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Yoga Study Programme – Weekend Retreats – Testing Yoga

“All is clouded by desire: as fire by smoke, as a mirror by dust, as an unborn babe by its covering.”

 Bhagavad Gita

“This world is composed of reality and unreality and bears throughout the stamp of its origin (the Almighty); it is composed of unity and duality, yet is free from both.”

Vasishtha

 

2024 Theme:

The responsibility of the yoga practitioner
in a world in transition.

“All shall be well, and all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well.”

– Julian of Norwich

2024 Weekend Retreats

yogaroom2

Yoga Room

  • March 15 – 17

 

 

This programme runs over 4 residential weekends during the year, costing €345 per weekend per person in a single ensuite room. For participants able to share a room, the cost is €295 per person sharing.

These weekends can be participated in a one by one basis. Starting Friday evening at 7pm and finishing after lunch on Sunday 3pm. Teaching, accommodation and food all included.

All of our food is vegetarian (not vegan, we cook with eggs and honey) and homemade without the use of stock cubes. We use home grown herbs and vegetables as well as our own baked bread. We can cook dairy-free/gluten free/wheat free for no extra charge. There is a surcharge of €50 per person per weekend for additional dietary requirements.

We do use non-Chinese honey and the eggs from our own chickens who free-range about the garden.

Guest feedback – “If I won the lottery, I’d hire a chef to make all my food like this”

 


‘Humanity’s Phase Shift’, Daniel Schmachtenberger

 

Now is the time – Hafiz

Now is the time to know
That all that you do is sacred.
Now, why not consider
A lasting truce with yourself and God.
Now is the time to understand
That all your ideas of right and wrong
Were just a child’s training wheels
To be laid aside
When you can finally live
With veracity
And love.

My dear, please tell me,
Why do you still
Throw sticks at your heart
And God?
What is it in that sweet voice inside
That incites you to fear?
Now is the time for the world to know
That every thought and action is sacred
This is the time
For you to deeply compute the impossibility
That there is anything
But Grace.
Now is the season to know
That everything you do
Is sacred.

 


A appreciation received on 30/11/2016:

Hi Marlene

Thank you for the email. I came to one of your weekends this time last year. It was my birthday on the Sunday. It was my birthday again yesterday and add i was reflecting on the year I knew I had to thank you.

The weekend last year changed so much for me, or maybe it cleared a lot up. Either way, I’ve had a fantastic year and I attribute this to the magical weekend in Slí na Bande.

I’m away this weekend but I’m hoping to come early in 2017 for a weekend.

So thank you again, I hope 2016 treated you well. Have a lovely Christmas and New Year and hopefully I’ll see you in 2017.

Catherine

 


 

“For language to have meaning, there must be intervals of silence somewhere, to divide word from word and utterance from utterance. He who retires into silence does not necessarily hate language. Perhaps it is love and respect for language which imposes silence upon him. For the mercy of God is not heard in words unless it is heard, both before and after the words are spoken, in silence.”

– Thomas Merton, Philosophy of Silence.

 

 


INTRODUCTION

The object of study in Yoga is “WHO AM I?”

The aim is described in Yoga Sutra’s Chapter I, the method is described in the Chapter II and its results recorded in Chapter III and IV.

What makes yoga different though is that yoga is a personal practice. We can talk, write and do research about yoga but without personal practice we cannot testify to its efficacy.

Yoga has to be practised in order for its philosophical support to be understood. In other words the theory of yoga cannot be applied. It is through the practice that the spiritual underpinning reveals itself. In yoga we become our practice. If we only practice on the physical plane, we will become more physical. If we want to become more spiritual, or operate on a higher mental plane, we practice for the mind and on the mind.

Research in yoga is always subjective and its practice brings one to the abyss of what may be known. We practice yoga with faith but without giving up the scientific spirit.

Even though yoga is a solitary practice, nobody can practice for us, the support of the community cannot be underestimated. So the goal for this YSP is how do we create and support a community in which yoga might happen.

Yoga Chalet

 

OBJECTIVE

This programme creates a space for exploring yoga and its practice. It aims to provide a space to investigate provocative ideas, thought-provoking theories and to learn about ourselves as well as the world around us. The programme actively engages with the beliefs and concepts that tend to inspire us and ground our practice but also with those we disagree. It is designed to stimulate our curiosity and to help us formulate our own possibly contrasting notions.

HISTORY

The Yoga Study Programme has been running annually since 2000. Over the years, it has investigated what our yoga practice is all about. Is it the skill of the craftsman? Is it a trade? Is it a knowledge that can be transmitted from a master to a student? Is it the search for the ideal?

Some participants have been with this programme since its inception, which says something about their commitment, the value of participants’ contribution and the merit of the programme in terms of the opportunities it offers for study and for self-exploration.

FUNCTION

The programme aims to create a community that is interested in research/investigation. Over the years we have formed a group of practitioners that support and aid the development and learning process of all participants. The close-knit dynamic of our long term practitioners breeds a greater level of openness and sharing which is extended to newcomers alike.  This group is different because participants get invited to contribute their skills and knowledge to the programme.

The course is culturally informed. In the past, people have contributed their knowledge of Irish Mythology, Theory of Evolution, and education in Irish monuments.

FORMAT

Programme participation is set up in an eminently democratic way and the course encourages each member’s singular exploration of the metaphysical aspects of yoga.  It is indexed simply on the interest each participant has in the practice of yoga and the desire to come to grips with the teachings. There will be a number of presentations by those already involved in the programme, sharing from their own experience and learning. There will be opportunities for all participants to present their interpretations and questions.

The philosophical concepts introduced in the programme are occasionally supported by showing contemporary films. These films are used as the platform to spark discussion.

Examples of films watched on previous weekends include –

 

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WHO IS THIS COURSE FOR?

The word “yogi” means “to realize the wisdom of pure awareness.”   This course is for people who are interested in educating themselves and expanding their view of the world.

This course is for people who are curious, who are excited by exploring provocative ideas in an open-minded way.

There is no previous knowledge of yoga required.

 

WHY IS THIS COURSE DIFFERENT?

This course is democratic and self-regulating. The participants add a unique offering of knowledge to the course.

 

 


 

An Example Timetable

FRIDAY

  • 7pm Dinner
  • 8.30pm Group meeting and setting of theme
  • 9.30pm – 10.30pm Yoga practice

SATURDAY

  • 8am – 9.30am Yoga Practice
  • 9.30am – 10am Meditation
  • 10.00am – 11.30pm Breakfast
  • 11.30pm – 13.00pm Presentation
  • 13.00pm – 14pm Practice
  • 14pm – 15pm Lunch
  • 15pm – 17pm Walk
  • 17 pm – 18pm Philosophy
  • 18pm – 19.30pm Yoga Practice
  • 19.30pm – 20.30pm Dinner
  • 20.30pm – 22pm Group Process/Presentation/Film

SUNDAY

  • 8.30am – 10am Yoga Practice
  • 10am – 11.30am Breakfast
  • 11.30am – 12.30am Group process
  • 12.30pm – 13.30pm Practice
  • 13.30pm – 15pm Lunch

Note: This schedule is somewhat flexible and can be changed according to the needs of the group.

 

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Schedule Of Payment

People can choose from the following payment options.

Option 1:

Pay per weekend €245,- per person sharing.

Option 2:

Pay per weekend for a single room €295,- per weekend.

 

The format and price for the whole course has remained the same as previous years. Fees are negotiable in cases of economic hardship. It is important that money does not become the reason not to participate.

 

Marlene


 

 


 

 

If they had taught us Math using this method, I think most of us would have enjoyed it a lot more!
By David Wolfe