Here's our list of teachers for 2017.
Lots of well-loved favourites, as well as some new faces to keep things fresh!
DOWNLOAD CLASS DESCRIPTIONS HERE.
Click on the Programme page for the 2017 class schedule
Aine Brosnan (Mukhande Kaur) - Kundalini Yoga
I first started doing yoga in college in the 80's and loved that space of inner peace but had a longing for some kind of spiritual practice that would fullfill me on all levels and thats when I came across kundalini yoga, an ancient formula of yogic posture, breath, mudra, eye focus and mantra which activate a chemical process in our glands, directly impacting our mental state, our general health and our connection to spirit.i loved the holistic nature of this system which was so fast acting that I found myself immersed in a strong daily practice immediately. after a number of years I did the teacher training more to deepen my own journey but soon friends convinced me to start sharing the teachings and I found this so fulfilling that it's what I love to do most
Bella Hancock (Saraswati) - Hatha Yoga, Womb Yoga, Devi Puja
Bella has been teaching Hatha Yoga for 17 years in West Cork and beyond. She trained initially with Contemporary Yoga, Cork, and has completed trainings in Yoga Nidra, Restorative Yoga, Pre and Post natal Yoga and Womb Yoga for women’s well-being (Uma Dinsmore- Tuli). She is influenced and inspired by the teachings of Swami Satyananda, BKS Iyengar, teachers of Scaravelli Yoga and the tantric and structural Yoga of Mukunde Stiles, and the Tantric Yoga teachings of Chinnamasta Stiles. Bella has also studied and taught bellydance for 14 years, and has explored different movement practices such as Feldenkrais and Qi Gong. She holds regular classes, workshops , retreats and women’s gatherings. She fuses Yoga with her love for Oriental dance, creating Devi Dance – a movement practice that honors feminine energy and the energy body with dance, Yoga, breath, mudra and sound. Bella is a long term student of Danza Duende- an international network of teachers, artists and practitioners dedicated to ‘dancing life” and the open hearted expression of ourselves in our basic goodness as human beings. She is a director of th
Yoga Mandala Project- a growing global community of teachers that are committed to offering Yoga as seva in refugee communities. Her teaching style is light hearted and open, offering freedom within the form through breath and delight in movement. She infuses Asana and Vinyasa practice with tantric teachings, mantra, mudra and devotional awareness.
Betty O'Toole - Okido Yoga
In 1990 while training as a Shiatsu Practitioner I attended a two day Okido Yoga workshop with Morisan a young Japanese man in Dublin. I couldn't believe the sense of wellbeing, wholeness and fun I experienced. So I did a week in Okido Yoga dojo in Laren,Gld, Holland. It was a life changing experience so soon after I qualified as a Shiatsu Practitioner in 1991 I accepted the offer to give a 6 week Shiatsu course in a smaller dojo in Holland. I stayed 5 months doing yoga and shiatsu and dojo duties full time.
In the next 25yrs I studied 4 weeks a year either in Holland or with Okido Yoga Italy or via teacher's we Invited to Ireland. Eventually I received teacher certification from Okido Yoga International and the Irish Okido Association and also certification from Okido Yoga Netherlands. I have been giving weekly Okido Yoga classes in An Sanctoir, Ballydehob since 1997 . A few times a year I give different Rehabcare groups yoga therapy also groups with Multiple sclerosis. Other qualifications; Shiatsu Practitioner, Soaring Crane Qigong level 11
Brian Mc Ginley - Laughter yoga
We all know that laughter is the best medicine. In the words of Victor Hugo: “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face”.
Laughter Yoga reminds us that anyone can choose to laugh, without relying on external stimulus or even a sense of humour. Laughter is invoked using games and exercises in a group, and with eye contact and childlike playfulness, it soon turns into hearty and contagious laughter.
This year at the West Cork Yoga Festival, Brian Mc Ginley will be facilitating Games and Laughter Yoga workshops. Over the past number of years, Brian has facilitated with the Galway Laughter Club and has trained a host of other Laughter Yoga facilitators. His facilitation approach blends fun, play and laughter in a safe space where one can explore their boundaries in a natural and playful way.
