Yoga for Meditation Bank Holiday Weekend Retreat

7:00pm 07 August 2026 - 12:30pm 10 August 2026

Cost: £100.00

Venue: Samye Ling

Yoga for Meditation Bank Holiday Weekend Retreat 

Bookings for this course (and guest accommodation) will open on 10th June 2026.  Please send an email on 10th June or after, giving your details to bookings@samyeling.org.

This popular weekend course offers practical support and encouragement to those who wish to develop a consistent meditation practice. Throughout this practical workshop, we will explore a range of traditional yoga techniques to help overcome the physical and mental hurdles that can make meditation feel out of reach. 

By referring to the first four verses of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, we see that distraction has always been a challenge, and that regular practice is the key to returning to our centre—that place of internal quiet and stability that remains constant regardless of what is happening within and around us: 

1.1 Atha yoga nusasanam – Now we are ready for the communication of yoga. (Now we are ready to begin just as we are). 

1.2 Yogas citta vritti nirodhah – Yoga happens when there is realisation of the relationship between the mind (citta) and the mental movements (vrittis). (By understanding that meditation is not about stopping thoughts, but about changing how we relate to them). 

1.3 Tada drastuh svarupe vasthanam – Then the Seer rests in conscious awareness, which exists as and of itself. (We can experience a conscious awareness that remains untouched by life's inevitable ups and downs). 

1.4 Vrtti sarupyam itarata – At other times, the Seer identifies with the mental movements. (But we get caught up again in our habitual patterns of thought.) 

Through the use of breath work, movement, relaxation and meditation, we will learn how simply recognising distraction is itself the antidote to being lost in thought. We will naturally discover the benefits of resting in conscious presence, which allows us to observe the constant stream of thoughts without being swept away by them. 

This weekend is open to everyone so the posture work is slow and gentle and therefore suitable for complete beginners and those with conditions for which strenuous exercise is not advised. 

Preparations 

Breath Work: To steady the nervous system through breath awareness, abdominal breathing, viloma, and anuloma viloma. 

Movement: To release tension and inhabit the body through joint releasing sequences, hip opening series, spinal movements, as well as back and abdominal strengthening. 

Relaxation: To access a state of conscious rest via Yoga Nidra (a withdrawal of the senses leading to conscious sleep) and Yoga Nyasa (directed awareness synchronised with the breath). 

Practices 

Meditation: To view our internal experience exactly as it is using the meditative techniques of Kaya Sthairyam (body stillness), Antar Mouna (inner silence), Ajapa Japa (repetition of mantra synchronised with the breath), and Chidekasha Dharana (awareness of the space of consciousness). 

By exploring these various techniques, we can discover which specific tools resonate most effectively with us to build a consistent meditation practice. We can then empower ourselves to negotiate life with clarity, resilience, and conscious choice. Leave with a toolkit that works for you and a clear plan for practice that you can carry into day to day life. 

Complete beginners as well as more experienced practitioners and teachers are all welcome. 

The course begins after supper at 7pm on the Friday. Saturday and Sunday sessions will be 10.00 am to 12.30 pm and 3.00 pm to 5.30 pm with breaks. Monday will be 10.00 am to 12.30 pm with a break with the course finishing in time for lunch at 12.30 pm. 

NOTE: Please bring comfortable layers of clothing so that you can move freely yet remain warm. The joint releasing movements can actually lower body temperature. Please bring your own mat, sitting block or cushion and a blanket. 

Johnny can be contacted at www.jgyoga.co.uk