UK Retreat Coniston

We are incredibly proud and deeply humbled to introduce Ananda UK Retreats. Inspired by the healing modalities of traditional chinese medicine (TCM) and yogic science, we provide a unique and comprehensive path to healing. Our retreats utilize ancient wisdom and contemporary insights to balance the energies of Qi and remove any obstructions to energy. We choreograph each retreat to the current season and themed to support the 5 natural elements. Through yoga, breathwork and deeply healing food we create a rich, crystal clear flow of energy in the body.

Teachers of Ananda Yoga Retreats, Madeline Diaz Meiners, Adrienne Le Coure and Andrea Everingham will collaborate with the Ananda chef and founder of The Mindful Kitchen, Bex Shinder to combine their different areas of expertise based around the Five Elements and Traditional Chinese Medicine implemented into the practice of yoga and vegan cuisine.

Our weekend retreat programme has been designed to ensure a next level experience that will not only leave you feeling healed and nourished, physically, mentally and emotionally, but will open your eyes to the endless possibilities of improving overall health and wellbeing following the principles of TCM.

Our January retreat set by the tranquil waters of Lake Coniston in Cumbria will focus on the element of water, which as a season, corresponds with winter, a period of rest and restoration. The element of water, associated with the organs of the kidneys and the bladder, symbolizes both life and death and signifies the preparation of new beginnings… Without this “dead of winter” there would be no life to spring.

Each yoga practice is artfully designed to create fluidity in the body and breath. Through movement and invigorating breathing practices, we will release stagnant energies in the body, remove obstructions to energy flow and allow for equilibrium and harmony. Each practice blends the ancient wisdoms of TCM and Yogic science, while moving with the natural rhythms of the planet. Embedded in each of our sessions are mindfulness techniques, stress reduction tools and profound relaxation technics. All of our practices are suitable for every level and uniquely tailored to the students present.

Each nourishing meal will be thoughtfully prepared to balance the element of water, aiding and aligning perfectly with the internal healing process throughout your retreat. You will gain understanding of how the foods we eat can bring equilibrium to states of water excess or deficiency from private onsite food nutritionist chef Bex Shinder.

VENUE

“Collected together, the ethers of the universe constitute unity; divided, they constitute Yin and Yang; quartered, they constitute the four seasons; ( still further ) sundered, they constitute the five elements. These elements represent movement.”

– Tung Ching-Shu

What Is The Traditional Chinese Medicine Theory (TCM)

Qi

Central to the disciplines of Chinese Healing is the universal energy of Qi. Qi animates life and growth, powers movement and effects change. According to the Taoist cosmology, Qi exists in the heavens and on earth and in the human body. In the body QI is energy and movement whose daily creation relies on the food we eat and the air we breathe.

Meridians

In the practice of Acupuncture, the body is viewed as a system of interconnected organs and meridians, through which the Qi flows to power the bodily functions and maintain health.  Within each meridian are acupuncture points that stimulate and regulate the flow of Qi and Blood that is circulating within the body. The strongest points are located around the joints and the spine where the body sees most change.

Joints are places where Qi and Blood concentrate or gather, and they are also the places where Qi enters and exits the meridian channels, ie below elbows and knees or along the spine.

As a consequence of this concentration of Qi, the joints are the places where a pathogenic factor (disease) easily settles. When a pathogenic factor invades the joint, it alters the balance of Yin-Yang, it upsets the circulation of Qi in the channel and it causes Qi and Blood to stagnate. This will be experienced as pain within the joint, either through heat or cold.

TCM Organs

In Traditional Chinese Medicine ( TCM ) the major organs are grouped into pairs, with each pair corresponding to one of the Five Elements –

The Lungs and Large Intestines Correspond to METAL

Heath & Small Intestines – FIRE

Liver & Gal Bladder – WOOD

Spleen & Stomach – EARTH

Kidneys & Bladder – WATER

These organs are connected to Meridians – channels that link the organs and distribute their energy throughout the body. There are 12 Meridians, names for and connected to the 12 main organs, sharing the same Five Elements as the organs whose names they share (In TCM they include the Heart Protector and the Triple Heater organs which are also connected to the element of Fire).

The Meridians lie close to the surface of the body, where they are accessible to touch, either by the traditional practice of acupuncture needling, or a variety of other techniques include massage and yoga practices such as Yin. 

RETREAT PROGRAMME

FRIDAY

Check in 4pm – Free time to settle and explore

Evening Session 6 – 8pm

Restorative Yoga Workshop with Adrienne Le Coure based on the Water Element.

Evening meal – 8pm

SATURDAY

Silent guided walk meditation for sunrise – Adrienne Le Coure

Breakfast 8.00am

Morning practice 10.00– 13.00pm

Jivamukti Workshop awakening the Yang Essense of the Kidneys with Andrea Everingham

Lunch 13.00pm

Afternoon practice 17.00 – 19.30pm

Yin workshop TCM – gain theoretical knowledge of Meridans of the Kidneys and Bladder intertwined into an indulgent 2.5hr yin practice to enhance the free flow of Qi with Madeline Diaz Meiners

Evening Meal 19.45pm

SUNDAY

Morning Practice 8.30am – 10.30am

Yin Yang Practice, Pranayama & Meditation themed on the water element with Madeline Diaz Meiners

Breakfast 10.30am

Lunch 13.00pm

Afternoon Workshop 5pm – 7pm – Yin Workshop with Soundbowl Healing Madeline Diaz Meiners

Evening Meal 19.45pm

Breath Workshop & Nidra with Adrienne Le Coure

MONDAY

Mornning pratice 8 - 10am A 'sealing practice' Gentle Vinyasa with Adrienne Le Coure

Breakfast 10am

Checkout 12pm.

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