We are happy to welcome our senior Vijnana Yoga teacher from Israel.
Saturday August 5 , 9 am – 1pm  &  3.00 – 5 pm
Sunday August 6, 9 am – 1.30 pm  &  2.30 – 5 pm

This is a weekend Retreat where yogi’s with 2 years or more experience and yoga teachers join to research and deepen their own practice at our Amsterdam yoga center.

Practice & Intent

“At the beginning of creation, there was nothing in the universe. The universe was not there either. It was only the Brahman, the divine essence, which was everywhere. The Brahman was neither hot nor cold, neither thick nor thin.  It had no beginning and no end.” (from the Shiva Purana)

What will we do?

Saturday 5/8/2017

Gradually building an intense practice using discriminative observation and intent.
9:00-10:30 Sitting and pranayama
10:30-11:00 Break
11:00-13:00 Asana practice
13:00- 15:00 Lunch and rest
15:00-17:00 Reading and studying the Shiva Purana

Sunday 6/8/2017

Introduction to restorative yoga
9:00-12:00 Practice
12:30-13:30 Restorative practice
13:30-14:30 Lunch and rest
14:30-17:00 “Creating a safe place”
Reading texts from Yoga Sutras of Patanjali and from the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, as a foundation for restorative teaching.

How?

The structure of the practice during the weekend retreat includes the practice of the vijnana yoga pillars and elements:

Breath – Pranayama
We balance our energy channels through the practice of alternate nostril breathing- Nadi shodana. We purify our energy channels through the practice of Kapalabhati (shinning skull) & Bastrika

Just Sitting
In vijnana yoga we “just sit”, with little explanation on how to sit, we cannot succeed and we cannot fail.
 In this state of not knowing, the mind reaches at times places it would
 never meet if it were busy with a technique and with ambition.
“Let the sit, sit.”

Asanas
During the course of our weekend together, we will move through the postures and asana’s in flow practices, visiting standing pose sequences, arm balancing, backbends, forwardbends & inversions.

What will it bring to you?

• This weekend is a great opportunity to practice with advanced yogi’s under a skillful teacher. It gives you the opportunity to really grow in your yoga practice.
• You will learn to surrender the lower part of the body to gravity. This gives back a lightness that liberates the upper part of the body.
• Movements increasingly will take place from the spine rather than in the large superficial muscles that are accustomed to work .
• All the time we keep our focus on the wholeness of the movement.

About Noga Barkai

Noga Barkai began practicing yoga in 1988, as a student of Orit Sen-Gupta, who founded the Vijnana yoga movement.  Noga has been teaching Vijnana yoga for nearly 25 years, in Israel.  In 2005 she was certified as a teachers’ trainer by Ms. Sen-Gupta, and for the past 11 years has trained new teachers in this method, using the syllabus of a 3-year course.   Vijnana yoga includes sitting, (meditation) pranayama, postures and the reading of texts.

Noga also teaches restorative/rehabilitative yoga, and has trained teachers to be able to work in this field.  Her co-teacher in this field is Mr. Alphonse Tarshel, an expert in sports orthopedics and Thai Yoga Therapy.

Noga is a graduate of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, holding a B.A. in Sanskrit and Indian studies.    Hindu texts and traditional writings are an integral part of what Noga teaches her students, as part of a comprehensive approach to yoga.

For the past three years Noga has taken groups of students to India for a two-week intensive educational course, combining daily yoga practice with studies in the place where Yoga was conceived.  She co-leads these trips with Dr. Raphael Peled, who teaches Sanskrit at Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Noga is married, and the mother of two teen-aged sons.  The family lives with their dogs and cats in Hod Hasharon, Israel.  Her philosophy of life is to find the successful balance between the complexities and obligations of a busy family and social life, and a devoted and satisfying yoga practice.

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

This weekend retreat is a gift to your self.
Maximum participants: 16. In a smaller group, we can practice more focussed.
Level: Intermediate practitioners with minimum 2 years of yoga practice are welcome.
2 days retreat
Price:  euro 195,-
Price includes thee & fruits

Max. 16 participants
Read the terms and conditions

€195.00Add to cart