Detailed Weekly Information  - West Crete 2011

West Crete Holidays is a group of several venues within the same area. Ask the staff in the Free Spirit office if you require more information.

Whilst 90% of the holidays are Yoga based led by visiting UK teachers, scattered throughout the year we also have dedicated walking holidays, walking combined with yoga, writing and poetry, Angel workshops and DNA Healing weeks.

Below are the holidays in date order regardless of which venue they are at, venues and weeks can be linked and it is also possible to stay on an accommodation only basis.

Non participant partners and friends are also welcome and we can make provisions for families to stay in apartments either at the beach or inland at Potamida village.

Fiona teaches a classical form of Hatha yoga in which breathing is controlled and linked to the posture work. So each movement is coordinated with the breath.

The yoga postures are modified in the class to meet the individual needs of each participant. The emphasis on breathing is important in all aspects of this gentle form of yoga and bring a focused and meditative experience to the work which can be relaxing and energising. Postures and breathing help to reduce physical and mental tension, improve mobility, increase strength and stamina and can help physical and mental health.

Fiona Ashdown is a senior teacher in the tradition from Krishnamacharya and Desikachar and this week includes the option of five guided walks at a time when you will see the countryside at its greenest.

May 10th - 17th

Iyengar Yoga

Astrikas Yoga Centre

Margaret Gunn-King

Margaret teaches for her 13th year here, a course tailored to meet a range of skills levels from beginners to more advanced.

Her good humoured way of stretching and relaxing in Iyengar yoga, makes the holiday a real joy. She introduces the group to laughter meditation and yoga for the eyes and has experience of using yoga as therapy through her studies with the Yoga Bio-Medical Trust.

The days allow time for other therapy sessions and skills exchanges as well as swimming and other holiday pursuits.

 

June 7th - 14th

"Yoga Beats"

David Sye

David Sye, listed as one of the top ten Yoga teachers in the UK and a Yoga Elder, has developed over many years "Yogabeats", his own brand of Yoga.

Yogabeats has now been touring in various festivals, cities and countries, gaining international success and recognition.

He has been practising yoga for over 20 years in International locations such as America, India and Israel. His “gentle power” yoga fuses Hatha, Astanga, Mridu and Vini. Gentle at the beginning and end but with dynamic and powerful periods at the core.

David will take you on a journey to touch all your senses. The Yoga class is for all levels and is driven by music that matches the pace and the flow of the Yoga

These pictures of David Sye were taken on his other Free Spirit Holidays.    

June 7th - 14th

Iyengar Yoga 

Hotel Peli

Sue Read

Iyengar Yoga with Sue Read
 
Sue has been teaching Iyengar Yoga in the Oxfordshire Area for more than 20 years. She holds the Junior Intermediate Level 1 Iyengar Yoga Teaching Certificate.
 
Sue is a regular visitor to India and has studied with the Iyengar family in Pune and is booked to return in 2011. She also continues to work and learn with senior teachers in England, regularly attending Judi Sweeting's teachers' classes and Margaret Rawlinson's workshops and holidays. Sue is also a fully qualified Midwife and teaches a very successful and popular "Birthlight Yoga Class" to pregnant Women.
 
Sue knows that the power of Yoga plus the care and experience of her teachers have helped her to achieve a complete recovery from serious personal injuries - her yoga practice has been a constant and enormous  benefit in her healing process.
 
Sue aims to instil and pass on her life experience to students through her knowledge and teaching of Yoga.
 
Over the course of the week we shall be working together to move students to another level through practice, help and guidance. In the three-hour morning session we shall work in-depth in standing poses, twists, seated poses and back arches. These will be explored in detail and students will be helped and encouraged to develop the intensity and integrity of their own practice. The one and a half hour evening class will be a quieter, winding-down experience where even with only a limited previous experience of Pranayama and contemplative Meditation it will be possible for students to achieve enhanced inner strength and peace. Inverted and recuperative poses will be features of the evening session.

June 21st - 28th

Hatha Yoga

Mithimna

Tish Dodson

Tish has been practicing yoga for 10 years and teaching for 5. She initially trained in Sivananda Yoga and was inspired to create perfect balance in people’s lives through dynamic vinyasa flow and yin yoga.

She has trained in QiYoga, Power yoga, Vinyasa flow with Rod Stryker, Yin Yoga with Sarah Powers and Paul Grilley and Thai Yoga Massage. She is currently training as a ‘movement therapist’ encouraging dynamic stretching with gait therapy to completely release tension and bring students back in balance.

During her classes she helps students re-energize and reconnect with their body creating practices according to their lifestyle and needs.

This holiday is a time to find balance, working with a dynamic vinyasa practice and receptive yin practice. Morning classes will begin with pranayama and a meditation practice, teaching mindfulness and tantra meditation. Followed by refreshing dynamic sequences according to the requirements of the group and a chance to work towards asanas you may feel are out of reach.

The evening practice will include a gentle yin practice with meditation techniques for personal transformation and time to look at how you can incorporate yoga into your daily life.

Tish will also be available for Thai Yoga Massage and Gait Therapy during the holiday.

August 23rd - 30th

Iyengar Yoga

Hotel Peli

Margaret Rawlinson

Margaret Rawlinson has been teaching Iyengar Yoga for over twenty years and holds

a Senior Iyengar Yoga Teaching Certificate.

She is firmly grounded in the precision and depth of Iyengar Yoga and has studied with Sri B.K.S. Iyengar in India, the U.S. and Europe, and also with his daughter Geeta and son Prashant at the Institute in Pune, India.