Chani Wates - Vinyasa and Hatha flow yoga
Chani is passionate about physical, social and environmental well being. She studied philosophy and French at degree level, which laid the foundation for an interest in philosophy and spiritual inquiry. She began to practice yoga seriously in 2010 while working in in Sierra Leone, West Africa. Regular practice brought inner calm and the ability to face life’s challenges with equanimity and strength. She was inspired by weekly classes with an Ashtanga / Vinyasa Yoga teacher and maintained a regular home practice.
In 2012 she returned to Ireland to have her son. In 2013 she took workshops with David Curtis in Vinyasa Yoga which maintained an emphasis on alignment in asanas and was a strong, physical practice, but also introduced somatic movement as a balancing practice. Somatic movement is a gentle movement practice where the focus of the practitioner is inward and internal. In November 2014, inspired to share the wonderful benefits of yoga with others, she trained to become a yoga teacher with Esther Ekhart in Hatha Flow Yoga. Movement with breath, creative sequencing, meditation and pranayama practice were central to the training and helped to shape her personal practice and classes
Charlie Stevens - Constellations, Psychotherapy, Yoga philosophy
I’m 70 years old now and am stepping into the next stage of life where identities seem less important. My work which I love is becoming more like mentoring and accompanying the soul under the title of psychotherapy. I taught yoga and trained yoga teachers for about 30 years. I also work with Systemic Constellations.These disciplines yoga meditation, constellations and psychotherapy are ways that I found that enabled me to begin to save myself. Sailing and music are others
Christine McNally - Ashtanga Yoga
Christine started yoga in her final year at university. She discovered ashtanga yoga while living in Spain and studied under the guidance of her teacher Camino Diez for 5 years. She has travelled to Mysore, India twice to study with Sharath Jois - the guru of ashtanga yoga and spent a total of 6 months learning from him. She has also studied with a number of well respected senior ashtanga teachers. She has also studied philosophy, sanskrit and chanting during her trips to India. She returned to Limerick in 2013 and began teaching ashtanga yoga in the way she had been taught by her teachers. She has regular weekly classes in Limerick. She has been practicing ashtanga yoga for over 12 years.
Clair Lalor - Developmental movement, Yoga
I first met Yoga in 1971 when i arrived in Europe. In a book which i practiced in my room - Just me and Yoga - a lovely beginning. pulling myself into shapes - what was i doing?? and fascinated by the theoretical underpinnings. Wanting to know what was going on in myself and others, I became a practioner of massage and Shiatsu and fascinated by the mind's part in it all, became a psychotherapist from a body perspective. This brought me into the world of energy, stillness and relationship on an entirely other level than the verbal. Lastly studies in embryology, and body-mind connection, and embodied anatomy mostly through Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen's work Body-mind Centering(BMC). I studied with Linda Hartley and became a Somatic Movement Therapist and Educator and assisted Joan Davis on her course Origins which brought together psychology,BMC, and work with the senses and reflexes. The special case of trauma brought me to train in Sensorimotor trauma and in Mindfulness based Trauma therapy. All this i found also in Yoga, them importance and place of body, and the truth that "to know the body is to go bdyond the body". Now I am interested in the deeper relms and getting in touch with essence and being - stillness, meditation the stillness in movement and beinging meditation into the everyday. In Yoga i have been influenced by the work of Vanda Scaravelli, (studying with her students,) and having spent some short time in a Satyananda ashram, experiencing their approach. From other teachers (Amy Mathews among others) who have incorporated western understanding of the body and Yoga and it 's amazing poser to heal, transform and further our development as humans. All in all it is a fascinating world and the possibilities are endlesss!
Claire Osborne - Hatha Yoga, yoga nidra and restorative yoga, talk "The Koshas".
