5 Day Tao Yoga and Meditation Retreat in Ariege, Occitanie, Southern France
France Meditation Retreat
The Rainbow Practice refers to the three specific yogas practiced on this retreat: Tao yoga, similar to Yin yoga; Qigong - a series of moving and static postures; and meditations on awareness. Each of the practices or yogas are related and reconcile and integrate into a single theme - clarity. Taoist practices share many similarities to Buddhist meditation, particularly Vajrayana; the Tao yoga series shares many postures familiar to Hatha yogis. The Qigong element combines standing and moving forms. The common thread is awareness, examined sitting, standing, moving and lying down as well as in interaction.
Instructions will be offered in English and/or French.
Meet the instructors
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Highlights
- Formal meditation sessions
- Group Tao yoga sessions
- Group Qigong sessions
- Daily discourses on the nature of awareness and how the three yogas emerge form and return to source
- Time to enjoy walks and relax
- Emphasis on applying the practice in daily life
- Daily full-board meals with snacks and drinks
- 4 nights accommodation
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Accommodation
Facilities
- Table tennis
- Dining area
- Fireplace
- Garden
- Kitchen
- Lounge
- Luggage room / storage
- Meditation garden
- Multilingual staff
- Picnic area
- Smoke-free property
- Special menu request
- Yoga studio
- Free bicycle
- Free parking
- Free Wi-Fi
- Ironing / ironing board
- Library
- Meeting room
Surrounded by a two-acre garden bordering the river Artillac, Tourné is a family-run retreat center offering a range of wellness holidays in a natural unspoiled location with large gardens and forest bordered by clean mountain stream. Tourné Manor House provides spacious accommodation with a choice of shared room with private bathroom or a private room with ensuite bathroom.
Program
A balance of moving, sitting and standing.
It's a retreat for those looking to truly disconnect before re-connecting and returning with a deep inspiration to move forward. Aspirations are better health, more ease with daily practice, integrating the Rainbow Practice into daily life.
It is a well balanced retreat. You will have the opportunity for deep rest. While there is much that can be learnt, there is nothing that must be learnt. You advance best when relaxed and at ease and that is their first priority, to establish the conditions for your practice to blossom.
The retreat begins with an introduction to the principles and the practices. Discourses usually have illustrative stories. While there is a fixed programme in terms of timing and general activities, Ram guides and responds according to group dynamics and perceived needs.
All sessions are voluntary, but it is expected that you will want to take part in most, if not all, of the sessions. There are regular breaks in the morning and the afternoon.
Three yogas of Tao: sit, stand, walk
A rainbow of practice, the clear light of source
Actually, there are five, but three covers most of the affair. In practice, sitting, standing and walking meditation are three yogas - where mind and body harmonize and where extremes of acceptance and rejection are let go naturally, effortlessly.
This is the principle, arriving at yoga's spiritual element in a harmonious association with sitting, with standing and with walking. In practice, the walking meditation - from the tradition of ba gua, eight trigrams circle walking - includes all kinds of postures - Neigong or Qigong - that will be familiar to yogis of any persuasion or tradition. The standing meditation is the doorway to effortlessness; the sitting mediation is where you find tranquility and shelter, where the heart can open. The open heartedness is then taken into the standing and the moving and then returns to sitting so there is a constantly evolving practice that grows in time with the practitioner.
All three yogas allow natural reorganization beyond any personal aspiration.
This is the essential point of the spiritual aspect of any yoga: the spiritual dimension is non-personal, it allows your natural higher intelligence to function unobstructed by personal preferences.
These are some of the things that will be explored in the summer retreat. It's a theme Ram has taught for many years at the Zen dojo of Lyon in France, at the London School of Capoeira and elsewhere and continues to teach on his short 4 day retreats at Tourné in Occitanie.
These summer retreats will provide an opportunity to explore the different modalities of Tao, what is here called the three yogas of Tao. It's nothing new, it's simply the container that is different. All authentic yoga practices point to the same doorway. Here's an opportunity to glimpse it and maybe pass through it. At the same time, there will be laughter and time to explore nature and maybe a glimpse at the fourth yoga.
The practices
Tao yoga
Classic Hatha yoga postures executed in distinctive Taoist flavor: gently, rhythmically. Relying on the body's higher intelligence, Tao yoga form flows effortlessly. Glimpse how movement and effort returns naturally to the source of stillness.
Qigong
Experience forms from a wide range of Buddhist, Taoist and more recent hybrid tradition that will move energy, enliven the mind and generate energy for meditation or any of life's pursuits.
Ba gua
A bridge between moving and sitting meditation. Ba gua practice, even at its most basic, provides strong support for body-mind concentration. It energizes the body when circle walking, it balances left and right sides of the brain and can improve brain function.
Meditation
Stillness, movement, awareness. practices without object [dharmata/mahamudra] with a foundation established on Taoist pranayama [breathing].
Features of the rainbow practices
Introduction to the walking meditation of ba gua: Learn the basics of ba gua walking. Integrate Qigong elements into the practice.
Standing postures: Standing still reveals inner movement in the mind and energy flow. Standing meditation is a key element of all yogas.
Moving forms: Science-based research in Western medicine has shown that learning new movements or exercises can help brain function. So many ancient exercises support this. All the yogas in the rainbow practice support this potential improvement.
Relax - a key to longevity: A relaxed yogi lives longer, is subject to less stress even in challenging circumstances. The rainbow practices encourage gentleness as a means to arriving at more efficient movement or stillness. Learning to deeply relax opens body and mind.
Smoothness of movement, smoothness in stillness: Smoothness of movement reveals increasingly deeper pathways. Everything learned in the rainbow practices is learned outside of thinking - it is learned through innate higher intelligence.
