Yoga Retreat in France: Retreat Au Chateau

For a unique yoga retreat in France, Retreat au Chateau offers yoga classes and yoga retreats near Pau and the Pyrenees.

The practice of yoga at Retreat au Chateau is a mixture of both Hatha and Ashtanga yoga, as are our yoga retreats. Whether you are a beginner or experienced in yoga France is a great place to develop your practice.

What is yoga?

Yoga is a way of life, an integrated system of education for the mind and body and inner spirit. This art of right living was perfected and practised in India thousands of years ago, but since yoga deals with universal truths its teachings are as valid today as they were in ancient times. Yoga is in essence a union, a union of the body and the mind that regular practise seeks to achieve.

Yoga, a Sanskrit word, means to “yoke” or “harness” and is the root of the English verb to “yoke”. Yoga seeks to harness the energy of the mind and body and use it more beneficially.

What is yoga to me?

Stop what you are doing. Stand up, take a deep breath and have a really good stretch. Stand on your tiptoes and make yourself as tall as possible with your hands reaching up to the sky and your fingers splayed. Breath out slowly and slowly resume your normal standing posture.

Now doesn't that feel good? Can you feel the blood tingling in your hands and feet, the muscles in your arms and legs feel energised yet relaxed at the same time? Does your mind for a fleeting moment seem to have taken a breather from its daily routine thoughts and stresses? If your answer to these questions is yes, you are feeling the benefits of yoga already.

Yoga is a system of physical and mental exercises designed to install a sense of tranquillity and wellbeing in the practitioner. Its origins are lost in the mists of time, but estimates suggest that it has been practised in India for over five thousand years. It is believed to have been inspired by the contemplation of animals, particularly cats as they stretched. Observers noted that after a good stretch and arch, the cats energy and alertness was increased and so they then sought to apply this knowledge to benefit humans with the same principles. To this day, in fact, many yoga positions are named after the creatures they were adapted from, the cobra, the butterfly, the dog.

Think for a moment about the amount of time and energy we waste in worry and anger, in sleeplessness and stressing. How wonderful would it be to channel this energy into something more useful. With practising yoga, you can. You can reign in all that wasted energy and focus on the task in hand. By uniting your body and your mind, yoga helps to control negative and destructive thought patterns and assists the mind to work with, rather than against, the body.

Increasingly we are learning the importance of the mind in matters of the body. Research is revealing that ailments as varied as obesity and cancer have direct links to the mind state of the patient and that the orthodox medical system of curing the body alone, without taking into account the mental and emotional factors , is undoubtedly flawed. The old saying that “A healthy body is a healthy mind” has never seemed so relevant as in the modern world that we live in. In feeling good we can be well and healthy. Yoga can really help you achieve this by teaching you to let go, to filter out distractions and just be.

Yoga at Retreat au Château

The yoga classes that we run at the retreat incorporate all of the above to take you through the physical and spiritual benefits yoga can bring. Yoga can stretch, tone and strengthen your body, reduce stress, alleviate physical ailments and bring amazing mental clarity. The classes will show you certain techniques required to work your body, mind and breath. If physical flexibility is a bit of a problem for you, you should not be deterred by practising yoga. In fact, the more you practise the postures, the more your body will become supple and strong. The classes at the retreat are different each day, working with each and every person in the class. We often use music to invigorate or relax ourselves whilst practising. Whatever your capabilities, your yoga classes will seem personal to you, stimulating your mind, stretching your body and soul to enable you to take a slice of yoga home with you in order for you to develop your practice further.