Great stretch in the evening for yoga lovers
Attendees of the summer solstice yoga event at Browneshill Dolmen
AS the sun set on the longest day of the year, a group gathered in the shadow of the Browneshill Dolmen to soak up the summer energy.
An initiative of and councillor Fergal Browne, who, despite his name, has no historical connection to the demesne, it was the second meditation and yoga solstice event at the ancient location.
On the shortest day of the year, a similar crowd gathered under the instruction of yogi Lorraine Demetriou to prepare their bodies for the winter months.
It was about “connecting people to our past,” explained Lorraine. The dolmen “was considered a burial site, but there’s not so much known because it dates back so far. From my perspective, people would have gathered, there would have been kind of a ritual, an offering, so there’s connection to life and death,” she said. That was the intention that she brought to the gathering.
Around 60 people attended the free event on the evening of 21 June and there were plenty more on the waiting list. Some people showed up without knowing there was an event on, drawn to the spiritual connection of being in the ancient place on the solstice.
They practiced breathing exercises and stretching. Attendees were treated to elderflower cordial, which “has that summer essence,” and healthy snacks and wound down after the session with moonmilk and herbal tea.
Cllr Browne was very pleased with the event and thanked local landowner Conor Broderick, who “made life very easy” and allowed people to park in his field.
