Blooming Lotus Retreat - getting there

Lily Goncalves, B.A, M.Ed

Lily’s passion for yoga has brought her all over the world seeking out the heart of yoga and its ancient wisdom, & bringing these teachings into an approach to yoga that is about truly living our essence.

Lily began her yoga journey in the Astanga Yoga tradition, being influenced by many great practitioners. Looking for a holistic approach to yoga, Lily continued her studies in the Iyengar tradition and studied with many yogis/yoginis that integrated teachings from various schools which included influences from the Hatha Yoga tradition, Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga/Yoga
Therapy, Power/Vinyasa Yoga, and the traditional Bihar School of Yoga in India, as well as the Tantras.

In these last 12 years, Lily has completed her Masters in Counseling Psychology, and studied in various Energy Healing techniques including Cranial-Sacral Therapy. These have inspired her to develop particular binding postures and an approach to yoga that addresses self-transformation,
student-teacher dynamics, and intention. Lily uses her knowledge in Mindbody Dynamics and Tomas Myer’s Anatomy Trains to approach the anatomy and physiology component of yoga, combing the science of the west and the esoteric teachings of the east.

Lily has developed an approach to working gracefully with Hand Mudras during the asana flow, as well as during meditation, inspired by her dear friend Kate Potter while working on the Yoga T.V. & D.V.D series Namaste together. Lily has also produced her own Yoga Nidra CD’s as a tool for
meditation.

Lily has developed a Sports yoga program tailored to professional athletes while working as the yoga instructor for the professional hockey team the Vancouver Canucks. This program is designed to work with athletes, which aim to prevent & heal injuries, whilst strengthening & balancing both the body and mind.

Lily has a dedicated meditation practice and emphasizes this component strongly in her teachings of yoga. Lily likes to work with various meditation techniques which include Sacred Geometry, Accessing the Sacred Space of the Heart, Yoga Nidra (psychic sleep), Vipassana, Active Meditations, and Mantra Yoga. Lily also has a deep resonance with the Buddhist traditions and journeyed on a sacred pilgrimage to Tibet and Mt. Kailash, which deepened
this connection.

Being strongly influenced by the mystic poets, dance, art, & music, Lily incorporates all that she has gained from these sources in accessing the divine and aspires to share them in her teachings & daily exchanges in life. Understanding that yoga is truly about living our essence, Lily’s yoga aspires to ignite our awakening from within and guide us to live from a place of love,
respect, & integrity.