Claire has been a yoga practitioner since 1993 and a teacher since she completed her training in 2001 with Contemporary yoga in Cork. She has completed numerous specialised training courses: 2 year yoga therapy diploma with Yoga Campus in London, certificate in yoga nidra, courses in yoga for womens' health (including womb yoga, pregnancy and post-natal yoga), as well as attending courses in experiential anatomy, restorative yoga and yoga for the lymphatic and digestive systems. She has practiced a form of movement meditation called “Amerta Movement”, with her mentor Suprapto Suryadarmo, since 1997 and is a trained massage therapist for the past 20 years. Her current interest is how to blend yoga and movement, and in tantric meditation and yoga nidra. She loves to include beautiful practices such as mudras, chanting, inner meditations and pranayama explorations into her teaching.
Currently she is a student supervisor for Yoga Campus' yoga therapy diploma in London, she runs a yoga apprenticeship programme, and is involved in the Yoga Mandala Project, running trauma sensitive yoga training programme aand offering yoga therapy. The teachers who have influenced her include teachers from the Satyananda yoga tradition, plus Judith Hanson-Lasater, Uma Dinsmore-Tuli , Anglea Farmer and Victor Van Hooten, among others.
Website www.yogaandmovement.com
Corinna Fisher - Thai yoga massage, Yoga Nidra, Mantra/tratak/yantra
With a background in extensive dance training and running my own Dance Company as Choreographer, I found Yoga through adversity as many of us do, profoundly moved by yoga's ability to address stress and physical pain and its soul connection I was struck and had to get closer to this amazing practice. Today I am greatly influenced by the yoga of sound 'Nada Yoga' that features in all my classes to support the foundation of Hatha Yoga. Each class must have a Yoga Nidra to complement our need for deep rest as well as physical moving meditation.
As well as teaching regularly in west cork I have enjoyed teaching Yoga Nidra and Chant for several years with the Yoga Diploma for trainee teachers. My interest in the healing arts also started many years ago with various types of body work. Currently I am dedicated to the arts of Thai Yoga Massage and Lomi Lomi Nui. I look forward to sharing these arts with you at the festival. Bringing to you the great arts influenced by my current Vedic Thai Yoga Massage Master teacher Mukti Buck. Its an honour to be a part of this festival and to share in so many wonderful practices many centuries old and full of wisdom.
Contact : corinnafisher@hotmail.com
Corina Thornton - artist in residence
Bio coming soon
Ellie La Trobe Bateman - Yin Yoga, Alchemy Yoga
Ellie teaches Inspiring, Connecting, Light-Hearted classes, workshops and retreats. She aims to facilitate a connection with knowledge that you already know, but perhaps forgot for a bit. Ellie teaches yoga to help students find out who they are and why they are here on this Planet, & find True Purpose.
Ellie trained in India in Raja Yoga, and since has been a student of esoteric science and the teachings of Alice Bailey and The Tibetan. She now works to bring this deep, dense knowledge to understanding through meditative practices in a range of methods in her various classes.
Ellie has run a yoga studio in Cardiff, set up the allroots yoga festival in West Wales, been involved in the West Cork Yoga Festival in its first year.
Ellie is passionate about helping people help themselves, to become more of who they really are, living creative, purpose-full lives as they were meant to. Ellie is a mum of two under 3 year olds, and mostly can now be seen walking with a double buggy through the streets of West Cork towns or having fun in playgrounds. Ellie is from the UK with roots in the Channel Island of Sark, she loves the sea and is married to a man from Tipperary.
.website is ellieltb.weebly.com
Fiona Ashley - Vinyasa flow yoga, Acro yoga
Vinyasa yoga, Acroyoga. Fiona Ashley has been practising Yoga for over 25 years, and teaches Vinyasa Flow Yoga throughout the West Cork region. Her teaching style is encouraging, precise and playful, with a strong focus on building core strength, stability, and centredness. She discovered Acroyoga in 2010 and immediately fell in love with the blend of yoga, partner acrobatics and Thai massage, and the strong connections this practice offered. She soon trained to become one of the only certified Acroyoga teachers in Ireland, and teaches workshops throughout the country. She is particularly fond of being upside down!
