3 week Residential Yoga Retreat

February 1-21, 2006

For bookings and inquiries contact Anton at:

 

India has long been the spiritual destination of truth-seeking pilgrims the world over. Tiruvannamalai is home to the largest Shiva temple in south India, Ramana Maharshi’s ashram, and is situated beside the mountain Arunachala, referred to in Hindu mythology as an embodiment of Shiva himself. (More on Tiruvannamalai below).

During the retreat we will combine traditional yoga practices with periods of silence, to support a deeper understanding of the mind/body connection and provide inspiration for our personal practice and inner growth. The retreat schedule includes guided pranayama, asana practice with an emphasis on flow, grounding and inner alignment, meditation and shared exploration. Some experience of yoga asana will be needed.

Meditation instruction will be provided to suit the individual needs of each person.

If there were a theme for the retreat it may be these words from Ajay. "If you are not always reacting, you can see that every situation is new. You see that whatever is happening now is entirely new, and has nothing to do with our projections and expectations. The point is that it is possible to see what really is, from the freshness, from the life, and not let the past govern our lives. In this way we go beyond the tendencies into the vastness."

The venue for our retreat is Anantha Niketan, a beautifully quiet and simple ashram set beside farmer’s fields and amongst nature, 10 kms out of town. Our hosts are Gopi and his wife Chitra who look after us like old friends and take great pride in the delicious vegetarian meals they prepare especially for our western palates.

 

Facilitators
Ajay Singh and Anton Eastick will be joining Odelia on this retreat.

Ajay Singh is the spiritual friend of many. He grew up in rural Uttar Pradesh and has lived most of his life in Lucknow. He prefers to bring nothing to the retreat “and then something comes...”

Ajay clearly recognises the importance – and difficulties – of developing and maintaining a clear path and a strong practice. “You see, mainstream culture is not telling us that these things, these spiritual practices, are any good. Society is interested in worldly things, in worldly achievement. The common attitude is that meditation, retreating from ‘normal’ life, coming to India, etc, is escaping from the world. You can think of it this way: maybe the real benefit of these things is that they strengthen us, they help us gain more courage, so that we can act against the power of society. Practices help to grow a kind of inner strength, you might even say we let ourselves be wierdos in the eyes of society. And this kind of strength makes it possible to trust our own way, to be ourselves.”

We offer more of this conversation with Ajay to those who are interested.

 

Anton grew up in Australia which continues to be his home base.

He teaches yoga, and combines Voice Dialogue with Life Coaching when working with people individually.

Over the years his personal transformation work has been enhanced and inspired by Qigong Grand Master, Zhao Shihua, the teachings of Insight Meditation, Jaya Ashmore and Opendharma, Ramana Maharshi, music, Thai massage, Ram Das and the sweet beauty of Hafiz poetry.

His vision for the future is to create long retreats that combine the latest developments and understandings from therapy and quantum physics with the power of traditional yoga, meditation and inquiry.

During this retreat, Anton will be available for one-one work, assisting Odelia with asana classes and ensuring a plentiful supply of chai.

 

For bookings and more information contact Anton at:

 

More on Tiruvannamalai
The mountain and the town have been a pilgrimage destination for millions over the centuries, among them the great sage Sri Ramana Maharshi whose ashram stands today at the edge of the township.

Regularly nearly half a million pilgrims descend on the town to walk around the mountain in the light of the full moon, an auspicious practice known as Pradakshina.

Tiruvannamalai is a place where fields are still ploughed by bullocks and the mountain has played silent witness to everything since the beginning of human habitation. Its abiding presence is felt for miles around and is a gentle reminder of the stillness within. We are honored to be holding our retreat at the feet of this holy mountain, in a quiet rural landscape a few kilometers from Tiruvannamalai.

A larger map and more practical info on Tiruvannamalai is here. (Also downloadable in PDF format)