About Us
Monday, November 08, 2004, 17:44
Lely practised Hatha & Astanga yoga in London for many years before doing her teacher training with the Sivananda school in Kerala, India 1999. She continues to deepen her yoga & meditation studies with Godfrey Devereux & Sarah Powers. She currently teaches a Dynamic Hatha yoga complimented by a restorative yin style and says "For me yoga is all about connectivity & getting present & the enormous amount of energy that is liberated when we do that.If we are blocked then we can get dynamic & transform that energy; if we are tired we can use restorative postures & pranayama to heal & recharge; if our energy is dispersed we look to create energetic continuity throughout the body & hence the mind. Once we are connected to ourselves again we move into ever deeper places of awareness, which can light up our lives in beautiful & unexpected ways. The tools are the body, the breath, awareness & surrender. Yoga , which means union, joins up the often chaotic dots of our lives , helping us over & over again to move out of small mind into Big, or Buddha mind."
As well as teaching local classes & retreats here in Southern Spain at www.kaliyoga.com Lely teaches weekly yoga & meditation classes at www.newlifeaddiction.com for people coming off drugs & alcohol. She also works at the personal development centre www.cortijo-romero.co.uk as a member of staff, supporting facilitators and participants during their stay and running yoga & other courses there.
Arantza's Spanish upbringing make her see the world as family, giving others a wonderful feeling of being accepted just as they are.She comes from the Basque country in the North of Spain,lived in the UK for 13 years and has now settled in this part of Andalucia. She works locally as a yoga teacher and Thai Yoga Massage practicioner. Recently she taught a series of introductory yoga classes to women in the mountain villages of the Alpujarra. This community project was designed to bring awareness of ourselves and our environment to isolated village women and it was a huge success.As well as being a yoga teacher (Sivananda & Integral trained) she practices Zen meditaion (The Open Way) and regularly attends week long silent retreats at Jiko An, a Zen centre high in the Alpujarran mountains. She is now a qualified Thai Yoga Massage practicioner having studied in Northern Thailand with the Sunshine School set up by Asokananda. In Cambodia, there is an old saying - 'Those who love the sea are wise and those who love the mountains are kind'- Arantza loves the mountains and will be guiding any walks which may take place as well as our our morning meditation sessions.
Brenda brings her extensive knowledge and experience of Iyengar yoga, massage, healing and psychiatric nursing to her teaching.She uses a fantastic combination of powerful intuition, deep understanding of the human body and large doses of humour to safely ease people beyond their self-imposed limitations. Her knowledge of the way our bodies work is supremely helpful to all from beginners to advanced, and whatever their usual style of yoga, it enhances each student's Asana practice. Realigning and strengthening the body,the Asanas and Pranayama create the space within to detoxify,release and open.Brenda has practiced yoga since 1981 and qualified as an Iyengar Yoga Instructor in 1991, certified to teach both Asanas and Pranayama. She studied in London at the Iyengar Yoga Institute and regularly visits India to study with BKS Iyengar in Pune. She currently teaches yoga at Cortijo Romero,the personal development centre in Orgiva, Spain and at a local detox centre for people coming off drugs and alcohol. She has also set up her own Yogashala where she runs regular local yoga classes in Orgiva for adults, children and pregnant women respectively. She also works as an Aromatherapy masssage therapist and has an extensive knowledge of crystals. Brenda has taught yoga and breathing to divers in the Red Sea, to people with cancer or recovering,to pregnant women ,to people with injuries and to children. From an early age she has had an interest in Tibetan Buddhism and goes on silent retreat to O Sel Ling, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery nearby .Coupled with her life experiences,she has a wealth of wisdom to offer us.
Kalyani is a guest tutor on some of our summer retreats and day workshops where she leads mandala workshops and meditations. She was introduced to Yoga, Meditation and Ayurveda by her family at an early age. Her background and experience of India, together with her interest in other esoteric traditions, have enabled her to develop her own approach. Kalyani employs various meditation and visualization techniques, using chakras,mandalas and deep relaxation.Her approach is influenced by Satyananda yoga.Her workshop on Mandalas enables participants to explore sacred art as a means of self-expression, personal growth and spiritual transformation. Kalyani now lives in Spain with her three young children.She is currently compiling a collection of spiritual sayings and quotations as well as running a local directory of services called www.paginas alpujarras.com
