The retreats are held at Clearview Retreat, a residential retreat centre ninety minutes north of Melbourne in the King Parrot Valley in central Victoria. Clearview Retreat backs onto the Tallarook forest and ranges, with immense views 100 kilometres across to Mount Buller and other spectacular mountain ranges.

This is a range of workshops to expand and deepen our understanding of yoga. In a class situation we often only get to practice postures, yet yoga has an insightful, practical and fascinating body of knowledge regarding the workings of the mind and the soul, as relevant today as it was 4,000 years ago.

Each Weekend Mountain Yoga Retreat involves yoga classes, relaxation, meditation, some periods of silence, and guided walks. The structure of each workshop is the same, but different themes are focussed on each weekend.

Home-cooked, delicious, inspiring vegetarian meals are provided, beginning with Friday night dinner. Special diets are catered for.

More retreats will be scheduled for 2012 - check the website later for updates or ask to be put on our email list.

Enquiries:

Jocelyn Bennett, ph 03-5797 0229

2-day retreats

$ 345 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + sharing bedroom (2 or 3 people in a room)

$ 385 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + one person to a bedroom

3-day retreats

$ 515 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + sharing bedroom (2 or 3 people in a room)

$ 575 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + one person to a bedroom

Meals include: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Massage treatments are also available for an extra cost. Please enquire.

Two-day retreats have 5 yoga sessions. Three-day retreats have 7 yoga sessions. Free time between yoga sessions allows guests to rest and explore. Optional massage can be booked separately. Class sizes are kept small and students of all levels of experience are welcome. If there are areas of particular interest or special needs, i.e. injuries or pregnancy, please let us know in advance so we are able to better tailor the program to suit you.

(*Clearview Retreat also offers nature meditation retreats. See Nature Meditation Retreats for details.)

1. ~ GST is included in these prices
   

2. ~ Deposit to secure booking: $ 75 for 2-day retreats, $ 115 for 3-day retreats
   

3. ~ Balance to be paid 2 weeks before yoga retreat
   

4. ~ Deposit will not be refunded if booking is cancelled less than 2 weeks before yoga retreat

Bill Walsh graduated from Gita Yoga in 2007 with a commitment to honouring the student and the time they had set aside to practise. Bill has gone on to teach thousands of hours everywhere from health and yoga studios and sporting clubs to adult and youth prisons. With a strong belief in creating community through yoga, he runs programs for several councils. Yoga has been a source of transformation in his own life. Bill employs static and balance postures supported by a flowing vinyasa style with an emphasis on each student being guided by their own breath. Bill is currently continuing his studies in the Krishnamacharya lineage at Agama Yoga Centre.

Dr Fiona Cairns: With more than ten years of practicing yoga and meditation, Fiona has been a teacher since 2008. Trained in the Sivananda Vedanta Yoga tradition in India, she discovered, in yoga, the tools for complete health – in body, mind and spirit. Also a consultant psychiatrist, Fiona is passionate about promoting health and wellbeing for the whole person and enjoys the challenge of blending eastern philosophy and western medicine in creative and vibrant ways. Deeply committed to life long learning she regularly returns to India for further study. From her studio in Kyneton, Victoria, Fiona has a vision for building healthy, joyful communities and sees the practice of Yoga as a wonderful way to do this.  

Get ready to explore the eight universal principles for stepping up to your edge, as laid out in Baron Baptiste's book Journey into Power. Stepping up to our edge refers to facing moments of difficulty in our lives. The principles laid out in Baron's book act as a mind map, connecting us authentically with the present moment, allowing us to learn from the wisdom of that moment, and embrace growth as the fundamental journey of life. This weekend retreat will include powerful vinayasa yoga practice, meditations for truthful living and workshops exploring our perceived limitations. 

‘The mastery of yoga must not be measured by how well you do yoga asanas, but rather by how well it influences your relationships in life in a positive manner,’ T.K.V. Desikachar. Our weekend will begin with Yoga Mudra - a flowing series combining breath and movement, where under the broad umbrella of respect, we examine our relationship with ourselves, with others and with all that exists. With this as our agama (starting point) and foundation, we will engage asana practice (indoor and outdoor), pranayama, relaxation and yoga sutra to explore the wonderful possibilities of yoga beyond the mat, enriching every aspect of our lives. Supported by delicious food and a soothing environment, this weekend will suit every body.