Helen Bohan - 5 Rhythms Dance / Open floor
Helen is a certified Open Floor teacher and a mentor for teachers in training with Open Floor International. She teaches throughout Ireland and Europe. Helen is a certified 5Rhythms®teacher, trained by Gabrielle Roth in 2011. She is also a qualified movement psychotherapist, completing an honors degree in Counselling and Psychotherapy in 2009. She has studied extensively with Andrea Juhan Ph.D (a founder of Open Floor International) and has completed a training in Open Floor Therapy in Motion. Helen is also an advanced student with The Somatic Experiencing® Trauma Institute where she is studying to be a Somatic Experiencing ® practitioner.
Irene Dunne - Purna Yoga
Irene is a colourful soul. She spreads her warmest energy over you in her yoga classes. Ever since she started her Yogic path back in 2000 in Galway, she has practiced, taught and attended yoga classes worldwide. She completed her teacher training in Byron Bay, Australia in 2008 and is gifting her knowledge and experience to students ever since. If you're looking to be inspired within your body, mind and spirit, then her company and her intention in her classes helps you to achieve just that.
Irene is herself, she speaks and shares from her heart. She honours every class she holds and welcomes everyone 'to have a go'. Her enthusiasm for living is contagious and up lifting. Her being is bursting to improve our human connection, our awareness, love, empathy and sense of community and that she does whole-heartedly.
I trained in Byron Bay yoga centre, Byron Bay, NSW, Australia in 2008 and completed 500hour level two by October 2009.
My teacher was John Ogilvie who founded the centre in Byron bay.
I am registered with Yoga alliance. I am certified in teaching children's yoga also with Yoga Therapy Ireland.
www.bantryyoga.com
Irene McCarthy Sheehy - Iyengar yoga
Iyengar Yoga is a classical style Yoga based on the teachings of B.K.S.Iyengar, one of the foremost yoga teachers of his time.
It was Mr. Iyengars belief that to gain most benefit from the practice of yoga a person needs to be fully aware of their physical body first. In a Iyengar yoga class, the teacher would teach various Asanas (poses). Correct aliment is very important as this prevents injury and allows free movement of energy through the body. By skilfully using props such as chairs, blocks and belts the teacher would assist the student to achieve a better pose. The use of props makes Iyengar Yoga accessible to everyone of any age or fitness. Each class ends a period of deep relaxation. Over time the practice of Pranayama ( breath control) is introduced and the practice goes beyond the physical, becoming a meditation in motion that illuminates the unconscious areas of the body and mind with the light of awareness.
Irene's yoga journey Begin as a teenager when she started yoga classes with her mom. In 1997 she started attending Iyengar Yoga classes with teacher Laurence O’Toole. She was very impressed by the standard of teaching, the precision and and also the depth of the subject. Irene went on to complete her two year teacher training in 2008 and has been teaching ever since. She continues to train with senior Iyengar Yoga teachers both in Ireland and abroad. She lives and teaches in west cork.
Kate Finn - Vinyasa Flow
I fell in love with Yoga over 7 years ago. It has proved to be a constant source of solace and wellbeing in my life. Teaching yoga is enabling me to live with authenticity, sharing and practicing these beautiful ancient techniques. It helped save me from severe illness and from a limited expression of my being.
What I enjoy doing is sharing what I know, and what I do not know. In my view, yoga is a life-long education. Yoga can be challenging, and thus I like to balance some my classes with eclectic playlists... there's always an element of merriment and exploration, so that people can learn more about their bodies and healthy-living while they have a fun and safe practice. My classes generally focus on breathwork, intelligent sequencing, embodiment, safety in alignment and shaking out the Dukkha!!
Maeve Murphy - early morning sun salute sessions
Originally from Mayo but on long term loan to West Cork, Maeve has been practicing Yoga for almost 10 years, completing her teacher training in 2016 and teaches Hatha Yoga classes in Bantry. She continues to deepen her practice and knowledge of Yoga undertaking workshops & retreats in Ireland and abroad in India and Greece in different styles and approaches to Yoga.
