Yoga retreat in India at Christmas??

shinshin10

Would anyone have any recommendations for a yoga retreat/course in India at Christmas, for about 10 days..probably in the Goa region..
I practice bikram yoga..wouldn't be that flexible, but looking for a challenge..could you pm me links or groups..thanks

Kazbah

Hello,

Did you get any recommendations? I'm looking to do a retreat/holiday at Easter.

Ta,
Kaz

burrenyoga

Going to India can be an amazing experience.... but it is not always what we imagine before we go.

One mistake people often make is to assume that the yoga teaching in India will be better than right here in Ireland.

If you are looking for the best quality yoga and meditation teachers, I have hand picked the best ones to teach at the Burren Yoga and Meditation Centre which is located on the Galway Clare border at the foot of the Burren hills. I will let you search yourself for the website and independent reviews.

If you are set on India, then Rishikesh can be one of the best places for more traditional forms of yoga.

Mysore for ashtanga.

Goa is not typical India and is quite Westernised and many people people say destroyed by it's tourism. But I hear there are still parts which are North of Goa that are very good.

I can recommend the Satyananda Yoga Ashram in Bihar... but this would not be everybody's cup of tea, as it is more traditional genuine transformation through yoga including karma yoga, rather than simply a yoga holiday.

Best Wishes,
Dave

CBRLizzie

burrenyoga wrote: »

Going to India can be an amazing experience.... but it is not always what we imagine before we go.

One mistake people often make is to assume that the yoga teaching in India will be better than right here in Ireland.

If you are looking for the best quality yoga and meditation teachers, I have hand picked the best ones to teach at the Burren Yoga and Meditation Centre which is located on the Galway Clare border at the foot of the Burren hills. I will let you search yourself for the website and independent reviews.

If you are set on India, then Rishikesh can be one of the best places for more traditional forms of yoga.

Mysore for ashtanga.

Goa is not typical India and is quite Westernised and many people people say destroyed by it's tourism. But I hear there are still parts which are North of Goa that are very good.

I can recommend the Satyananda Yoga Ashram in Bihar... but this would not be everybody's cup of tea, as it is more traditional genuine transformation through yoga including karma yoga, rather than simply a yoga holiday.

Best Wishes,
Dave

Of course what Dave means is that while he hasn't been to all yoga classes in the country, of the ones he's experienced he has "the best quality ... teachers". He does have a good directory of yoga teachers, and a good point, that not all the best teachers are in India. Having said that, personally I love going to a hot country to do yoga, especially when its winter here.

Kazbah

Thank you Dave for your response. Lizzie you are indeed right it is the hot April weather that makes foreign shores so appealing. I guess it is more of a yoga holiday that I am looking for than an Ashram experience. I will be travelling solo so a yoga centre would give my holiday structure and I have been attending bikram and vinyasa classes for years here and I enjoy them. I do hope to get to the Burren for a weekend retreat as well this year.

I'm not set on India if anyone has had good experiences elsewhere (sunny in April!).

burrenyoga

I have a soft spot for Lanzarote and there is an excellent ashtanga yoga teacher based in Costa Teguise called Camino.

http://www.ashtangacanarias.com/esp/profesores/lanzarote.html

Weather there is great all year round..... except maybe July and August when it is too hot for my liking.

I normally do the early morning ashtanga class (Mysore self practice) from about 7:00 am to 9:00 am and then play with the kids on the beach for the rest of the day. But Camino has other classes during the day which are listed at the website link above.

If anyone would like more information, please feel free to contact me off-line.... as I have been going there for years and know the island pretty well.

Reasonably priced accommodation, great food, lovely warm sunny weather (18 to 26 degrees 90% of the year) and very nice people. Also good priced flights.

Camino speaks good English, but please be aware that most of the classes are taught in Spanish.

Best Wishes,
Dave

Icecap

Google Sanjai Verma .
He's a very popular London based Bikram teacher ,who also takes mediation classes , and one on one meditation .

He's running a Bikram retreat after Christmas in Goa.

I can't post the link,as I'm a newbie.

puppymind219

Hi all,

I am very new to yoga and am only doing home practice at the moment. The thing I am enjoying most is learning about the spiritual aspects as well as the asanas - I am finding that for me, the full experience - practice & study are the most benefiting.

Unfortunately, where I live there are not many yoga classes and the one that I have tried already seems to just focus on the mat and the exercise/weight loss which is not the experience I am looking for.

I have looked online for a yoga forum where I can discuss with like minded people and learn and understand more of the principles but I can't find anywhere!

I know this is off topic but can anybody recommend a website or somewhere for me to start?

Any advise much appreciated.

Namaste

bonzo_k

There was a lot of forum activity 5 or 6 years ago. Blogs seem to be the primary means of communication between practitioners these days.

Self practice of yoga is the most important thing, ideally at least once per day. Classes are important, but they are really just a support for your own practice. Most yoga classes are concerned only with asana / posture. They may have relaxation at the end of the class. There are not many teaching pranayama, pratyhara etc...

The yoga sutras of patanjali is a good book to read to get a big picture on the practice of yoga.

If you want to concentrate on the spiritual aspect of yoga, look for a meditation group that has a yogic leaning. Zen, Vipassana, Mindfulness etc... There are lots of these around.

Check out burren yoga site, they have a directory of teachers, so there might be someone nearby

http://www.burrenyoga.com/yoga-ireland/local-yoga-classes/

I wish you well,

CBRLizzie

If you want to try out some online classes, this is free for 2 months

https://druyoga.com/yoga-online/home

I am a dru yoga teacher, and I sometimes do these classes myself, I find sometimes its nice just to have a guided class. I've also tried lots of different yoga styles, and have found dru benefits me the most in terms of my mental wellbeing. Even though when I attended it the first time I was regularly doing Ashtanga and found this to be too gentle - I just felt such peace and happiness during the following week that I went and qualified as a teacher in it!

Icecap

puppymind219 wrote: »

Hi all,

I am very new to yoga and am only doing home practice at the moment. The thing I am enjoying most is learning about the spiritual aspects as well as the asanas - I am finding that for me, the full experience - practice & study are the most benefiting.

Unfortunately, where I live there are not many yoga classes and the one that I have tried already seems to just focus on the mat and the exercise/weight loss which is not the experience I am looking for.

I have looked online for a yoga forum where I can discuss with like minded people and learn and understand more of the principles but I can't find anywhere!

I know this is off topic but can anybody recommend a website or somewhere for me to start?

Any advise much appreciated.

Namaste

Google 'yoga forums' ......you will find a few links , you can then browse and see which suits you best .
The chap who runs Burden yoga seems to be very proactive and engaged in all forms of yoga .

yogasingh

Apoorva Yoga Academy is a certified 200 hour yoga teacher training institute in rishikesh, India.