Peaceful Kintyre: the perfect place for yoga
KINTYRE’S tranquil hills and beaches are an oasis of calm which provide the perfect backdrop for practising yoga.
Elaine McGeachy, a qualified personal trainer, fitness instructor and head of social subjects at Campbeltown Grammar School, has become the town’s latest qualified yoga instructor.
After completing a ‘life-changing’ nineday, intensive certified yoga instruction course in Campania, Italy, during the school’s spring break, Elaine is now a qualified Hatha yoga instructor.
Hatha yoga teaches physical postures and focuses more on longer stretching, breathing and relaxation than other types of yoga.
Elaine said: ‘I’d been wanting to do the intensive courses for years but most of them are four or five weeks long in far flung places like India or Costa Rica which I could never fit in around school holidays so this one was perfect for me.
‘It was very intensive but it actually felt life-changing – I’ve learned so much about yoga and myself.’
Elaine, who has been practising yoga for years, said it brings many health benefits and those of all ages and abilities can take part.
She said: ‘Yoga can help improve mobility, flexibility and strength as well as helping to rehabilitate and prevent injuries.
‘One of the main reasons I love it so much is that it also helps relieve tension, reduce stress, relaxes the mind and aids restful sleep.
‘The course came at a perfect time for me and although it was very hard work I enjoyed every minute.’
Elaine teaches many fitness classes at the Aqualibrium during the week, including Combat, Kettlebells, Torque (Spin), Power Bar and Flex, as well as being a running coach for Campbeltown Running Club.
‘This is something a bit different,’ she said. ‘A little more slowpaced, with time to focus on flexibility, strength and relaxation, to complement all the running and upbeat cardio workouts.’
Elaine also attends Rachel Edward’s weekly Ashtanga yoga class at the leisure centre.
She said: ‘Ashtanga is very dynamic and a bit more advanced but I love it and look forward to it every week.’
Rachel has practised yoga for more than 25 years and, through her Yoga Nadi classes, has been teaching parttime for the last three years.
She teaches Vinyasa Flow, Hatha and Yin yoga, in addition to Ashtanga, and also leads classes for children.
She started her yoga teacher training more than four years ago with Yoga Alliance-registered Classical Yoga School, carrying out 200 hours of training over a year at various locations in Scotland, with on-going written and practical assessments throughout the year.
Rachel said: ‘Since then I have done additional training in Rainbow Kids Yoga, Sally Parkes Pre and Postnatal Yoga, 50 hours of Yin yoga, a week’s intensive training with Doug Keller in yoga therapy and more recently aerial yoga training with Angela at Cloud 9 Yoga, based in Glasgow.
‘Aerial yoga allows you to go deep into a posture, requiring you to breathe longer, slower and deeper, enabling relaxation of the body and mind while suspended in a hammock.
‘You are able to explore inversions, or hanging upside down, which can be beneficial for the spine, strengthening of the core and shoulders, while being supported by the hammock, which can help with exploring your yoga practise on the mat.’
Rachel said that the fun aspects of aerial yoga are the balances mid-air and sense of flying, with classes usually ending in relaxation in the hammock with an optional summersault out to finish.
She added: ‘I am currently looking for someone to make either a scaffold or fixed frame to hang some hammocks from so I can begin teaching and having fun!’
Rachel has practised yoga all over the world, most recently attending a class in Spanish on the beach in Gran Canaria, with her daughter.
She said: ‘I have also been on retreat in various parts of India allowing me to experience more than the physical practise of yoga, also carrying out pranayama (breath work) and meditation.’
Rachel says that yoga is a practise of the body, breath and mind, rather than solely a physical exercise.
‘They say that you find yoga when you need it,’ she said. ‘The physical aspects have enabled me to enhance my sporting performance and the breathing and meditation have helped during various life events.
‘The benefits for me of a daily, early morning, yoga practise, before everyone else is awake, is that everything else in the day just flows, without effort, and the day evolves.’
Those interested in Rachel’s classes can visit her website, www. yoganadi.co.uk, or find her on Facebook by searching @yoganadirachel, for more information.
At the moment, Elaine is doing some ad-hoc classes for small groups of friends, family, colleagues and community groups and if anyone is interested in joining in, they can contact her on Facebook.