Why Attend a Yoga Retreat? Let me count the ways !
In order to maintain balance of body, heart, mind and spirit, we need to nourish our inner beings. There is no better way to do this than take a break from the hamster wheel of daily life routines and immerse oneself in a beautiful place with exceptional opportunities to discover new dimensions of our selves, reconnect with our natural joyful self, and experience community with wonderful people.
A week is a perfect amount of time to dig deep within, and explore a variety of outer experiences as well. From my experience as a outdoor adventure guide for ‘Woodswomen’ (an adventure travel company out of MN) for 7 summers, I know that it takes about 1-2 days to ‘arrive’, and the last 1-2 days are typically gearing to return, so you can really surrender into the experience for about 3-5 days; this is a superior time frame for deeper de-stressing, and if you are in a crucial decision making time in your life’s journey, it is possible to go deep and answer some critical questions you may have for your life’s direction.
Being in a geographically different part of the country or world enables you to detach from the energy holding you in a stuck patterns where you have your normal routines contributing to worries, emotional addictions, poor self-care and/or other self-destructive habits. Whatever it is that sticks you, especially in the hum-drums of cabin fever during the Winter months, you can leave it all behind when you go on ‘retreat’. A yoga vacation retreat is a modern day opportunity to nurture your inner child, to dance with life and to connect with inner essence and become an adventurer of the outer worlds. It can be just plain fun, or it can be a time of deep self-renewal; often it is both!
Retreat Centers located away from the hubbub of life, and engulfed in an exquisite setting distinctively different than the one you reside in, allows you to experience the planet’s natural healing gifts. With respect to the spectacular setting that is Kauai, the grounding Earth element predominates through vistas of rugged cliffs, emerald valleys, and botanic delights in a vast variety of tropical flowering plants; the Water element presides in an abundant variety of spectacular waterfalls that intensify after a rainfall, rivers, and the ocean accessible through a wide variety of shores and beaches. Being in/on the water buoys your feelings and inspires your natural state of ease and flow with life. The pristine Air element varies; whether you have hiked to the top of the world, or are in the spray of a waterfall, the lightness of air will enhance your breath and vital force energy, called Prana. Last but not least, the night sky’s spectacular twinkling scope of stars, planets and galaxies will expand your perspective of self as part of the vast element of Space. Such experiences inspired from outer nature, reflect our own inner beauty, vastness and potential; a retreat re-minds us of this potent connection.
Whether you are new to yoga practices, a dabbler or an itinerant investigator of all things yoga, you will be exposed to a variety of experiential practices that will develop your ability to know your body, heart, mind and soul more deeply. Yoga’s deeper work cultivates acceptance for all that is in your life/experience and nudges you to expand beyond your beliefs, in a consistent and approachable manner. As a beginner, you will learn a great deal about yourself, and be supported in this investigation with the community of practitioners around you. As a more advanced yogi/ni, you will be encouraged to go deeper with your investigations; all will build awareness through guided application with the intention of evolving conscious awareness. With postures/asana, you connect with sensation and ‘be’ with your body with new found appreciation; with breathing, you learn to steady your emotions, and link the connection between breath and emotional states; with guided relaxations, you learn to release deeply held (often unknown) tensions; with mudras (hand gestures) and meditations, you learn to concentrate and focus on desirable qualities, letting go of destructive thinking patterns. All of yoga practice helps to create fresh habit patterns that align you with being mindful in the world, and present to your deeper needs and purpose in the world.
These are some of the real benefits of engaging in a week long container engaging in yoga, play, rest, solitude, communing and there is more… But until next time, imagine yourself there!