New Year's Retreat
When and where?
When: Friday 19 – Sunday January 21 2024
Where: Mulvarra House in St Mullins. You can get directions from our website contact page
Cost: from €365
To book: Call us on (O)87 1777145
or email info@mulvarra.com
Your teacher:
Tim Dawson
Tim has been a qualified yoga teacher for 10 years. He has spent long periods studying and practising yoga in India. He combines a solid grounding in the principles of traditional Hatha yoga with a strong interest in breathwork and meditation.
Tim favours a gentle approach to yoga with poses being held and emphasis on breath focus. Students blessed with greater flexibilty are invited to go deeper into poses, but overall everyone in the class should feel comfortable with where their body is at. Tim trained as a teacher in Classical Hatha Yoga at Yoga Vidya Gurukul in Trimbakeshwar district in India, where he also trained as a Yoga Therapist. He occasionally integrates Pilates elements within classes in order to give more of an energetic workout to core muscles. Tim’s overall approach to Yoga flows from Patanjali’s second Yoga Sutra: ‘Yoga chitta vritti nirodhah’: Yoga is the Stilling of the Mind Waves.
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Your foodie guide:
Linda Huskes
Linda is an enthusiastic food lover who prepares all of Mulvarra’s meals from scratch. Having spent hours and hours in the kitchen, perfecting her meals and trying out recipes, she is now ready to share her experiences with you.
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an immersive journey into yoga, nutrition, and wellness
Weekend retreat January 19-21 2024
January can be a difficult month to navigate for many people living on the Northern Hemisphere. Although the Winter Solstice will have passed, the Irish Winter feels like it is just getting into its stride, with many weeks ahead of cold, dark and wet days. Christmas has quickly become a distant memory, all of which means this time of year can be a real struggle for many.
We believe the key to not just surviving this time of year but actually thriving is to lean into the natural seasonal patterns, and make small adjustments to our lifestyle, so instead of resisting the Winter, we can celebrate the opportunity it gives us to go inward, to retreat – in the best sense of the word. We will look at the power of rituals to better anchor our minds to the steady progression of the natural world through the seasons.
Mulvarra’s hosts, Tim and Linda, are looking forward to welcoming you. Tim will guide you through some dynamic yoga sessions in the morning and afternoon and relaxing yin and yoga nidra/meditation sessions in the evening. Linda will provide the cooking demonstrations so you can create a little bit of Mulvarra at home.
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What to expect from the retreat
Balance
We will learn mindfulness meditation techniques in combination with breathwork to engender a greater sense of balance and harmony in our body and mind.
Connect
The retreat allows us to strengthen our sense of connectedness – both to our inner selves and to those around us. There will be time on the retreats to pause and reflect, or just do nothing by the fireside. With our increasingly busy lives it is so important that we occasionally stop and pause, and put our phones to one side, and just be…
Nourish
The final connection which we will make will be between the food we put in our bodies and our overall health and wellbeing, both mental and physical. Linda will be taking the group for several food sessions where we will be looking at how some of the food in the retreat is prepared.
- 5 yoga classes
- 3 food demonstrations
- Breathwork and mindfuless meditations
- Suitable for beginners and all fitness levels
- All meals included
- 2 nights accommodation (shared and unshared accommodation options available)
The setting for this event is one of the most glorious and magical river valleys in all of Ireland. Into this inspiring landscape we will learn to revive our sense of a deep connectedness to our inner and outer worlds.
Taking a holistic approach to our life means seeing the connections between all the different aspects of our lives, and how we need to take a balanced approach which does neglect any aspect of our reality. So for instance, we believe it is important to see the connection between the food we put in our bodies and how we feel and think.
The simple comforts afforded by food (both in its preparation and eating) can be a source of very profound joy at this time of year. Traditionally Winter was a time for fermented foods before the advent of electricity and refrigeration, but there has been a huge amount of interest in the last 10 years in the massive health benefits fermented foods can have for our gut health. We will include a number of food demonstrations throughout the weekend where the retreatants will have a chance to help prepare their own sauerkraut.
