On line yoga for 50s and over with Renate Vetter

This is an event for anyone living with HIV who is 50 years of age and over.

Has being stuck at home because of COVID-19 left you sitting on the couch for extended hours making you stiff in the joints?

From the comfort of your own home, join in with us and our special yoga/meditation guru, Renate Vetter, as we stretch and ‘downward dog’ our way to feeling a whole lot better.

We know that apart from improving our overall physical and mental health, yoga also increases our flexibility/agility, boosts our immune system, reduces anxiety and stress, promotes mindfulness and much more.

We’ll do an hour of yoga and then chat over BYO lunch.

We’ll email all registrants on the morning of the day with the link to join in.

Get to know Renate (and Pearl the assistant pooch)

Tell us about your yoga journey. Where has yoga taken you and how has it informed your life?
My yoga journey began by learning from books while involved with a BA in Dance-Performance in Adelaide. This is where I began my path as an instructor.
Friends asked me to teach Yoga and I did so in the corridor of my home. It wasn’t until my move to Melbourne while working as a carpenter that a yoga studio caught my eye when travelling to a work site. Once I joined classes, an opportunity to study full-time was offered – that was 3 months later – so I quit my job to study Iyengar Yoga. This lead to eighteen months of study, 18 months as an apprentice, culminating in 10 years of teaching at the Clifton Hill Yoga Studio. During this period a yoga boom occurred in Melbourne. There was a yoga school shortage (can you believe it?) and classes were 50 people strong and I was teaching 14 classes a week, practicing twice a day, and working as a massage therapist/carpenter in my spare time. Yoga Therapy was very big component at this studio. I was asked to assist the senior teachers and soon was left to work with Chronic Fatigue, Multiple Sclerosis clientele, joint injuries etc. and those suffering from depression. I had absolute faith in the knowledge that I was on a life long path and continue my everyday studies to this day.

You have experience with teaching yoga to people living with HIV. How can yoga classes benefit people with HIV?
An opportunity to guide and teach classes for those living with HIV merely solidified a path that today involves working, one-on-one, with the elderly who are living with neurological issues such as Parkinson’s, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer’s etc. What has been most revealing during these sessions is how postural alignment impedes participants breathing, state of mind, movability, and above all, each persons state of spirit. All of these areas are attended to in my class, bringing a sense of wellness, space and relief. Sometimes, I feel that the overuse of the above descriptions belittles the true value of their meanings.

What can newcomers expect to experience by spending an hour in one of your classes?
When a newcomer arrives at a session we get to know one another simply with a little chat. I find that a little caring, warmth and a smile of reassurance is all that it takes to instil the first stages of trust. It is very important that we both feel comfortable with each other and that we both feel good about sharing an understanding that isn’t typically based on characteristics defined by the symptoms. The bottom line is that my interest is in YOU. Who you are drives the best out of me. It’s an extremely symbiotic relationship. Generally people come to me by word of mouth. My policy is always to attempt to comply with a BIG YES!

Are on line classes a new thing for you? How do you make that unique connection with members of the class through an on line session?
On-line classes take a bit of getting used too! On-mass teaching has never really been a priority for me. Like a tortoise, my methodology is to go slow. It’s not about the workout of the body-mind-complex. What is offered, is precision towards refining that which we already know, for a spiritual awakening and deepening lying in wait for unveiling. Using the anatomy is merely a standpoint from which to begin this realisation. It’s a jigsaw puzzle.