Tag: altea

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New Yoga class! Slow Flow Yoga starting 21 Apr/Abr – delicious, delightful

New yoga class in Altea. Slow flow community yoga at Taronja Wellbeing.

New Yoga Class in Altea

Are you looking for a fun yet deep yoga practice? Would you like to practice yoga with like-minded people? Well, I think you ought to check out my new yoga class!

FAQ

What is slow flow?

I teach hatha yoga in a very specific way.  Firstly, following the Viniyoga method, there is almost always a dynamic and a static phase for each posture.  This means you get both the flow of Vinyasa-style yoga and the holds of classical yoga.  

I design my classes with anatomy in mind.  There are four kinds of yoga:  Bhakti (devotion), Raja (intellect), Karma (selfless service), and Hatha (movement).  I am very clearly a hatha yoga teacher and use my deep understanding of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology to design sequences within sequences all with a clear objective in mind. 

Loosening up the deepest layers, the bits that no one can get to, the parts that hurt but you can’t put your finger on.  Yoga, specifically Viniyoga well-taught, gets to these parts. Feel free to read up on slow-flow yoga here, at my Alteayoga blog.

In my new yoga class, I will introduce sequences that I developed over the past four years whilst working at SHA Wellness Clinic.

Where are the classes?

Yoga Taronja, Altea (Cap Negret)

Taronja Wellbeing is a dedicated yoga and wellness space. Although it is located on the busy N-332 road that goes through Altea, the room is quiet and there is ample parking.

Taronja is very easy to find: Use this Google Maps link. The Hotel Cap Negret is right next door. There is a large public parking lot right opposite the hotel. If you are coming from Altea, it’s a ten-minute walk or even shorter cycle.

When do the classes start?

Starting 21 April 2023

The Spring term will run until it gets too hot and everyone wants to lounge around on the beach or in the shade. So, count on having class at Taronja Wellbeing with me, Rachel Rose, until the end of June.

What time are the classes?

9:30-11:00

A good yoga sequence should end with pranayâma and meditation. The 1.5-hour format of my new yoga class allows time for postures, breathing, and resting.

What to bring and wear

I recommend a long-line shirt or top. It’s so distracting to have your lower back uncovered! If you have yoga socks, bring them! We have mats, blocks, and bolsters at the center, but you are always welcome to use your own. If you’re likely to get cold towards the end of the practice, bring a sweater or shawl. Water is ok for afterward, but we don’t recommend drinking water during your practice. Bring tissues if you’re having any issues with hay fever.

Is the class in English or Spanish?

I always try my best to deliver my classes in both English and Spanish and this new yoga class will be no different. It is a challenge, but it’s the only way to make the group inclusive and high-vibration! After all, we are all living here in the beautiful Costa Blanca, where polyglot multilingualism is the norm! Yoga classes are a great way to meet like-minded folk, and make friends.

How much do classes cost?

Classes are donation-based. This means that you can pay what you like. I suggest between 5-10€. But, if you are more well-off, then leave more and pay it forward! There are plenty of hard-working people around here who could do with a yoga class, but whose budget might not stretch to it. Inequality is a huge global problem. But, as they say “Think globally, act locally”. I am just a humble yoga teacher. I want my classes to be available to those who need them whilst still being able to put food on my own table. So, a long answer to a short question. Pay what you can, pay it forward.

Any more questions?

If there is anything that I have missed, give me a buzz on the phone number in the photo above 👆 . Whatsapp works too – you’ll see the green icon at the bottom right of this page.

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Yoga Breathing Classes 101

Yogic Breathing is Healthy Breathing

Rachel Rose meditating and practising yoga breathing
Meditation and breathing

I have spent much of the past two years teaching people to breathe. I still teach postures, but pranayama mostly fills my days, now. Sadly, I gave up teaching group yoga classes during, and then after, the pandemic. It was a super hard time. I am glad that all the videos I streamed via my Facebook Page, Alteayoga with Rachel Rose, are still online. They are a poignant reminder of the dark days of the first confinement.

The SHA keeps me super busy, as do my massages.

At time of writing, I am offering Yoga Breathing Classes here in Altea. Please contact me if you would like to know more. Breath is life!

How we Breathe

Don’t forget that I began writing about the mechanics and fine tuning of breathing here in this blog. I called it “How We Breathe“. You might find something interesting there. Go have a look!

Breathe.

