KUKERANNA YOGA RETREAT
August 12 - 17, 2020 (CANCELLED due to COVID-19)
Kukeranna, on the west coast of Estonia
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This is a 5-day retreat held in English - my wish being to invite people from all over the world to come and experience the beauty and magic of my land. I'm also hoping that many of my Estonian yogis will join this international gathering of like-minded people. |
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KUKERANNA IS MY MAGIC LAND
Kukeranna (translates to Rooster Beach) has a remote feel to it. It's 120 km from Tallinn, by the western coast of Estonia. I've spent all my childhood summers there with my sister, my cousins and my family. It's been a sanctuary for us and our friends and now we are happy to share this space with you. YOGA FOR BODY, MIND AND SPIRIT There are no pre requisites to practicing yoga: you don't have to be flexible, you don't have to be fit, you don't have to believe in anything, you don't have to have a religious or spiritual background. Come as you are! During the retreat I will keep a balance between slower practices of Yin yoga, Restorative yoga, meditation, pranayama and more dynamic (yang) approaches like Vinyasa yoga. All levels of practitioners (including beginners) are welcome and taken care of. MEDITATION IS MAKING PEACE WITH WHAT IS Every conscious moment is a meditation. Meditation is nothing holy or super spiritual. It is about training our concentration, becoming more self-aware of the "forces" pushing and pulling out of the NOW, it is being with what IS, practicing to live more in the present moment, creating harmony and balance in our lives. SANGHA IS THE JOY OF SHARING WITH LIKEMINDED PEOPLE Sangha is a Pali and Sanskrit word that translates to community. Creating and being part of an international sangha is one of my dreams. A buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh has said something very inspiring: "it is possible that the next Buddha will not take the form of an individual. The next Buddha may take the form of a community - a community practicing understanding and loving kindness, a community practicing mindful living. This may be the most important thing we can do for the survival of the earth". "AH, MUSIC - A MAGIC BEYOND ALL WE DO HERE" - J.K. Rowling Music has become an integral part of Kukeranna retreat since I fully and whole-heartedly partnered up with my love, Eli Salzman, in hosting this retreat. Eli is a singer, song-writer, producer and a multi-instrumentalist. He will offer his magic during some of our yoga sessions - improvising live, surrounding and enveloping us in ambient tunes using keyboards, looping method, his voice, guitar. Spontaneously there might also be some sing-along evenings spent around camp fire. Check out Eli's recent albums RING & KUKERANNA which were born out of last two years' retreats. |
Summers in Estonia are short, but the summer days are long, evenings are full of light and special energy. When the weather is favorable, the Nordic summer is a real treat!!
This would be the 8th year for Kukeranna Retreat tradition. It's been lovely to have my family involved in the preparation and running of the retreats, and to have my yogi friends come and share the Kukeranna magic, my mother's excellent cooking and those long summer days with us.
ACCOMMODATION
Accommodation is simple, basic and down to earth. Most rooms are shared rooms with 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 beds. Showers and toilets are shared, there is sauna every night, a pond for quick dips and seaside about 10 minute walk away. The retreat activities are shared between two neighbouring locations separated by a short beautiful walk across a meadow:
ACCOMMODATION AND YOGA HALL
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MY FAMILY'S SUMMER HOUSE
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SCHEDULE
You may participate in as many retreat events as you want! This is YOUR holiday, this is your time to slow down. The schedule will be adjusted depending on the weather and our energy levels, but loosely your days on the retreat look like this:
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DAY OF ARRIVAL We will open the retreat with an evening yoga session, but feel free to arrive any time on Wednesday. 18:00 yoga 20:00 dinner RETREAT DAYS 7:30 - 8:00 meditation (optional, self practice, not guided) 8:00 - 10:00 morning yoga (Yin yoga, gentle vinyasa, Qi Gong, pranayama, meditation) 10:00 breakfast/brunch 14:00 light snack 17:00 - 18:30 Vinyasa yoga / Yin-Yang yoga /Restorative yoga / Partner yoga / Thai-yoga massage 19:00 dinner EVENING ACTIVITIES : sauna, yoga-Nidra, campfire, music, dance, movie-night DAY OF DEPARTURE 7:30 - 8:00 meditation 8:00 - 10:00 morning yoga 10:00 breakfast |
PRICE
390€ - 490€ plus 5% climate tax*
depending on what your genuine gratitude and income dictates
depending on what your genuine gratitude and income dictates
We also always need 1-2 karma yogis to help in the kitchen and keeping the yoga space clean.
