Snowy AM arrival for Valentine’s Weekend retreat
We decided to teach a private couples retreat near Philadelphia for beginner yoga students at the Temenos Retreat Center in West Chester, PA. We got to the farmhouse early and it was snowing out. It was quite a scenic drive and even driving outside of the city starts to transports you since you are surrounded by rolling hills, meadows etc and can feel yourself getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Temenos is a Greek word that means “sacred space”. It is a bit confusing for new students to visit us at Temenos since there is a main meeting space which is very clearly indicated with signage and then there is a small farmhouse that is 1/4 mile down the road that is not that clearly indicated with any street signage. We had a few students that were confused about which space to go to so the next time we do a private couples retreat 2012 near Philadelphia for beginner yoga students I will also call in addition to emailing the directions about where to go.
We restrict the amount of couples to 4 at the most. The space is nice and cozy so we want to keep an intimate feel and not crowd everyone so only 4 couples for each one. We encourage people to get there early for coffee and tea and to settle in. It’s a bit awkward at first since no one knows each other. Then after about 20 minutes of this we all start to make our way to the practice room. We then start to do the couples yoga and couples massage practice. Some of the poses are deep and meditative, others are silly and fun, other moves are very physically challenging and require a lot of balance and concentration.
As we transition to the massage part of the practice, we do a few restorative poses that help people to let go of some of the mind chatter and so they can start to drop down into a deeper place of stillness and relaxation. During the massage part of the practice, we are emphasizing intention and not focused on technique or massage therapy skills. I keep giving signals for the receiver to let them know how they like the pressure such as the thumbs up sign to let their giver know they are really loving the massage. They can also wave their fingers down if they want less pressure and wave their fingers up if they want less pressure. I also tell the givers to watch their partner’s diaphragm. If their breathing is slow and rhythmic that means they are really relaxing and enjoying the massage. I also tell them to periodically look at their receiver’s forehead to make sure it is not wrinkled up. They also can just feel if the muscles are tightening up under their hands or fingers.
After the massage part of the class, we then have a guided relaxation and then couples are all cozy together. We then close with a short meditation to get people present to their intention for their relationship as well.