Yogatogo's first guest blogger - Zayera Khan on her new year yoga retreat experience:
I attended ashtanga vinyasa yoga retreat for 10 days (26.12 - 04.01) on the island Kadermo, Hanko in Finland. Hanko is ca 2 hours train ride away from Helsinki, and to get on to Kadermo you need a car/taxi and then a boat over to the island. However the island itself and the retreat is definately worthwhile the long trip.
These 10 days were absolutely fantastic, and we stayed in a wooden villa which belonged to the Yoga teacher Stefan Engström. Normally during the summer camps, participants stay in other summer cottages on the island. The participants in this camp were from various places across Finland, Sweden, Germany and England, hence most of the teaching was carried out in English (Stefan also speaks finnish and swedish). This year we were 13 persons, 12 women and 1 guy & 2 accompanying dogs. (During the summers it is more mixed, and people also attend with their families and children).
The participants had different levels on yoga practice, some were like me beginners, while others had practiced for 3-5 years.All meals were vegetarian and we experienced a very healthy diet, as the meals were cooked and served every day by a "cook". The participants only had to do the dishes.The landscape was great and we were lucky with bright sunny days in the cold frosty weather.
Our yoga retreat had the following schedule:
> Morning session with 1-2 hours yoga asana practice (9-11 am, as the sunrise was so late in finland). Asanas = the ashtanga vinyasa postures which come in 3 series and on various levels of difficult. Some of the morning sessions were instructed while others were mysore style. After the Asanas, we had the opportunity to enjoy the traditional finnish washing in the hot sauna. Following the sauna we had brunch as our first meal and free-time for 2-3 hours before the afternoon session.
> Afternoon session contained learning pranayama, yoga nidra and consciousness yoga practice. Pranayama are breathing techniques which actually require 6 months of daily ashtanga yoga practice before a student is allowed to continue. According to the yoga philosophy a student should first purify their physical bodies, before moving on the conscious aspects which come with the pranayama. Yoga nidra, is a relaxation technique which is applied to raise consciousness and We also practiced and discussed the different bandas, ujjai breathe and how these all connects with the physical body and strengthen the ASANAS. Stefan also discussed with us the theoretical aspects of yoga, as well as the anatomy of the body and chakras. He presented to us a model of how yoga philosophy connects with chakras, our energy and how the body and spirit interacts.
> Evening, we had our evening meals and free-time, with chatting, watching a movie, or just hanging out.
Overall these 10 days affected me in a very positive way and I will continue to practice the yoga techniques I have learned. What I liked and fitted in my life at this retreat, was the opportunity to connect both the physical with the spiritual realms.As these days were pretty intense - the participants who shared these 10 days became friends, and we were able to talk about both yoga related but also our real-life related issues. It seemed like the retreat let us focus on ourselves, and let us open to everything else around us. What was a funny coincidence it that many of the participants had also read Eckhart Tolle, and even brought his books with them, including myself :-)So for us, the island provide a wonderful place to focus on NOW and come to deeper realizations.I can sincerely recommend the yoga retreat at Kadermo, especially if you are interested in not only doing "yoga" but also being in a great environment, connecting with wonderful people and learning a thing or two about spirituality.
Stefan has yoga retreats going on continuously during the summer, and has the next one coming up at easter. If you have specific questions, feel free to contact me or Stefan directly through his website below.
About the retreat http://www.yogaartsmagic.net/
HARI OM TAD SAT.
zayera.khan@gmail.com
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