Padmadarshini 

I have long been interested in exploring and working with the body. Since being a teenager coming into my body through movement has been a way of connecting with and resourcing myself. I have taught yoga at Bodywise in Manchester for many years now. During this time both my personal practice and approach to teaching have ongoingly changed and evolved. It has been important to me to see the practice as a process of enquiry, exploration and creativity. This has drawn me to study with various teachers over the years and I am particularly grateful to Sarah Powers and Donna Farhi for the rich teachings I have received from them.

In more recent years  I have also been drawn to also exploring more somatic /embodied movement approaches - allowing movement to arise from listening to impulses within the bodymind and from outer stimuli. In particular I love the practice of Authentic Movement, a little known but very rich embodied relational movement practice. It’s a bit like doing the metta bhavana through movement! Whether through movement or meditation I am really interested in discovering how the body can be a 'doorway' into listening to ourselves and can help us find a deeper, more open, easeful relationship to ourselves, others and the world around us. 

Inalu Ruth Antoli -is a yoga teacher and body movement therapist. She completed the Iyengar yoga teacher training in Edinburgh and studied in Pune, India. She further developed her practice following the teachings of Vanda Scaravelli. She has also studied Thai Massage and Shiatsu, which greatly enhances her work and makes it truly holistic.

Her passion for working with the body began 20 years ago, initially through contemporary dance and currently improvised movement, butoh dance and expressive arts. For her awareness is core to the practice, grounding ourselves into the body, into the present moment, inviting our inner wisdom to shine. Out of her research and explorations in working with the body she also offers Fluid Body, a conscious dance movement practice, a space to develop creativity, awareness, expression and vitality through the moving body.

Manjunaga has been exploring the insights and practices of meditation, yoga and Buddhism for over 30 years and draws from his in-depth training in Buddhist meditation practices and yoga to create an embodied practice that addresses the body, heart and mind.

Manjunaga has taught at the Manchester Buddhist Centre for many years as well as on regular yoga & meditation retreats. He was ordained into the Triratna Buddhist Order in 2005 where he was given the name Manjunaga which means ‘kind wisdom’. He has taught as a fully accredited yoga teacher in Manchester since completing his yoga training with Simon Low and the Yoga Academy in 2008.

Manjunaga has studied and explored a wide variety of physical, energetic and spiritual practices including Hatha yoga, Yoga Nidra, Psychosynthesis therapy, Focusing and Chinese Medicine, effectively bringing together some of the essential elements from these sources of wisdom and healing into his teaching today.

His style of yoga teaching combines dynamic, flowing movement with stilling, calming restorative postures to experience yoga as a deepening awareness of the breath, cultivating peace of mind. Manjunaga feels that yoga is an awareness practice which offers people an opportunity to become more fully embodied in their experience; it allows for a greater sensitivity to emotional and physical well-being as well as allowing a natural state of open, relaxed awareness to emerge. This practice over time can support a happier, more balanced and meaningful life.

www.manjunaga.com

Open to all, these retreats are suitable for both beginners and those with more experience, but no previous experience is assumed. All these retreats include introductory meditation teaching and periods of silence.