Delicious – A Yoga Retreat in the Coromandel by Yvonne Van Dongen

As I recline on the ground my back supported by two bolsters, my legs wrapped in place by a rolled-up blanket, my torso covered by another blanket, over my eyes a folded hand towel, I can only marvel that this is not what I had expected at all. No way. Not one bit.

Simply Delicious

It’s not unreasonable, I had thought, to assume that a yoga weekend at Mana Retreat centre in the Coromandel might involve a certain degree of privation. An absence, at the very least, of things like iPods, cake, chatter and comfort. Replaced by early mornings, a few foot-behind-the-ear type contortions and a general austerity. 

Instead not long after arriving we feast on a large fabulous vegetarian dinner followed by pud and cream and then in our first yoga session that night we are taught to give one another a gold-class, five-star-deluxe tuck-in. Which is why I find myself lying down, warm and cosy and swaddled as a baby.  Everyone else in the room is similarly smothered.  Some are snoring. We stay this way for what seems like hours. It is simply delicious.

Not to mention reassuring given that my yoga practice this year amounts to three classes hastily taken in the fortnight before the retreat. I’ll bet the woman who’s never been to a yoga class before is feeling even more relieved. She, like myself, had been urged to come by friends and, without knowing what it would be like, decided to take a chance.  Looks like we’re in luck.

Fundamental Principles

Our teachers, Juliet Forch and Karla Brodie, are students of Donna Farhi, an internationally renowned yoga teacher based in Christchurch.  Her work focuses on refining the movements and principles that underlie all yoga practice. This concentration on fundamental principles allows students of all levels of experience to build their own yoga practice.
It is not, as Karla will repeatedly tell us, about achieving a posture and holding it. “It is about being in your body, a mindfulness in movement. This weekend we want to give people the opportunity to rest and be in their body and be in a beautiful environment.” 

She says she used to practice a vigorous style of yoga but found she was in pain. Since taking up this more comfortable style she feels more relaxed and fluid and far more aware of her body. “I now find the simple things like standing and sitting endlessly fascinating.”

Intimacy and Courtesy

Over the weekend I will discover that this slow, gentle yoga practice is accompanied by an intimacy and courtesy rarely experienced outside these confines. For instance my tuck-in came courtesy of my partner who was instructed to say things like “I’d like to offer you this blanket.”  After offering me a variety of soft comforting supports, my partner then rested face-down across two bolsters until it was my turn to “offer” her a tuck-in. 

Such delicate use of language can seem tooth-achingly fake in the beginning but Karla reminds me that words are important. The way we talk to one another, the language we use does have an effect. If it didn’t racist language would be permissible. She’s right. It’s just that we’re still in the fresh painful self-conscious phase.

Or maybe it’s just that I am new to this sort of thing.

Pathway to Movement

As the weekend progresses I listen to Juliet and Karla ask us to yield to the movement, to find an impulse to move and to seek an effortless pathway to movement.  I’m not always certain what this means but gradually glimmerings of understanding come.  The theme of the weekend is sequential flow and to achieve this movements are broken down into small parts, rehearsed slowly and eventually put back together into a fluid (you hope) whole.

Despite the fact that each twice-daily yoga session is at least two hours long the class is not so strenuous that exhaustion sets in. And if it does we are permitted to tuck ourselves in whenever and for as long as we like. I never get to this point. Instead I feel as relaxed and sinuous as a cat in the sun.

I am grateful too that the schedule allows for a little sleep-in, a good lunch and enough time to explore the surrounds. Some of us fit in a sauna, a bush bath or a treatment for Waimana Spa also operates within the grounds of Mana and is run by two of the four trustees – Penelope Carroll and Sol Petersen.

Mana Retreat has been running for over 20 years. The 120 ha of coastal land includes a dining area, sanctuary, offices, accommodation for up to 60 people, a meeting room and rooms for treatment.  Mana now hosts everything from oboe concerts to balance-through-sound workshops.

Slow Subtle Movements

At Waimana there is even a hot pool for anyone wanting a session of watsu water therapy, highly recommended it even if it does feel like you’ve spent an hour crawling back into the womb. The sensation of being supported and then gently twisted, turned and massaged in the water is astonishingly relaxing and I imagine perfect for anyone with injuries.

Over lunch and during the breaks I get to know my fellow yoga buddies. There are about 30 of us, only two male, of all ages and backgrounds. One woman from Sydney is avoiding Apec, a couple of others are getting away from their families, some are yoga teachers while others are their students.  A few have been to every yoga retreat Karla and Juliet have run. All are delighted to be here and there is barely a cross or disgruntled word spoken the entire weekend. It is uncanny.

By the time the weekend finishes late Sunday afternoon I feel sated with good food and slow subtle languorous movements. It’s true I have not drunk any alcohol or eaten meat but I have eaten well and slept long. And listened to my iPod when the mood took me. 

I’m not sure if my yoga practice has improved but rarely have I felt so well rested. And for my money that’s better than being able to put your foot behind your ear any day.