YOGA NIDRA TEACHER TRAINING
Aisling na hÉireann : Dreams of Ireland
Friday 17th - Sunday 19th May 40 hour Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Certified training
An immersive Yoga Nidra Teacher Training weekend in Ireland, imbued with what the Irish call “imbas”, great knowledge, poetic talent and inspiration through “aisling” or dreaming with Yoga Nidra.
This Yoga Nidra Teacher weekend invites you to deep dive into an embodied experience of the profound wisdom and power of Yoga Nidra. Learn the yogic philosophy and mythology that underpins the art of Yoga Nidra and hone your skills to confidently guide transformative Yoga Nidra sessions for others.
Set yourself apart as a yoga teacher, therapist, coach, or counsellor by utilising the powerful technique of Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep) with your students and clients.
Embark on a transformative journey through the layers of your being, from the physical to the soulful and beyond. We will ground ourselves in ancient yogic philosophy, exploring and experiencing the fundamental yogic teachings around Source/witness consciousness, the Koshas (layers of being and embodiment), Sankalpa (intention setting), the neuroscience of sleep and meditation and how to nurture the nervous system.
You will learn the fundamentals of Yoga Nidra with practical tools and techniques, and integrate this knowledge into crafting unique, trauma-informed practices.
This advanced Yoga Nidra meditation training includes the weekend immersion in Ireland + online video content and coursework to complete a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education 40 hour certification.
Nestled in picturesque Irish countryside in the rolling drumlins of Co Down, Mother of the Woods Retreat (our venue) will be sweetly blooming in the season of Bealtaine (Beltane). In the teachings of the Celtic Wheel of the Year, it is believed that at Bealtaine the veils between this world and the mystical Celtic “otherworld” are at their thinnest. This makes it a really powerful time for dreamwork practices to connect to the ancestors, to listen to the land speak and to enter Celtic dreamtime like the ancient druids and poets of Ireland.
Celtic wisdom teachings and stories will be woven throughout the immersion. You will experience two native Irish plant ceremonies exploring the relationship between plant medicines, sleep states, mythic imaginings and creative visioning.
For those wishing to connect to the wisdom and magic of the lands, the ancestors and spirituality of mythical, mystical Ireland, There is also an option to embark on a Celtic Sacred Site tour on Monday 20th May.
Develop these Essential Tools:
Yoga Nidra Mastery: Develop a heart-centered approach to confidently create and guide deeply relaxing and healing Yoga Nidra sessions.
Creating safe, trauma-informed practice: Learn the art of holding space and how to curate a nurturing, trauma-informed space for clients and students to find safety and inner connection.
Embodied Wisdom and Somatic Awareness: Connect with your body's wisdom to guide from a rooted and embodied space, holding the field of awareness that is Yoga Nidra so that you can authentically help students embody and navigate their own inner landscapes.
Mindful Presence & Authenticity: Cultivate mindful presence and authenticity, fostering openness, healing, and growth.
Emotional Resilience & Sanctuary: Learn techniques to create an atmosphere of trust and healing, empowering students to face life's challenges with strength and grace.
Compassionate Intuitive Guidance: Foster empathy and unwavering trust in your intuition to guide students on unique transformational journeys, ensuring they feel seen and respected.
Soul Path Alignment: Guide students to align with their personal soul paths, finding purpose and meaning.
Topics covered
Yoga philosophy on Source consciousness and the embodiment process (koshas).
Cosmology and Mythology of Yoga Nidra and Nidra Shakti (the ancient goddess of sleep)
How to work with effective and transformational intention-setting within Yoga Nidra known as sankalpa
How to set up and hold the space of Yoga Nidra as a safe healing container in a trauma-informed way
Step by step tools and techniques for confidently guiding Yoga Nidra
How to hold the energetic field of Yoga Nidra and the importance of tone and voice
How to create your own unique Yoga Nidra practices
The differences and similarities between hypnosis and Yoga Nidra
The neuroscience of sleep and meditation
Brainwave states and how they compare to ancient Yogic wisdom
The different lineages of Yoga Nidra
Learning through experience - small group practice teaching
Experiencing a variety of lineages, styles and methods of Yoga Nidra
Tapping into the wisdom of altered states with Yoga Nidra and plant intelligence
Certification
To fulfil the requirements of our comprehensive 40 hour advanced Yoga Teacher training, participation in the in-person Ireland immersion is complemented by preparatory engagement with online videos, recordings and coursework.
