Connacht Tribune
Living in the moment on Inishbofin
Lifestyle – Yoga teacher Christine Stewart has close ties with Inishbofin and organises regular retreats on the scenic Connemara island, aimed at helping people to relax and re-energise. She tells Judy Murphy what’s involved and why Bofin is an ideal setting.
There are better ways to approach the Downward Dog pose in yoga than with a walloping hangover. From an ideological perspective it’s frowned upon and from a purely practical level, it’s hell. In fairness, ending up hungover while attempting the Downward Dog had never been the plan. We’d travelled to Inishbofin Island for a Solstice Yoga Weekend full of good intentions. But on the Friday night after dinner in the Doonmore Hotel, we’d been so busy living in the moment, that we totally forgot ourselves and had too much wine.
Not a great start to the day-long retreat.
However, under the guidance of our yoga teacher Christine Stewart (who didn’t know at that stage about our spontaneity the previous night), all came good. Within a couple of hours, balance and serenity had been restored.
Christine Stewart has been giving yoga retreats in the cosy function room of the family-run Doonmore Hotel on the stunning Inishbofin Island for the past four years. Before that, she taught classes locally.
Normally based in Boyle, Co Roscommon, where she runs The Yoga Shack with reflexologist and homeopath Mags McLoughlin, Christine was first introduced to the North Connemara island nearly 30 years ago by her then boyfriend, Neil, who became her husband shortly after. She’s been a regular since.
Bofin was where Neil’s family went for his childhood holidays and he and Christine have continued that tradition with their family. Her love of the island is palpable as she describes its magic.
“It just seems right to teach yoga on Bofin. It’s such a beautiful place, and there’s something about the energy.”
Energy is a word that resonates with Christine who took up yoga 26 years ago while pregnant with her second child, Rebecca. She immediately realised “the huge amount of potential it offers for self-care” and it became fundamental to her life. Soon after, she began teaching it.
“I took it up as a job to justify the amount of yoga I was doing,” she says with a laugh, adding that she’s done “a crazy amount of training”.
Christine teaches Anusara, a version of the traditional Hatha yoga-form that works with the breath to strengthen and relax the spirit, mind and body, allowing the person to align with the universe. She also teaches Vinyasa, a more flowing practice. Her many classes in Boyle include sessions for teenagers and pregnant women, and she also travels to Sligo and Leitrim, giving classes to people with special needs, which she loves.
Christine is also interested in other complementary practices, believing that “we need to be more inclusive and take a more holistic approach to self-care”.
She’s a walking advertisement for that philosophy. Graceful, grounded and fun, she radiates calm. And, from my personal experience of different yoga teachers and yoga practices, she’s one seriously good and encouraging instructor.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
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The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
