Want to get away and deepen your yoga practice? A yoga retreat could be just what you need. Not only will a yoga retreat refresh your spirit, you’ll hopefully connect with like-minded souls. Not to mention all are the healthy meals you won’t have to prepare yourself, the restorative sleep you’re certain to experience, and the life-altering revelations you may have after connecting with your truest self. Consider these nice transformational retreats.
Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health
The Location: Stockbridge, Massachusetts
The Lowdown: Kripalu runs dozens of yoga retreats every year, each tailored to a different style of yoga and ranging in length from two nights to 12 nights. That means no matter your schedule, you’ll be able to find something to fit your needs. You can also book its R&R retreat and choose the length of your stay and participate in daily yoga classes, YogaDance, educational seminars, and guided trail hikes, as the center is in the Berkshires overlooking Lake Mahkeenac. You’ll also have access to a labyrinth for walking meditation and a meditation garden.
Red Rock Yoga and Hiking Retreat
The Location: Goblin Valley State Park/Robber’s Roost Wilderness, Utah
The Lowdown: The Yoga in the Wild retreat takes your yoga practice to new heights — literally. You’ll stay at a base camp in the canyons and then hike your way to your yoga class in Goblin Valley every day. Afternoons typically allow for free time. After dinner, participate in another yoga class and then settle in with other guests around a campfire. Vegetarian meals are provided throughout.
Nita Wellness Retreat
The Location: Nita Lake Lodge in Whistler, British Columbia
The Lowdown: There’s no better time than “you” time, something Nita Wellness Retreat recognizes. Here, it’s not just about yoga — the schedule includes five yoga classes in vinyasa, Ashtanga, restorative, and other styles — but your overall well-being. That’s why you also get four spa treatments, including a massage and facial, and a pass to the Scandinave Spa. And, of course, you’ll have access to the many activities Mother Nature provides.
Adler Thermae Resort Yoga Retreat
The Location: Tuscany, Italy
The Lowdown: Tuscany alone is reason enough to book your spot at a retreat in Italy’s leading wellness hotel, which has a world-class spa and more than 100 miles of walking trails. Four-day retreats are typically offered during three weeks in March, November, and December. They include seven yoga lessons 90 to 120 minutes long and time in the spa.
Pura Vida Retreat & Spa
The Location: Carrizal, Costa Rica
The Lowdown: This mountaintop resort, positioned 4,900 feet above sea level and occupying more than 7 acres, hosts a variety of yoga retreats throughout the year — mostly weeklong events. Or you can just book dates that work best for you and take twice-daily yoga classes (except on Wednesdays). There are several eco-adventures you can participate in, too, including a coffee field walk and Cloud Forest canopy adventure.
Ashiyana Retreat Centre
The Location: Goa, India
The Lowdown: Whether you prefer a holiday with some yoga built in or a designated yoga retreat, Ashiyana, which is open October through April, can take care of you. For yoga holiday guests, the beachfront resort features twice-daily yoga classes and guided meditation at least once a day. Yoga takes place in a yoga shala set within the ground’s gardens. (You can also practice for free in a shala on your own.) You’ll get two buffet meals per day and access to the resort’s creative activities (like concerts) and workshops such as creative writing and expressive painting.
Belize Yoga Eco-Adventure Retreat
The Location: A mountain resort and a private island, Belize (exact properties vary)
The Lowdown: An American expat couple runs Belize Yoga, which coordinates with experienced American yoga teachers to arrange vacations that give you time in the jungle and time on the beach. The weeklong retreats are held several times a year and include twice daily yoga outside by the water, healthy meals, a Mayan ruin tour, a caving expedition, and snorkeling on the world’s second-largest barrier reef. There’s also plenty of time to just lie in a hammock and read.
Finca Victoria
The Location: Vieques, Puerto Rico
The Lowdown: Finca Victoria is an eco-sustainable haven and Ayurvedic retreat sublimely set on three verdant acres in the mountains of Vieques. Comprised of just 11 individually and eclectically designed accommodations, all surrounding an architectural hybrid housing reception, a lounge, apothecary, boutique, art gallery, dining and sweet water pool in a seamless open air communal space. Personalized Ayurvedic consultations and individual treatments are on offer, but for a deeper cleanse, the Panchakarma detox program (an add on to bookings), helps release toxins, restore digestive energies, boost metabolism, awakening the body’s capacity for renewal and self-regulation, under the guidance of certified Ayurvedic practitioners. Guests will enjoy the Ayurvedic kitchen using produce from their edible garden; an Ayurvedic herbal pharmacy; Ayurvedic cooking classes and daily herbology classes along with complimentary vegan breakfast and daily morning yoga. Rates for double rooms start at $189 a night.
Ananda in the Himalayas
The Location: Garhwal Uttarakhand, INDIA
The Lowdown: Ananda’s wellness program integrates traditional Ayurveda with classical Yoga and Meditation as well as Emotional Healing and therapy. Emotional Healers with expertise in spiritual healing, hypnotherapy, and energy work help guests understand their challenges from a deeper level of awareness to create a life of emotional balance. Expanding the range of traditional healing techniques are Oriental therapies including Acupuncture, Cupping, Moxibustion, Tibetan Kuu Nye and other practices to rebalance and center the physical and energy systems.
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