Soma Yoga Summer Schedule 2010
- Date: Jul 2 -
- Location: Shanti Yoga Studio, Nelson
- Tuition: 14
- Phone: (250) 352-7908
Current Classes:
At Shanti Yoga Studio, Baker & Josephine St. Nelson BC:
Saturday mornings: Soma Yoga: 10-11:30am
For more information, please see the Soma Yoga section on this website
Soma Yoga is evolving, deepening and unfolding in some exciting new directions. We are going much deeper with both our breath work and our capacity to be fully present, allowing our body and mind to rest, release, and open, in a gentle and natural way.
We have also been focusing on building more core strength, grounding down into the earth, and experiencing how that core strength supports us in showing up for our life, and meeting each challenge as it arises.
The original purpose of yoga was to connect you with your authentic being, which is not a separate, static thing, but a living, flowing field of presence.
When we look at the body from the outside, it certainly appears as a solid object. But when we drop inside and open to our inner experience, all that we find is a stream of experience, sensation, and feeling. And when we let go a little more, we realize there is a lot of spaciousness and tenderness in this experience, an openness that lies at the heart of who we really are.
Soma Yoga gives us the opportunity in each moment to drop from the world of our thinking into the simplicity of feeling, breathing and letting go. When our yoga practice opens the heart, and reveals our connection to all living beings, it becomes a powerful force for transformation. This possibility exists for each one of us who is ready to receive it. All we need to begin with is our willingness.
Please note the upcoming ‘Yoga of Effortless Being’ 5 day retreat, happening at Johnson’s Landing Retreat Centre in August. For more information on this retreat, go to the home page and look under events.
The Yoga of Effortless Being--5 Day Retreat
- Date: Jul 30 - -Wed. Aug. 4
- Location: Johnson’s Landing Retreat Centre, Johnson's Landing, near Argenta
- Tuition: Pay As You Can
- Phone: 1(877) 366-4402
I'm offering the “Pay What You Can'' option for this retreat, so that you can come if you really want to. If you are in financial flow, “pay what you can.” If you are constricted financially, “pay what you can.” In this way we all support each other in abundance and community! Please let me know if you have questions or comments
--A 5 day retreat
“Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?” (Mary Oliver)
Meditation, yoga, and inquiry, on this retreat, will be part of one seamless practice, inviting you into a new way of being with yourself and with life, not after years of practice, but right now. Meditation is not about trying to control and improve our disturbing thoughts and feelings. This only creates exhaustion and profound tension, which closes down the free flow of energy through our body and being.
My experience at the Johnson’s Landing retreat was soul-opening. Thank you for guiding me. My gratitude is deep.
Pearl W. Nelson BC April 2010
In this quiet and beautiful place, you’ll discover what natural meditation is-- the ease and fulfillment that appear when you learn to rest in presence, and release your conditioned tendencies to seek and struggle. Sometimes we will be sitting, sometimes lying, sometimes moving, sometimes still. In every moment we can open to the healing, awakening power of unconditioned awareness and compassion. When this awareness or presence touches the body, it becomes fluid, alive and grounded. When it touches the emotions, the heart softens and releases its armour. When it touches the mind, we can allow the energy that is usually entangled with our thinking to stream down into the sweet stability of the earth.
You’ll find the joy and resilience that belong to the human body, when you are willing to fully inhabit it in each moment. You’ll begin to experience that love, wisdom and full aliveness can all be received as gifts.
Whenever we touch the presence of our authentic being, new ways of living and moving in the world reveal themselves to us, without effort or endless thinking.
Johnson’s Landing Retreat Centre is a powerful place, full of beauty, stillness and the deep healing energy of lake, mountains and waterfalls. The opening and releasing of body and mind happen naturally in a place like this.
”I felt a gratifying sense of presence over the five days with Shayla - but not until I arrived home did I understand the full extent of the transformation. My family recognized it instantly. Often I find myself striving to connect with my girls and often not succeeding. This time I felt completely relaxed, and fully present and we connected more deeply then ever before. Shayla’s teachings have solidified a life long passion to build my awareness and acceptance of what is. Shayla’s August retreats will continue to be a space for me to learn and celebrate this acceptance.” Delyse Sylvester
To register, email: or phone toll free 1.877.366.4402
The tuition for this retreat is by donation, directly to Shayla. Please see the top of the page for more information on ‘pay as you can.’
Retreat facilitation fee before June 30th--$115. After June 30-- $140.
The minimum cost for food and lodging (including three excellent vegetarian meals per day) is $65, for camping space.
The maximum is $120, for a private cabin.
Between these two, there are different kinds of lodging available, at different prices.
The retreat starts at dinner time (5pm) on Friday July 30th, and ends at lunch time on Wed. Aug. 4th.
For more information about Shayla and her work, visit http://www.barefootjourneys.net or call her at 250.352.7908
To register, email: or phone toll free 1.877.366.4402
‘The Integrity of the Heart’ at the Tipi Camp
- Date: Aug 14 - 18, 2010
- Location: The Tipi Camp Nature Retreat, Crawford Bay, East Shore of Kootenay Lake
- Tuition: 320
- Phone: 250-227-9555 or toll free: 1-866-800-CAMP(2267)
Where our inner and outer lives meet
A Four Day training
This is a training in learning to live from the Integrity of the Heart, this presence that is radiant, awake and completely undivided. In this place, the endless struggle to improve, the war between you and your inner experience, starts to fall away.
We will be present for ourselves and each other, learning how to see clearly and vividly what is and what is not working in our lives, and how we can truly participate in our own evolution.
As human beings, we have all kinds of desires, but to be completely comfortable being ourselves, and to experience directly that we are connected to everything, is all we really need and want.
As you inquire, explore, listen, and receive-- integrity and wisdom begin to emerge. Working with yourself, with a partner, and in small groups, issues, conflicts, and habitual patterns of suffering release and dissolve by themselves. A natural sense of peace and completion arises, which is deeply nourishing. Self-preoccupation gives way to the brightness of compassion and engagement.
“For many years I’ve been going to retreats and then coming back home and feeling disconnected from what I experienced there. I really appreciate working with Shayla, because this kind of work is all about our everyday life, and it’s been great to feel that gap between my ordinary life and my life on retreat start to close.”
Joe Thorley, Nelson BC
In the first part of the course you learn to receive the nourishment that comes when you rest in the unbounded space of the heart. A deep intimacy with yourself begins to develop, when you simply rest as you are, where you are.
Once this state is recognized, you begin to rely on this awareness. When you need clarity, strength and inspiration, you rely on this awareness, instead of your conditioned mind. In the light of this awareness, you discover a radically different way of relating to your body, your mind, and your afflictive emotions.
A deep sense of community unfolds as we engage with each other. Sessions will include different forms of contemplation, yoga, study, inquiry, and dialogue, plus one personal coaching session with Shayla.
There will be 2 follow-up group telecalls, after the training is over.
The Tipi Camp is a stunningly beautiful spot-- a sacred place, full of energy and power.
For more information about this training, click here:
Tipi Camp Fees: $420?
Tuition: $320
Total cost: $740
Please let me know if you cannot afford the tuition. I have some partial scholarships available
For more information, call 250.352.7908
Arrivals and Departures:
Sat. Aug. 14—arrive 2pm from Lakeside on the East Shore
Wed. Aug. 18—leave after lunch—first boat leaves at 12:30pm, depending on weather
