“retreat” (noun  re·treat  \ri-ˈtrēt\) means a place you can go to be alone, to get away from it all;

Even though you might be fortunate enough to have endless opportunities and choices to visit regular yoga classes, still there are many reasons why going on a yoga vacation might be incredibly beneficial for your practice, your teaching (if you teach yoga), and for your personal evolution. Here’s why:

1. Retreats Allow You to Go Deeper:

Whilst a typical asana class of about 75-90 minutes is generally enough time to stretch hamstrings and open hips, it doesn’t allow for the same depth and focus as a three-day (or longer) yoga-centered retreat—especially when it comes to rich and complex topics like philosophy, ayurveda, anatomy, or meditation. Sure, you might have heard your teacher quote the Yoga Sutra or offer a little taste of meditation, but the short time frame usually doesn’t allow for these rich experiences to really sink in.

At a retreat, with lots of time at hand, distractions tend to be less prevalent, and the depth of yoga can be absorbed and integrated more fully.

2. Be a Student

For those who teach, despite the fact that some still attend regular classes, often it remains difficult to step out of the “teacher mode” as anything experienced as interesting or beneficial, might get us automatically involved in thinking about how to incorporate it into our own teaching. A retreat, however, allows to take a break from that and focus merely on ones own studentship. There’s no doubt though that the retreat will allow a deeper immersion into the practice resulting in the ability to teach more authentically from those experiences.

3. Unplug

Almost 24-hours per day, 7-days-a-week we tend to be available now, usually being provided with constant access to cellphone service and internet.

While laptops, tablets, and smartphones can certainly be useful, going offline for a few days can be really refreshing, so resist the urge to post your insights on Facebook, and see what happens. Unplugging for a few days will cleanse ‘the closet’ of your mind considerably.

PS. If you know a retreat centre you would like to go to, and you are looking for a qualified yoga teacher and yoga therapist to take along with you, please get in touch with me and we can sort out the details! Or maybe you yourself are hosting a retreat centre, and you believe we might share the same values and ideas, then please get in touch with me as well: