Do you feel like you are constantly running on empty, caged and held captive by endless demands on your time? Maybe you feel energetically heavy, lethargic, stumped creatively with stores of inspiration depleted or totally drained. Are you constantly on standby ready to meet the demands of others on your time, children, work, smart devices, jumping to the “ping” tones of your phone? I often felt this way and I was often left asking myself “what about me?” What about time for me? I found myself yearning for space and freedom away from it all. I am a wife, mother, with a healing business and part time job and on occasions this can all become overwhelming when I struggle to try and keep all the balls in the air and remain positive, often I am left wondering “just where is all this headed?”?
If you can associate with any of this then maybe my “Release your inner dragonfly Yoga adventure” may be the answer / ticket for you. Why releasing your inner dragonfly? I absolutely LOVE dragonflies and the symbolic meaning of the dragonfly. It is why I choose a dragonfly as a logo for my business and the qualities I try to fall back to time and time again when life becomes a struggle. Magic, mystery, joy, lightness of being, harmony, peace, strength and change are qualities the dragonfly embraces. Qualities I struggle to achieve a lot of the time but still believe we are all searching for when feeling stuck or overwhelmed by life, a little something to help transform us into a better space and place. My intention for this workshop is to try and help you attain some of these qualities in the Burren. All levels of ability are welcome from complete beginners to the more seasoned Yogis/Yogini’s. Yoga for me has always been about getting to know myself better, so in the Burren I will be giving you an opportunity to deepen your awareness of yourself and help you to awaken your inner dragonfly.
The dragonfly delves deeper into the meaning of life beyond the surface of superficial things. He discovers greater movement, healing, transformation and change but he does so in a light hearted way. As Yoga is the union of mind and body we will be incorporating breathing techniques, meditation practices and Asana’s to help us to go beyond the surface of our own physical bodies to help bring back balance and harmony to our whole system. Practising yoga regularly stretches your muscles resulting in an increase range of mobility in joints. It stretches soft tissues and improves muscle tone, strength and endurance. All this coupled together helps increase flexibility and strength within the human body bringing about better posture and body awareness. Hatha yoga practices will help therapeutically stretch, open and release fatigued bodies and muscles. Soothing relaxations and calming breath works will gently dissipate tension and tightness from the body and allow you to soften and surrender into mellow warmth as the practices fan the flames within the heart centre igniting and renewing passion and joy for life, Dragonfly type of passion.
With external pressures from everyday life taking its toll on our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing I have decided to make the emphasis of this workshop to be about “self love”. So often we tend and cater to the needs of others always placing ourselves last in the queue of life, this workshop is an opportunity for you to place yourself top of that queue by embracing pure selfish indulgent pleasure for oneself.
Socrates said “The time is now”. Right here, right now I am offering you an opportunity to indulge yourself, there are no bells or flounces, flags or banners, I am not making promises of miracles, or life changing events I will be simply guiding you through various yoga practices where you will get an opportunity to explore and possibly deepen an age old peaceful practice that will enhance your life in the most meaningful way.
Yoga teaches self-acceptance and promotes relaxation in the body. Lowers blood pressure, increases lung capacity and slows heart rate which in turn has the added benefit of boosting the immune system and we all know that your health is your wealth. My favourite benefit of all has to be the fact that yoga slows down the aging process and every little bit helps.
The benefits of yoga are numerous the above are just a few major ones. I know for me personally it taught me tools to cope with life and the struggles I personally faced. Initially I took up yoga as a means of getting out of the house where four walls on occasions would literally feel like they were closing in around me. I didn’t realize when I took that first vital step that I was embarking on a journey which would quite literally save my life. I’ve come a long way from giggling down the back in that first class, stifling laughter as we tried to bend and contorted our bodies into positions with the most bizarre names. Yoga, however, in between the laughter and giggles had stealthy seeped her way in under my skin intertwining and mixing with every miraculous cell of my body like Blackcurrant Squash mixes with water. It wasn’t until my dad died a few years later and my life spiralled completely out of control that I learnt the true value of yoga and the tools she supplies to help us cope with everyday life and the struggles we face. Yoga has quite literally picked me up off the floor and pieced me back together, on more than one occasion I may add and it has helped put me back on the right track.
I know personally what yoga is capable of so this workshop for me personally is about giving thanks for the love I have embraced through yoga. So our workshop will be about love and we will be working closely with the heart chakra whilst at the same time embracing the spirit of the dragonfly in a colourful way, so if at all possible, bring bright colourful clothes with you. We will be embarking on a journey to free our inner dragonfly and will lovingly treat ourselves in a guilt free pleasurable way whilst embracing this journey.
A little over a year ago I attended a yoga workshop at the Cliffs of Moher and the impact of the stunning location remained with me. We will have the whole complex to ourselves for this weekend so you are free to ramble at your leisure and explore. The yoga studio was purposely designed and is the essence of peace as the backdrop to our yoga will be the Atlantic Ocean. Accommodation is modern but with huge character and extremely comfortable and homely with amazing views for as far as your eyes can see. Food is contemporary vegetarian cuisine.
I found peace and freedom whilst there if only briefly and floated home after a wonderful weekend. Leaving I made a silent wish to perhaps one day return and hold my own yoga workshop there in that raw and beautiful location. The food is lovingly cooked and served each day by a chef I personally wished to bring home with me. The food will tickle your taste buds and I guarantee at some point during the weekend you will be trying to taste and identify the various ingredients as you try to figure out what was in the recipes. Needless to say that the sense of indulgence is added to when the wash up magically disappears! You simply sit back, indulge, savour, relish and enjoy.
Relax in nature’s embrace where the wild Atlantic Ocean air will cleanse and re-energise every pore of your being. Be revitalised by allowing gusts of wild energetic sea air gust through you, clearing all feelings of lethargic heaviness from your heart and soul. Power walk or opt instead to mindfully meditate whilst strolling into the breath taking scenery along the magnificent coast near the Cliffs of Moher. Throw open any energetic doors which may confine you and embrace the vast openness within yourself as free and stunning as the cliffs themselves. Feel all tension leave your body in this magnificent location where there will be no expectations, no disruptions or demands upon your time. The workshop environment seeks or requests nothing from you other than to allow yourself to be fully present in the moment and to give yourself permission to truly enjoy. My wish and hope is, that in this space like the dragonfly you will find the freedom to embrace peace, contentment and tranquillity.
To further enhance and deepen this experience you may also wish to avail, at an additional cost, of a full body massage. Raise yourself blissfully to another dimension and enjoy a further indulgence for self, offered by our workshop.
All this will unfold over the course of our weekend and as the sun sets on our journey of adventure together I guarantee you we will return to your respective homes lighter, freer, more grounded with a healthier immune system, totally relaxed and ready to face whatever the winter may unfold.
Om shanti
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Dates: Friday 9th Oct. to Sunday 11th Oct. 2015
Times: Check In 4pm on the 9th Oct and Check out at 1pm on the 11th
Cost: Early bird €370 (until 31st August 2015)
Regular price €410
Location: Cliffs of Moher Retreats, Moher Lodge, Kinielty, Liscannor, Co. Clare