the past few years I have avoided the West and had peaceful Christmas’ without consumerism, presents, films, excessive food….or family . However being in Vancouver this year, a city that is fresh and vibrant with yoga and healthy living as a priority, it’s inspired me to look at how this time of year can be a celebration of upcoming light, nature, family, community and the abundance of everything we have already in the west. As the longest darkness day of the year approaches and the end of the Mayan calendar, it is a day that has been celebrated across the globe by different cultures for thousands of years. Winter solstice (solstice stands for ‘Sun stands still’) is the start of the solar year, celebration of light & the re-birth of the Sun. This is a traditional time to celebrate truly important things in your life; your passion, family, Children, friends, home and to look forward to a wonderful year to come.

Around this time there is an old Pagan tradition called Yule, which honours love and new birth, as well as the collective unity of humanity. Many of the rituals from Yule were adopted by Christians into the celebration of Christmas. Just as Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, Yule celebrates the birth of the sun god – child of the goddess in the Pagan belief system. This to me seems a good reason to celebrate Christmas, rather than the increasingly commercialised version on offer!

Through the darkness there is always light, when life throws its obstacles at us we can shield ourselves by turning deep inside, like a turtle protected by its shell. Darkness exists, as without it, there would be no light. There would be no opportunity to find the strength that dwells deep within us, to touch the face of compassion, to understand that we need not fear the darkness. For it allows us to find the inner light, and in understanding this, we find the path to wisdom that only comes through our comprehension, that darkness dwells so can we find the true light that resides within. Our practices help us stay in touch with this light, its this light that guides us through the darkest times & brightens our journey at other times, once found it is never lost as it is part of who we are & the gift we bring to others.

So on the shortest day of the year why not create your own Winter Solstice celebration, leaving behind modern day madness of shopping, shopping, shopping. Instead go back to your roots, to nature & create a Solstice to suit your heart, friends & family.

Maybe make and bake your gifts for one another, choose your favourite woods or space indoors or outdoors, pick a time of day when the light is just right, enjoy your favourite food & bake a cake decorated with a Sun. Then create the atmosphere by lighting candles, these symbolise light & create a circle, each person could light a candle and say something they are grateful for & something they wish for another person. Create an offering for nature around you, the birds, the bees, the trees and all animals in nature. Talk about how offering food to the animals connects us and makes us grateful for our place in nature. Join into the community intentional power to spread support for a new cycle of love, peace and rebirth.

Winter Solstice rituals and celebrations serve to remind us not to become fully engulfed by darkness, but rather choose to understand it and the gift it can bestow. To recognise that this darkness is not just the physical darkness of winter, but also the darkness that creeps into our minds, clouds our vision.

I will leave you with one of the oldest mantras from the Upanashads. Happy Solstice celebrations!

asato ma sadgamaya
tamaso ma jyotirgamaya
mrtyorma amrtam gamaya

Lead me from Untruth to Truth

Lead me from Darkness to Light

Lead me from Death to Immortality

(Brhadaranyaka Upanishad — I.iii.28)

Some tips for your your ceremony are below:-

Solstice celebrations

Indoors or outdoors?
Time of celebration?
Food important part of celebrations – favourite food or pot luck
Candles & bake a cake decorated with a sun. You could put candles on the cake & each family member blows one out. They symbolise light
Gather in a circle around the candles & each person light a candle & all say something you are grateful for or something they wish for another person the following year.
Story telling around a fireplace around a fire place or bonfire or in the dark.
Create an offering for nature around us, the birds, the bees, the trees & all animals in nature. Talk to your kids about how offering food to the animals connects us & makes us grateful for our place in nature.
Yule wreaths, logs and trees are other familiar aspects of solstice celebrations. Wreaths can represent both the family circle and the cycle of seasons. Making one from natural materials that you collect can be a meaningful and enjoyable activity. While you work, you can discuss the meaning of the various customs, or each friend or family member can share something they appreciate about each other or about winter.
Yule trees are ideally living and each person make a ornament, decoration for the tree.
Gifts are traditional, why not think about what you could make for one another rather than buy, maybe nature themed. Or give the gift of your time & presence with the people closest to you.
Hold hands at the end of the ceremony in a circle & focus on the joys of friendship & family.

sun-lord-yantra-soulscapes–healing-art

AN AUTUMN THOUGHT…. & POEM BY HAFIZ

14/10/2012 by yogasayom

As the seasons change, leaves fall & Autumn draws in, it’s a time for us to look at how we can stay rooted, connected to nature & our hearts. Observe the leaves as they fall, take time to notice the beautiful colours & shapes, feel the crisp air as you take deeper inhales & slow exhales, sit for a while.