The yoga component of the retreat will move through a range of styles from dynamic vinyasa to gentler yin and restorative yoga. The emphasis is on the importance of movement, and equipping ourselves with reliable and trusted approaches to having a movement practice over the Winter months.
If that movement practice can be harnessed to a regular meditation practice, it will be to the benefit of both. We will focus on how to slow down using different mindfulness techniques with a particular emphasis on breathwork and then apply some of these breathing techniques as we move through the asanas.
Yoga and the Joy of Mindful Cooking Weekend | |
Friday | |
4:00 PM | Arrival, settle in with tea and a delicious treat. |
5:00 PM | Food demonstration of a few treats (including a vegan one) |
6.00 PM | First yoga session gentle yin yoga and opening circle |
7:30 PM | Dinner |
8:30 PM | Yoga nidra session |
9.30 PM | Close. Retire to your room, relax in our cosy living room, read a book, journal, get a good night’s sleep |
Saturday | |
8:15 AM | Breathwork and Morning yoga stretch |
09:30 AM | Breakfast |
11:00 AM | Food demonstration: lunch ideas |
1.00 PM | Lunch |
2:00 PM | Free time (go for a river walk, read a book, journal) |
4:00 PM | Food demonstration: dinner ideas |
5:30 PM | yin yoga |
7:30 PM | Dinner |
8:45 PM | Meditation or yoga nidra |
10:30 PM | Bedtime |
Sunday | |
7:30 AM | Silent river walking meditation |
8:30 AM | Yoga session |
10:30 AM | Brunch |
12:00 PM | Closing ceremony |
1:00 PM | Time to head home. |
| Room type | Price (sharing, per person) |
| Room 1 – Triple room with two single beds and a double bed, ensuite. | €375 |
| Room 2 – Twin room with two single beds, ensuite | € 395.00 |
| Room 3 – Twin room with two single beds, ensuite | € 395.00 |
| Room 4 – Twin room with a single bed and a double bed, ensuite | € 395.00 |
| Room 5 – Twin room with a single bed and a double bed, ensuite | € 395.00 |
| Room 6 (downstairs without a river view)- Twin room with two single beds, ensuite | €365 |
| Single Occupancy (only available for room 2 and 6) | € 70 supplement |
In order to book one of the places on the retreat, you simply contact us by email (info@mulvarra.com) or you can give us a call, text or whatsapp (087 1777145). Please note that a non-refundable deposit of €100 must be paid in order to secure a place on the retreat. You can either pay by bank transfer or by using Revolut. We will contact you two weeks before the retreat to settle the balance.
The closest public transport is the bus or train from Dublin or Waterford to Thomastown . From Thomastown there are taxis available (cost is 25-30 Euros)
The Breathing Space studio
This large, light-filled space has commanding views over the Barrow River and surrounding forests, as well as the 7th century monastic settlement of St Mullins itself. Although it was designed specifically to function as a yoga studio and mediatation space, it supports multiple uses. It features a special infra red heating system and a full complement of yoga equipment.
the food experience
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Linda’s enthusiasm for anything to do with food will hopefully inspire you to go home and try out some of her favourite recipes. Her cooking demonstration will show you what you can do with vegetables, fruit, nuts, pulses and more.
Many of our ‘retreatants’ are really interested in trying out more vegetarian recipes but sometimes don’t know where to begin. We hope that Linda’s demonstrations and her willingness to share will help you along. The recipes are not complicated and really fun to make. So join us for this very special retreat in April.
St Mullins: The backdrop to the retreat
- A unique chance to experience the magic of St Mullins, known as the jewel of the Barrow
- 7th century monastic site
- 12th century Norman motte
- Vibrant cafe and river community
- Proximity to hikes in Blackstairs mountains and numerous river and forest nature walks
