ASHTANGA VINYASA YOGA RETREAT
WITH CARLA RICCI

A new beginning to the year together to restart our practice of ashtanga yoga! 
 We will start the New Year with the well-being of practice, freeing ourselves from old habits and physical and mental blocks. We will meditate together to discover how every moment of life is as fresh as a blossoming flower in the morning. 

 By breathing new air, we will also feel renewed, relaxing in the playful wonder of sharing. By opening our hearts to a broader and more sensitive vision, the changes that life offers become opportunities rather than fears.  

 We will practise ashtanga yoga in the morning in the traditional way. Afternoons will be devoted to releasing the heart’s chakra energy through asana, singing, meditation and pranayama. We will dedicate special meetings to asana’s alignment exercises to avoid injuries. 

 On 31^st December (New Year’s Eve), we will have a special evening with the participation of other teachers: ashtanga yoga with Francesca Maniglio, kundalini yoga with Stefania Tortorelli and nada yoga with Ivan Castiglia. Then, a party with a bonfire to burn everything old and be reborn in the New Year!  

 On 1^st January (New Year’s Day), we will practice ashtanga yoga and a special relaxation session for healing and renewal.

PROGRAM:

We reserve the right to small variations in the schedule. If any, they will be communicated on arrival at the location. 

 Wednesday, 27^th December Day of arrival.

 Thursday, 28^th December 

 7 am – 8:30 am Ashtanga yoga led class.
 8:30 am – 10 am Practice of ashtanga yoga for those who have never practised yoga, for those who have recently started, and for those who have practiced other yoga styles. 
 10 am – 11 am Breakfast.
 11 am – 12:30 pm
First step: taking care of yourself, loving your imperfections: seated and walking meditation with themed readings and sharing (finding balance in love, loving and accepting oneself in order to love each other), awareness games and singing together. 

1 pm – 5 pm  Lunch, free time and relaxation.

5 pm – 6:30 pm  “Just do it” seems easy, but “How to do it”: knowing, using and loving your physical imperfections and limits in the practise of asana in ashtanga yoga. 

7:30 pm  Dinner. 
  

Friday, 29^th December

 7 am – 8:30 am   Mysore-style ashtanga yoga.

8:30 am – 10 am  Practice of ashtanga yoga for beginners
 10 am – 11 am Breakfast. 
 11 am – 12:30 pm
Second step:
taking care of relationships, contact with others: seated and walking meditation with themed readings and sharing, awareness games and singing together. 
 1 pm – 5 pm Lunch, free time and relaxation.
5 pm – 6:30 pm  How to breathe during the practice of ashtanga. The relationship between opening and closing, breathing and posture (Vinyasa system). 
 7:30 pm  Dinner

 Saturday, 30^th December 
 7 am – 8:30 am   Myosore ashtanga yoga class 
8:30 am – 10 am  Practice of ashtanga yoga for beginners
10am – 11 am  Breakfast
 11am – 12:30 pm 

Third step: bringing awareness into our daily lives and our world. Opening yourself up to life: seated and walking meditation with themed readings and sharing, awareness games and singing together 
 1 pm – 5 pm Lunch, free time and relaxation.

5 pm – 6:30 pm
Insights into postural alignment exercises that help to release the heart’s chakra energy, and compensating postures.

7:30 pm  Dinner

 Sunday, 31^st December 

7 am – 8:30 am Mysore-style ashtanga yoga
 8:30 am – 10 am Practice of ashtanga yoga for beginners
 10 am – 11 am Breakfast
 11:30 am – 13:30 pm
Fourth step: being free, loving without expectation. Heart chakra meditation
 1 pm – 5 pm Lunch, free time and relaxation

5 pm – 6:30 pm  Yoga nidra and  nada yoga to prepare ourselves for the New Year

7:30 pm Dinner.

 From 10 pm New Year’s Eve party with special practice of ashtanga yoga guided by Francesca Maniglio, nada yoga with Ivan Castiglia and a midnight bonfire to burn the old and prepare for the New Year! 
 

Monday, 1^st January  

In the afternoon, ashtanga yoga led class for everyone with special final relaxation for healing.

 Tuesday, 2nd January

7 am – 8:30 am Mysore ashtanga yoga class 
 8:30 am – 10 am Practice of ashtanga yoga for beginners
10 am – 11 am Breakfast 
 11 am – 12:30 pm 
Fifth step: love beats the ego, a new way of being. 
Seated and walking meditation with themed readings and sharing, awareness games and singing together. 

1 pm – 5 pm Lunch, free time and relaxation

5 pm – 6:30 pm  Ready to fly: alignment and keys in jumping through in ashtanga yoga. 

7:30 pm Dinner.

 9 pm Meeting in the yoga studio to share impressions of the experience and greetings.

 Wednesday, 3^rd January  Day of departure.

CARLA RICCI – BIO:

Carla Ricci devotes her life to Yoga. She began practicing Yoga (Iyengar yoga) in 1986 with her teatre group. In 1987 she continued to study hatha yoga under Moreno Lupetti of the Italian Yoga Federation (FIY). A free spirit and researcher, she discovered ashtanga vinyasa yoga in 1993 organizing a course with Danny Paradise and since then she has never left this practice of Yoga. It was on this occasion that she met her future teachers: Lino Miele and Tina Pizzimenti. Carla was Lino’s assistant for many years and she is grateful for his teaching in the traditional way of ashtanga vinyasa yoga. She also studied with Guru Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India. In 2003 Carla left the school of Lino Miele and dedicated herself to the search for a new point of reference. Carla has practiced and studied with Manju Pattabhi Jois, with John Scott, with Guendoline Hunt, with Tina Pizzimenti, with Nancy Gilgoff, Radha and Pierre, with David Swenson and Shelley Washington, Mark and Joanne Darby and Richard Freeman. Among all these experiences, the teaching that most suited Carla’s personality was that of Richard Freeman, who became her Master and guide. Since 2005 Carla has followed him and his wife Mary. She attended a two-year course on the study of the texts of yoga philosophy held by Professor Alessandro Manià (Yoga Associazione Nazionale Insegnanti). She is also spending time in the Sathyananda Ashram in order to practice bhakti yoga with kriya and kirtan. From 1986 she dedicated herself for almost 20 years to the study and practice of shiatsu massage, a practice that has given her a special sensitivity and awareness of the adjustments of the asana. In 2003 she left shiatsu in order to dedicate her energies entirely to yoga. She had already started to meditate by following Zen Buddhism before practicing yoga and she continues to cultivate this practice with great care. She lives in Perugia (Italy) and since 2008 has been both teacher and director of ashtanga vinyasa and hatha yoga at the Inyoga Studio.