This month's Yoga Feature…
"SUMMER SOLSTICE MANDALA CEREMONY”
Thanks for your continued support… Kay xx
PLUS
Retreat News
SPANISH YOGA RETREAT
September 13th-18th 2024
Just a few places remaining…
MOROCCO April 5th-10th 2025 open to book…
AUGUST 3rd 2-24 - Date finalised Summer YOGA & Stand Up Paddleboarding Fun Day in Bala mid-Wales, a day out or stay on the campsite, B&B or cottage of your choice.
Speak to us for options
MINI AFTERNOON RETREATS dates to be announced…
Focusing on…
How Yoga, somatics, meditation and the breath can Improve your FLEXIBILITY STRENGTH & OVERALL WELLBEING
My Thoughts & New Announcements
Welcome and thank you to the new yogis who have joined my classes or attended retreats and also to the new subscribers to my App, I hope you enjoy this Newsletter.
Greetings to everyone.
I am still hoping for the summer to start with the warmer weather.
It is great to have you all on board and I am still forever grateful for our wonderful community, which is ever-growing. This allows me to share my ambition to make yoga accessible to everyone, whatever age or physical or mental condition.
This newsletter’s feature focuses on the Summer Solstice and what that means to us in terms of Yoga. With a FREE 60 min Summer Solstice Mandala Ceremony.
Spanish 5-Day Yoga Retreat
13th-18th September 2024
Just 2 spaces left
Beginners - Single Travellers Welcome
Valle de Vida, Spanish Retreat – Andalusia Spain , Malaga Please contact me with any questions suitable for all levels and beginners. A Yoga Retreat to Revitalise, Rejuvenate & Reawaken Your Body & MIND. Join us in this idyllic Spanish mountain health and yoga retreat centre. Enjoy YOGA & Meditation - Swim in the salt-water pool, Soak up the sun, Walk in the mountains or simply Relax and Enjoy the vibrant flora, waterfall and caves. Do as much or as little as you wish. Relax in the SPA & Hamman steam room. £774 sharing/ £884 single occupancy https://www.zestyoga.co.uk/vallede-vidas-yoga-retreat |
Saturday, August 3rd we launch our first Family Stand Up Paddleboarding and wild swimming event in Bala Wales
2-hour SUP lesson £45
Book directly with Tony at
2 Hours Yoga £25
Book with Kay
Picturesque Lake Bala in Wales
World-renowned white water expert Stand up Paddle boarder Tony from Dragon
Activities Bala Lake is going to teach up how to Paddle Board Properly
Then we can try some yoga poses too.
Kids can gain confidence in the bath and have a duck follow behind
Or have a go on a sit-on-top Kayak or even do a spot of jousting - lots to do and lots of fun for all the family all ages.
Chilling afterwards with some Wild Swimming, YOGA/meditation with Kay
Moroccan Mountain Yoga Retreat
5th-10th April 2025
Talk to me about all the options and any questions you may have.
What a wonderful opportunity to share this beautiful experience with like-minded people.
Do you need spoiling and a break?
Come with a friend or on your own, we are so friendly.
New to yoga or an avid yogi, all levels are welcome.
Food is amazing to AI of everything…
Weekly classes and 1:1 Sessions
Gnosall Memorial Village Hall Tuesday 6.30-7-30 pm
Stafford Oddfellow Hall Wednesday 6.15-7.15 pm
Gentle Yoga Oddfellows Hall Stafford Wednesday 7.15-8.150m
All classes are online on a private Facebook page if you can’t access
the physical class: booked in blocks of 8 weeks/£60
Want to do Yoga from home then join online, £40/8 weeks
1:1 Yoga sessions can be booked to suit your specific needs, £50/hour
July’s Newsletter YOGA Feature
SUMMER SOLSTICE MANDALA CEREMONY
SUMMER SOLSTICE MANDALA CEREMONY
Set aside 60 minutes for this practice.
Creating Your Mandala
To prepare your mind and body to create your mandala, begin with a short walking meditation. Put on the necessary layers of clothing, grab your reusable shopping bag, and head outside. Stand tall, with your feet hip-width apart. With your eyes open, take three deep cycles of breath (a total of 15 breaths) for each of the following sensory experiences: what you see, what you hear, what you smell, what you taste, and what you feel on your skin in this moment. Then walk for a few minutes at a pace that is half the rate of your usual tempo. Let your mind be quiet, and focus on the breath. Cultivate Metta, or loving-kindness, for all that you experience (including yourself).