As you do so observe the mind, is it in the past or future, or maybe the present moment, remembering just as the seasons change, everything in life is constantly moving, flowing… you never know what is around the corner but what ever it is you need to be ready, with an open heart & mind, steady, strong & grounded. So as the new moon arrives “let what comes, come, let what goes, go”. Resist grasping for things you are looking for, they will flow when the moment is right, just as the leaves fall from the trees.

Leave the familiar for a while
Let your senses stretch out
Like a welcome season
Onto meadows shores and hills
Change rooms in your mind for a day
All the hemispheres in existence
Lie beside the equator of your heart
Greet Yourself
In your thousand other forms
As you mount the hidden tide
And travel
Back home
Into the great circle of the heart.

HAFIZ

KRISHNA DAS – NEW YORK TIMES – ‘EX-ROCKER FINDS A DIFFERENT PATH TO FAME, CHANTING ALL THE WAY!’

29/09/2012 by yogasayom

Check out this New York Times article about Krishna Das’ life & how he has become an international Kirtan legend. You can also view his new documentary One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das which will be screened at the Wood Stock film festival in October.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/ex-rocker-finds-a-different-path-to-fame-chanting-all-the-way/

“The 72-minute documentary, “One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das,’’ which was directed by Jeremy Frindel, finds Krishna Das in the foothills of the Himalayas, where he lived in the early 1970s and learned to chant and play an accordion like organ called a harmonium”.

All at BYC are super excited about having KD at the conference in July 2013. In 2010 I attended his concerts in London & Barcelona, i can say that the concert in Barcelona literally rocked! Spanish vibrant energy mixed with the deep mysterious tones of KD meant the whole place went wild! It was a real fiesta! Roll on July & let the party begin!

OSTEOTHAI

03/09/2012 by yogasayom

Photography by Patrici Torales – www.patriciatorales.com

David Lutt & Arnaud L’Hermitte have created this unique & innovative form of body work. They describe OsteoThai as the meeting of traditional Thai massage and osteopathy, a bridge between East and West. It’s a form of bodywork that combines extraordinary Thai massage techniques with the precise and gentle touch of osteopathy.

The BYC 2012 were fortunate to have a 4 hour workshop with David & Arnaud. There were over 120 people in the room ready to experience the joy of learning OsteoThai from these two French men. The class began with David teaching Capoeira to everyone. He smoothly moved from Capoeira to a teaching about loosing mobility in the joints & the body, everybody was physically participating in this exercise. It was funny as he & then 100 people became like robots showing what happens as you lose mobility in the knees & then ankles so you could only move like stick men! Then Arnaud wasted no time in parading up & down with his pants rolled down to show everybody where the SI (sacroiliac) is!

David moved onto teach about the importance of reciprocal tension, using a piece of elastic handed between the group to show slack & tension. A very interactive theory session!

Reciprocal Tension Frame

The guided demo’s began & for the next 3 hours the group were led through the art of OsteoThai. There were 8 assistants in the room to help everybody find their way up & down the body. As the guided demos were so clear everyone in the room was able to pick up the techniques superbly. At the end of the class all were relaxed & happy to have experienced this incredible form of body work with two amazing, super knowledgable, funny Professors! Check out http://www.osteothai.com/ for their upcoming courses across the world….

BLISSFUL MOMENTS FROM BYC 2012

02/09/2012 by yogasayom

There were so many wonderful inspiring teachers & workshops its hard not to mention them all! Below are a few of the blissful moments we shared.

Bridget Woods Kramer – Anusara Yoga – Bridget led some beautiful classes expressed from her heart with so much humility. At the beginning of her first class she expressed to all how nervous she was & how she didn’t want to mess it up! , such sweetness was offered, many people at the end of her classes had tears in their eyes.

Dayalu – As resident of Amma’s ashram in India & a true devotee (www.amritapuri.org), Daylu expressed stillness & calm as well as love & compassion through his carefully aligned classes. He taught from his heart as a selfless offering from Amma.

David Lurey & One Sound - This class was a beautiful flowing class accompanied by the divine sounds of One Sound. One of my favourite things I took away from this was the Ardha Chandrasana (AC) dance! Switching quickly between the right & left leg in AC with a crossed Uttanasana (standing forward bend) in between, so much fun!

One Sound
Photo by Patricia Torales

Patrick Broome - Patrick was teaching every day however i only had opportunity to do one afternoon class. Patrick shared that no matter what school of yoga you are from, we should all unite in the ultimate journey of self enquiry & sharing love & compassion through the community. This class was not over demanding but perfect for those at the end of their Asana marathon on the Sunday afternoon.

