Yoga Classes

Sunflower Retreats Holidays yoga classes are suitable for beginners as well as more practiced yogis.

We practise Friday through Tuesday each morning before breakfast, with some yoga classes throughout the week outdoors in spectacular surroundings when the weather is suitable.

Our Hatha yoga classes each last 90 minutes.

For those who would like the opportunity to practice more yoga, extra classes of Hatha yoga or meditation are optionally available throughout the week with Lucy Bremner or guest yoga teachers.

Sunflower Retreats' Yoga Teaching Team

All of our teachers are required to have undertaken no less than 2 years training so that we do not rely on "fast track" yoga certification.

Lucy Bremner, born in London and co-founder of Sunflower Retreats, has been a holistic practitioner in the UK and worldwide since 1988. She specialises in a wide range of body work, therapies and energy and spiritual balancing treatments such as Chakra Balancing and Reiki.

Lucy was drawn to the practice of Hatha Yoga and the yoga philosophy while studying holistic therapies professionally in London in 1989. In the late 80's and early 90's, then in her twenties, she travelled independently in Nepal, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Bali, Australia, New Zealand, Sudan and the USA, where she broadened her studies of yoga, Eastern philosophy and the healing arts, including the American Indian tradition and philosophy.

Lucy is a qualified Holistic Therapist and international yoga teacher, accredited with a distinction in her final examinations with Friends of Yoga - a society and examination body for yoga in the UK and India which is recognised by Yoga Alliance as an international yoga school. Over the last 20 years she has treated and taught hundreds of people healing therapies and yoga.

She loves to share and communicate the ancient knowledge of Western and Eastern traditions through the healing power of yoga and meditation within her classes and her treatments. She is a gentle teacher, encouraging and supportive in her teaching and holistic therapy work.

A mother of two children born by natural childbirth methods, she also teaches pregnancy yoga and preparation for natural birth.

Lucy is available for one-to-one sessions at Sunflower Retreats.

Our guest teachers

Esther De Angelis, joins our team to teach with us throughout June.

Esther is a passionate teacher of yoga. She feels it is such a fantastic vehicle for bringing our awareness into the present and expanding our consciousness to embrace all of life. When we bring our awareness into the present, we are free from guilt and worry about the past and future; everything becomes possible. We resonate with the natural Universal Guiding Principle of life and have a profound sense of wellbeing.

Esther's style is rooted in the asanas and conscious breath of Hatha yoga while infusing movement and stillness with the colour, vitality and energy of the Chakras. She invites students to develop an awareness of energy and light moving through the body to balance, root and harmonise the energy centres connecting mind, body and spirit.Postures are held with focused awareness and the body is encouraged to release and expand with the breath, learning to balance the masculine principle of purpose and activity with the feminine principle of receptivity and love.

Esther has been practising yoga for 19 years and teaching since 2000. She studied Hatha yoga with Nasser Rezayi-Rad and then further deepened her practise and training with the Tantric Yoga master Swami Vivekenanda Saraswati in the yoga capital of India, Rishikesh in 2000. Since then she has inspired adults and children alike in her highly creative, meditative and transformational yoga sessions.

Esther says:
"I teach Chakra yoga and visualisation as a method to empower myself and others to move into the spaciousness of the present, reconnecting with the wisdom, colour and radiance of life. In the process developing a clarity of feeling, thought and belief structure, which encourages an extraordinary experience of the self."

Katrina Brunsden, a certified Yoga Alliance teacher will teach with us throughout July. She teaches and practices Hatha style yoga in London, Greece and Italy.

Katrina has holistically transformed her own life, losing over 60 pounds in the process, by working with the mind, the body and the heart. Discovering yoga 10 years ago, was a turning point in Katrina's own life.

Inspired by what she knows to be possible, today she spends all her time teaching, writing and sharing how people can experience their own radical transformation and create a healthy body and life that they absolutely love.

Katrina's yoga is heart centred: fusing asana, pranayama and meditation, with chakras, affirmations and visualisations, inspiring students to step into their full potential and live life on purpose in alignment with their heart's calling.

Her yoga teaching style is gentle and grounding, encouraging students to listen to their own bodies inner wisdom, building flexibility strength and self belief within both their bodies and their minds. connecting with the rhythm of their breath and the place of all knowing and stillness within.

One of the key distinctions of Katrina's yoga is the emphasis she places on tapping into and drawing upon the hidden powers of the mind and the heart. Within her yoga classes, Katrina enjoys teaching students how to transform out-dated beliefs into more positive, life affirming and supportive ones.

Lisa Quish, a qualified teacher, certified through Yoga Alliance, will teach with us in August.

Lisa's mom taught yoga and she grew up in a household where it was part of life. In her teens she studied ballet and contemporary dance and when she later qualified as a yoga teacher it felt like all the pieces of the puzzle had come together. Yoga like dance is about movement of the body but also works to harness the breath creating a rhythm which allows the body to flow and open to grace. When the body is bright and healthy, the mind is clear and the spirit is full one cannot but engage with the world in a lighter way.

Lisa's style of teaching is Hatha flow with a strong foundation in correct body alignment. She continues to refine her own practice and teaching skills and has commenced a level two teacher training programme and regularly attends teaching workshops to expand her knowledge and bring her students the benefit of her learning.

