The retreats are held at Clearview Retreat, a residential retreat centre ninety minutes north of Melbourne in the King Parrot Valley in central Victoria. Clearview Retreat backs onto the Tallarook forest and ranges, with immense views 100 kilometres across to Mount Buller and other spectacular mountain ranges.

This is a range of workshops to expand and deepen our understanding of yoga. In a class situation we often only get to practice postures, yet yoga has an insightful, practical and fascinating body of knowledge regarding the workings of the mind and the soul, as relevant today as it was 4,000 years ago.

Each Weekend Mountain Yoga Retreat involves yoga classes, relaxation, meditation, some periods of silence, and guided walks. The structure of each workshop is the same, but different themes are focussed on each weekend.

Home-cooked, delicious, inspiring vegetarian meals are provided, beginning with Friday night dinner. Special diets are catered for.

More retreats will be scheduled for 2023 - check the website later for updates or ask to be put on our email list.

Enquiries:

Jocelyn Bennett, ph 0437 813 737

Two-day retreats have 5 yoga sessions. Three-day retreats have 7 yoga sessions. Four-day retreats have 9 or more yoga sessions. Free time between yoga sessions allows guests to rest and explore. Class sizes are kept small and students of all levels of experience are welcome. If there are areas of particular interest or special needs, i.e. injuries or pregnancy, please let us know in advance so we are able to better tailor the program to suit you.

When:

Cost:

2-day retreat: 7pm Fri until 3pm Sun

3-day retreat: 7pm Fri until 3pm Mon

4-day retreat: 7pm Thurs until 3pm Mon

2-day retreat: $ 445, $ 510 or $ 580

3-day retreat: $ 665, $ 765 or $ 870

4-day retreat: $ 890, $ 1020 or $ 1160

~ Price includes yoga, accommodation & food and

varies with level of accommodation (one person to a bedroom, sharing bedroom or camping).

~ For full range of price options, see below

Antonia Pont has been practicing yoga for almost two decades, and studying zen since 1996. She has trained and practiced with teachers in Australia, India and Europe, and has taught locally and internationally. She completed her first teacher training in Melbourne, with Paul Wooden of Gertrude Street Yoga in 2004. She then trained in the Vijnana tradition and received certification as a Vijnana teacher from the founder of the style, Orit Sen-Gupta, in 2011. She continues to study with Orit, and edited Orit’s book, The Heart of Yoga. Antonia has established Vijnana Yoga Australia in central Melbourne,which celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2019. Her approach to teaching postures, breath and meditation is precise, steady, and sometimes irreverent. She encourages students to trust the strengthening and startling journey that practice can be, and to integrate this wisdom into their lives off the mat. She is a scholar, poet and essayist, and works at Deakin University. www.vijnanayogaaustralia.org

(*Clearview Retreat also offers nature meditation retreats.

See Nature Meditation Retreats and for details.)

Erika Newberry has been a dedicated yoga practitioner for over 16 years and has been teaching since 2011. She completed her initial yoga teacher training at the Australian Yoga Academy in Melbourne and then went on to study yogic philosophy, yin yoga, laughter yoga, trauma sensitive yoga and yoga therapy. Erika teaches at a number of yoga studio and gyms around Melbourne as well as offering private yoga therapy sessions, corporate yoga and specialised yoga sessions/programs for hospitals and schools. Erika loves the richness of yoga: how it can help bring the body and mind together and promote a wholeness of our experience of being in our body. Erika loves that yoga teaches us to breathe fully, to trust our own experience and to respond in a way that is appropriate, kind and sustainable for us. Her classes are deeply nourishing and nurturing for both the body and the mind. www.changewithyoga.com  

Each yoga retreat is limited to small numbers of people (8 max).

