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A Yoga Retreat? What is that?

Submitted By:

Suzanne Leitner-Wise
Yoga-Wise
Alexandria, VA

What is a Yoga Retreat? Yoga Retreat's are popping up all over the place, but what exactly are you getting yourself into? Perhaps you have seen an enticing advertisement, but the word 'yoga' conjures up a scary image of being asked to put your foot behind your ear! Perhaps you can associate with the word 'harmony' and long to bring some sense of equilibrium into your life but are put off by the words 'meditation' or 'enlightenment' and wonder if you'll be told to don yellow robes and chant 'hari hari' all day? Perhaps I can help... Firstly, and let's get this out of the way, yoga is not a religion. Yoga, as we know it (or have heard of it) in the West is a way to alleviate dis-ease in the body with a system of postures (not exercises) that help the body become stronger, more flexible and more able to keep you in good health. The whole point of the postures is to enable each individual to work to their own ability and to achieve enough flexibility to sit still for a period of time and meditate, i.e. to quieten those continuous thoughts that mill around in the mind and to be and feel at one with the world (yeah, yeah - I hear you!). It's not jargon. From the moment we are born, we are told who we are and how to behave. We are given knowledge to help us achieve in this world, but we are never told or shown just how to be at peace and happy within ourselves - not how we would like to be or where we think we should be in life, but where we are and who we are right now. This is where a retreat can help. It can give you 'time out' to discover yourself. The postures to get the circulation going and the inner body to function optimally - the meditation to be quiet and begin to accept ourselves as who we are - the healthy food (and it's not all raw carrots!) to cleanse and the beautiful location all combine to really make you feel good about yourself. Feeling good about yourself enables you to feel good about everyone else - to pass on that quality - and allows you to accept that not everyone is perfect and will not behave in the way that perhaps you think they should - and here's that word 'harmony'! Don't think you need to have a history of yoga classes to attend a retreat, but do research the qualifications of a teacher - a good teacher should be able to accept both complete beginners and more advanced and have the ability to adapt each posture to suit. Not convinced? I'd be happy to answer any questions - drop me an email at suzanne@yoga-wise.com. Convinced? It just so happens that I am offering a retreat in April at a gorgeous beach front location in Mexico and I would be delighted to see you there!