Octoba Yoga: 29th September to 2nd November, 2013
Would you like a holiday that leaves you feeling soothed, toned and fully charged? Octoba Yoga is a holiday designed to do just that. Every Autumn we put together a month of yoga based activities to accommodate everyone from the complete beginner right through to the more advanced who want to acquire more specialist skills. We can introduce you to new techniques, new approaches or refresh your existing skills and routines.
Your Host: Kathryn Cullen
We are pleased to welcome once again, Yogi; Kathryn Cullen. Kathryn considers Yoga a lifelong pursuit and believes she will be a student for the rest of her life and beyond. She believes that Yoga is not just a workout, but is about working on yourself on many levels; spiritual and physical. It is the perfect opportunity to be curious about who you are, and start a journey of self-discovery.
With over 22 years' experience, she is undoubtly a Master Trainer in Body Balance. Kathryn has studied various schools of Yoga including: Viniyoga, Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Power Yoga, the teachings of Vanda Scaravelli and other various forms of Hatha Yoga. She integrates these disciplines in all her classes to create flowing, strong, mindful, dynamic practices. She has qualified to teach Restorative Yoga having been confronted with cancer and so helps people in similar situations, helping to renew physical, mental and emotional wellbeing in their lives by using a compassionate and mindful teaching style.
Kathryn's yoga classes are suitable for all levels, ages and abilities. All of the practices she teaches focus on the essential element of breath awareness, posture, safe and effective body alignment and include the extremely important elements of relaxation and meditation. Her classes integrate the spiritual and philosophical teachings of yoga with the energy and strength of a workout. Kathryn's number one aspiration is to encourage her students to incorporate the sense of balance, stability and harmony they learn through these classes into their daily life.
All you need to bring to class is your mind and your body!
Her Classes include:
Basically Yoga - A great place to start! Explore the basics of Hatha yoga; good posture, correct alignment in simple poses and proper breathing techniques to enhance your yoga experience.
Straight to the CORE - Cultivate inner strength through a creative and challenging blend of Yoga, Pilates and resistance work designed to strengthen, tone and stabilize the abdominals, back and pelvic regions.
Just Breathe - Our breathing patterns affect our nervous system, and through it, our emotions and state of mind. We can use our breath to help let go of tension, anxiety and stress. In this session you will be guided through a series of breathing exercises that will improve your breath awareness and restore calm and balance to your life.
Open Your Heart - Create freedom and strength in the upper back, shoulders and neck. Learn to safely unlock these habitual tension spots through focused breath work and asana that will help to strengthen, lengthen and liberate the muscles in these areas of the body.
Forward Bending and Inward Looking - Forward bends offer a great opportunity to settle down and free the mind, but not if your hamstrings are tight and screaming. This class will take you through a sequence of moves to release the back of your body so you can take full advantage of these calming postures.
Postures to Build Strength - In this practice we will focus on basic yoga postures that help to build strength, flexibility and concentration in the mind and body, emphasising the Core through extension and integration from the pelvic floor all the way up the spine.
Unlock Your Hips - When hips are tight the surrounding joints such as knees and lower back, are at risk of discomfort and sometimes injury. In this session we will utilize a dynamic sequence of standing, seated and supine poses to open our hips in a variety of directions.
Body Balance - A unique blend of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates set to inspirational music. This program is designed to make you strong, long, focused and centred.
Fitness Yoga - Prepare your body for the wear and tear caused by intense weekend activity! Here you will be guided through an all level yoga fitness class using stability balls and other equipment to help build strength, flexibility, balance and concentration, enabling you to perform better and recover faster.
Yoga Nidra - Yoga Nidra is often referred to as psychic sleep or deep relaxation with inner awareness. It is a systematic method of inducing complete physical, mental and emotional relaxation. Yoga Nidra brings body and mind to a deeply relaxed state through the gentle practice of awareness. It takes us to the level of pratyahara, in which we are introverted but not asleep, on the edge of waking and sleeping. Our body is relaxed, the mind and senses grow quiet, and the consciousness is alert, undisturbed by what goes on around us. Heart rate, breathing metabolism, and mental activities slow down; and the two hemispheres of the brain come into better balance.
Availability
29th September to 2nd November, 2013