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Yoga practice – "Towards Inversion"

I am feeling generous tonight, and shall give away a lovely yoga practice that I designed last year and have taught a number of times to my dear students.
Notice that “B” or “R” means breath or respiración.
When it says “6x”, it means do the vinyasa six times.
When it says “6B”, it means hold the pose for six breaths.
Respect any contraindications and check with your primary care provider should you have any doubts about the suitably of this practice for you, at this given time.

viniyoga hatha yoga sequence
Viniyoga practice “towards inversion”

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Up in the early morning


Up in the early morning on Saturday, I chanced to spy the alignment of the heavenly bodies. Sun, moon and star traced a straight line in the dawn sky, casting their reflections on the calm surface of the sea.  As the heavens sang their coloured glory and the birds their joyful chorus, I was given a reminder of my own insignificance.  It felt great.
When I see the planets align, feel the Earth turn upon its axis, watch the days break and then later fade away, I realise that I matter little, if at all.  I am a speck upon a speck, hurtling through space and time infinite.  
In childhood, we believe the world revolves around us. Much of our long-lasting angst arises in childhood when we somehow think that we are responsible for everything that happens around us.  Parents divorce, must be because I didn’t put my socks on that morning.  Vacuum cleaner broken, must be because I left that dirty little candy paper on the floor.   Etc etc ad nauseum.
Growth, maturity, is reached, I believe, when we lose our sense of self-importance.  When we realise that we won’t save the world, that our scope is limited, we see that our only duty is to be as good as we possibly can be within the tiny scope of our lives.  This is actually much easier, isn’t it? I mean, it’s not that difficult to decide to walk in the door of your house with a smile on your face despite your soul-destroying day at work, now is it?
We are all specks upon a speck, hurtling through space.  We don’t know what we don’t know.  Life is a huge mystery and probably none of it matters.
Yoga taught me all this.  Yoga taught me to be still, quiet, and find that quiet place within myself.  I often close my classes with a discourse that goes along the lines of “that stillness that you feel inside, right now, was always there.  It’s just that you didn’t know how to reach it.  Yoga gives us the tools to reach that still point, that quiet place, and to do so repeatedly and reliably.  That is what yoga is, a series of ancient and well-tested tools that help us find our true selves, our quiet, calm, detached peaceful centre.”
We are specks upon and speck, hurtling through space.  We probably matter not at all.  And that’s ok.
Happy Monday, dear souls.  Be joyful.
-Rachel

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The sun will come out, tomorrow….Yoga before the sea and the big blue sky


Yesterday morning dawned rainy and grey.  Around these parts, precipitation is a present, a gift.  The chill in the air was invigorating, and the light reflecting on the wet cobblestones a portend of danger, for they are slippery when wet.
Sophie and Laurence and I warmed up with a white tea before class, then ventured upstairs to el Cielo, which means “Heaven” in Spanish, for yoga class.
There was a chill in the room, so we doubled up the yoga mats, and distributed nice, warm, hot pink wool blankets.   When we reached the floor phase of the practice, I noticed that the chill was starting to bite.  Feeling protective of my students, I hoped and prayed for some warming rays.
As we began to practice dvipada-pitâm (“the two-legged table pose”), the sun burst through!  Suddenly our little greenhouse of a room warmed up!  Joy!  We finished the sequence with Dolphins and headstand prep…energies were moved, smiles dawned upon faces and yet again, yoga worked its magic.
Thanks to everyone who came to class, it is a honour and privilege to be allowed to teach even a little bit of this ancient system.  Thanks to all the yogis and sages who kept this oral tradition alive for us to employ now, in 2018.  Thanks to my teachers, Claude and Carmen, for dedicating your lives to teaching teachers.  Namasté.

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Authenticity in teaching yoga: Why it took me so long to teach.

