Category: yoga retreat

YOGA Classes 2025

YOGA Classes 2025

premaria

Happy New Year 2025, our Yoga classes resume on Tuesday 14th January 2025.

YOGA 2025, all details below…… Contact Maria for any questions.

 Current Yoga class schedule

Raceview Scout Hall, 32 Taylor Street, Eastern Heights 4305

  • Tuesdays, 9:00am – 10:30am (90 minutes Hatha Yoga class)

Cameron Park, Scout Hall, Easton Street, Booval 4304 (this hall has air-con.)

  • Tuesdays, 6:00pm–7:30pm (90 minutes Hatha Yoga class)
  • Wednesdays, 5:00pm–6:30pm (90 minutes Hatha Yoga class)

Raceview Scout Hall, 32 Taylor Street, Eastern Heights 4305

Monthly Friday evening Meditation.

Our first Meditation for the year is already coming up, on Friday 17th January 2025 at 5pm – 6:30pm. You need to book for this session. Thank you, call or text Maria on 0423 477 725.

Satsang Meditation
Weekend Retreat end of August 2025.

Letting go of the Winter blues during an inspiring, motivating, & uplifting Yoga & Meditation weekend.

We’ll be surrounded by beautiful, peaceful nature. While being nourished with delicious, vegetarian meals.

This and more awaits you the Yoga & Meditation Weekend Retreat, Friday 29 – Sunday 31 of August 2025.

The Retreat is taking place a the Glasshouse Mountains Ecolodge.

Yoga Retreat September 2026

Yoga Retreat August 2024 spaces available

Yoga Retreat August 2024 spaces available

premaria

A few more spaces are available for the upcoming Yoga & Meditation Retreat at the Glasshouse Mountains Ecolodge, Friday 23 – Sunday 25 of August 2024.

Immerse yourself in a Weekend of Yoga & Meditation surrounded by beautiful nature, towards the end of Winter to shake off the Winter blues.

Our program for the weekend looks like this:
Friday:
• 4pm yoga class (asana, pranayama)  
• 6pm Dinner  
• 7:30pm evening meditation   

Saturday:   
• 6am morning sunrise meditation   
• 7am yoga class  
• 8:30am breakfast 
• 10:30am Chakra & Aura talk  
• 12noon lunch 
• Afternoon activities , e.g. hike Mt Tibrogargan circuit, 
• 4pm hatha-yoga class (sun salutations, asana, pranayama) 
• 6:30pm Dinner 

Sunday:  
• 6am sunrise meditation and morning stretches 
• 7am yoga class 
• 9am Breakfast
The cost for the Retreat is $690.00 per person, this includes the whole yoga program, all the meals & accommodation in single or shared rooms, with private ensuite. https://hathayogaipswich.com.au/retreat/
Please contact me for any questions, or to book your space. https://hathayogaipswich.com.au/contact/
CHAKRA Introduction

CHAKRA Introduction

premaria

The word Chakra means ‘wheel’. Chakras are energy vortices, or intersections where two or more nadis / meridians meet. Everyplace the 72,000 nadis of the astral body intersect, there is a chakra. There are an uncounted number of chakras in the body.

The chakras are the mechanisms by which the prana is able to permeate the physical body from the astral body, and basically then, it is the prana that keeps the physical body alive.

Within the astral body are 7 main chakras associated with kundalini awakening. They are located within the astral body in locations that correspond with the spine in the physical body, and at the junctions where the ida and pingala, and various other nadis, meet.

These main chakras are:

  1. Muladhara – located near the base of the spine in the perineal space for men, at the back and top of the cervix for women; sacral plexus
  2. Swadhishthana – located at the level of the uro-genital systems; prostatic plexus
  3. Manipura – located at the area of the navel; solar plexus
  4. Anahata – located at the level of the heart; cardiac plexus
  5. Vishuddha – located in the throat region near the thyroid and adam’s apple; laryngeal plexus
  6. Ajna – located in the space between the eyebrows; cavernous plexus
  7. Sahasrara – located at the top of the head; pineal gland

The six chakras are way-stations along the sushumna, to the final destination, the sahasrara chakra. They are of consciousness, with specific tones of awareness and bliss, as well as storage places for the subtle, vital energy. They have corresponding centres in the spinal cord and nerve plexuses of the gross physical body, with which they are closely related.

While these main chakras actually exist in the astral body corresponding to locations within the spine, it is hard to visualize and work with them in these locations. Therefore, we usually reference locations in the front of the body at the levels described above, and these locations have a direct effect on the actual chakra location within the spine.

Each chakra also has associated with it a corresponding number of nadis, a colour, a presiding deity and goddess, Sanskrit letters, a bija or seed mantra, and a presiding element or tanmatra.

From a Yoga perspective the Chakra system is part of Kundalini Yoga.