She teaches regular classes in Berkshire, England as well as leading workshops and Yoga holidays at home and abroad. Margaret also brings to her teaching the richness of her experience in Chinese Medicine, which she has been practising for the last ten years, after qualifying in acupuncture and patent herbal medicine at the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine.

Margaret believes that we can find self-healing for mind, body and spirit in the complete Yoga practice, which incorporates asanas, pranayama, and meditation. Her classes explore the asanas in depth to find new insights, openings and extensions - but always joyfully and with respect for the body and the great subject of Yoga.

For more details on the yoga you can contact Margaret on 01628 523174
email: rawlinson@waitrose.com

September 6th - 13th

Sivananda Yoga

Diana Shipp

Diana Shipp, has over eleven years experience and specialises in the Sivananda style of yoga.

She is the owner of the extremely popular Kailasam Yoga Retreat in Kerala (pictures below), where she teaches the yoga classes from November through to March each year.

Diana teaches integrated breath and posture work, with spiritual awareness, based on classical Sivananda yoga and other traditions. She holds teaching diplomas from the British Wheel of Yoga and the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Ashram in India.

Diana is an experienced teacher who has been teaching for the past 15 years. She has taught in the UK, Turkey, Bali, Crete, Spain and India.

On this holiday you will experience asana, pranayama, meditation, visualisation and relaxation in two classes daily. The yoga will improve your strength and flexibility and guide you to the calm centre of Being within.

This yoga will be suitable for beginners as well as more experienced students. Diana's approach is both joyful and imaginative, with emphasis on raising of consciousness through breath and body awareness, to bring you a feeling of well-being.

This holiday is suitable for all standards of yoga practitioner 

Fiona teaches a classical form of Hatha yoga in which breathing is controlled and linked to the posture work. So each movement is coordinated with the breath.

The yoga postures are modified in the class to meet the individual needs of each participant. The emphasis on breathing is important in all aspects of this gentle form of yoga and bring a focused and meditative experience to the work which can be relaxing and energising. Postures and breathing help to reduce physical and mental tension, improve mobility, increase strength and stamina and can help physical and mental health.

Fiona Ashdown is a senior teacher in the tradition from Krishnamacharya and Desikachar and this week includes the option of five guided walks at a time when you will see the countryside at its greenest.

Relax-Refresh-Revive

Olive Mill, Potomida

Juliet Green and David Lister

We see many people on our holidays who lead stressful lives and so we designed this holiday to help.

You can simply relax and do nothing or dip into recuperative morning yoga to help you unwind and /or evening meditation.

Find your feet and go on guided walks or be with the lapping waves at the beach.

Three treatments/massages are yours; we will also be there to listen to you.

Four evening meals are included, however you may wish to opt for additional home cooked meals (all vegetarian/special diets) so you don’t even have to think about menus and tavernas - a real retreat. You can arrange this when you arrive.

Juliet is a qualified Sivananda yoga teacher and Aromatherapy masseuse. She loves cooking.

Dave is a Kinesiologist with an intuitive understanding of health. He leads the walks.

Come, relax and give yourself a break

 Sep 27th - Oct 4th

Yoga, Walks and Meditation

Olive Mill, Potomida

Juliet Green and David Lister

Both Juliet and David offer you a treat to suit walkers and people wanting a yoga holiday.

Each morning Juliet teaches a two hour yoga asana session, followed by the Mill's Big Breakfast and then David leads a walk in the lovely varied countryside around the Mill, of about two hours so you have free time too.

Some walks require transport (included in the cost) others are direct from the door.

Walking sandals or trainers are a must!

In the late afternoon we're back in the yoga studio for an hour's quiet but profound stretching and breathing session.

This is a great holiday for newcomers to yoga – not sure a yoga holiday is for you? Chat to the Free Spirit staff and they can advise you.

See you there!

 October 4th - 11th

Relax-Refresh-Revive

Olive Mill, Potomida

Juliet Green and David Lister

We see many people on our holidays who lead stressful lives and so we designed this holiday to help.

You can simply relax and do nothing or dip into recuperative morning yoga to help you unwind and /or evening meditation.

Find your feet and go on guided walks or be with the lapping waves at the beach.

Three treatments/massages are yours; we will also be there to listen to you.

Four evening meals are included, however you may wish to opt for additional home cooked meals (all vegetarian/special diets) so you don’t even have to think about menus and tavernas - a real retreat. You can arrange this when you arrive.

Juliet is a qualified Sivananda yoga teacher and Aromatherapy masseuse. She loves cooking.

Dave is a Kinesiologist with an intuitive understanding of health. He leads the walks.

Come, relax and give yourself a break

 October 11th - 18th

Treat Yourself Well

Olive Mill, Potomida

Juliet Green and David Lister

Before they moved to Crete David and Juliet both retrained as therapists and when they arrived on Crete they continued their self discovery by exploring other new approaches to health.

They found that by utilising these new skills they could look after themselves better and live life in a more relaxed and positive way.

Your week will include an eclectic mix of self help techniques to keep you feeling better and to be responsible for your wellbeing, all based on what they have discovered for themselves..

You’ll find good food, relaxation, get in touch with your sense of fun and be stimulated by new ways to help yourself live well.

Try it and see, we think you will be glad you did.

October 18th - 25th

A different look at Crete!

Olive Mill, Potamida

Juliet Green and David Lister

Your week will include a trip to the Minoan site at Knossos, and to some local archaeological sites that people don’t usually visit and that you probably wouldn’t find on your own. 

You will also see some fabulous local scenery on guided walks and also experience something of how traditional life in Crete has been. We will be including a visit to a working organic olive mill and an opportunity to sample the music and dance of the island, and of course the food. 

Crete is steeped in history and has an energy of its own for you to discover.  We know and love the place and hope to pass on that appreciation to you.