As a busy business professional and yoga teacher Lisa brings a balance of reality, commitment and fun to her classes, ensuring that students get an equal amount of space and attention so they can discover the freedom and discipline that a well balanced and joyful practice brings.

Lisa says:
"If you can bring a little bit of yoga into everything you do then life just becomes lighter. Like any relationship, if you invest a little you gain a lot."

Courtney Sunday, a qualified teacher, certified through Yoga Alliance, will teach with us from September 2nd - 29th.
Courtney originates from Canada and has lived in England and Switzerland. She has taken yoga since 1997, but began to deepen her practice after attending a Sivananda yoga retreat in Neuville-aus-Bois, France. Courtney has found that yoga has helped her to balance her life, providing energy and inspiration well beyond the yoga mat. Yoga has provided a holistic approach in her life and she is always improving on her knowledge through workshops and readings. She completed Yoga Alliance teacher training in Prague and has since been teaching throughout Europe. She owns a private yoga business in Canada, teaching Hatha yoga blended styles for classes as diverse as prenatal, yin and vinyasa flow.

In each regard, Courtney feels it is important to maintain breath control and proper alignment in order to make space in the body. Respecting the moment and the day are key, and she likes to draw from various styles of Hatha yoga in order to find the fun and the challenge within a safe environment. The aim is to get to know yourself and your body, and Courtney feels honoured to accompany you on that journey.

Mithila Ubayasekara will join us to teach yoga the holiday weeks of 30th September - 6th October and 7th - 13th October in 2010

A lifelong passion for dance and movement and an upbringing in Ayurveda (the Indian science of life), led Mithila to work with dance in 1997 and yoga and meditation in 2002. After having left a 6 year career in systems software consulting she now works with yoga, dance, meditation and bodywork. She is Wat Pho trained in Thai Reflexology Foot Massage and Swedish Classic Massage infused with yoga therapy.

With a spirit determined to live a simple life and to guide others in finding their true paths, Mithila continues her studies in spiritual awakening. With a background in Ashtanga Vinyasa basics, teacher training in Classic Hatha Yoga at White Lotus Foundation, Santa Barbara, and Ulrica Norbergs Power Vinyasa Yoga, she has journeyed with Anusara and classic Hatha teachers and has just recently gained a teacher in Jonathan Monks of Yogamonks in the UK. Vipassana Meditation and Buddhist psychology is another of her subjects and she has spent time in silent retreats and regular meditation practice and study is her way of life.

Mithila teaches regularly in Sri Lanka, Sweden and the UK

Dhamma Yoga
"Awareness lets us be rather than do. Effortless being. With a strong focus on Buddhist Meditation techniques and liberation principles, work with yoga asanas to develop your understanding of the nature of the law and the law of the nature that resides within all living beings and the environment. Use this knowledge to improve your peace of mind for the good of yourself and the good of others.

Yoga techniques, meditation techniques and philosophy in every Dhamma yoga session or workshop is my aim. To share the practices that have given me so much freedom with you is a pleasure. My asana practice is sometimes classic Hatha style, sometimes flowy and dynamic Vinyasa style, sometimes relaxing yet powerful Yin yoga style depending on what is necessary at that moment. Mindfulness is the red thread, to be aware of the inner movements in asana, in breathwork, in being absolutely still, in being well and happy. Let go of everything!."

Gabrielle Long will teach with us in April, May and later in the season. She is a certified yoga instructor, massage, polarity and holistic therapist.

She began her yoga practice in 1990, and has lived in various cities in the U.S., where she has studied many styles of yoga. She received her formal training with Kim Valeri at the Yoga Spirit Studio in Boston. Gabrielle has a strong practice focusing on form and alignment that is reflected in the Iyengar style.

Gabrielle continues to grow in her studies through workshops and retreats with a variety of acclaimed teachers. She enjoys nurturing and assisting people in self-discovery, helping them gain awareness about their connection to their body, mind and spirit. She encourages breath awareness, opening to deeper releases of tension held in the bodies musculature and living in the present. Her personality is very joyful and fun. Students say that she is very encouraging and makes you feel comfortable.

Our yoga deck

Outdoor yoga classes take place on our platform which is located in an oasis of green inside the village walls. Its a beautiful and serene environment, with dappled sunlight and the sound of birdsong all around.

Our yoga studio

When we choose to practice yoga indoors, we use our own professionally designed and restored 40 square metre studio, which has a wooden floor, a fresh water spring and an ancient cave as a bathroom. It has full central heating for use in the cooler months.

What Our Yoga Holidays Cover

The classes taught cover the physical teachings of Hatha yoga with emphasis on the spiritual and holistic aspects of the yoga tradition in general.

Your yoga class includes:

■  Asanas (Physical Movements)

■  Pranayama (Breathing practices)

■  Meditation(Stilling and calming of the mind & inner self)

■  Relaxation (Complete mind, body relaxation)

Yoga mats are provided.

Individual Yoga Lessons

Individual tuition with one-to-one yoga lessons in Asana, Pranayama, Meditation and Relaxation are available.

Optional Extra Yoga Classes

If you would like the opportunity to practise more yoga during your holiday, additional 1-hour afternoon yoga classes, costing €10 per-person, are available throughout the week.

We also offer workshops in yoga, meditation and other related subjects. The workshops last between 90 minutes and 2 hours and cost €15 per-person.