Michelle Jayne first discovered yoga as a dancer while living and teaching in Perth. Completing Yoga Teacher Training 8 years ago with Yoga Health, WA, Michelle took the essence of yoga to the outback where she was an indigenous youth and activities officer. Returning to Melbourne, Michelle qualified as a Group Fitness Instructor, and also completed a Diploma in Complementary Therapies with Natural Energies College. Michelle then trained with Les Mills Asia Pacific (currently a presenter for BodyBalance) and achieved a Graduate Certificate in Yoga Therapy with the Australian Institute of Yoga. She has recently trained with Baron Baptiste and Ana Forrest, and attended both the Hong Kong Asia Yoga Conference and the New York Yoga Journal Conference. Michelle’s approach to her classes embraces both the esoterical and the physical, giving a complete workout to the mind and body. Michelle teaches Hot Yoga, Powerflow, Hatha and Vinyasa styles of yoga. www.yogaground.com.au

Inspire your yoga practice and your life by exploring the many facets of yoga on this retreat. Strengthen your body, expand your mind, open your heart, discover your purpose! Yoga has the tools to help each one of us live a vital and creative life. Yoga philosophy, postures, breathing and meditation will be taught not only with an awareness of the body but as a mirror of your mind, allowing a deeper sense of self to emerge. Ancient Sanskrit mantras will be chanted allowing you to experience for yourself how these mystical sounds engage your whole being. Karma yoga or selfless service will give you the opportunity to feel the benefits of helping others. In the beautiful setting of Clearview Retreat, and surrounded by like minded people, your taste of each aspect of the richness of yoga will offer you inspiration and clarity about your particular creative path

When:

Cost:

2-day retreat: 7pm Fri until 3pm Sun

3-day retreat: 7pm first day until 3pm last day

2-day retreat: $ 345 or $ 385

3-day retreat: $ 515 or $ 575

Price includes yoga, accommodation & food and

varies with level of accommodation

(+optional massage available at extra cost)

For full range of price options, see below

Antonia Pont has been practicing yoga for 16 years, and studying zen since 1996. She has trained and practiced with teachers in Australia, India and Europe, and taught locally and internationally. She is currently doing intensive study with her teacher, Orit Sen-Gupta (founder of Vijnana Yoga), and is nearing the end of a PhD in writing and philosophy. She teaches in Melbourne at Studio Cirq and other locations, rides her lovely bike about the city, and enjoys a daily swing in her hammock. Grateful for the privilege of encountering yoga, she finds immense joy in offering it to others. Her classes are steady, quiet, and at times hilarious. Not very talented at doing tricks, she has learnt postures the slow, gentle way. Sharing this patience in her teaching, she encourages students to enjoy the stumbling, startling journey that practice can be.

Claire Heywood, principal teacher and owner of SunYoga, has been

teaching yoga for over 10 years. She has an extensive professional history as a yoga teacher, shiatsu therapist and performing artist, working in these areas for 25 years. She believes that in the hectic pace of modern life it is important to teach people to relax, connect deeply and work with themselves in a kind and nourishing way. Her wish is to increase personal health and happiness and to support people to be the best they possibly can. Her yoga teaching style, a combination of Hatha & Oki-Do Yoga, is an evolving form that reflects her diverse physical history and ongoing studies. Her classes are friendly, creative, fun and eclectic. She works deeply and gently through anatomical principles and has special expertise in care of the spine. www.sunyoga.com.au

Labour Day, sometimes called the Eight Hour Holiday, celebrates the establishment of the right to a balanced life for workers. Funnily enough, after all the struggles for these rights, today many of us lose the balance between the various spheres of our lives. Often work can become all-consuming, or we have difficulty changing modes from working to resting and back again. This retreat will seek to find a balance in practice between vigorous, clear movement, and periods of restorative yoga and relaxation. We will notice the way that rhythm is crucial to samtosha (‘contentment’, in Sanskrit). Often, when we are dissatisfied with our lives, it may be a question of not having found a sustainable rhythm that celebrates both the discipline of working and the contemplation and space of resting. The retreat will involve the practices of sitting meditation, breathing practice, postures, forest walks, and some discussion and study.

Autumn is the time of year for slowing down and connecting in; adjusting physically, mentally & emotionally from the high energy output of the summer months to the slower and more reflective energy of winter. We will honour this changing seasonal energy with yoga & food that specifically focuses on the cooler yin seasons of autumn and winter. Autumn is the perfect time to move more towards the quieter yoga practices of breathing and meditation. Over the weekend we will combine yoga postures, breathwork, self-shiatsu, meditation, deep relaxation and self inquiry to centre and ground ourselves, building up a reserve of energy to help sustain us through the colder months and giving our immune systems a boost.

Take time out from your busy life and spend a weekend with Claire nourishing, resting and rejuvenating yourself. In our frantic, full lives we tend to power right through the winter months with little time out for resting or reflecting, even though in the middle of winter our natural energy levels are at their absolute lowest point for the year. Over the weekend we will rest deeply giving ourselves an opportunity to stop, pause, reflect and renew amidst the nourishing and rejuvenating surrounds of Clearview retreat centre… We will honour the quiet, reflective energy of winter with activities that include eating nourishing food, walking, enjoying nature, asana practice, chanting, breathing exercises and deep relaxation.