As you walk, begin to gather organic materials for your mandala, such as flowers, pebbles, leaves, or whatever you encounter on your path. Choose objects that strike your fancy. They don’t have to match or be of any particular theme.
Spend about 20 minutes gathering these items. In keeping with the tradition of impermanence in Tibetan mandala creation, identify a public area outside to create your mandala. This should be a place where the mandala can be easily accessed by wind and people passing by—next to a sidewalk or path is ideal. Pick petals off of flowers, snap twigs, and spend 20 minutes organizing your mandala. This mandala is meant to be a reflection of your whole being on this celestial day. You can choose to define your whole as one piece of you, your entire self, community, country, or world.
Once your mandala is complete, stand up and stretch your arms, legs, and back. Stand or sit with a straight spine. Admire your work and appreciate the impermanence it represents. Spend a few minutes here, and finish the practice with 10 minutes of walking meditation.
Jung showed us that mandalas are an excellent way to identify the interrelation between the world within us and the outside world and to understand how we create our world. What story are you telling yourself today?
To continue your work with mandalas, construct a daily or weekly mandala on a morning walk, or use crayons and coloured pencils to draw one in your journal.
Tibetan monks and Summer Solstice Mandalas
During the summer solstice Tibetan monks create sand mandalas to reflect the ever-changing, impermanent nature of the material world. After spending days creating the beautiful, intricate mandala, the monks sweep away the sand. Noted psychologist Carl Jung used mandalas to represent “the psychological expression of the totality of the self,” for both himself and his patients. In his book Memories, Dreams, and Reflections, Jung stated, “My mandalas were cryptograms concerning the state of the self which was presented to me anew each day....I guarded them like precious pearls….It became increasingly plain to me that the mandala is the center. It is the exponent of all paths. It is the path to the centre, to individuation.”
Mandalas have been used for centuries as a means of representing wholeness through the union of opposites—within the individual, within the cosmos, and between the individual and the cosmos. Mandalas also contain what Jung called “a central point to which everything is related.” An example of this in our physical world is of electrons orbiting protons and neutrons to form an atom. On an astronomical level, our solar system orbits the center of the Milky Way. We could even say that in our personal lives, our health, habits, and dreams “orbit” our heart centre.
Mandalas have been used for centuries as a means of representing wholeness through the union of opposites—within the individual, within the cosmos, and between the individual and the cosmos.
Personal mandalas express both your individuality and your connection to the greater whole. In this exercise, the center of the mandala represents your personal axis. As the circle widens, it becomes your connection to the collective. By recognising that your Summer Solstice Mandala is a temporary structure, you give reverence to the present moment, as well as appreciation for the fleeting quality of your personal thoughts and feelings. Like you, this mandala will be a unique creation. Its fullest expression today will be different from the expression you share tomorrow.
What people say about Zest Yoga: REVIEWS Come and Join our new friendly new Gentle Yoga Class, suitable for beginners and don't worry about coming on your own, most ladies and gents come on their own. Held at Oddfellows Hall in Stafford town centre on Wednesdays 7.15-8.15pm. Yoga Classes | Zest Yoga & Retreats Elizabeth Victoria I love the weekly classes, always come away feeling energised but calm and sleep so well after. Last weekend I attended the mini retreat doing 2 yoga sessions including yoga nidra followed by afternoon tea. It was fabulous, made more special by the fact the kay our teacher made everything herself. Can’t wait for the next event thank you 🙏🏻 March 2024 Christine Hilton I attend the Gnosall group on Tuesday evenings but this week also attended Yoga with afternoon tea in Stafford. What a lovely way to spend Saturday afternoon, thank you Kay. I even managed a little sleep during the Nidra Yoga but woke myself up snoring 😴. The head massage was lovely too and the food delicious 😋 xx Ange Walker I recently attended Kay’s ‘Afternoon Retreat’ and loved it! Yoga, yoga nidra and a delicious afternoon tea. Thanks Kay for providing such a civilised and relaxing afternoon your a star x 26th March 2024.
Namaste! To book any of my classes or retreat please contact me Kay tel: 07970529907 |
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