Yoga Retreat

Finding the Inner Beauty in Your Practice

April 25 - May 2, 2009 - with Sara Granstrom and Lorraine Taylor

About the Retreat

In answer to the mistaken notion that Ashtanga is a fast, hardcore, yang style of yoga, this retreat will look at ways in which we can find beauty and joy in our practice.

Yoga is about being kind to your body and not causing pain or injury. Learning to be present and feel the asanas rather than perform them enables us to move our practice to a new level.

Yoga is also about understanding yourself on all levels. Cultivating fluidity and softness enriches the practice, and once breath and movement are seamlessly synchronized, a beautiful flow occurs. Through this moving meditation, we learn to develop more awareness, and gratitude for our body, mind, practice, and life.

Mornings will be dedicated to breath-work exercises, which will provide an introduction to Pranayama and create an awareness of the importance of the breath on and off the mat. This will be followed by yoga asana taught in the traditional method of Ashtanga Vinyasa, either partially guided by a teacher ("Led") or self-paced under the guidance of a senior teacher ("Mysore style"). Afternoons will consist of intuitive flow and restorative yoga, philosophy, chanting, and Q&A sessions.

Evenings will offer kirtan, tratak, mantra, meditation, and movies.

About the Teachers

Sara completed her Centered Yoga Training in June 2005. She is a dedicated and focused student of yoga, which is evident in her teaching and sharing of the practices. Sara has studied both Pranayama and Asana intensively and is a senior graduate of Centered Yoga Institute. She teaches yoga regularly in Stockholm, Sweden, and is developing her own center on Gotland, Sweden. In addition, Sara is a student of and practitioner of ayurveda and nutrition. Sara spends about four months a year teaching at Yoga Thailand. For more please see her full bio.

Lorraine teaches full time at Yoga Thailand, and is a long term practitioner of yoga in many forms, including Ashtanga yoga. She is dedicated to the study and practice of Pranayama and Asana, and is a resident of Samui, with her husband and young son. She recently owned and ran the Yoga Café here on Koh Samui, and has many other wide and varied experiences. She brings a light sense of humor into her teaching. (Must be a result of that Liverpool, come Irish, background.) For more please see her full bio.

The Daily Schedule

The schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the teacher.

7:00 am	Morning herbal tea
7:30 am	Intention and Day Opening Breathwork-Pranayama and Meditation
8:15 am	Asana Practice: detailed guidance in the Asanas, develop and grow a self-practice from the Ashtanga Yoga series going through in led detail and mysore style
10 - 11:30 am	Brunch Buffet
4:00 pm	Special workshop covering both Asanas and Pranayama as well as the selected philosophical or anatomical topic. There will be some discussion and Q&A and some time working on the breath, poses and restorative yoga
6:00 pm	Dinner Buffet
6 - 9:00 pm	Steam room available
7:30 pm	Evening program - video, satsang, meditation