Saturday, October 22, 2011

Rejuvenating Yoga and Wellness - Yoga Retreat in the City

Partner Yoga 
After reading the posting below, I was immediately attracted to join the yoga retreat in the city which was held today and I managed to get two of my yoga buddies to sign up with me.

“Make a retreat from your usual Saturday’s to-do-list! Just for a change, come over and spend your Saturday with us in this beautiful private sanctuary in Damansara Heights for energizing yoga sessions, guided meditation, hearty meals, and stretch out those tight muscles in your body accumulated throughout your busy weekdays in our very special “Yoga Stretch & Massage” session.”

There was welcome tea waiting for us when we arrived this morning and before the yoga sessions started, we were sipping on freshly brewed mint tea. 

The first yoga session was led by Gianinna who started the class with some stretches  to warm up our body before going into a modified sun salutation sequence.  Gianinna’s class which was supposed to be a gentle class had us holding in chair pose, lunges as well as working on our abdominals.  It was a great session to get our muscles and joints ready for the next class. 

We had a fruit smoothies and mixed fruits break before the next class where Raymond gave us an energising flow class with hip and chest openers as well as twisting poses.  The poses helped to loosen up tension while letting energy flow throughout the entire body.

After the invigorating workout, we were ready for a healthy  and delicious lunch of vegetable salad with barley and pumpkin taro soup with homemade bread.  It was also time to get to know the other practitioners.

After lunch, it was guided meditation and breath work with Angeline and she started  with a  15-minute meditation and pranayama session where we did alternate nostrils breathing.  This was  followed  with a 15-minute yoga nidra or sleeping savasana which is yogic sleeping with awareness.  It is intended to induce full-body relaxation and a deep meditative state of consciousness.    

I am glad that I did not fall asleep as I was feeling a bit sleepy after the hearty lunch and instead, I emerged feeling rejuvenated from the session.

It was then time for Partner Yoga which was a great way to build trust and communication with my partner while we supported each other in the poses.  And thanks to my partner, I could feel a deeper stretch in the poses which helped  to loosen all those tight spots in my body which also received another boost from the massage session. 

The yoga retreat ended with all of us sitting in easy pose in a circle with our knees touching each other and placing our right hand onto the next person’s left hand.  Raymond led us through the session where we felt and shared each other’s energy.

And we were rewarded with a delicious piece of chocolate brownie made by Raymond to round up a beautiful day of wellness for the body and mind.


No comments: