Place:
Villa La Ventuca, Coya, Infiesto, Asturias, Northern Spain
6th , 7th & 8th May (starting at 18.00h on Friday 6th May and finishing after lunch on Sunday 8th May)
Accommodation in listed Casona de Indianos (traditional architecture created by Spanish immigrants in South America who returned rich and built big houses back home). Full board with vegetarian- vegan alkaline diet (anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory) (please contact us for any dietary requirements).
Info & Bookings: anamoves@gmail.com
Prices:
Early bird before 20h April 180€, 220€ after this date
Bring a friend and get a 10% discount
Partner or friend not participating in the activities 90€ full board
Non-returnable booking fee 40€
Activities:
Meditation, Yin•Yang Yoga, Tao Te Ching and I Ching readings, strolling in the woodlands.
This retreat is an incomparable opportunity to get started in Yin•Yang Yoga or to dive deeper into your practice. In Spring Yin•Yang Yoga turns dynamic and lively in resemblance of what is occurring in Nature around us.
Together with the physical series we will also learn the Taoist philosophical fundamentals that flow through this practice, making it a way to physical, personal and spiritual development. Lao Tze’s Tao Te Ching and his peculiar understanding of progress as the deepening of our awareness to What Is Now, and I Ching’s explanation of the Natural forces through its trigrams are the philosophical basis that underpin this practice.
We will read some poems from the Tao Te Ching in Williams Martin’s translation and guide (“A Way and A Practice”) and we will practice some of his exercises observing how this philosophy permeates each and every movement. During the physical practice we will experiment with how to be present in What Is Now, moving further away from rounds of judgment, effort, worry, striving, comparing, desiring, hoping, dreaming and all the other distractions that in William Martin’s words keep us from a direct experience of life. We will also learn about the trigrams of the I Ching (or Book of Changes) that govern spring time namely Thunder and Fire that with their movement and heat dissolve winter’s stagnation, shaking all things into rebirth. We will also learn their relationship with Traditional Chinese Medicine meridians of Liver and Gall Bladder.
“In the pursuit of learning something is acquired every day,
in the pursuit of Tao every day something is relinquished.
Less and less is done until non-action is achieved.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.”
Tao Te Ching verse 48
Timetable (flexible and subject to change if necessary)
Friday 6th May
Arrival from 18.00h
18.30h Welcome and introductions
19.30h Yin•Yang Yoga & Tao Te Ching session
21.00h Vegetarian alkaline dinner (vegan also)
23.00h Silence
Saturday 7th May
8.00h Meditation
8.30h Yin•Yang Yoga Session
10.30h Vegetarian alkaline breakfast (vegan also)
11.30h Yin•Yang Yoga session: I Ching trigrams and Traditional Chinese Medicine meridians associated with spring time.
13.30 Vegetarian alkaline lunch (vegan also)
16.00h Tao Te Ching Session: A Way and A Practice by William Martin
18.00h Stroll in the woodland
19.30h Tao Te Ching Session: A way and A Practice by William Martin
21.00h Vegetarian alkaline dinner (vegan also)
23.00h Silence
Sunday 8th May
8.00h Meditation
8.30h Yin•Yang Yoga Session
10.30h Vegetarian alkaline breakfast (vegan also)
11.30h Tao Te Ching Session: A Way and A Practice by William Martin
13.30 Vegetarian alkaline lunch (vegan also)
Departure after lunch
The venue and the area
La Ventuca is an outstanding, listed, three- storey Casona de Indianos (traditional architecture created by Spanish immigrants in South America who returned rich and built big houses back home). The house is inviting and friendly with a homely and warm atmosphere created by its harmonious and pleasant decoration providing a calm and peaceful sensation. The villa is situated in the green rolling hills of Coya (Pioña), somewhere in between the Cantabric Sea and the Mountains Picos de Europa.
The listed Casona de Indianos has been totally restored and it is equipped with shared rooms for 4 and a few rooms for 2. All with cotton linen and natural light, two diaphanous wooden workrooms of 30m² and 120m² and a dining room with large windows and beautiful mountain views, and of course a simple but beautiful garden and terrace surrounded by forests, meadows & farms.
How to get here
You have to get to Infiesto where we will pick you up.
– You can come by bus (check ALSA) or train (check FEVE). There are students coming by car from the two major cities Oviedo and Gijón, please contact us if you would like to share the trip.
– You can come by plane from this airports:
London Standsted to Asturias Airport (Easyjet) or Santander Airport (Ryanair) or from Gatwick airport via Barcelona (Vueling.com) to Asturias.
– To get to Infiesto from the airports:
- Asturias (Oviedo) airport (2h bus away): bus to Oviedo and then buses or trains from there to Infiesto.
- Santander airport (3h bus away). From Santander airport there are only 2 or 3 buses (or trains) a day to Infiesto (final destination Oviedo)
- Madrid airport (5 hours train away + bus) *Sometimes the best and cheapest option is to catch a cheap flight to Madrid and come by train . It is a beautiful journey and you will see many different Spanish landscapes.
In all the cases bear in mind that the last connection you can take is:
- From Santander Airport CATCH THIS BUS at 15.10 passing through Santander at 15.30 and arriving at Infiesto at 18.00.
- From Oviedo CATCH THIS TRAIN 16.30 arriving at Infiesto at 17.25.
Please inform us as soon as you have a travel plan.
On the departure day, avoid if possible, flights earlier than 20.00h so you can have enough time to get there by bus. It is also possible sleeping in the venue Sunday night for Monday flights at an extra cost.
About the teacher:
The classes are taught by Ana Fernández (Ana Moves), dancer and yoga, meditation and chanting teacher, as well as wool spinner. During the last 5 years Ana has studied extensively the symbolic language of dreams and the use of the I Ching with Taoist Master and dream analyst Kari Hohne. At the moment Ana is in the last year of her Traitional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture studies. Her work with dance, yoga and chanting is deeply soaked in Taosit principles
Ana has danced, choreographed and directed professionally for various companies both in the UK and Spain(London Improvisers Orchestra, Fluxx Improv, Karavan Ensemble, Ji Park…). She was founder member of Rabos de Lagartija, awarded Spanish physical theatre and dance company.
Before being able to stand on two feet, Ana learned to use her voice and breathing with her dad, who was a tenor and singing teacher. She started pirouetting, jumping, and standing on two hands at about the age of 4, in a completely autodidactic way. She continued to learn and discover on her own for many years. At the age of 21 she graduated in Physical Education and from there started studying ballet, figure skating, gymnastics, contemporary dance, physical theatre, butoh, yoga and improvisation and many years later she graduated in Contemporary Dance- Theatre Arts with a BA 1st Class Honors at the University of Brighton where she also got a Postgraduate Certificate in Art & Desing. She studied scenography with Andrew Nisbet, physical and vocal improvisation with Al Wunder & Andrew Morrish, Action Theatre with Kate Hilder, butoh with Atsushi Takenouchi , Ryuzo Fukuhara and Mim King and physical theatre with Yael Karavan and Tanya Khabarova (Derevo).
At the moment she dances in her own projects or in collaboration with other astists. She teaches voice, movement, meditation and yoga workshops. She dances for the Ensemble Improviso, and improvisation group formed of various musicians of the Asturias Symphonic Orchestra and invited independent and underground local musicians and dancers.