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Phanganist speaks with John and Yvette from the Agama Healing Center regarding their Mindful Living Retreat which is taking place from July 25th to the 31st...
For our readers, would you please explain the event...
The title is ‘Mindful Living Retreat - Relax, refocus & recharge’.
The seven day retreat is a unique blend of science and spirituality and has been developed to help people with a wide range of health challenges. .
Each day starts with an informative 30 minute talk on one of the 7 critical aspects of health, followed by a 90 minute mindfulness based therapeutic yoga practice.
The second part of the daily program is learning practical tools that can be taken home and applied to a busy western life. Some of the topics include learning to use the breath for emotional regulation, managing and focusing the critical mind and skills for developing harmonious and fulfilling relationships.
Each day finishes at 2pm after a practice of Yoga Nidra – an ancient tantric practice that has been scientifically proven to release physical, emotional and mental tensions leading to greater health and wellbeing.
The retreat finishes on Sunday with a dedicated immersion into the self. It will be a guided day of silence and designed to help each participant journey into a place many people never go – within themselves.
This transformative retreat is designed for those who want the best of both worlds – personal development while still having ample free time to enjoy the tropical surroundings of island life.
What do you think an individual can gain from your workshop?
The ancient techniques of Yoga and Mindfulness are skilfully blended with modern day research for a program that will provide:
Increased vitality
Strategies for harmonious relationships
Practical tools to manage stress and anxiety
Balance of the emotions and develop a sense of self-worth
How to speak your truth with compassion and kindness
Tools for managing critical thoughts and change unhelpful behaviours
Greater focus and clarity in everyday life
Participants will enjoy a sense of peace and harmony that comes from complete mind-body integration.
And what uniqueness will you personally bring to this event?
We used to be ‘successful’ stressed out, overweight corporates living excessively in every way. The day started by skipping breakfast, five double espressos and more than fifteen bottles of red wine a week! Our minds were full of everything, except being mindful!
In 2009, the global financial crisis wiped out the millions of dollars we made, our business and everything we had ever worked for. Desperate, we went in search for a better way to live and learned how to incorporate the teachings of yoga and mindfulness into life.
We discovered the intimate connection between the mind and body and how to integrate them for greater health, happiness and harmony. We healed our past wounds in a natural and healthy way.
Having experienced the extreme ups and downs of life and learning how to manage the emotions that come with those challenges, we have designed this retreat to teach others what we have been fortunate to learn.
How long have you been practicing Yoga?
We started practicing mindfulness and meditation 15 years ago and have been practicing physical yoga for the last 5 years.
What is your area of specialty (e.g. Hatha, Tantra, Meditation, etc..)?
Our area of speciality is an integrated perspective through the 8 stages of yoga as a complete system for living. We draw on Yoga Therapy as well as mainstream medicine, supported by the spiritual foundations of Yoga.
In your words, can you please describe this specific area?
Our vision is to promote a holistic approach towards health, personal evolution and life. We believe in the miracle of an inner capacity to heal and evolve.
Humans are multidimensional with our awareness and consciousness manifests on many different planes. We approach health, healing and transformation by integrating the different planes through the 5 bodies as taught in Yogic Philosophy – physical, energetic, emotional, mental and spiritual.
Yvette and John have a very interesting and admirable story behind them and we wish them the best of luck with their new workshop.
How did you get involved with Agama and how did you end up on Koh Phangan?
We were in a Buddhist Monastery in Nepal doing a mind training course and a friend recommended we attend the Agama Level 1 intensive course.
We were going to travel through Thailand anyway, so spending a month on a tropical island doing Yoga sounded like a pretty good deal.
That was over three years ago and we are still here!
Tell us more of your Koh Phangan story...
We left a 'successful' corporate finance job, sold all our possessions, put a backpack on and started traveling through Southeast Asia in search for the meaning to life.
We lived in Monasteries and Ashrams in Nepal and India before we arrived on Koh Phangan to study Yoga and the philosophy of Tantra.
We then completed a Teacher Training Course and Therapeutic Teacher Training Course and decided to live in paradise with a 'like-minded' community while integrating the teachings into our life completely.
And leave us with your personal Yogi Philosophy...
There is no such thing as failure - only feedback.
No matter what has happened to you, or where you are in life, it is never too late to do something about it. Yoga and mindfulness backed by scientific research has a natural, long lasting answer to remove the suffering we experience in life and develop a new perspective.
This is the beginning of liberation.
You can book here.
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