Fiona McCannnever considered herself a yoga kind of person. So Ard Nahoo was a revelation
I'M NOT the stillest of people. Nor am I known for my inner peace, Zen calm or extreme bendiness, attributes often associated with yoga. This is why previous attempts at yoga saw me emerge more stressed than ever by all that slowness - the prolonged posing that to my restless, skittish self seemed a little on the dull side. Bending, breathing, bending, breathing. It clearly wasn't for me. Which is why I approached Ard Nahoo's yoga treat with some trepidation, expecting to find a coven of hemp-toting vegetarians with their ankles behind their ears, talking about chakras.
I had enough difficulties finding the health farm itself, located as it is in the heart of Co Leitrim, just a kilometre outside Dromahair but several light years from my urban existence. When I eventually drove through its beautiful wrought-iron gates it was proper country dark, and I approached the family-run centre with no sense of its stunning surroundings and instead went straight for supper.
So much for the dry lentils I was expecting. The evening spread was an extravaganza of local cheeses, fruit cake, breads and home-made dips.
My fellow retreaters were also a revelation, from an inspiring iron-haired 80-year-old whose twinkling eyes and slim frame were the best advertisement I've seen for yoga to a trio of personable city-living twenty- and thirtysomethings tuning out from what was clearly wild living in the big smoke.
Together we retired to the studio for some yogic breathing and a wind-down before bed.
I was surprisingly reluctant to leave for my ecocabin in the end, but the threat of four hours of yoga the following day was enough to bury me under a duvet. I succumbed to the slow pace and easy companionship, my body so quickly attuned to its surroundings that I was asleep before midnight on a Friday for possibly the first time in my adult life.
The cabin I was berthing in is one of two three-bedroomed cottages on the farm, sleeping a dozen or so between them, with a third cottage providing accommodation for two more. Made from Co Donegal cedar, the cabins and cottage are insulated with hemp and were built without the use of petrochemicals, hence their ecocredentials. Even the paint used to decorate these bright mini-homes was free of chemicals, while cheery wood-pellet stoves ensure that energy consumption is kept to a minimum.
Few will believe that I left such luxury at 9am on a Saturday, leaping out of bed for two hours of yoga before breakfast. It's a far cry from my usual weekend sloth, but this was a yoga-and-relaxation retreat, and yoga was clearly central to the experience.
The classes, pitched to all levels, are conducted by Noeleen Tyrrell, half of the partnership behind Ard Nahoo, who manages to make two hours of yoga pass with ease. With a clear voice that thankfully eschews the sing-song, airy tones of so many of her ilk, her instructions are precise, her approach accommodating and the room an airy, spacious studio that maximises the morning sun, should it be making one of its annual appearances over Co Leitrim.
Tyrrell varies the content and proficiency level within her classes enough to keep even those who have been practising for decades challenged, while beginners like myself never felt out of our depth. The experience was so relaxing I'd almost forgotten about breakfast. But when the two hours were up we made our way to a sumptuous vegetarian brunch, thanks to local chef Marie, who prepared the spread using organic and local products when possible.
With bellies as full as Buddha's, we were sent for our "uisce hour". This begins with 30 minutes in the "detox box", a small wooden chamber that heats the body through infrared rays, inducing enough sweat to fill Lough Nahoo all year round. Once drenched in perspiration, and having burned an alleged 2,000 calories through sitting alone, detox-boxers are released to revel in an outdoor hot tub with stunning views of the countryside.
Then, after a bracing walk and a treatment or two from the range on offer, which includes reflexology, massages and facials, it's yoga time again. Two more hours of new bends and stretches and I was becoming a convert to this exercise that doesn't feel like exercise. So much so that I didn't quite connect it with the muscle pain the following morning, putting it down instead to an excess of peppermint tea or the calorific hedonism of the butterscotch pudding the night before.
Aches and pains aside, on Sunday morning I was first into the studio to claim my mat. After more yoga, more spectacular food and more detoxifying - that is, sweating - I had to drag myself away from Ard Nahoo, full of the kind of vigour that my usual weekend shenanigans rarely provide and determined to continue my new yogic life.
By Kinnegad I was already tensing up. On reaching Dublin, with the phone buzzing and the week filling, I was already out of sleeping time, let alone sitting-on-a-mat-and-bending time.
But what of all I'd learned and resolved? My new-found bendiness? My new, stress-free, detoxified self? No panic, I decided, channelling my inner yogi: returning stress is good, I figured, as it provides me with a welcome excuse to treat myself to another yoga retreat. Ard Nahoo, here I come.
Ard Nahoo, Mullagh, Dromahair, Co Leitrim, 071-9134939, www.ardnahoo.com
Other yoga retreats
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The Burren:Weekend and week-long yoga retreats for all levels in the heart of some of Ireland's most breathtaking countryside. Choose from ashtanga, hatha, bikram, satyananda and vinyasa retreats. www.burrenyoga.com.
Clare Island:Various yoga and meditation retreats on offer in this remote centre run by Christophe Mouze and Ciara Cullen, with vegetarian food and ayurvedic teas provided. www.yogaretreats.ie.
Away
Portugal:Free-range Holidays, run by Irish couple Leo and Tanya Molloy, arranges a variety of yoga retreats, among them Gourmet Yoga holidays, Ayurveda and yoga-detox breaks and yoga-and-surfing holidays. Based in the Algarve, accommodation options include a rustic guesthouse, a converted farmhouse, a stylish villa or a purpose-built centre. www.freerangeholidays.com.
Spain:HoHo, or Holistic Holidays, offers yoga holidays and retreats at its sun-kissed health farm in Lanzarote. The delightful Villa Isis also provides massage, reiki, reflexology, shiatsu and kinesiology as add-ons or part of its trademark HO2 Formula package. See www.hoho.co.uk.
Spain and India:Yoga teacher Jennifer Keegan organises bespoke holidays to various locations, including a villa in Ibiza and a restored farmhouse in Andalusia. She has recently added a winter retreat in Goa, India, to her list. E-mail jenniferk@eircom.net or call 01-4537386.