Clare Stephen - I first encountered yoga while backpacking around Sri Lanka and India aged 19 and instantly fell in love with this most profound and beautiful practice. Yoga has been a constant refuge throughout my life since.
I trained to become a yoga teacher within the Iyengar tradition and qualified at introductory level in 1989. In 1991, after visiting the Iyengar Yoga Ashram in Pune India, I went on to do further training with senior Iyengar teachers and gained my junior intermediate level 3 certificate in 2005. This allowed me to specialise in teaching antenatal yoga which, being a practising midwife , was an area of particular interest.
In 1986 on a year’s trip to Asia, I visited McLeod Ganj, a Tibetan refugee village in the foothills of the Himalayas and the residence of the Dalai Lama in exile. Whilst on retreat there, we were lucky to have an audience with His Holiness on two occasions. This experience and indeed the whole journey round Asia, affected me profoundly and deepened my faith in the Three Jewels: the Buddha , Dharma and Sangha. I subsequently took refuge as a Buddhist.
I started coming to Dhanakosa in 2000 and have been teaching on yoga retreats here since 2008. I find the practice of yoga and meditation mutually supportive. Both nurture ease and deep embodiment and create the conditions for insight, wisdom and compassion to arise.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with yoga. The supportive atmosphere of the retreat allows us to develop and deepen both practices, and understand how the two augment each other. Both meditation and yoga teaching will be from first principles and will be suitable for complete beginners.
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Going Deeper with Meditation and Yoga will emphasise a body-based approach to meditation supported by the mindful body work of Yoga to help us develop a fuller physical and emotional awareness. We will continue exploring the Mindfulness of Breathing and Metta Bhavana but also introduce a stronger Just Sitting and reflection element to the practice. These retreats will also include an introduction to Buddhist ritual and the sevenfold puja. Longer periods of silence than on introductory retreats will support a deep and rich experience of ourselves and others.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with a blend of traditional yoga and contemporary approaches to embodied movement. This playful synthesis of body based approaches to wellbeing (through meditation and movement) in the peaceful and beautiful environment of the retreat can help restore physical and mental vitality and balance in our lives.
Going Deeper retreats are an ideal first regulars retreat. They are suitable for anyone who has already done an introductory retreat, or who has been attending their local Triratna centre and wants to take things deeper.
This retreat will emphasise a body-based approach to meditation supported by the mindful bodywork of Yoga to help us develop a fuller physical and emotional awareness. We will continue exploring the Mindfulness of Breathing and Metta Bhavana and also introduce a stronger Just Sitting and reflection element to the practice.
For more information read the retreat information sheet.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with yoga. The supportive atmosphere of the retreat allows us to develop and deepen both practices, and understand how the two augment each other. Both meditation and yoga teaching will be from first principles and will be suitable for complete beginners.
For more information, read the retreat information sheet.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with yoga. The supportive atmosphere of the retreat allows us to develop and deepen both practices, and understand how the two augment each other. Both meditation and yoga teaching will be from first principles and will be suitable for complete beginners.
For more information, please read the retreat information sheet.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with yoga. The supportive atmosphere of the retreat allows us to develop and deepen both practices, and understand how the two augment each other. Both meditation and yoga teaching will be from first principles and will be suitable for complete beginners.
For more information, please read the retreat information sheet.
These retreats combine introductory meditation teaching with yoga. The supportive atmosphere of the retreat allows us to develop and deepen both practices, and understand how the two augment each other. Both meditation and yoga teaching will be from first principles and will be suitable for complete beginners.
For more information, please read the retreat information sheet.
These retreats are an ideal first regulars retreat. They take successful themes from our introductory programme but gently introduce more silence, meditation and a stronger Buddhist context through teachings and Buddhist ritual (including 7-fold Puja). They are open to anyone who has done an introductory retreat or has been attending a local centre and is looking to take their practice a bit deeper.
For more information, please read the retreat information sheet.