Having focused on strength training in the past and neglecting flexibility, Maeve discovered the importance of Yoga on a physical and mental level for unravelling the knots in the mind and body while still creating strength. Her classes focus on alignment and bringing a balance between the mind & body, strength and flexibility.
Mariananda Exley - meditation (raja/kriya yoga)
My Accredited Training Centre is the Self Realization Meditation Healing Centre in the UK – www.selfrealizationcentres.org
I lived and trained at this Centre for many years, as a direct disciple of Mata Yogananda Mahasaya Dharma, who is my Guru and Founder of the SRMH Centres worldwide, charitable trust. I return there at least 1-2 times a year for Refresher Courses and for continuous professional development. I have been blessed to practice the deeply enriching and powerful crown jewel of meditation called Pure Meditation which is Raja/Kriya Yoga, for the past 27 years. I have taught this Pure Meditation worldwide and seen the joyful purpose it brings to souls from all cultures and walks of life. I now live in Schull, West Cork where I have renovated an old cottage on 3 acres and now offer Personal or Silent Retreats, and teach Pure Meditation Courses as well as giving Natural Spiritual Healing, Progressive Counselling/Coaching and teach Therapeutic Transformation Hatha Yoga sessions.
Mark Townson's: Conga (drumming)
I play Conga, timbale and shekere; bata and talking drum to a small extent and all the small hand percussions, but Conga is my main instrument. I started out playing drum kit in 1979 when I was 15 in school bands, went on to study at Percussion Institute of Technology in Los Angeles and a diploma course in Jazz and modern popular music at Goldsmiths College in 1986, but in that year stopped playing in order to manage most of the great South African musicians who were in exile in London from Apartheid, including (the grammy award winning for his music for the Attenborough film “Cry Freedom”) Jonas Gwangwa and most of Hugh Masekela’s band amongst many others.
In 1991 I started playing Conga and was signed to Acid Jazz Records with Emperors New Clothes in 1992 with the album Unsettled Life. I went on to tour and record with such bands as Gregory Isaacs, Nicolette (of Massive Attack fame), Goldie, Brooklyn Funk Essentials, James Taylor Quartet, Benjamin Zephaniah, Sugar Minott, Acid Jazz All Stars, London Jazz Collective, HK119, Hot Orange Big Band with many others and was resident at Ministry of Sound playing with the DJs. In 2011 my Cuban friends in London sent me to study in Cuba with "Afro Cuba de Matanzas”, later that year I played some gigs with Baaba Mall, culminating with headlining at WOMAD. In 2011 I also started my own band “Caractacus the Conga Conqueror and the Afro Latin Ensemble of London”, consisting of musicians who had played for Buenavista Social Club, Pharaoh Sanders, Bob Marley and Jonny Nash tour, Jeff Beck, Steve Windwood, Hugh Maselela, and the Cuban Army amongst many others.
Pam Skinner: Blending Infinite Tai Chi, Chi Kung, Chi Yoga, Meditation, Healing Sounds and Ling Chi Healing Art
Pamela is the co-creator of The Universal Energy Arts and YogiChild. She worked in the public sector for several years before embarking on a career that focuses on Energy cultivation & Healing. Training included a Diploma in Psychology & Sociology, Therapeutic Massage, Reflexology, Indian Head Massage, Reiki and Shiatsu techniques, which she practiced for many years both for private and corporate clients. Pam honed her skills further through intensive training and dedicated practice of the internal energy arts of Infinite Tai Chi, Chi Kung, Chi Yoga, Meditation, Healing Sounds and, in particular, Ling Chi Healing Art. She is inspired to be the change she wishes to see in the world - cultivating a vibrant physical body, a pure loving heart and an open creative mind. Pam loves teaching, intuitively using a fusion of all of the skillful practices and healing techniques that are embodied in the Universal Energy Arts, and bringing peace and harmony, empowerment and strength to her students. She is passionate about introducing these empowering life-enhancing practices and skillful techniques to both adults and children through her classes, workshops and One-to-One sessions. She loves life and counts her many blessings everyday, grateful for living so close to Nature to consciously embrace enthusiastically the lessons of each seasonal cycle both internally and externally
Paola Vais - Mindfulness Meditation
My first experiences of contemplative practices go back to my teen-age years, when I started practicing yoga with my mum, and attended a retreat for kids transitioning to secondary school.