Our online portal opens its doors on the 1st April 2024 and will remain accessible until the 1st October 2024. This extended timeframe ensures you are prepared for the in-person content and gives you time to engage with it at your own pace, allowing for a truly integrative experience.
Inside the online portal, you’ll find:
Over 10+ hours of recorded Yoga Nidra education, featuring Dharma Talks on Yoga philosophy
Yoga Nidra meditations with transcripts
2 comprehensive digital Yoga Nidra course books
A beautiful Yoga Nidra script guide
Upon successful completion, you’ll be awarded a Yoga Alliance YACEP Certificate, marking your dedication and achievement in the realm of Yoga Nidra.
Yoga Nidra is a secret doorway into revelation
Weekend Schedule
Please note this is subject to slight changes
Friday, May 17, 2024
Arrival from 12 noon with light lunch available
1- 2pm: Welcome & Orientation
2-2.30pm: Workshop: Intro to Nidra
2.30-3pm: Nidra Practice
- Break -
3.15-4.30pm: Workshop: Intention setting with Sankalpa & understanding Nidra Shakti
4.45-6pm Nidra Practice & Q&A
6-7.30pm Dinner catered by The Edible Flower
7.30-9pm Workshop: Inner Sanctuary workshop, nurturing safety inside out
9 -10pm Goodnight Yoga Nidra: dreamtime practice and blessings with Mugwort tea ceremony
Saturday, May 18, 2024
Light breakfast, teas and coffee available before practice
8-9.30am: Morning practice: asana (yoga), pranayama (breathwork) , mantra (sanskrit chanting) & nidra session
9.30-11.00am: Workshop: Anamaya Kosha: Yoga Nidra tools and techniques for the physical body: Settling and welcoming
11.00 - 1130am: Teaching practice time in small groups to integrate what you’ve learnt
11.30- 1 Hot Brunch catered by The Edible Flower
1-3pm: Workshop: Pranamaya and Manomaya Kosha: Yoga Nidra tools and techniques for the energy body, breath and mind practices
3-3.30pm: Teaching practice time in small groups to integrate what you’ve learnt
3.30-5pm: Workshop: Vijnanamaya and Anandamaya Kosha: Yoga Nidra tools and techniques for the subtle/wisdom body and shamanic dreaming
5-5.30pm: Teaching practice time in small groups to integrate what you’ve learnt
5.30-6pm: Yoga Nidra Practice
6-7.30pm: Dinner catered by The Edible Flower
8-9.30pm: Workshop & Ceremony: The Earth’s Dreamtime: Sacred Plants and vision questing with Yoga Nidra Ceremony
Sunday, May 19, 2024
9-10.30am: Morning practice: asana (yoga), pranayama (breathwork) , mantra (sanskrit chanting) & nidra session
10.30-11.30am: Brunch catered by The Edible Flower
12-2pm: Workshop & Nidra
2 - 3.30pm: Time to prep & write your own Yoga Nidra (assignment given at orientation)
3.30-4.30pm: Practice teaching assessment in groups
4.30-5pm: Closing Ceremony
5pm: Slán agus beannacht libh : Departure
About your trainers
Simone MacKay
Simone has been a passionate practitioner and international teacher of yoga, supported by a degree in Social Work, holding space for deep transformation and soul work for 25+ years. Certified in I AM Yoga Nidra (Amrit Method), Total Yoga Nidra and trained in iRest, she loves to guide deeply restful and nourishing inner journeys that lead to insight and healing.
As the founder of Somah Journeys and the School of Sacred Arts, she not only initiated and directed the original yoga teacher trainings at the world renown Yoga Barn in Bali but also facilitated transformative yoga and medicine journeys in Peru.
Her yoga education and soul-centered coaching programs are rooted in a trauma-informed and compassion-centered approach. Particularly drawn to nature-based spirituality, Simone spends intensive periods, often in solitude, working in ceremony with various plant medicines and contemplative practices. She brings together a wealth of study from a variety of wisdom traditions, Earth-honouring practices, Yoga and Yoga Nidra.
Emma Rose Lowe
Founder of Essential Nature Yoga and Belonging: living the Celtic Wheel of the Year and owner of Mother of the Woods Retreat, Ireland.
Emma Rose Lowe is a Ceremonialist, Fertility, Sex and Pleasure Coach, a Celtic Wisdom holder and a Senior Tantra Yoga Teacher who specialises in Yoga Nidra, plant medicines and the radical, healing power of embodying our feminine energies (including rest!).