authentically ok
authentically ok

The first time I ever practised yoga was in January, 1999.  That is 19 years ago.  How time flies.  I knew from the very first class that I wanted to teach yoga, that it was my path.  So, why did it take me so long to start teaching?  One word:  Authenticity.
I had for the longest time the feeling of being an imposter.  Imposter syndrome is the persistent feeling that you are a fraud.  In the five types that are listed there, I would say I am a Natural Genius and a Rugged Individualist.  Oh, with a bit of Perfectionist thrown in, for good measure.  It’s a high bar I have set for myself.
In yoga, the stakes are high.  You are not playing with people.  You are doing serious work.  And lest we forget, you can only teach what you know, so the most serious work you are actually doing is on yourself.
It is not easy to start off with the Yamas and Niyamas, the codes of ethics that underpin all serious yoga practice.  Non-harming, purity, self-study, contention…it is a long list, and very hard to adhere to 100% of the time.  Add that to six-days-a-week practice, and an evolving practice at that, not stagnating, bringing new things to the mat.  Phew.
It is easy to fall into the idea that you are never good enough to teach yoga.  Or rather, for me it is.  Evidently, for others it is not so difficult.  There are plenty of people out there who, a year after discovering yogâsana are on a 200-hr course and then teaching a few months later.  This is not a criticism of such people, it is a reflection on my inner process, my evolution.
I could not allow myself to do such a thing.  Maybe it is simple enough to say that my baggage was too heavy, my inner world too murky, my compass skewed.  Who was I to teach anyone how to live happily?
And yet, slowly, progressively, I oriented myself, I shed my baggage, I shone my light.  The interesting thing was discovering that we don’t have to be 100% perfect and clean.  But, we need to love our own flaws, our own pain.  When you learn to love your pain, you become whole and when you are whole you can hold space for your students to learn to love themselves, in their entirety.  When I got that,  I started to teach in earnest.  Now, it is my passion, my absolute passion!
A lot of marketing in the holistic world centres on authenticity.  How can we tell the real from the false.  I dunno, I don’t have a simple answer.  I think it’s intuition, I think it’s a feeling.  All I can say is that I think I am authentically ok now, I think I am.  I hope I am cos goddarn I am not going back to that place where I was before!   So, if you feel like checking out my classes, meeting me to ask about how I teach, having a conversation, you’re already here on the blog.  Take the next step and get in touch.
Love, Rachel

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Summer 2017 – Yoga Classes at Hotel Altaya

I am thrilled to announce that I will be offering yoga classes every morning throughout the summer of 2017.
From 1 July until 31 August, bright and early, we will practice hatha yoga in front of the sparkling blue Mediterranean Sea.
Scheduled time is 7:30-8:30.  Please get there early and bring a mat, if you have one.  We will be on the very agreeable terrace of the Hotel Altaya.  Here is the Google Maps reference.
Pricing goes like this:  Over the course of a week, there are seven classes.  If you come to one class in any given week, starting from any day, the class costs 7€.  If you return for a second class that same week, the second class costs 6€. If you return for a third time, the third class costs 5€.  And so on, until your seventh and final class for the week costs only 1€.  I do it like this to encourage daily practice, and to reward those who have the gumption to keep turning up.  But, also, because I understand that some people will only be able to come three times, or five, or whatever, and they also need and deserve encouragement.
The maximum cost of a week of  daily yoga is 7+6+5+4+3+2+1 = 28€, IVA included.
We will also be doing a yoga and breakfast smoothie tie-in.  Prices and details to follow soon.
So, if you are planning to spend your summer, or part of it, in Altea, please do come along.
 

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Manual Lymphatic Drainage

When I’m not studying yoga, or practicing yoga, or writing about yoga (who ever said Geminis flit from one thing to another?), I earn my living as a massage therapist.  I am really and truly grateful to my profession – I am one of the lucky few to do a job I truly love, and which brings more joy to the world.  A little less pain brings a few more smiles and smiles are always contagious!
I work a lot with the Vodder method of Manual Lymphatic Drainage.  MLD is a therapy that is taught and researched mainly in Germany and Austria.  Every two years I renew my license, but other than those 4 training days, I have no contact with other MLD therapists.  The big problem is that there are very few of us.  In Spain, MLD is taught to all physiotherapists, and they will all say that they know the technique.  With all due respect and humility, I beg to differ.  I have seen too many cases of automated compression sleeves, heavy manual pressure, inadequate compression bandaging and simple bad advice to feel confident in the training of most physios in my neck of the woods.  The thing is, MLD is a highly specialised therapy.  Even many people trained correctly can’t master the technique.  It is very subtle, repetitive and quiet.  But, done correctly, MLD works like nothing else for edemas, be they lymphatic or venous in origin.
So, today, I treated a German lady’s legs.  She receives weekly MLD sessions in Germany because of diagnosed medical problems.  Germany is where it’s at with respect to MLD, and the therapists there are highly skilled and highly competent.  And after my treatment, the lady practically jumped off the bed, smiling from ear to ear, hugged me and said that my drainage was very very good!  Can I tell you how proud and happy that made me feel?  YAY!!!!