Yoga and the numerous wellness practices and systems we utilize while on retreat, offer new ways of being in relationship with ourselves. Yoga asana offers guidelines and shapes for us to fill in our own unique ways to better connect us with the present moment. From this place of connection or union, many people come to the realization that they are already whole just the way they are. That we are already one with a higher field of consciousness, with each other, and with ourselves.
Yoga is getting in flow with the life in you that wants to be lived. It’s allowing yourself to take a full inhale and exhale. It’s tuning into the natural rhythms of the eco-system that we are a part of, and it’s finding our place in it. It’s knowing that we are not as separate as we think. We see into the myth of separation, and we see that even the idea that yoga is ‘to yoke or unite,’ is an idea, an approximation and is not quite the whole truth either. Because the reality below all the layers of our human story and mind’s narrative, and compacted trauma, and our conditioning, and, and… is that we are whole on a deeper level. We are already connected to our soul consciousness and beyond. Yoga lets us tap into that knowing.*
In it’s highest form, the practice takes us home to this remembering, not to a new place. Yoga removes the veils of illusion, confusion, and misunderstanding, and shows us how to get in touch with our soul selves. And when we connect to the wisdom of the soul there is a relaxing quality we can let in. There is healing that happens at that level.
At the Winter Retreat, I will be your main guide for the yoga and meditation practices during our time together. You will also have Teresa leading a full morning session that incorporates conscious dance and Christin will offer guidance in some of the classes with me, too. :) You do not require any previous experience to join in these practices. I will guide you through various movements and breathing exercises and meditations and sound to align you with yourself and with the season and the cosmos.
The cosmos, you think? Now maybe I’m laying out too high of expectations here and it’s beginning to get a little fluffy or vague. What I am really saying is I tune into the astrological influences in addition to the energy of the group to co-create practices. (More on astrology and sound on next week’s blog!) The sessions on retreat aim to help us all settle into ourselves a little more by connecting with our body, calming our nervous system, and meeting ourselves with self-love as best we can. Taking a holistic approach, I offer yoga asana sequences that aim to relax and restore, as well as stretch you outside of your ordinary way of being in the world. The meditations often incorporate mantra, mudra (hand positions), guided visualization and energetic breathwork. I will do my best to share more about the history of the practice to set the container so you know what you are doing and can consent to it, as I want you to be able to trust and be with your body as you need to in each practice in your own way.
At the end of the day we can talk about it, around it, through it, but one must really sink into the practice by their own direct experience to understand and learn for themselves. In this place of embodiment, yoga no longer is a debate or a philosophical question or a complex spiritual system. Yoga simply is. And as you begin to develop a practice of your own, or work with a teacher who teaches more in alignment with the original forms of yoga, you will come to know yourself and the deep connection you have to all life on this planet and beyond.
And if your mind or capacity for these kinds of “spiritual” experiences are limited or complicated, you may just get to stretch out your hamstrings and rest your tired bones awhile in community, and this can be holy and serve it’s purpose in it’s own way for you. It is not up to me to decide the experience you will have or to name it, that will be up to you, and the only way to know it is to show up and practice.
A little bit about my background as a yoga teacher—I started out as a prenatal yoga teacher back in 2012, and I taught yoga and mindfulness to the older adult population for 4 years in a hospital from 2013-2016. I’ve taught yoga to teens in schools and to children ages 0-5. I’ve taught students in the womb all the way to end of life. I meet you where you are at, and we will do the work together.
Please reach out to me with any known history/surgery/pregnancy/loss or circumstance you would like me to be aware of so I can be sure to consider it when I outline the sequences for the retreat. For those registered, a survey will arrive to your inbox next week about such questions as I will also be looking at your replies as I prepare the group flower essences. (Stay tuned for our final blog which will announce the essence!)
Until then, I look forward to meeting you on the mat. I have some fun new tools I want to share with you all, including a really cool sound prop to support us in our meditation! We will talk more about the practices as we approach the date and get our final numbers in.
Last, there will be some props that will be helpful for you to bring along with you (the full list will be disclosed next week in our welcome note). I will list some of the basics here for those of you who register last minute (we are less than 2 weeks away from the deadline, you can do it!).
What to bring:
Yoga mat
Cozy blanket to cover you while you rest
Pillows/bolsters to help you get comfortable in a supine position (good to think of one for the head and under the knees at a minimum).
Some yoga blocks
A belt or strap
Eye pillow/cloth covering (scarves work)
If you have trouble with locating these props or would like to borrow some of mine, please email me right away so I can make sure to bring extras for you.
Until then, “see” you next week on the New Moon in Capricorn…where I will share more about the sound experiences and astrology happening during the month of January, in particular the weekend we chose to hold the retreat :)
In love~
Kali
*While yoga can connect us to deeper parts of ourselves that offer us comfort, sometimes we can also uncover unhealed traumas and other points of discomfort that are ready to be held. Please consult your mental health professional or consider your own mental health bandwidth to check in if this retreat space container will be the right space for you. This retreat container and the yoga and other wellness activities complement but do not replace therapy, medical treatment, or offer medical advice. This retreat though it may address the topic of trauma on a topical level, is not a therapeutic support group.