During the Yoga Retreat in August 2024, we’ll talk and discuss the Chakras, their functions, meanings, etc. in detail. https://hathayogaipswich.com.au/retreat/

NO YOGA classes in June 2024

NO YOGA classes in June 2024

premaria

As many of you know already (I’ve been talking about it long enough 😉 during the month of June are no yoga classes.

I’m away from 3rd – 28th of June 2024. Visiting family in Switzerland, early Summer holiday and going on Retreat myself.

The last class in May is on Thursday morning 30/5/24 10am Senior’s Yoga.

On Friday 24th May 5pm we have a Meditation & Mantra class, please let me know if you would like to join.

In July all the Yoga classes resume on Tuesday 2/7/24.

Maria on Retreat in Switzerland, August 2022.
Trikonasana – the triangle pose

Trikonasana – the triangle pose

premaria

Trikonasana, or the triangle pose. The main benefits of this standing posture are to stretch the sides of the body and give a lateral movement to the spine. All standing yoga postures help to ground your energy.

Physical Benefits

  • Stretches the sides of the body
  • Stretches the spine laterally
  • Helps keep the spine elastic
  • Improves flexibility in the hips and legs
  • Helps to open the chest
  • Massages the internal organs
  • Improves digestion
  • Amplifies the benefits of the half spinal twist
  • Improves circulation in the body

Mental Benefits

  • Steadies the mind
  • Calms the emotions
  • Increase empathy and self-awareness

Energetic (Pranic) Benefits

  • Calms the prana in the ida nadi
Maria doing Trikonasana – triangle pose, May 2007.
Maria doing a spinal twist in triangle, October 2011.
Maria doing Trikonasana, the triangle pose, October 2011.
sitting spinal twist

sitting spinal twist

premaria

Ardha-Matsyendrasana or the sitting spinal twist.   

(literally Ardha stands for half = half spinal twist).

There are many benefits to this posture, but the most important is that the entire length of the spine receives a lateral twist in both directions – first to the left and then to the right.
 

Physical Benefits

  • Increases flexibility in each vertebrae of the spine, from the base of the spine through the neck
  • Stretches the back muscles and hips
  • Massages the abdominal organs, helping to relieve constipation
  • Breathing becomes more rapid, speeding up circulation and creating an aerobic effect
  • Brings more blood flow to the spine

Energetic (Pranic) Benefits

  • Helps rouse the Kundalini Shakti

Mental Benefits

  • Brings peace of mind
  • Helps to cure nervous disorders
Spinal Twist. Maria Steiner, May 2007.
 Easy version of the sitting spinal twist, with leg straight. Maria Steiner June 2023.

Yoga classes July 2023

Yoga classes July 2023

premaria

Classes as per weekly schedule during the school holidays and beyond:

Hatha Yoga classes & Senior’s Yoga, all the classes can be joined online via Zoom from the warmth & comfort of your home.

Raceview Scout Hall, 32 Taylor Street, Eastern Heights 4305

  • Tuesdays, 9:00am – 10:30am (90 minutes Hatha Yoga class)

Cameron Park, Scout Hall, Easton Street, Booval 4304

(this hall has heating, nice & cosy even in Winter)

  • Tuesdays, 6:00pm–7:30pm (90 minutes Hatha Yoga class)
  • Wednesdays, 5:00pm–6:30pm (90 minutes Hatha Yoga class)

Raceview Scout Hall, 32 Taylor Street, Eastern Heights 4305

Saturday afternoon Hatha Yoga Class and Satsang Meditation

is on 15th July 2023. (2pm – 5pm)

First time that we have this class on a Saturday afternoon, changed from Friday evening in previous months & years.
2 pm   Hatha Yoga Class (please arrive from 1:30pm onwards)
3:45pm Meditation (mantra chanting, silent meditation, empowering talk)

The cost is $15 or  one tick on the class pass.

You can join for both sessions to get most benefits. Or if this is not possible for you,  just attend the Hatha Yoga class or the Satsang/Meditation class.

After the Meditation we’ll have a cup of tea and something sweet, I usually make a raw vegan cake or snack. If you have time to stay a little longer & chat.

Please book for these classes by contacting me. Thank You !!

Maria, June 2023
Yoga & Meditation Weekend, 16th – 18th August 2019.

Yoga & Meditation Weekend, 16th – 18th August 2019.

premaria

Only a few more weeks until our Yoga & Meditation Retreat in Coolum Beach, on the Sunshine Coast, at the Luther Heights Youth Camp.

We still have spaces available in our small, focused group. If you feel inspired and called to immerse yourself into a weekend of traditional Hatha Yoga and Meditation, don’t hesitate to contact me for detailed information and to book.

email: hathayogaipswich@gmail.com

phone or text: 0423 477 725

Yoga & Meditation Weekend Retreat
Friday 16th – Sunday 18th of August 2019
at Luther Heights Youth Camp, in Coolum Beach, on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland

  • Experience, learn & practice traditional Hatha – Yoga, Meditation, Rituals and Kirtan (Mantra chanting).
  • Simple, basic, clean accommodation and amenities.
  • Delicious, vegetarian meals, that might inspire to try new recipes at home.
  • Spectacular ocean views, observing the sunrise.
  • Walks along the beach, or buswalk at Mount Coolum. If we are lucky we spot some migrating whales in the distance.
  • Release – Relax – Recharge.
  • Letting go of the Winter blues, to be ready for Spring.

