Holidayoga - YOGA retreats and intensive yoga holiday courses

Yoga Teachers Training Course

Italy (Tuscany) 28 June – 20 July 2008
(intensive 200 hour residential course in the beautiful Tuscan countryside)

With Virginia Wood and Gerry Rixen(course taught in English and Italian)

Cost: £ 1200 / € 1750

Accommodation in old Tuscan farm house

For more information call Virginia: 0039 348 382 8891

Click here for further details.

Yoga Holiday

Italy (Tuscany) 28 June – 20 July 2008

Yoga retreat/holiday: 1, 2 or 3 weeks

Join the above residential teachers training course for 1 to 3 weeks

(participate in all morning classes and evenings events and have time)

to discover Tuscany and it’s historical cities eg. Florence, Siena)

With Virginia Wood and Gerry Rixen(course taught in English and Italian)

Cost: £ 400 / € 600 per week or £ 1000 / € 1500 for 3 weeks

For more information call Virginia: 0039 348 382 8891

Click here for further details.

Yoga Holiday

Greece (Peleponnese) 17 – 31 August 2008
1 or 2 week yoga holiday
17-24 and /or 24-31 August 2008

With Nick Rixen and Gerry Rixen
(course taught in English and French)

Cost: 1-week: £ 270 / 2-week: £ 490 Accommodation and course only .

Click here for further details.

Holidayoga offers intensive Yoga Retreats, Yoga Teacher Training as well as relaxing Yoga Holidays, providing different types of courses for different people.

All courses are based on teaching of the basic principles of yoga, including Hatha Yoga or postures, relaxation, meditation and breathing exercises as well as philosophy and nutrition.

Underlying all Indian and far Eastern philosophy is the concept of vital energy, prana or ki, circulating in the human body and the universe. Working with prana in postures or meditation helps the practitioner tonify and relax all physical and physiological aspects of his body, but it also helps to develop mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

What is Yoga?
Yoga is essentially a method of self development or self improvement of each individual's physical, mental, intellectual, emotional and spiritual capacities. Regular practice develops our body, conscience and levels of perception. This can be developed by tuning into and opening up our own energy centres, known as chakras.

Many people have now realised that our scientific age has not brought us the inner happiness we secretly crave despite its breathtaking advances in so many fields and the comforts and leisure that come in its wake, at least for those fortunate enough to have access to these.

However yoga is essentially 'scientific' since it is based on a deep understanding of people’s fundamental needs; not just basic material needs, but physical and mental health issues as well as emotional, philosophical and spiritual issues.

It is for this reason that yoga contains elements that address problems on every level :
Asanas or yoga postures are practiced to tone and also to relax the muscles, improve posture, massage the internal organs and circulate vital energy (prana or ki) in the body. Yoga also stimulates circulation of blood and lymph, calms the nerves, improves digestion and libido and works in fact on all body systems. Practising asanas also helps us develop concentration, breath and will power.
Pranayamas are special breathing exercises that slow down breathing and help regulate the flow of energy in the body.
Relaxation helps us to relax at will - both our physical body as well as our mind. These exercises can be done any time or especially after more strenuous exercises or anytime that stress accumulates and we feel a need for it.
Meditation helps us calm the mind so that we may rise above simple emotional reactions and develop serenity and mental composure.
Yogic nutrition is based on the Indian medical system know as Ayurveda. This is not some strange or exotic system but is in fact based on common sense. The basic principles are easily understood and applied and are not exclusive to Indian culture. They are universal principles that find their echo in many other cultures.
Philosophy is also based on common sense. Although based on it’s own cultural and spiritual heritage it has universal appeal and one may readily find parallels in other cultures such as ancient Greece, Egypt or China.
In this sense yoga is a therapy and not just a workout. It is both preventive and curative. It may help us to simply keep fit or to surmount great problems, helping us bring more balance and harmony into our lives as well as guiding us towards our higher self. Above all it is a great pleasure to practice and everyone can and should practice according to their own individual capacities, not forcing the body into unnatural postures. There is no need to fight against oneself, instead yoga should be practised with enjoyment.

Teachers

Gerry Rixen is a qualified yoga teacher registered with the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre but has also practiced the Iyengar method. He is a professional Shiatsu therapist and teacher (since 1992) and founder and director of the Shiatsu & Yoga school SYM. He teaches courses and workshops in France, Greece, Sweden and Italy. Gerry is also a 4^th Dan Shorinji Kempo instructor (japanese martial art) and he has studied Yoga, Shiatsu and Shorinji Kempo with many internationally recognised teachers in the UK, Europe, Japan and Brazil.

After completing his studies at Cambridge University he worked as a language teacher and journalist before dedicating himself full-time to Yoga and Shiatsu. Gerry speaks English, French, German and Spanish.

Virginia Wood has practiced yoga for 20 years and has been teaching since 2001. She has run seminars and yoga retreats both in Tuscany and Sicily. Her style of Hatha yoga is called Dynamic yoga, inspired by her teacher Godfrey Devereux. The emphasis is on breath, the bandhas and the integrity of the body within the asana, within a vinyasa flow.

Virginia is also qualified in Chinese medicine and has been practising acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine for over twenty years. She has worked in hospitals and clinics in China, New Zealand, America, Italy and England and has written articles in medical journals on gynaecology and has assisted in various natural births. Virginia combines her knowledge of the human body with her yoga practise to address specific pains and illnesses, using the yoga practise as a physical therapy as well as a personal enquiry to maintain health and well being both in the body, the mind and the spirit.

Nick Rixen is a professional Yoga teacher, he has been practicing since 1993 and teaching in London since 2000. He originally trained in the Iyengar method which puts special emphasis on precision and alignment. Over the last years however he has also been studying other yoga styles, especially Ashtanga and Sivananda Yoga. Nick is also a jazz pianist performing regularly in and around London.