Yoga festival to be held in Umina

A Umina yoga business will hold a "yoga festival" at the end of June.

The festival will be held over the weekend of June 29 and 30 and will include 18 activities, workshops and classes, many of them without cost.

The activities organised by Umina Beach Yoga will include dedicated classes and special events such as guest talks and "meet the teacher" lunches.

A number of "taster sessions" will be free of charge.

Classes will include: Yoga Nidra, Mandala meditation, Flow, Yin, Yoga Kirtan and dance-yoga fusion.

Civil celebrant Ms Sarah Tolmie and health coach Ms Kris Goetz will be guest speakers.

Vegan lunches will be available on both days of the festival.

Umina Beach Yoga was founded by local yoga teachers Ms Carolyn Glover and Ms Helen Macnair in 2012.

"When I moved to the Peninsula 12 years ago there were two yoga classes, one in Woy Woy and one in Umina and that was it," said Ms McNair.

"The practice has been booming since the 60s and now there are dedicated studios around the Peninsula."

Over the years Ms Macnair and Ms Glover have watched the trends in the yogi movement come and go.

Ms McNair said that, in their own practice, they had always stayed true to the principles of breath, meditation, clarity and wellbeing in contrast to more modern yogic approaches which liken the practice to exercise.

"As life gets busier and busier, we've noticed the trend is turning back towards more meditative yoga.

"This has always been at the core of our approach and will be on display throughout the festival," Ms Macnair said.

According to Ms Macnair, the festival will be the largest offering of traditional meditative based yoga on the Central Coast.

"I have a background in event planning and Carolyn one in hospitality, so we've always joked that something like this was inevitable and now here we are," Ms Macnair said.

Class places are limited and bookings are essential.

Ms McNair said 1000 people had already registered their interest in attending.

SOURCE:

Interview (Dilon Luke), 17 Jun 2019

Helen Macnair, Umina Beach Yoga