Cortes Island, BC Oceanfront Accommodations, Tenting, Kayak Adventures & Yoga Retreats: T'ai Li Lodge

Scheduled Programs at T'ai Li Lodge on Cortes Island, BC, Canada

Watch this space for 2008 programs - coming soon!

Francine Aubry has been teaching yoga for 20 years. She has a rich background in dance and martial arts as a choreographer and teacher. She has made her way on her path through various means: studies, choreographic creations, stage performances and travels. Through the course of this process, Yoga came into her life as the next natural step. Since 1998, she has devoted herself to the practice and teaching of Yoga. She is currently working in Montreal where she teaches classes and workshops. Francine also runs retreats in British Columbia, Bali, Morocco and Myanmar. She has perfected her Yoga practice with teachers such as Ramanand Patel, Father Joe Pereira, Hart Lazer, Gérard Arnaud, Mark Darby, Allison Ulan and Erich Schiffmann. Francine has also studied under Mr. Bob Smith and Mrs. Ki McGraw, from the Seattle Hatha Yoga Center, with whom she successfully completed a Teacher Program Certification.

Rob Hansen is a medical doctor and athlete with a sports medicine background. This led to an introduction to yoga in 1990. He has been practicing yoga for 15 years and completed his teacher training in 2004 with Bob Smith and Ki McGraw of Hatha Yoga Centre. He has also been inspired by the teachings and workshops of Chandor Remete, Simon Borg-Oliver, Lance Schuller, Aadil Palkivala and Francine Aubry.

He is a competitive and recreational kayaker and two-time winner of the Oceanman. He teaches tri-athletes on Vancouver island. He is also a keen swimmer and surfer.

Rob brings an understanding of anatomy, muscle balance and injury patterns to yoga practice. He has a deep spiritual connection to wilderness, wildlife and water. Exploring the synergy between yoga and kayaking, the twist and the forward stroke is a passion in progress.

Testimonials

"It was BC at its best, and for our group from Montreal, the experience made us marvel at our country’s deep natural beauty. We were far from home yet somehow we felt we had come home, so elemental was the experience.

In the journey of getting to Cortes Island, with each of the four modes of transportation another layer of stress, preconception and judgment was shed. I want to tell you about the organic food cooked by a local woman who arrived every day on her scooter from the other end of the island, and share with you her mouth-watering recipes. 

I would like to invite you to walk with me through the 8-acres of thick forest and along the beaches covered with age old logs, to watch the sun rise over the mountains of Desolation Sound during a morning yoga practice and to kayak the waters of Georgia Strait with its deep, clear bays and cedar lined shores. 

Spend some time as well with the lodge owners, who have built their home from recuperated island wood and established this retreat in the spirit of its namesake T’ai Li – from the Japanese words meaning Inner Peace and Clear Vision.

Enjoy the darkness of the night time and its soothing sounds of the wind and the sea, as you rest your yoga and kayak tired bodies in your mattress-lined tents, protected from the rain with a wooden roof and open to elements on all sides.

T’ai Li Lodge is a space for families and groups who want to enjoy a nature retreat together. It is an island-cottage getaway for those who are looking for something different than a hotel or bed and breakfast, who want to get away but still feel at home. Accommodation is varied – the main house of the tents; activities are plentiful - a studio for yoga, tai chi, or other group activities as well as access to local kayak rentals & instruction; it can be catered or one can do one’s own cooking.  And then there is the outdoor solar shower or the indoor tub with a view to the cedar forest!

It is a wonderful way to experience quality family and friend time in the guise of being at home, while surrounded by the beauty of the west coast."

...Kariann

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