Cowrie Yoga - yoga with Georgina Evans

Links

Wed, 20 May 2009 00:39:40 +0000

Astanga Yoga London (AYL): for self practice mysore-style Astanga yoga - www.astangayogalondon.com
Yin Yoga: a comprehensive site on in yoga - www.yinyoga.com
Sarah Powers: one of the main yin yoga teachers - www.sarahpowers.com
Paul Grilley: a leading yin yoga teacher, his website is a wealth of information - www.paulgrilley.com
British Wheel of Yoga: one of the main governing bodies of yoga in the UK - www.bwy.org.uk
Yoga Matters: for all your yoga equipment - www.yogamatters.com
Yoga Journal: a well informed USA based yoga magazine - www.yogajournal.com
Special Yoga Centre: for specialist yoga and training - www.specialyoga.org.uk
Women and Girls Network (WGN): for support in recovering from any experience of sexual violence - www.wgn.org.uk
Terrence Higgins Trust: for information and support for anyone living with HIV - www.tht.org.uk
Posititively Women: for information & support for women living with HIV - www.positivelywomen.org.uk
The Karuna Institute - www.karuna-institute.co.uk
Artybird: supporting artists in residence in the community - www.artqualifications.co.uk
Adrian Piper: Yogini, artist, philosopher - www.adrianpiper.com
Eco-Interiors: for ecological design solutions - www.ecointeriors-uk.com
Web-designer and yoga teacher - www.philipcundall.com

Blog

Wed, 20 May 2009 00:38:41 +0000

Astanga Yoga in Rwanda Project - Summer 2009 georgina-evans.blogspot.com

It is estimated that up to 500,000 Rwandan women and girls experienced rape and sexual violence during the genocide in Rwanda in 1994

14 years after the mass killings and rape crimes of the Rwandan Genocide, many Rwandan women and their families are HIV positive and still struggling to gain access to health care and to reclaim their lives. Like all women who have suffered traumas of sexual violence, they deserve support in their efforts to regain a sense of personal power, inner peace and feelings of integrity and interconnectedness of their bodies, hearts and minds.

Why Yoga?

Yoga is a powerful therapy for managing post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The organisation, WE-ACTX, offers health care and support, including free yoga instruction, to HIV positive women genocide survivors and their children.

"I feel well. I have better morale and no longer feel unhappy. My mind is calmer and my thinking is settled...."
Mary (name changed), a participant of the ‘Inyange Girls’ yoga group facilitated by Project Air

I volunteered my services as a yoga teacher with Project Air (formerly We-Actxyoga) for three months during summer 2009, working with counsellors to support women in their ongoing efforts to recover and overcome the experience of sexual violence. Volunteers and donations are always needed to keep the hands on services going.

Project Air has been endorsed by the UN and is the only organization in the world that uses yoga to help girls and women overcome the devastating effort of genocidal rape, sexual violence and HIV/AIDS. Project Air aims to expand its services from Rwanda into neighbouring Eastern Congo.

People in Eastern Congo are experiencing one of the deadliest conflicts in the world today where systematic rape, mutilation and sexual violence are the preferred weapons of war. In this conflict, the lives of hundreds of thousands of girls and women – some as young as 18 months old - are being destroyed.

Visit the blog for the story of my volunteering experience: georgina-evans.blogspot.com

Special Yoga

Wed, 20 May 2009 00:36:54 +0000

Healing Specialised Yoga

We all have wounds that need healing. We all have our effective and not so effective ways of coping. For many of us, sooner or later, deeper work needs to be done to unravel psychic, emotional, mental and physical knots in order to alleviate the pain and suffering of unresolved issues we carry in body, mind and soul. Taking the time to do healing work frees us to live life to full capacity. To live and fulfill our goals and dreams with heart, love, peace and joy.

For many years Georgina has been engaged in exploring and developing an interdisciplinary approach to healing, incorporating yoga, creativity with visual art and movement, mindfulness practices and bodywork. In addition to training as an Astanga Vinyasa Yoga practitioner and teacher, Georgina spent four years working one-to-one with Vini Yoga teacher, Sylviane Gianina, to develop the subtle practices of pranayama, chanting and meditation in order to work through challenging personal experiences.

She is committed to making yoga, mindfulness practices and creative expression available to those who may find it difficult to access these healing arts through general public classes. She has years of experience working with vulnerable groups using yoga and the creative arts.

This includes working with:-
• Disaffected teenagers
• Physically mentally and emotionally challenged children and young people
• Stroke patients
• Women with HIV
• women who have experienced domestic violence or sexual abuse

Georgina is committed to pursuing on-going training to gain further specialist knowledge and skills for working in this field.

Her training includes:-
• MA Art Psychotherapy (Roehampton University P/T - 2011-2014)
• Relax and Renew, deep relaxation techniques for healing with Judith Lasater (The Life Centre, 2010)
• Thai yoga Massage (School of Thai Yoga Massage, 2009)
• HIV Awareness (Positively Women, 2009)
• Yoga and mindfulness Practises for people with Depression and Trauma with Heather Mason and Dana Moore (2009)
• Yoga for Teens with Jo Manuel (Special Yoga Centre, 2008)
• Yoga Therapy Foundation Course (Yoga Biomedical Trust and The Life Centre, 2008)
• Core Processing (Buddhist) Psychotherapy Foundation Course (Karuna Institute 2007-08)
• Counseling Interventions for working with women overcoming experiences of sexual violence: a multicultural approach (Women and Girls Network, 2004)
• Art Psychotherapy Foundation Course (Goldsmiths College, 2000)

Previous clients include:-
184 Centre, drop-in, for drug and alcohol users, CRI London www.CRI.org.uk
Positively Women, www.positivelyuk.org
We-ACTX, Womens Equality in Access to Care and Treatment, www.we-actx.org
Bud Umbrella www.bud-umbrella.org.uk
The Stroke Project, TLC Care Services,www.tlccare.org.uk
Women and Girls Network www.wgn.org.uk
Eaves Housing for Women www.eaves4women.co.uk
Marsha Phoenix Trust www.marshaphoenix.org.uk
Chisenhale Gallery Arts Educational programme with physically/mentally challenged children and youth www.chisenhale.org.uk

Please contact Georgina if you would like to work one-to-one or instruction for a specialised open or closed group:
Call 07768 628 581 or or email georgina@cowrieyoga.com

Events

Wed, 20 May 2009 00:23:04 +0000

Yoga Holiday in Dahab, Egypt

with Georgina Evans
26th November - 3rd December 2011

see photos from January 2010 yoga holiday in Dahab

This yoga holiday, set on the Red sea, offers a unique combination of yoga, swimming, snorkeling and/or diving. You will also have the opportunity to experience an unforgettable overnight trip into the desert with Bedouin guides or challenge yourself to climb near by Mount Sinai.

The Coral Coast is a simple, intimate and beautiful hotel set on edge the Red Sea. The hotel serves wonderful fresh food indoors and outdoors on the beach and any food requirements are happily accommodated. There are lovely cushioned chill-out areas both by the pool and by the sea: perfect for lazy daytime reading and sunbathing or evening chats over falafel and drinks.

Morning Yoga class will be an energizing alignment focused dynamic flow session to set you up for your day and the afternoon class offers a more restorative and calming Yin yoga experience. Prices from £310 (incl. accommodation; 2 yoga classes per day; vegetarian brunch, excl. flight and evening meal)

If you want to chat about this holiday to see if its for you, please call me on 07768 628 581 or email me at georgina@cowrieyoga.com

To book and for more information about the hotel etc. please contact Yoga on a Shoestring Telephone: +44(0)20 7733 2996

Previous workshops and holidays...

Yoga Retreat in South Devon

4 days of Yoga, Meditation & Creativity at Glorious Hazelwood house in South Devon

Date: Thursday 7th - Sunday 10th April 2011

Cost: From £360

Come and join me for a long weekend of focused yoga, meditation and fun with mindfulness practices such as mantra writing and creative movement and sound. Hazelwood house sits in 67 acres of river valley where wildlife abounds. Nearby are moors, award winning beaches and woodland walks. This is a wonderful opportunity to enjoy your body, voice and creative spirit while bathed in the tranquility and beauty of the South Devon countryside..

For full details and to book please go to www.yogaonashoestring.com

For yoga enquiries call/text Georgina on 07768 628 581 or email me at georgina@cowrieyoga.com

Astanga and Yin Yoga Holiday in Western Crete

15th – 22nd June 2010
with Georgina Evans

Astanga and Yin Yoga Holiday with Georgina Evans

This yoga holiday offers you the space and time to explore various aspects of your practice. With plenty of personal attention there will be ample time for your practice to develop as you relax and unwind. All levels of yoga experience are welcome!

Each day begins with a led Astanga yoga practice. This will be followed by a delicious vegetarian Cretan brunch. The day is then yours to explore the local area with some stunning walks, relax and swim at the beach or simply enjoy the company of like-minded people. The early evening yoga session offers the more restorative approach of Yin yoga, meditation and relaxation. Many of the themes of this gentler approach to yoga can be carried into the morning class and put into practice.

A complementary evening meal is included on the arrival day. Other evenings you are free to make your own arrangements and choose from the range of good quality and often, cheap tavernas in the area. Or, if you have transport, explore the excellent restaurants in Chania, 40 mins drive away. On the last evening there is the option to dine together as a group at a local taverna. If you have dietary restrictions West Crete Holidays will happily help you choose an appropriate place to dine. The yoga week also includes 2 guided walks, usually ending at a taverna or at the beach for a late afternoon swim.

Prices from £480 (incl. accommodation; 2 yoga classes per day; vegetarian brunch, excl. flight and evening meals. Single room supplement, additional £120

For further information and any yoga queries please email me at georgina@cowrieyoga.com

For Booking and further info please contact Jilly Batchelar & Debbie Kennard Free Spirit Travel Limited www.freespirituk.com View summer yoga section and click west Crete Greece - Contact no: 01273 564230

About Yoga

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Yoga is more than physical exercise. Yoga means 'Union': the union of mind, body and spirit. It is the ancient science and practice for obtaining liberation from the material world and dates back over 5,000 years to the very foundations of Indian and also Egyptian civilizations. However, most of our understanding of yoga today has filtered down though Indian yogic traditions.

A regular yoga practice opens us up and out into a journey of self-discovery. It awakens a grounded and subtle sense of well-being which enables a more pleasurable and mindful attitude to life and living.

Astanga yoga

Astanga yoga is one of the more athletic and physically demanding forms of yoga and the foundations of this dynamic system were significantly developed 1930’s by Sri T. Krishnamacharya and his disciple K. Pattabhi Jois. There are six sequences in all, the first sequence is known as the Primary Series- ‘Yoga Chikitsa’ or yoga therapy. Astanga is can be learned in 'talk thru' or 'Mysore Style self practice' classes.

The Astanga Vinyasa yoga system is a beautifully structured and balanced system of yoga that involves a set series of yoga postures which practiced in a continuous flowing sequence that synchronizing movement with breath. This dynamic flow is referred to as vinyasa.

Incorporating special Ujjayi pranayama and the use of internal locks this practice yoga helps to clean and strengthen the body, clear the mind and open the heart. As will all forms of yoga, regular practice cultivates good health, vitality and an energetic integration of body, thought, mind and emotion.

The benefits include:
- Increased physical strength & flexibility. Balances all body systems.
- Enhanced emotional equilibrium and well being.
- Improved mental awareness and ability to focus your mind
- Heightened feelings of deep spiritual connection and links to your subtle energies of intuition and compassion

Yin yoga

Yin yoga is a still, quiet practice that gives time to tune into the more subtle, reflective, healing aspects of our being. Working from a place of softness, focused attention and letting go, yin yoga draws together different elements of yoga: softness combined with strength of mind, inner balance and outer stillness; release of tension and deep rejuvenation.

This practice targets bones, ligaments and deep connective tissues of the body. It is based on holding postures passively for sustained periods of time. This stretches the connective tissues throughout the body – ligaments specifically, which hold bone to bone to support our basic structure and mobility. Ligaments tissue is contractile in nature (ie it shrinks into itself to do its job of holding bones together). If ligament tissues is not stretched regularly it gets tighter and tighter. This leads to stiffness and reduced mobility.

Over time yin yoga practise improves ligament flexibility and can also releases blockages in energy flow through ligament tissue. This has the effect of nourishing the Charkas, increases energy flow through the meridians improving organs function and harmonising the body-mind system as a whole.

In addition to the physical and energetic benefits, Yin yoga creates time and space for us to cultivate inner focus and the more introverted aspects of our nature. In the long term this opens the possibility of positive personal transformation on all levels our being.

Dynamic Flow yoga

Dynamic yoga draws from the Astanga and Iyengar yoga systems, offering creative and energising asana sequences. Movements and breath are synchronised to enhance body-mind awareness and build strength, stamina and flexibility. Particular attention is paid to the foundations of each asana and poses are approached in stages to accommodate practitioners at different levels of their yoga practise.