Yogatraveller, Clare, Ireland - April 10th 2009

With Simon, Anne-Marie, Kathryn, Fiona, Antonella, Laura, Nicky, Teresa, Aine and Shelley
Easter Weekend - Special 3 night Yogatraveller weekend in West Clare, Ireland.

Ireland is possibly one of the most beautiful places on earth and the West of Ireland is probably the most beautiful part of all. All resting on one small, yet important condition, weather! We really get it all, 4 seasons in one day, and as I write this my house feels like it's about to blow away. So when we do get calm, sunny and clear days we feel truly worthy. We bask in the sunshine (albeit under warm clothes) we gaze out at the panoramic views, no longer obscured by the clouds and the rain and we really make the most of it.



So when we bring a group of people together, especially some who have never been to Ireland, we secretly hope that the sun shines. Externally we show that the weather does not bother us, that we are open to the grace of whatever Mother Nature throws at us, but when she sends us weather fit for the southern hemisphere, especially on a yoga weekend, we rejoice!




Easter Weekend was one of these weekends. The sun shone, the mornings were bright and so we brought this focus into our practice. To be thankful and grateful for what we don't expect but are granted nonetheless. These are reasons to celebrate. So we did this with surfing, hiking, eating, listening to traditional Irish music and doing lots and lots and lots of yoga!


For anyone who knows anything about surfing, they will know that an off-shore breeze is where its at. When the wind is blowing on-shore, the water is a mess with white, choppy and churned water. But when the wind is blowing off-shore, it forms perfect, clean and green waves, ideal for surfing, from beginners to advanced. Not only did the sun shine, but the wind blew off-shore and our little group of yogis took to our boards and braved the waves of the Atlantic. It was amazing!


Most of the weekend was spent in the studio however, we did so much yoga over the 4 days: each day we had 2 x 90 minute class of asana and we also did a 2 hour yoga workshop on Easter Monday.
We did some advanced postures, Headstands, The Wheel. We did some partner yoga and worked on a sequence of standing postures throughout the weekend as a foundation for the whole practice. We talked about Prana and Apana and tried to identify it in our stance (feet turned out, weak core, hunched shoulders - Apana, Feet turned in, chest rising, strong legs and core - Apana). We learned to let go of any pre-conceptions of our bodies or our 'level' and to be happy and focused on where we are, which may be different everyday.


And all the while the weather was kind to us. It was kind to us when we took a trip into the Burren to see the famous Dolmen, it was dry as we walked around. The weather was kind to us when it stayed clear and we drove up to the highest point to look at Galway, The Burren, The Aran Island and Doolin and could see for miles and miles. It was kind to us and the sun shone brightly as we visited the famous Cliffs of Moher. It was kind to us as we took our morning meditation, walking in the early sunshine, the waterfall shimmering in the light, the sound of the water in our ears. The weather was kind to us as we surfed the cold waters of the Atlantic looking up at the green sloping hills above, bathed in yellow light. The weather was kind to us when we ran, laughing out of the pub, in the lashing rain, excited about the live music we'd seen, mindful in the rain that the whole weekend could have been like that. Grateful for everything we did receive, that we didn't expect.

Thank you, all of you for a special weekend. I enjoyed the adventure, I enjoyed the conversations (especially the ones about books), I enjoyed the weather. But mostly I enjoyed teaching you all yoga, I hope you enjoyed it too

Michelle
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