If you are not able to pay the suggested range, please do not hesitate to still contact me.
If you are not able to pay the suggested range, please do not hesitate to still contact me.
* What is 5% "climate tax"?
To raise awareness and grass roots action around climate change, from 2020 I add 5% to all my invoices. To this 5% I will add 5% from my own earning. So all together 10% of my income will be donated to environmental organizations addressing climate crises on a local and global scale. You will receive a list of charities with your invoice.
YOGA WITH LIINA
If you haven't practice with me (Liina), before deciding you can try out some of my online classes to get a taste or read my short bio or some of my longer blog posts about my yoga journey. If you're in Berlin, my weekly offerings are listed here.
My own practice and the way of teaching has been evolving and shaping quite to bit over the last couple of years. When I started teaching over 10 years ago, I was drawn to dynamic, alignment focused practices with creative sequencing. These days my pace is slower, I place HUGE focus on getting my students to feel, know and be interested in their own unique anatomy and ways of moving, not so much conceptually but experientially. I respect tradition and I am fascinated by the history and philosophy of not only yoga, but also buddhism and taoism. And at the same breath, I am super curious about everything that contemporary embodiment field has to offer in guiding people to become aware and listen to the wisdom of their own bodies. I also put emphasis on creating a strong correlation between practice and life - yoga, mindfulness, awareness is not something that gets only cultivated on the mat. A practice can serve a number of ways:
My own practice and the way of teaching has been evolving and shaping quite to bit over the last couple of years. When I started teaching over 10 years ago, I was drawn to dynamic, alignment focused practices with creative sequencing. These days my pace is slower, I place HUGE focus on getting my students to feel, know and be interested in their own unique anatomy and ways of moving, not so much conceptually but experientially. I respect tradition and I am fascinated by the history and philosophy of not only yoga, but also buddhism and taoism. And at the same breath, I am super curious about everything that contemporary embodiment field has to offer in guiding people to become aware and listen to the wisdom of their own bodies. I also put emphasis on creating a strong correlation between practice and life - yoga, mindfulness, awareness is not something that gets only cultivated on the mat. A practice can serve a number of ways:
- ...as a mirror, a safe place to reflect, notice, become aware
- ...as a place to cultivate compassion and kindness towards ourselves and our (human) conditioning
- ...as a container to build the capacity of our nervous system to stay present and be with what is
- ...as a place to experiment, play, make mistakes, not take ourselves too seriously
- ...as a way to connect to a something that lies beyond the personal, the stories, the image-making
- ....
TRAVEL INFO
I will try to help you with the transport to-and-from the retreat. Your international travel and transport to and from the retreat in Estonia is not included in the price, but I can help you with airline recommendations and organize ride-share with other participants.
TALLINN - KUKERANNA route: I will try to organize ride- share, so as soon as you know your flight details let me know.
There is also an easy buss connection. Tallinn Buss station is very close to Tallinn Airport. When looking up buss-times or buying a e-ticket, mark your departure Tallinna bussijaam (bus station) or Tallinna lennujaam (airport) and your destination as Virtsu sadam / Virtsu port (Hanila vald, Lääne maakond). Virtsu is a small harbor town 15 kilometers from my summer house - someone from my team will pick you up from there.
BERLINERS: some direct flights to Tallinn from Berlin are offered by AirBaltic . If booked early, the tickets can be very affordable. Also this year (from April) Ryanair has a direct flight from Berlin Schönefeld to Tallinn.
Tallinn is a great city to visit during summer, so you might want to plan in a few extra days to explore before or after the retreat. Airbnb can offer some central, convenient and affordable accommodation options.
TALLINN - KUKERANNA route: I will try to organize ride- share, so as soon as you know your flight details let me know.
There is also an easy buss connection. Tallinn Buss station is very close to Tallinn Airport. When looking up buss-times or buying a e-ticket, mark your departure Tallinna bussijaam (bus station) or Tallinna lennujaam (airport) and your destination as Virtsu sadam / Virtsu port (Hanila vald, Lääne maakond). Virtsu is a small harbor town 15 kilometers from my summer house - someone from my team will pick you up from there.
BERLINERS: some direct flights to Tallinn from Berlin are offered by AirBaltic . If booked early, the tickets can be very affordable. Also this year (from April) Ryanair has a direct flight from Berlin Schönefeld to Tallinn.
Tallinn is a great city to visit during summer, so you might want to plan in a few extra days to explore before or after the retreat. Airbnb can offer some central, convenient and affordable accommodation options.