Do you want more energy, insight and inner calm?

Do you want to connect to and live as your true nature?
Do you want to take your yoga and meditation practice to the next level?
If so then this may be of interest to you...

Over the last 7 years here at The Tree we have mostly been focused on teaching "beginner" level yoga-meditation practice. We will continue to do this as I think this initial stage is important and has introduced many of our guests to a simple and easily accessible practice. Recently there has been increased interest from students who have established a regular home practice and would now like to learn some of the slightly more advanced practices. 

What do we mean by slightly more advanced practice?
When some people think of yoga they think of just the physical postures as, in general, this has become the main focus of much of modern yoga practice. But this is just one of the 8 main elements of a comprehensive yoga practice which also include things like lifestyle choices, study of spiritual texts, breathing practices and meditation. I do teach and encourage a regular posture practice, through an approach that anybody can do regardless of age, shape, size or ability. I encourage this to maintain a good level of health, strength and flexibility and as a support for meditation. The aim (as I teach it) is not about becoming like a gymnast or trying to overly contort your body in any particular way. So when I talk about more advanced yoga practice I am not talking about more difficult physical manoeuvres I am talking about practices that can as well as improve our physical health can also help to calm the mind and more rapidly connect us to the source of lasting peace, wholeness and contentment within.

The practice I will be teaching in this new training is called Kriya Yoga.
Up until the last century this technique had only been practised in secrecy by Himalayan Yogi's. Although no longer secret it has maintained a tradition of being passed down carefully from teacher to student in a way that preserves the details and subtlety in the techniques and therefore maintains the power, authenticity and effectiveness of the practice.

Last year I received the authorisation from my Kriya Yoga teacher, Roy Eugene Davis, to begin teaching the more advanced practices to "sincere" students. Kriya Yoga can be an addition to most other Hatha Yoga, Qigong, Martial Art and mindfulness meditation techniques and can also be practised by people of any religion or faith. It can also be practised by itself, simply as a science of body and mind. Regular and consistent practice of Kriya Yoga rapidly dissolves old stresses and tensions from the body and mind and awakens the practitioner to deeper and calmer states of consciousness.

Neuro(brain)scientific study on the effects of the practices involved in Kriya Yoga have proven that regular practice can reduce activity in the areas of the brain associated with anxiety and stress and increases activity in areas which support us in responding with more awareness rather than being "habitually reactive". Studies have also shown that through the practice there is an overall increase in alpha and theta brainwaves which correlate with the process of naturally releasing old stress, tension and emotion from the body and mind.

I practice the techniques myself usually twice a day and I can confidently say that in my 18 years of meditation and yoga practice, this has proven to be one of the most effective techniques that I have been fortunate to discover. Therefore I am excited to be  sharing these powerful and transformational practices in this training.

We include the very basics of these practices on our yoga weekends which have already been popular. Elements are also be included on the silent 5 day retreats.  However in order to maintain the personal connection in the teaching of the slightly more advanced practices, we also run a personal training for those who are interested and feel ready for the next step on their Yoga & meditation journey.

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The training involves a 3 month daily preparatory practice, followed by a full day of training at the Tree. Support after the the training day is either done on a 1-1 basis or at one of the follow up days.

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For more information about the practice please see our Kriya Yoga Page.

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Anyone can learn and begin the basics on our yoga weekends though there are some pre-requisites if you are interested in participating in the slightly more advanced training.

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The requirements are:

• You would need to have been on at least one of our relaxation, yoga weekends or silent retreats

 

• have had a daily personal practice of yoga or Qi gong and meditation for at least one year. 

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• You should also be able to commit to a consistent daily practice for 40 minutes once a day. Ideally it would be twice a day, though that might be something to build up to over time.

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• Study and contemplation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras especially the 8 limbs of Yoga is also recommended . A summary of the 8 limbs can downloaded here.

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• If you feel that this might be something for you and you are interested in learning more, then contact us to request a copy of “Guidelines for those considering training in the more advanced Kriya Yoga practices”

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•  For more information contact us here

 

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