The topic of the weekend retreat is based on the five points of Yoga, as taught by Swami Vishnu-Devananda:

  • 1) Proper Exercise (Asana) Proper exercise should be pleasant to the practitioner while beneficial to the body, mind and spiritual life.
  • 2) Proper Breathing (Pranayama) Proper breathing should be deep, slow and rhythmical. This increases vitality and mental clarity.
  • 3)Proper Relaxation (Savasana) By relaxing deeply all the muscles the Yogi can thoroughly rejuvenate his/her nervous system and attain a deep sense of inner peace.
  • 4)Proper Diet (Vegetarian) A lacto-vegetarian diet. This is an integral part of the Yogic lifestyle.
  • 5) Positive Thinking and Meditation(Dhyana) Here is the most important point of all, we become what we think. A positive outlook on life can be developed by learning and practicing the teachings of the philosophy of Vedanta. The mind will be brought under perfect control by regular practice of meditation.

During the weekend we practice these five points of yoga.

The retreat is suitable for beginners to learn about the basics of yoga and for more advanced yoga students to deepen their practice.

The cost for the weekend is $420.-
Included in this price are the complete yoga program, accommodation (Please bring your own linen) and vegetarian meals. A non-refundable deposit of $120 .- is required to reserve your space. The final payment is due one week before the Retreat.

Detailed information are on the website: https://hathayogaipswich.com.au/retreat/

or contact me directly via email and phone call.

email: hathayogaipswich@gmail.com

phone or text: 0423 477 725

I also have a pdf file (6 pages) with detailed information and photos.

Thank you for your interest and I look forward to hearing from you.

Prema Maria
OM OM OM

PS: Following some more photos from last year’s Retreat, September 2018.

  • Hatha Yoga with Maria Steiner
    Hatha Yoga with Maria Steiner
Yoga Retreat August 2019

Yoga Retreat August 2019

premaria

So far this year, about once a week someone or two came back to a yoga class, who hasn’t been in class for a while/years. It’s interesting; often when people miss for a long period, they are almost embarrassed to come back to a yoga class. There is no need to be embarrassed to return to the yoga class after a long absence.  As I hear this excuse a lot, if you wan’t to come back to class come back, no questions asked.


The next excuse I hear from people not coming to a yoga class is: “I’m not flexible”.  Well that’s the purpose of yoga to become flexible and allow movement to your own ability. Improve and moving to your own level. 


The same counts for the Yoga Retreat, you can be a complete beginner to attend the 
Yoga & Meditation Weekend in August, Friday 16/8 – Sunday 18/8/2019.

  • We will return to the same venue as last year, Luther Heights Youth Camp in Coolum Beach. The accommodation is very simple, bunk beds, dorm style. But since we occupy only a third or quarter of the beds available, we can spread out nicely. There are separated niches to share with your friends & family. You need to bring your own linen. 
  • Toilets, showers are basic & clean.
  • The vegetarian meals are delicious, and a good variety.
  • Even good coffee (a luxury, not following traditional yoga ashram rules).
  • So rather than a luxury yoga Retreat, this is more a traditional Yoga & Meditation Camp, as they used to be, when Yoga first arrived in the West. Or more like a Yoga Ashram in India, where the focus is on the practice of yoga, rather than a luxury bed & spa. (which is very nice, but has it’s price). 
  • This allows me, to keep the price below $450
  • The cost the for whole weekend is $420 (including the yoga program, accommodation and meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner).
  • We are surrounded by beautiful, peaceful nature, trees and grounds. Views over the ocean and towards Mount Coolum.
  • Spectacular sunrise, to start the day with Sun Salutations and Meditation.
  • Short walk to the beach and Point Arkwright lookout. 
  • A good location and opportunity to immerse into the practice of Yoga. Dust of the winter blues, getting ready for Spring.
  • My friend Amrita Kamala will mostly likely join us again, to play the harmonium.
  • As a new activity this year, we might have a camp fire on Saturday evening. The Camp has the facility for this, but of course this will be weather permitting only. If no fire restrictions.
  • For the Retreat Weekend to go ahead, I need a minimum of 15 -18 bookings. 
  • Please let me know by 31 March 2019, if you are seriously interested to attend the Yoga & Meditation weekend.
  • As by then I can cancel the venue without any extra charges, and of course I would refund your deposit as well. Fingers crossed, that will not be the case. 

Please contact me for any questions and bookings. I can also send you a detailed pdf file by email , or you find all the important details by following this link:

https://hathayogaipswich.com.au/retreat/

Looking forward to hearing and seeing you,

Prema Maria

Sunrise Meditation, Retreat September 2018.