Sunday 31 August 2014

Restorative Workshops


Autumn and Winter Restorative Yoga

Thank you everyone who attended one or indeed all of the Autumn and Winter Restorative Yoga workshops. Each one had it's own theme: Autumn, Women's Restorative, Winter, Hormone Balancing for Women and each session came with a worksheet, hopefully for you to have a try at home.  I really enjoyed researching, creating the sequences and presenting each of the workshops. Thanks for teaching me each class always a student! I look forward to creating themed Saturday morning classes for Spring.

You can check out photos and comments on my facebook page


Getting ready!

  Hare Pose

  Supported Butterfly a favourite with students.


          Bliss balls for afterwards. Yummy!

Om shanti, Margot XX


Tuesday 19 August 2014

Yoga: thoughts on daily practice

Thoughts on Daily Practice

The theme for my classes this term has been about developing a home practice and while some of my students have embraced this idea or discipline, some have expressed that they have no time or no interest - they enjoy the energy of a class or a group practice and this fits with their timetable so why do yoga at home?

Starting our practice - Yoga at the April Retreat, 2014

Why?
As a yoga teacher, of course, I need my practice to inform my teaching and my personal practice. Indeed, you would think that encouraging students to practice at home could be akin to sabotaging my small yoga business so why did I do it?

Me time!

First: I feel a little victory each time I make it to my mat. I have kept my promise to make time for self- healing, relaxation, as well as strength and stamina building. All these help me be healthier, stronger and happier. I have kept my commitment towards building my inner happiness.
Okay so some days it is only 10 - 20 minutes and it may not involve much perhaps some meditation or just rolling around on the floor. It's me time.

Just rolling around!

Transformation!

Second: For me a yoga practice is about confronting my negative patterns with the hope of creating positive new ones. After all if you not poke or provoke your own ego who will? How can I transform my life and create more positive change...that's a rhetorical question because naturally my answer would be YOGA. And in all honesty I prefer to this ego poking at home. I have also discovered on my mat sometimes in class but mostly at home that I can do poses I never thought would be possible. Yes yoga has helped me to recognise the thought patterns that are holding me back not just on the mat but also in my life. On one hand, it has taught me tell yourself you can do it and you can. On the other, yoga is simply a practice so it is okay to not be perfect; it is okay to try again and again. And laugh about. Be okay with being imperfect. Yoga practice is just like your life. It is life.

                                                                       Flying Crow

Now that gives me ideas for a whole lot of other blogs...what else does yoga teach me that map out onto/into my life... yoga is life! It's about connection with yourself, with how you connect with others and the universe.
Stay tuned 
Light and love, Margot

Monday 11 August 2014

Spring Yoga Retreat Oct 17th -19th, 2014

Spring Yoga Retreat
Oct 17th - 19th, 2014
SIBA Retreat Centre, Gelantipy.
East Gippsland, Victoria
Now booked out!


Hi my name is Margot and I am delighted to announce my Spring Yoga Retreat dates for this year.

The retreat begins Friday Oct 17th in the evening around 6pm and finishes Sunday Oct 19th at 3pm.
SIBA is a retreat centre nestled in serene and peaceful mountains of East Gippsland. The accommodation is motel style - comfortable and modest. Delicious, light and freshly prepared vegetarian food is included in the cost/ All diets and allergies can be catered for and by request egg dishes are included as an option. Daily yoga and meditation practices are offered along with massage at an additional cost (see retreat page for details). At this retreat, we will be exploring a couple of new practices: mandala meditation and Kirtan - sacred chanting.

Hope to see you there!

Cost includes 2 nights  accommodation, all food (vegetarian - diets/allergies catered for) and teachings. 
Shared  $380,  $340 concession (unwaged, full time student)
Single $510
Camping $310 
Double rooms $440 p.p. (limited number)

Bookings contact Margot Porter on (03) 5157 5589 or prasannayoga@hotmail.com

$100 deposit is required to secure your place. 

NEW: Mandala meditation

 At this retreat I will introduce to my favourite meditation practice: making mandalas. Learn about the significance of mandalas. Enjoy making your own from natural materials.
Meditation practice based on your mandala.

NEW: Kirtan 

 Music as meditation.  
One of the oldest sacred music traditions of the world, the kirtan is a call-and-response chanting genre that comes to us from India. Kirtan is an ancient music experience that works by mentally quietening the mind. Using ancient Sanskrit mantras, the kirtan calls upon sacred energies to reduce mental chatter of the mind, remove obstacles, and bring us back to the center of our being. The simple repetition of mantras over and over, faster and faster, makes kirtan an easy way for many people to experience some freedom from the daily chatter of the mind.
Andrea Windsor an experienced Kirtana practitioner will lead the Kirtan practice.

About me

Margot Porter has been practising for 16 years and teaching yoga for 4 years. She teaches a contemporary interpretation of hatha yoga - moving between flowing sequences and stillness - energising and calming mind, body and soul.  Over the weekend, enjoy both dynamic and restorative yoga, mindful meditation, mandala making, massage*, kirtan and yoga nidra. Take time to rest, walk, contemplate and converse in peaceful and beautiful surrounds. Margot teaching style is quirky, playful and inclusive. She encourages people to challenge and explore their potential while learning to accept their limits with grace.
*Massage additional cost

Wednesday 6 August 2014

Restorative Yoga for Women August 30th NOW FULL

Fully booked!
If you missed out my next workshop will be in Sept!


Restorative Yoga for Women
August 30th, 2.30 -5pm
 Peace, Presence and Balance 
Relax and unwind in this warming and nourishing workshop designed to begin to balance our hormones and restore our feminine energy. 


Bookings essential. Limited places for each workshop.

To book contact Margot Porter
 prasannayoga@hotmail.com