The Gift of Ground: A Yoga & Nature Immersion

Instructors

David Procyshyn

DoYogaWithMe Founder My first yoga class came when I injured my back and shoulder. I’ll always remember how uncomfortable and unpleasant that first class was. But I will also always remember how I felt afterwards: my pain had finally subsided. So I kept going to yoga, and the pain in my back eventually went away. As long as my practice was relatively consistent, my back was fine. My teaching style varies quite a lot, from very gentle hatha flow to a challenging intermediate class, while always weaving in a focus on body awareness, good alignment and effective breathing. I recommend my classes to students who are looking to learn the fundamentals within the postures, to understand core strength, to thoroughly stretch the body and access the deeper areas of the consciousness through meditation and relaxation. Yoga has been one of the key transformative forces in my life. It has taught me to be present and in my body, to feel compassion and empathy, to be in community and to confront the inner challenges we all have each day of our lives.

Fiji McAlpine

Fiji McAlpine is an ERYT 500 yoga instructor and is one of the founding yoga teachers featured on DoYogaWithMe.com. Her online popularity has grown significantly over the years, giving her global reach in the online platform, and has allowed her to offer frequent guidance to thousands of students each week. Fiji is now devoting more time and energy into bringing a personal experience to those who have practiced with her for so long. She has been offering retreats and workshops around the world to connect with her global yoga family and to share her love for this practice. To keep updated on her upcoming retreats, workshops, and teacher trainings around the world visit her website: mindintomatteryoga.com Fiji’s personal practice and classes focus on vinyasa flow, infused with power, strength and precision. Having trained extensively in California, Costa Rica, and Canada, her classes are often described as a strong practice that allows students to face challenges with support and guidance, inspiring them to move forward fearlessly and more consciously. Over the past decade, yoga has helped Fiji through personal transformation, she openly shares about finding yoga to be a vital tool of healing as she overcame an eating disorder. You can find Fiji at Harmony Yoga in Duncan, BC, or at her website

The Venue

We needed a special venue for our Gift of Ground retreat, and we found it at Hollyhock Lifelong Learning Centre. Secreted away on Cortes Island at the mouth of British Columbia’s Desolation Sound, with buildings tucked beneath the spreading bows of old-growth cedars and access to a coastline populated by orcas and eagles, Hollyhock embodies the natural immersion that is this retreat’s central focus.

The Centre’s commitment to environmentalism is evident in its green building practices, and all-organic, locally-sourced menu, and is leavened through relationships with the First Nations on whose lands the Centre is built. Combine all this with beautiful accommodations, a library, hiking, kayaking, and massage and bodywork services, and you have everything you need to leave your hectic city life behind. For nearly forty years, Hollyhock has provided a nurturing and supportive environment for holistic learning and growth. What better place to deepen your practice and reconnect with the natural world?

Food

Stunning buffet-style all-organic vegetarian meals are served up three times a day at Hollyhocks cozy Dining Room, and once a week the chefs pull together to produce a fresh-caught seafood feast accompanied by beach side BBQ oyster appetizers. Produce is sourced primarily from the Centre’s very own intensive organic garden, and chefs are happy to accommodate any specific health or dietary restrictions. And if you happen to find yourself a little peckish between meals, you can grab a bite from a 24-hour snack bar stocked with bread, condiments, fruit, coffee, and tea.

For more information please see: https://hollyhock.ca/experience/

Directions

Hollyhock is located the just outside the community of Mason’s Landing on Cortes Island, British Columbia. Though remote, Hollyhock is accessible via seaplane, water taxi, car and ferry, and even bus and. Guest services are happy to provide shuttle services to and from ferry, seaplane, and water taxi terminals, and will also help you find a rideshare through their rideshare board. More information on these services is available on Hollyhock’s website here: https://hollyhock.ca/getting-here/

A detailed pamphlet on getting to and from the Centre is available for download here:
https://hollyhock.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/travel-page-2019-final.pdf

Costs

See link above.

Cancellations

See Hollyhock website.

Testimonials