Feeling limitations, gently releasing them: Feeling limitations in the body, emotions or your energy is the first step to releasing them. All the rainbow practices allow a gradual feeling of limitations and eventual release as a natural process.
Maturing, accumulating - Step 7: Ensuring accumulated energy does not transform into impetuousness or excitement-tao and compassion.
Mental clarity. Step 8, the end at the beginning: Living in reality
Itinerary
Day 1
- 16:00 - 18:00 - Arrival
- 18:30 - Evening meal
- 19:30 - First evening session. Introduction to Tao Yoga
Day 2
- 07.15 - 08.00 - First session. Meditation
- From 08.00 - 09.00 - Breakfast
- 09:00 - 12:00 - Morning session
- 09.00 - 10.00 - Tao yoga
- Pause
- 10.15 - 11.15 - Qi Qong
- 11.15 - 12.00 - Bagua (Circle walking meditation)
- 12:30 - Lunch
- 15:30 - 18.00 - Afternoon sessions
- 15.30 - 16.30 - Tao yoga
- 16.30 - 17.45 - Meditation. Qi Qong or Ba gua
- 18:30 - Evening meal
- 19:30 - Evening session / Discourse / Questions
Day 3 and 4 as Day 1 program
Day 5 - Departure day
- 06:30 - First session. Meditation
- From 7:45 - Breakfast
- 09:00 - 11:30 - Morning session
- 09.00 - 10.00 - Tao yoga
- 10.00 - 11.00 - Qi Gong
- 11:00 - 12:00 - Departure
Instructors
Ram Chatlani
Ram is an expert teacher of Tao yoga, Tai Chi, Bagua (eight trigrams circle walking), Qigong, and meditation with over 30 years experience. He has been certified by Master B.K. Frantzis as a teacher of various Qigong forms, breathing, and Bagua circle walking for health and meditation. His other teachers include Dadi Janki, Sepa Dorjé Rinpoche, Lama Lena Yeshe Katyub, and Victor Sanchez. He has students worldwide and is an inspiring teacher with vast practical knowledge and a unique approach to the universal methods of Tao. He has trained extensively in Buddhist, Yogic, and Taoist tradition.
Location
This retreat will take place in Tourné, set in a secluded river valley in the foothills of the Ariège Pyrénées Mountains. Tourné and the Artillac river are at the very center of the Ariège Pyrénées National Park. Tourné has substantial gardens and outside seating areas with 1000 meters of private river frontage. The altitude of just under 500 meters allows you to enjoy exceptional air quality, warm sunshine with cool shade never far away.
Nearby places
- Castelnau Durban, 2 kilometers
- Col de la Crouzette, 6 kilometers
- Lac de Mondély, 17 kilometers
- Town of Saint Girons - 15 minutes
Features
Activities
- Cycling
- Hiking
- Mountain walking
- Stargazing
- Table tennis
General
- Hammock
- Meditation garden
- Multilingual staff
- River
Services
- Free bicycle
- Free toiletries
- Library
- Wireless internet
Food
All meals and drinks are provided by Tao Meditation. Many vegetables are from their organic vegetable garden. This course is fully vegetarian - they can also cater for other diets with advanced notice.
The food, your food - freshly prepared for each meal.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Coffee
- Tea
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Other dietary requirements on request
Things to do (optional)
Numerous local activities like skiing, walking, lake bathing, cycling, paragliding, horse riding, and white water canoeing are available for you. The area is surrounded by many historic sites, as well. The area is a favorite with serious cyclists, many of whom have chosen Tourné as a base within easy reach of challenging Tour de France climbs. Or if you have your own car, you will have time to explore some of the local sites such as Foix Castle, the ancient caves at Mas d'Azil, the local markets in Saint Girons and Foix.
What's included
- 1 meditation session daily
- 2 Tao yoga sessions daily
- Teaching classes
- Sheet and towels
- 4 nights accommodation
- Daily meals, breakfast, lunch evening meal and hot drinks
What's not included
- Airfare
- Transfers from airports
- Personal expenses
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Toulouse–Blagnac Airport
72 km
Transfer not provided
Carcassonne Airport
82 km
Transfer not provided
Driving directions from Perpignan and Biarritz
Tourné is two kilometers south of the village of Castelnau Durban. The village is on the D117 which is the main road between Perpignan and Biarritz. If you are coming from the direction of Perpignan, follow the signs for Foix, Tarbes. If you are coming from the direction of Biarritz, follow the signs for Barcelona, Andorra.
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Carcassonne Airport (CCF) or Toulouse Blagnac Airport (TLS). Transfers from the airports are not included in the price.
Arrival by bus
Local buses run from St Girons and Foix to Castelnau Durban. Buses run twice a day, with no service on Sundays and bank holidays. A bus leaves Foix at 12:30 p.m., arriving at Castlenau at 1 p.m. A bus also leaves at 5:30 p.m. arriving at 6 p.m. at Castlenau. On Mondays, there is an additional bus that leaves at 7 a.m. arriving at 8 a.m.
From Foix the bus leaves from by the main post office in the town, about 10-minute walk from the train station.
Arrival by train
You can arrive from the UK to Toulouse by using Eurostar or search SNCF website to find train times for all French rail travel. When arriving by train, it is usually recommended to arrive at Foix station.
Arrival by taxi
Taxis are available at the airport at all times. At Foix train station, they are less reliable. It is recommended that you contact Tao Meditation in advance with your arrival time and they will arrange for a pick up from Foix for 35 EUR.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 30% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
- The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through Tripaneer.com. All major credit cards supported.