Phillippe & Sabine – NIA – This was a super highlight of the festival (a friend shared that it was the best class they experienced), something completely different from a yoga class but incorporating the breath & movement to high energy music, teachers & was a lot a lot of fun! The room was packed full of people dancing their socks off, not afraid to express themselves through movement which draws from martial, dance & healing arts. http://www.nianow.com/practice

Alexia CHellun – Bhakti – A sweet afternoon class where Alexia led us through some devotional chants & Om’s. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adpUF6jpyyg

Evening Kirtans – Prem Joshua - Acro show Marina & Ronan - Saturday Night was a fabulous evening which started off pretty chilled & then ended up with Prem Joshua rocking BYC. At first all were sitting by the end everyone was dancing! Wonderful! http://www.premjoshua.com/index.php

Prem Joshua
Photo by Patricia Torales & Acro show with Marina & Ronan

Sunday Night was the Kirtaniyas - The final evening of the BYC & the Kirtaniyas did an amazing job at making sure the festival fun continued right to the very last song. With their high energy kirtan it was impossible not to pick up on this & dance the evening away, even if you did feel your body was exhausted. Everybody throughly enjoyed them & left the conference full of Bhakti, I hope that they will be back next year…….??

http://kirtaniyas.com/

The Kirtanias
Photo by Patricia Torales

THE SACRED DANCE OF BYC 2012 WITH KRISHNA TAKIS

13/08/2012 by yogasayom

After the success of the Krishna Takis 4 hour Dynamic Thai massage at the BYC in 2011, he was back to rock the 2012 BYC , with a full day of Dynamic Thai Massage at the start of the conference & then a 4 hour workshop on the Saturday. As usual Takis was able to draw a large group of people with open hearts, minds, hands & hips ready for the unique style of Thai massage that literally rocks & dances the receiver apart & then puts them back together again. Offering Metta: Loving Kindness, Karuna: compassionMudita: sympathetic joy. Upekkha: Freedom & equanimity.

Takis describes Thai Yoga Massage as a sacred dance. A holy communion between two people used to unblock energy stagnation. It is essentially an ancient Eastern healing technique used as a tool to awaken our spiritual flame and inner therapist. Learning the beautiful art of traditional Thai massage is not just about memorising a series of exercises, nor about thinking that we can cure someone of their sickness. It is about learning to give from the heart with compassion and to have deep understanding of the other person’s suffering. We are all one. We are reflections of each other’s strengths and weaknesses. We are all connected. Learning how to give and to receive….to touch….to breathe….to feel. When we massage, we don’t aim to heal, we aim to help others believe they can and will be healed. When we are connected to the Divine, the healing process happens all by itself. We are just channels to remind each other of this. And thus the dance begins…

With over 100 people per workshop giving & receiving the sacred dance the energy at the BYC was so special, generating unconditional love & ending the day uniting our hearts through chanting Hare Krishna, bliss!. Maybe the BYC should become the Barcelona Yoga & Thai Massage conference……..BY&TMC..umm?

Guided demo by Tillthai.com

Conscious Eating, Creative Cooking and Yoga Retreat, Littleton Mill, Wiltshire, UK

yogadmin — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:14:04 +0000

I will be teaching Yoga & giving treatments (Dynamic Thai/ Osteothai Massage) on my lovely friend Rebecca’s Conscious Eating retreat, Jiva Healing. See below for more info & for booking contact Jiva Healing directly, jivahealing@gmail.com.

Take part in cooking classes that will help you to become more creative in the kitchen. You will put together healthy, delicious and satisfying meals and learn about macro-nutrient balance, times of the day for optimal digestion and assimilation, how stress affects digestion and why it’s important to relax while eating. You will learn about common allergens in foods and how to easily avoid them as well as effective ways of balancing blood sugar. Research is showing the important role that stress-reduction plays with illness on many levels. This weekend retreat will teach you the importance of slowing down and relaxing, and what that can mean for digestion, assimilation and energy levels. Daily yoga classes and massage will also be part of the program.

Juice Fasting Detox Retreat, Littleton Mill, Wiltshire, UK

yogadmin — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 22:01:29 +0000

Juice Fasting Detox Retreat, Littleton Mill, Wiltshire, UK

I will be teaching Yoga & giving treatments (Dynamic Thai/ Osteothai Massage) on my lovely friend Rebecca’s Juice Fasting retreat, Jiva Healing. Please contact Jiva Healing directly for bookings.

Geneva Yoga & Music Festival

yogadmin — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 13:34:16 +0000