Byron Bay Yoga Retreats
Sue Hawkins
Sue Hawkins' experience is based upon her
own journey through Yoga. From the high profile, fast paced life in
Sydney as a TV Producer to her life in Byron Bay now, she teaches in
Ewingsdale and runs Yoga Retreats in Byron Bay
and overseas where you can experience yoga, meditation, pranayama,
chanting, massage, pampering and healing sessions and a renewed sense
of well being. Sue's Yoga Vacations and Yoga Retreats are an uplifting journey into self. Rejuvenate and feel inspired by an unforgettable yoga experience! Sue discovered yoga 23 years ago and has studied
Iyengar Yoga in Sydney and completed a teacher training course at Yoga
Arts in Byron Bay in Astanga and Hatha yoga. She decided to further her
studies and travelled to India for a yoga vacation
to study with BNS Iyengar in Mysore. Practicising Astanga and deepening
her understanding of the spiritual aspects of yoga. This also involved
a Mantra Initiation with a Vishnava Guru. On this first of many yoga
retreats for Sue, she was given a spiritual name "Sudasi" (which means
servant of god) to deepen her connection with spirit and to move her
life path even deeper in the direction of teaching Yoga and healing.
Sue has recently been training with Dharmavirsingh Mahida in Pune
studying yogasana, Ayurveda and yoga philosophy.
Yoga means 'union'. To practice yoga is to unite the
body with the mind and the mind with the soul. Yoga is more than
putting the body into 'interesting postures' (asanas) it is a combined
journey into learning how to use the breath (pranayama) to move deeper
and open the body, preparing for meditation and allowing time for deep
relaxation (yoga nidra). Participants in Byron Bay Yoga's Yoga Retreats can experience this life affirming and holistic approach to the practice of Yoga.
Motivated by an inner feeling of emptiness, Sue
realised she needed to find her centre. Something was missing in her
highly stressed life in the city. She needed grounding and her soul
like a cup needed to be refreshed and filled at a deeper level. The
inner peace and harmony was missing. This is when Sue decided it was
time to take a postive step in changing her life and the move towards
running her own Yoga Retreats was begun.
"Yoga for me has been a life saver. When you are
leading busy stressful life there is no room for the soul to feel
connected in any way. You are on a treadmill blindly running from
deadline to deadline. There was not much connection with spirit or
myself. Finally I came to a point where I had all the money and
material things around me but an incredible feeling of emptiness and
depression. I was dissatisfied at a deep level. I decided to take up
yoga again and from that day onward have continued to integrate it into
my daily life." This helped me to create a space within myself to feel
and become conscious of my actions and thoughts. To feel inner joy and
harmony in the heart space. Contentment within myself.
Yoga is a way of life, it is a lifestyle choice and
the benefits that come into your life are so rewarding once you begin
this path it is virtually impossible to change! You feel better, look
better, your skin is different, your diet changes and your outlook
changes. Byron Bay Yoga retreats, which are different from workshops in
that, whether for 5 or 10 days we live together in natural
and supportive environment. Through our togetherness on the yoga path
we allow the usual walls to dissolve and the subtle isolation that
separates us from life.
The retreats and the fantastic people
I meet are special and the opportunities to connect with these amazing
people creates long lasting friendships. For many of the participants,
beyond everything learned and experienced, it's the nurturing
environnment and friendship that is generated that keeps students
coming back. I always feel gratitude to step out of life´s busy routine
and enter a sacred world of caring, exploring, learning and respect.
Sue is committed to sharing the joy she has found through Yoga and has
an unwavering enthusiasm for teaching Yoga and running her Yoga
Retreats.
Yoga Sutra: "It is only when correct practice is
followed for a long time, without interruptions and with a quality
of positive attitude and eagerness, that it can succeed".
There will always be a tendency to start yoga with enthusiasm and a
desire for sudden results! But with continuing pressures of everyday
life and the enormous resistance of the mind encourages us to succum to
human weaknesses. All thiis is understandable, we all have these
tendencies. This sutra emphasises the need to approach practice soberly
with a positive, self-disciplined attitude and with a long term view
toward eventual success.
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