When I moved to Ireland I started practicing meditation in a buddhist context (both in the Tibetan and Theravada traditions, and I now practice mainly Vippassana/Insight and Metta (Loving Kindness).
Since experiencing personally the benefits of meditation and believing that cultivating awareness in this way gives us access to a life lived more fully, without the need of a belief system, I decided to train as a Mindfulness Based Interventions teacher, first with Institute for Mindfulness Based Approaches (IMA) , and subsequently with Breathworks-Mindfulness C.I.C (UK) - this allows me to share the benefits of the practice in precise contexts – such as pain and stress related condition
Paul Cullen - Earthdance (Barefoot Free Dance)
This is a place where you can be your authentic self, be playful, move deeply, roll around, free your mind, unravel, or be still…
Earthdance is a space for you to use as you wish. The dance can be a meditation, time to yourself or a place to connect. A place to be crazy, wild and free or to be quiet and still. Everything is welcome once it is brought to the dance. There is a brief body meditation but its up to you to dance for your own intention. For example this can be, letting go of stress and tension, to bring more abundance into you life or to get clarity on a question that you need answers to.
The music lasts for 2 hours, starts slow, builds to a crescendo and returns to a place of stillness. There is nothing to get right or wrong, no steps to learn, just give your mind a rest, feel the music and just let the music take you. The music is a blend of world music, reggae, break beat, tribal and more. Paul is a DJ with 20 years experience with interests in psychotherapy, meditation and yoga.
Paul Curtin - Singing bowls
I have 20 years experience with vibrational medicine (vibrionics which is always free of charge}, tibetan singing bowls and I am a reiki master. I have also studied many other forms of natural therapy and mind training programmes such as a course in miracles.
Sigrid Berndt - Feldenkreis
I have been practicing and exploring all sorts of movement, competitive ones like Athletics and Volleyball as well as Modern Dance, Capoeira, Afro Dance, Self Defense for Women, and also Hatha and Kundalini Yoga for several years.
When I first got in touch with the Feldenkrais Method®, for me it felt like opening up to another dimension of movement. It seemed to be all about becoming aware of how you move, and learning about the choices you have of how to act in a situation.
My background as a Cultural Anthropologist has an impact on how I approach learning and teaching as I understand exploring and investigating as one main approach in Feldenkrais.
Yogi Cho ( Simon Skinner) - Blending Yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Kung, Yoga, Healing Sounds, Ling Chi Healing Art and Meditation
Yogi Cho (aka Principal Skinner of the Universal Energy Arts and YogiChild Academy) lives in Kilbrittain, West Cork. He has accumulated a wealth of Yogic, Buddhist, Tantric, Taoist and worldly wisdom and ways from ancient sages and saints as well as contemporary masters. He has many years training and practice in Martial Arts and Yoga and has received intensive instruction in Tai Chi, Chi Kung, Yoga, Healing Sounds, Ling Chi Healing Art and Meditation. He is dedicated to the physical, emotional, mental, energetic and spiritual growth of all the beings of planet earth! His inspiration and vision is to share these Arts and Sciences for Living, which are designed for the evolution of the mind, body and spirit of teacher and student, for all ages and needs, in a fun and joyous way. Yogi Cho's wealth of knowledge and experience is consolidated into 2 self-published books of practical, skillful techniques "Be More Alive! The Yogi Cho Way : Handbook for Humankind" and "The Golden Dragons & The Wish-Fulfilling Jewel - The Power Animals, Directions and Healing Sounds of YogiChild"