Emma has supported thousands of women to tap into their own, innate healing power, pleasure and inner authority. She uses ancient Tantric and Celtic practices validated by science to help you restore and remember your body's wisdom, natural rhythm and wild nature.
About the venue
Venue ::: Mother of the Woods
The Aisling na hÉireann Yoga Nidra immersion is held at a beautiful, spacious, 300 year old Irish farmhouse nestled in 2.5 acres of ancient trees and wild meadows, in the rolling hills of Co Down situated in the North of Ireland.
Located on a small townland 20 minutes outside Belfast called ‘Cargacreevy’ which translates from old Irish ‘Carraig na craoibhe’ as ‘Rock of the great tree’. Trees and rocks were sacred to the ancients and central to Celtic mythology and spirituality. They were often gathering places for ritual known as ‘nemetons’ meaning ‘sacred grove’ or ‘sanctuary’ making this hidden, rural gem the perfect place to connect with nature, the wisdom of the land and our own essential nature.
There isn’t a more charming retreat venue in Northern Ireland!
Our classes and workshops will be held in the Hayloft studio with its spacious scandi feel and beautiful pitched ceilings.
In your down time you can take a breath out on the tree lined land, explore the witches kitchen garden and wild meadows or relax in the old coach house used for outdoor dining, summer workshops and fire pujas.
Residential accommodation is based on 2-3 persons sharing per room.
The cosy, bespoke bedrooms at Mother of the Woods are inspired by different Celtic goddesses. Additionally we provide two indoor lounge areas for relaxation and a communal dining space known as ‘the morning room’.
Food
Our meals will be a highlight of this immersion with professional chef Erin Bunting, founder of The Edible Flower on site, providing delicious, grounding and seasonally-inspired menus to accompany our time together.
Erin is a professional chef, TV cook for Ireland AM, recipe developer, food stylist and edible flower enthusiast, trained at the the prestigious Ballymaloe Cookery School in East Cork and the author of The Edible Flower, a guide to Cooking and Growing Edible Flower (as featured in Vogue, Sunday World, Country Living, The Irish News, Times and Examiner, Washington Post to name a few).
Erin has a real gift in making wonderfully complex layers of flavour and produce feel unpretentious and at the same time exquisitely beautiful and delicious. Inspired by the Celtic Wheel, her cooking is seasonal, utilising the best of local produce and infused with a little bit of magic in every mouthful.
Getting here: Mother of the Woods is not on a public transport route but please contact Emma at hello@emmaroselowe.com if you would like more support with transport/logistics. Closer to the training, we can share arrival times to allow for carsharing/group airport transfers.
For people flying in: There are 2 airports in the the North of Ireland and Dublin airport is also a possibility:
Belfast International Airport 40 minutes by car. There is an airport bus that departs regularly from Belfast international airport to Belfast city centre. Prebooking is possible but not required. From Belfast city centre you can get a taxi from around £30.
Belfast City airport/George Best 30 minutes by car. From here you can get a taxi from around £30
Dublin airport 1 hour 36 minutes by car. There are regular airport buses from Dublin airport to Belfast city centre. This takes around 2 hours and advanced booking is recommended. From Belfast city centre you can take a taxi to Mother of the Woods from around £30.
Mother of the Woods Retreat Ireland
Full address and instructions for how to get here will be send out upon booking
contact:
Emma Rose hello@emmaroselowe.com for enquiries
Booking options
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Residential: 40 hour Certified Yoga Nidra Teacher Training immersion with Celtic Sacred Site Tour
Includes all teachings, ceremonies and online content for 40 hour certified Yoga Nidra training
3 nights accommodation
Chef prepared meals
Guided Celtic Sacred Site tour on Monday 20th May
£895
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Residential: 40 hour Certified Yoga Nidra Teacher Training immersion
Includes all teachings, ceremonies and online content for 40 hour certified Yoga Nidra training
2 nights accommodation
Chef prepared meals
£725
-
Non Residential: 40 hour Certified Yoga Nidra Teacher Training
Join us for the full weekend programme but stay at home or somewhere else.
Includes all teachings, ceremonies and online content for 40 hour certified Yoga Nidra training
Chef prepared meals
£555
A deposit is required to secure your place and the remaining balance can be spread out over 3 monthly instalments.
Register today
Interested in joining the Ireland Yoga Nidra Training and becoming a certified Yoga Nidra facilitator? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can't wait to hear from you.
