Join Kirsten with Legacy Motion at the beautiful Bend It Like Buddha Yoga Retreat and School to learn how to incorporate restorative practices, invitational language, tools for self-regulation, trauma symptom intervention methods, trauma-informed postures, anatomy as related to trauma, creating a safe space, self-agency tools, and how to facilitate resiliency, empowerment, community, and peacebuilding through movement-based practices.
 

Highlights

• Daily meditation sessions
• Daily multi-style yoga classes
• Daily and pranayama sessions
• Comprehensive, practical, and applied modules
• The program welcomes all levels
• 2 nights accommodation

Skill level

• Beginner
• Intermediate
• Advanced

Yoga styles

• Hatha

3 days with instruction / max participants in the group is 18

Airport transfer available:
Faro Airport (€ 39 per person)

Program

Legacy Motion is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization committed to promoting resiliency, empowerment, trauma resolution, psychosocial coexistence, community, and peacebuilding through restorative, movement-based practices. Through interrelated projects Legacy Motion dedicates itself to evaluating, creating, and implementing high quality, sustainable programs based on experience and collaborations in the field.

Skill level

Beginners are welcome to join the training, however, six months to one year of experience is highly recommended

Training program

This yoga training is offered by highly experienced, talented, and compassionate instructors. All of their teachings are only on their specialty and expertise in their chosen disciplines. Together, all of the teachers have over 50 years of combined teaching experience. Through this retreat, you will learn the ancient art and science of teaching yoga for people who have gone through trauma such as PTSD.

You will also learn the incredible skill of adjustments and modifications for using props, by the lead instructor, yogic lifestyle off the mat, etc. You will practice with instructors who specialize in alignment and are physiology experts, giving you lessons on yoga anatomy and how to safely teach yoga for beginners, elderly, and those who are in pain, with injuries, and many health conditions that are commonly seen in today's world.

This training is popular to social workers, civil servants, healthcare professionals, teachers, yoga instructors, and anyone surviving trauma or working with survivors of trauma. You will also learn Myofascial release, which is a safe and very effective hands-on technique that involves applying gentle sustained pressure into the Myofascial connective tissue restrictions to eliminate pain and restore motion. Applied yoga therapy is taught in a practical manner.

Another highlight of this training program is an opportunity to learn Reiki and Ayurvedic Indian massage which is an ancient healing art involving intensive work on the body’s meridians utilizing assisted stretching, deep compression, channeling of breath, and rhythmic movements. It is traditionally performed on a fully dressed recipient lying on a thin floor mat with or without oils. Please inquire if interested and note that Reiki and Ayurveda Massage are optional.

The comprehensive yoga anatomy modules will set the foundation for a practice as a trauma yoga therapist. By keeping class sizes small, it is ensured that every student will work or gets worked on by the instructor, making the learning accurate and experiential. The Ayurveda, massage, and yoga anatomy modules are conducted from Friday-Sunday about 60 minutes per day (6 hours total).

The modules for the 6-hour Ayurveda Massage training cover about 45 massage techniques with the client lying usually in a supine or lying-on-their-back position. The course is also beneficial for massage therapists, body workers, yoga practitioners, energy healers, and people interested in alternative healing methods for clients, friends, and family.

Requirements

This yoga training is suitable for all levels. Everyone is welcome but a year of yoga practice is recommended.

Schedule

The schedule is subject to small changes. Please do not hesitate to inquire if you have any questions about the schedule or subjects covered.

• Friday 16:00 - 19:00
• Saturday 09:00 - 18:00
• Sunday 09:00 - 15:00

There is time in the schedule to enjoy the Praia da Rocha beach just 100 meters away from the Bend it like Buddha Yoga studio.

You will be staying at Flor da Rocha, located in the center of beautiful Praia Da Rocha beach, with soft golden sand framed by ochre cliffs. The tranquil beach has an amazing ability to make you relax almost instantly.

They offer 4-star hotel comfortable accommodations, all rooms have a kitchen, living room, bathroom, patio, free Wi-Fi, daily housekeeping. They have a swimming pool, spa with hot/wet sauna, nearby restaurants offering great food, and a yoga shala for your daily practice.

Instructors.

L. Farrah Furtado

L. Farrah Furtado is Canadian-Portuguese and is a Yoga Alliance E RYT 500 Ashtanga Vinyasa teacher, author of three spiritual best-selling award winning books, and director of Kaohsiung Yoga School and Bend it like Buddha Yoga in Portugal. She has lived in Asia for over 14 years, studying the healing arts in Buddhist monasteries in Taiwan, Balinese healing with energy healing masters in Ubud, and has trained in the traditional Ashtanga Vinyasa system and pranayama with BNS Iyengar, the lineage of Pattabhi Jois and Krishnamacharya in India. Farrah is a third degree Usui Reiki master.

Kirsten Wilkinson

MA, E-RYT, TCTSY Facilitator, Certified Mind/Body Therapy Practitioner. She holds a Masters Degree in Dance and Research from American University in Washington, DC and a BA in Dance and Kinesiology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Kirsten is the founder and executive director of Legacy Motion. Her professional dance career spans over 10 years during which she performed with such companies as The San Francisco Ballet, David Dorfman, and Heidelberg Ballet. She is also the Director of International Programs at BodyWise Foundation.

Arrival by airplane

Please arrange your flight to arrive at Faro Airport (FAO). Transfers from this airport are not yet included in the package but are available at an additional cost of 39 EUR. You may also arrive at Lisbon Portela Airport (LIS). For more information on how to get to the venue from this airport, please send Bend It Like Buddha Yoga an inquiry.