About Us

At Yogatraveller we aim to bring you the holiday of a lifetime. If you like yoga, mediation, friendly people, beautiful locations,  exciting activities, massage, and great healthy food, then we have what you're looking for! If you're tired of coming back from a holiday in need of another one then you'll love what we offer. You will go home feeling refreshed, relaxed and inspired as well as stronger, more in shape and definitely more focused!

Why do yoga on your holiday?

Start the day with yoga, and you will be energised and alive and can go on a cycle, explore the area or relax in the sun with a book. Everyone meets again for the evening class and its our experience that guests don't want to miss any of the classes. You will do so much yoga, it will have the same effect on your body as if you'd attended two terms of classes at your home studio!

Seeing the difference and feeling the benefits is so rewarding and encouraging. It is also holiday for you. A time to get away from it all, do whatever you want and focus on yourself, in a positive way of course! Yoga helps to being you into your body, and out of your mind, and you are doing a lot of this work on yourself over the week. Friendships form easily and we are lucky to get some of the nicest, friendliest and most positive people on our trips, all wanting to make the world a better place by bettering themselves first.

Who we are

We are a family run business based in Ireland. We set up Yogatraveller in 2004 and haven't looked back! Our first location was in Thailand where we lived for a while, then we started the Swiss skiing & yoga holidays, where we lived for a while too and then we moved to Gozo in the Mediterranean where we also spent a lot of fun time. Then our son came along in 2007 and we moved back to Ireland, our home country, and run the company from here. Meanwhile, our beautiful team of teachers live in those exotic destinations and run the weeks for us. We do run yoga holidays here in Ireland and spend our time in the office, in the studio, in the sea surfing and building our nest after many years of travelling the world! Give us a call - call the team, we'll be happy to help.

Michelle Riordan

Michelle's love of travel was what led her to yoga. She met her first yoga teacher in China. She holds a Masters degree in Music and Art, and plays the Harp, Piano and Guitar.  She has evolved through many careers; teaching English in Hong Kong for 4 years, working as a scuba diving instructor for 2 years in Micronesia, Egypt and Thailand. While she was working on a small island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean she fed sharks for a living. 'I have been to most countries in South East Asia, including The Philippines, Indonesia, Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia where I spent most of my time diving the many beautiful reefs found there'. She's been to Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India, Nepal, Tibet, East Africa, Ethiopia, Uganda, North and Central America, and the Caribbean. 'I've lived in Malta, Italy and Switzerland and have finally settled in the most beautiful place of all; County Clare on the West Coast of Ireland'. Travel journalism has helped feed the habit too,  further facilitating her journeys as a travel writer and photographer. She loves horse riding, rock-climbing and hiking. Doing yoga on the summit of Kilimanjaro was a moment that made her feel such pure joy and an acknowledgement of how fortunate she has been.  'I wanted to make this a way of life, the dream of finding peace in beautiful surrounds while enjoying the fulfillment of a great yoga practice;  the ultimate holiday'. Now, she's surfing the Atlantic waves in Co. Clare and is learning first hand how yoga and surfing are such a perfect match, especially combining concentration, relaxation, core strength, breath control, balance, and overall fitness.

Her three passions are her family, yoga and nutrition. Michelle and Michael have a young toddler who has matched them both on the energy stakes. He is already mimicing his mother on the yoga mat and she is learning from him what the human body is naturally capable of.  Michelle loves juicing, sprouting and growing in her kitchen garden and is currently exploring a raw diet and learning with each day the value of  ecstatic and living foods.

Michelle has been practicing yoga for 12 years and teaching full-time for the last 5 of these. She trained initially at the Sivananda Ashram in the Himalayas, India, and has continued to learn and grow, working at the Health Oasis Yoga and Detox Centre on Koh Samui then studying an additional teacher training course in Galway, Ireland with Carol Murphy of Green Lotus Yoga. Her style is grounded in the Kristyamacharya lineage with influences of Iyengar, Ashtanga and classical Hatha. She has completed her Level II Anusara Immersion and has been fortunate enough to have attended workshops from some of the world’s greatest yoga teachers. Michelle's teaching style is friendly, informative, challenging and fun. She teaches Hatha, Vinyasa, Restorative, Yin Yoga and meditation. She is trained in Buddhist meditation and has undergone other meditation training. Michelle is a natural teacher; as she has taught children in school, English to adults, Scuba Diving and yoga. She loves meeting people and is social and gregarious by nature. She surfs, snowboards, hikes, horse-rides, writes, and loves to cook. She is also a student of yoga and recognizes this will be the case until the end of her years.

Michael Moroney

Michael has been at the wheel of Yogatraveller from day one. The partnership between himself and Michelle has grown with the holidays and today they are married with a son living in Co Clare on the West Coast of Ireland. He has had a love of sport all his life most notably for Rugby from an early age. Michelle introduced him to Yoga which he found similar and vital for strength and fitness in most active sport.
He has worked in tourism for many years, going back to has late teens. He worked on boats in the Caribbean and even had a job once as a pirate. He worked in Ireland as a tour-guide for 2 years where he discovered he had a real passion for his native country. His job was taking tourists around this beautiful country and showing them many different sides. Michael knows where the most beautiful and secluded spots are and also where to get the best pint of Guinness in town. If you come to a yoga holiday in Ireland he will be your guide through the magic of West Clare, taking you to the Burren, The Cliffs of Moher and Doolin. Michael has worked in the Alps and became a keen Snowboarder and Skier. His love of snowboarding lead him naturally to surfing, and if he's not in the office, with him family or yoga guests, you will most likely find him in the mighty Atlantic as long as there is swell and light!
He enjoys a stretch and loves to spot the benefits and parallels where Yoga and Sport come together to improve skill, strength and prevent injury.

Photography:

All the photos on our website were taken by us personally or by our teachers, friends and yoga holiday guests. We would like to thank the following sincerely for their beautiful photographic contributions:

Aubrey Lampkin, Dan Luker, Thilo Keller, Vincent Sandee.