Angela Robb: Over twenty years of personally enjoying the transformative benefits of yoga inspires Angela to share what she loves. Angela’s nurturing and intelligent style arouses connection with one’s own vitality and sense of centre and relaxation. During the nine years Angela has been teaching yoga, her meaningful classes have allowed students to discover the joy of yoga; physically, mentally, energetically and spiritually. Angela has an Advanced Diploma of Yoga Teaching - a 2 year, 1300+ hour course, from the Academy of Yoga Learning Australia. A trained massage therapist, Angela specialises in Thai Yoga Massage, which she integrates in her Restorative and Yin Yoga classes. Angela has additionally completed teacher training with some of the world’s renowned yoga teachers: Shiva Rae, Judith Lasater and Donna Farhi, and completed teacher training in Restorative Yoga, Pre-natal Yoga, Nada Yoga (the yoga of sound), Laughter Yoga, and Chakra Vinyasa Flow.

2-day retreats

$ 445 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + camping (BYO tent & camping gear)

$ 510 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + sharing bedroom (2 or 3 people in a room)

$ 580 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + one person to a bedroom

3-day retreats

$ 665 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + camping (BYO tent & camping gear)

$ 765 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + sharing bedroom (2 or 3 people in a room)

$ 870 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + one person to a bedroom

4-day retreats

$ 890 per person: yoga tuition + all meals + camping (BYO tent & camping gear)

$ 1020 per person:  yoga tuition + all meals + sharing bedroom (2 or 3 people in a room)

$ 1160 per person:  yoga tuition + all meals + one person to a bedroom

Meals include: Breakfast, lunch and dinner

Joanna Nation is a dedicated Yoga teacher, yoga therapist & accredited herbalist who integrates traditional eastern healing modalities with a western medical understanding. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Health Science & a formal qualification in counselling, & has spent two decades exploring Yoga, meditation & somatic movement, enriching her knowledge with more than 1500 hours of professional training both internationally & locally. Joanna's approach as a Yoga & movement facilitator is grounded & intuitive as she encourages gentle self-enquiry throughout the journey of a class. Continually absorbing & learning as a student herself brings an authentic depth of knowledge as a facilitator. Her wish is to provide a nurturing, uplifting space for self-awareness, personal growth & understanding, giving rise to living in the present moment & in reciprocal relationship with others & our environment. Joanna teaches weekly classes in two studios in Melbourne's inner north, along with running Yoga therapy courses, Yoga workshops and 1:1 holistic health consultations.

https://kindredbeing.net

Emerging out of lockdowns and re-integrating back into society is calling for a renewed sense of self and a reinvigoration of our energy. Our energy, or vitality, can also be described with the Sanskrit term Prāṇa; the natural world and the air we breathe holds this gift of Prāṇa. This retreat is designed to nourish the nervous system, rebuild from the ground up and reignite our light through an engagement with breath and nature, thus to Prāṇa. We will utilise the lineage of Kundalini Yoga - with its unique combination of Prāṇayama (breathwork), mantra, mudra, meditation and repetitive rhythmic movement - to boost our energy reserves and healing capacity. Alongside Kundalini will be the restorative practices of Yin and Yoga Nidra to also provide an opportunity for relaxation throughout our weekend's journey.

*No prior experience necessary in Kundalini Yoga is required.

Yoga is an established method of working with our person at a variety of levels. By connecting with the physical body, with the breath and a sense of touch and balance, changes are gently set going across the whole spectrum of who we are and who we might become. Yoga reminds us that we actually don’t know who we are, and neither does anyone else. We practise carefully and wisely, in order to welcome openings towards futures we are curious about, and to allow shifts that could nourish our worlds and our relations with its creatures. This weekend is suited to established or newer practitioners keen to focus on alignment, grounding, release and restfulness. In conjunction with delicious, simple food, our bodies, and heartmind can stabilise and rediscover joyous, easeful modes

This retreat offers a solid opportunity to step out of daily time for 3 days at the year’s end. Before the close of 2023, its social commitments and challenges, spend time in a retreat’s structured environment, where you’ll rest into caring rhythms of movement, relaxation, simple eating and clarifying practices. Drawing on the wisdom of the Vijnana yoga system, participants will study an array of classic asana (posture) sequences, practise sitting meditation & learn the calming and focusing techniques of pranayama breathing. Steadied by the elements of the yoga curriculum, its ease-allowing methods and non-coercive approaches, students will be encouraged to take a break from their usual pressures, to encounter themselves and their deeper cadences with curiosity and respect. Expect to wander safely through the expansive heartmind. Guided by yoga’s tried methods, revive your enthusiasm for practice and centredness in your life. Suitable for students with some experience.

We all deserve time to step out of daily habits and routines, space for rest, space to let the clutter of the mind fall away…exposing our true nature of joy and calm exuberance. Relaxed and nurtured, our natural clarity and centre surfaces; we again feel connected and purposeful, vital in body and mind. This retreat will guide you on this journey, giving the gift of slowing down. Slowing down to experience your natural state of connection, joy and peace. You will be expertly guided through a course of Restorative Yin Yoga practices that are sprinkled with massage to enhance the release. The retreat program is highlighted with Yoga Nidra Meditation, gentle morning yoga-flow, sound meditation, nature walks and a personal massage for each retreatant. The collection of practices initiates a shift of energy to clear out that which is stuck and stagnant, creating space for new inspiration and personal freedom.

We all deserve time to step out of daily habits and routines, space for rest, space to let the clutter of the mind fall away…exposing our true nature of joy and calm exuberance. Relaxed and nurtured, our natural clarity and centre surfaces; we again feel connected and purposeful, vital in body and mind. This retreat will guide you on this journey, giving the gift of slowing down. Slowing down to experience your natural state of connection, joy and peace. You will be expertly guided through a course of Restorative Yin Yoga practices that are sprinkled with massage to enhance the release. The retreat program is highlighted with Yoga Nidra Meditation, gentle morning yoga-flow, sound meditation, nature walks and a personal massage for each retreatant. The collection of practices initiates a shift of energy to clear out that which is stuck and stagnant, creating space for new inspiration and personal freedom.

1. ~ Gift certificates are available, and are valid for 12 months from date of purchase
   

2. ~ GST is included in these prices
   

3. ~ Non-refundable and non-transferable deposit to secure booking: $ 150
   

4. ~ Balance to be paid 3 weeks before retreat
   

5. ~ Full fee is forfeited, & non-transferable, if booking is cancelled by guest less than 1 week before retreat

We all deserve time to step out of daily habits and routines, space for rest, space to let the clutter of the mind fall away…exposing our true nature of joy and calm exuberance. Relaxed and nurtured, our natural clarity and centre surfaces; we again feel connected and purposeful, vital in body and mind. This retreat will guide you on this journey, giving the gift of slowing down. Slowing down to experience your natural state of connection, joy and peace. You will be expertly guided through a course of Restorative Yin Yoga practices that are sprinkled with massage to enhance the release. The retreat program is highlighted with Yoga Nidra Meditation, gentle morning yoga-flow, sound meditation, nature walks and a personal massage for each retreatant. The collection of practices initiates a shift of energy to clear out that which is stuck and stagnant, creating space for new inspiration and personal freedom.

This famous quote from the wisdom texts suggests how practice can assist us to inhabit, with less anguish, a complicated world. Rather than suggesting that we flee (into a cave or other reclusive place), the texts flag how practice assists the student to participate in the world, but without taking up all of its more harmful or overwhelmed ways. This retreat will introduce the integrated 4 aspects of Vijnana Yoga practice: sitting (meditation), breathing (pranayama), postures (asana) and inquiry. In a steady and non-harming way, across the two days, we will stabilise the heart-mind and, via the yoga curriculum of relaxation and movement, clarify when strength is needed in the body - in the world - and when patient listening and artful responsiveness are more apt. Finally, supported by the retreat atmosphere and its generous habits and rhythms, we may come to see how these are not so different.

This longer retreat is especially suited to those keen to deepen their relationship with yoga over a steady but intensive four-day meeting. Practising is an unusual approach towards action that enables transformation and stability to be possible together. Thus, we will work closely with the seven core principles of Vijnana Yoga, especially those of grounding and relaxation. These two principles open the body, and the heart-mind, to a less stuck set of habits, and simultaneously situate it firmly in the place where it is. By respecting alignment, connecting to breath, cultivating a quiet inner ecology, and listening to the body’s deep intelligence, we’ll experiment with how yoga’s commitment to non-harming and staying-in-the-middle can also be a pathway to sustainable changes and generous, creative selves we haven’t met yet.