Ayurveda Retreat 

(this workshop will be given in English)

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Harmonising body and mind through āyurveda and yoga

-detox, rejuvenation, mental balance, healthy diet and lifestyle, life wisdom-

 

The traditions of Yoga ("union") and āyurveda ("wisdom on life") have been developing in parallel, overlapping, for more than 5000 years. Yoga is the spiritual aspect of āyurveda and, in turn, āyurveda is the therapeutic aspect of yoga. We could regard a the life of human being as a seed in which lies the potencial flowering of liberation: the awakening of love and inner peace. In this sense, we could metaphorically say that āyurveda is the science that shows us how to reach and maintain the fertility of the ground (the physical, energetic and mental health and harmony of the person), which is the necessary condition for the state of yoga to germinate and flourish (union, completeness, integration, spiritual realization). In this way, really, there is no yoga without the practice of āyurveda, just as there is no coherence in āyurveda without the pursuit of yoga.

 

These sapiential traditions propose a model according to which each person is capable and responsible for managing their own health and well-being through their life style. They invite us to a deep process of self-study from the perspective of the understanding of the essential forces of nature, thus showing us the full capacity of each person to live healthy and happyly, reconnecting with their true essence and acting in accordance with it.

 

This retreat is an opportunity both to enter into the purpose and conception of the universe of yoga and āyurveda and, above all, to discover, experience and put into practice many of its tools aimed at living in accordance with nature. The programme has been conceived for inspiring and empowering us in the noble art of self-managing our own health and happiness through the active search of a physical, energetic, mental and spiritual harmony.

 

 

Practical contents:

 

• Self-study practices through the guided search of your own Ayurvedic constitution.

• Yogic practices to balance, purify and quiet the system through asana, pranayama, mantra and philosophy for the general cultivation of equanimity and the witnessing consciousness.

• Study of rasas (flavors) as a basis for cooking and eating "ayurvedically", taking into account the nature and qualities of different foods and herbs in order to make healthy combinations and proportions, as well as specific dietary adaptations according to our unique constitution. Some insights on the healing use of various herbs and spices as balancing antidotes.

• Simple daily cleansing techniques: oral hygiene, nasal hygiene, detoxification through water, balancing the digestive fire, managing our waste elimination…

• Nāda yoga nidra practice: deep relaxation with healing sounds.

Possibility to receive further Ayurvedic massages, procedures and personalized sessions with our therapists.

 

 

Theoretical contents:

 

• Definition and introduction to the philosophy and general purpose of āyurveda and yoga.

• Introduction to the cosmology of the elements in āyurveda, presentation of the doṣa (vata, pitta and kapha), the three great forces or "biotypes" around which the physical universe, along with our own body, is organized.

• Main characteristics of the different human constitutions according to the predominance of doṣa and some basic principles on how to manage each constitution (lifestyle, diet, some herbs that can be used...).

• Introduction to the meaning and practice of some of the main Ayurvedic procedures to optimize health.

• Dynacharya: the art of living organizing the activities and rhythms of the day according to the flow of the cycles of nature.

 

 

About the teachers/therapists:

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Sakshin: 

Ana Gabriela: is an Ayurvedic therapist trained at the Yoga Brahma Vidya Laya School (Brazil), where she also lived and worked as a panchakarma therapist throughout her training.  She began her studies of Ayurveda 6 years ago and since then she has dedicated herself to deepening in this science, focusing especially on the connection between ayurveda and yoga, as well as the different points of connection between the physical body and the emotional body, along with the ways of accessing and harmonizing them through various tools.