Ishta System Yoga Retreats

With Rachel Zinman

Click here for information regarding Rachel's current Bali Yoga Retreat for experienced practitioners and teachers
July 27-August 9, 2008

In Sanskrit the word anandam means bliss. Bliss beyond the body, mind and emotions.
In order to feel anandam we must find our own natural balance. All things in the universe have two qualities, male and female. In yoga these polarities are called parusha our inner awareness, the witness, and prakriti, our diversity. Prakriti is the multiplicity of nature. She is the pattern in a sunflower, the chaos of a wild storm. Prakriti consists of three qualities called gunas. The gunas are rajas, tamas and sattva. Rajas is turbulence, like the constant movement in our minds, tamas is fixed and unmoving, like the nature of a stone, while sattva is the balance between the two: our wisdom, strength and beauty.

In this weeklong healing retreat we will practice asanas that promote balance, pranayamas that purify and strengthen the nervous system and Ishta meditations to connect into deep states of bliss. Each morning will include teachings on the three gunas, how they relate to our individual constitutions, how we can learn to recognise these different states as they play within us, and how to keep dancing ourselves back into balance. Every afternoon we will deepen our experience by exploring inner alignment, restorative yoga and the joy of chanting.**

* The word ISHTA stands for both the integrated science of Hatha Tantra and Ayurveda, and the development of a yoga practice that¹s personalized and holistic.

** Kirtan is a form of devotional yoga called Bhakti that celebrates the beauty of our connection to life and the bliss of unconditional love. In Sanskrit the word kirtan, means, "to repeat" and consists of mantras that are sung in call and response. Repeating the same sounds over and over can bring on a state of deep meditation where the participants experience the power of their own vibrations as well as feeling their inherent connection with others. Rachel will be joined by her partner Nyck Jeanes for the chanting sessions each afternoon.

You can listen to samples of Rachel and Nyck's new award winning CD Sita Ram at
www.inspirational-music.net

Rachel Zinman

Rachel has practiced yoga for 20 years and taught for 14. In Australia she trained in both the Iyengar and Astanga methods, teaching yoga at the Northern Rivers Conservatorium in Lismore, New South Wales, where she was Head of Dance. She also co-created and produced a popular Australian Yoga Video series and a Kid's Yoga Video.

Rachel is a professional dancer, choreographer, award-winning musician and published poet. She was born into a musical family. Her father David Zinman is a Grammy award winning symphony conductor. Her teaching style reflects her deep engagement with the arts: dynamic and precise with an emphasis on mindfulness.

Rachel met ISHTA yoga founder Alan Finger in New York City in 2000 and taught at his studio, Be Yoga for four years. While there she was the co-creator, coordinator and one of the facilitators and mentors in the Be Yoga Teacher Training Program.

Rachel returned to Australia in September 2004, to teach in the Yoga Arts Teacher Training, and is currently facilitating workshops, retreats and trainings in The ISHTA System in Sydney, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Byron Bay, Japan, Switzerland, Munich, Frankfurt and New York.

Upcoming Byron Bay Yoga Teachers Training October 17 to November 21, 2008

Nyck Jeanes

Nyck is a radio broadcaster on Bay FM radio in Byron Bay and Magazine editor and publisher of Be Magazine in Byron. He has also been a musician and songwriter all his life. Nyck has been an actor, café proprietor, writer, journalist, and poet too. As a musician, Nyck wrote documentary soundtracks for ABC Australia and Channel 4 in Britain, and as a performer in duos, bands and theatre work through many years. From 2000 Nyck and his wife Rachel Zinman and family lived in New York for over 4 years. During that time Nyck wrote a weekly radio and print piece back to Australia, called Letter from New York and worked promoting and creating Yoga workshops for Be Yoga . Chanting came into Nyck’s life through partner Rachel while they lived in New York. With Rachel he conducts Kirtan's in Byron Bay, Sydney, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Japan, Switzerland, Germany and New York. Together as the Subway Bhaktis they have just produced their first CD Sita Ram. You can listen to samples at www.inspirational-music.net

For information about yoga retreats contact Rachel