In this stressful age, the subject of yoga retreats as “vacation” comes up often. Travelers may ask, are they a good option for a parent-child or three generation getaway?
The answer is yes, if all participants are interested in connecting over the same activities. Family members should also share an appreciation for the contemplative aspects of yoga, like meditation, numerology (read more) and other spiritual practices.
Are yoga retreats a good way to see the world?
The answer is maybe, according to long-time practitioner Teresa Plowright, mom of three living near Vancouver, BC. “One problem with yoga retreats is that, often, the teacher just comes to do the course,” she says. She urges anyone interested in local culture to examine the itinerary, adding, “It seems to me that [on tours] the teacher just flies into a yoga retreat place, does their week or two of classes and the guests either just stay on the property or explore on their own.”
There are more locally-focused options based in local hotels that are usually good value. Another plus is that many organizers will help pair singles with a like-minded partner to share room costs.
Here is a sampling of domestic and international retreats that emphasize local culture, for yogis who consider themselves travelers first.
Traveling Afar with your Teacher
In the studio where I practice, several of the professional instructors are involved in either leading or providing instruction on getaway yoga vacations. James Murphy, director of the Iyengar Yoga Association of Greater New York and a gifted teacher, is one of them.
His Experience Bali: Experience Iyengar Yoga spends two weeks in late February or March each year in Bali, Indonesia, an island he’s visited annually for more than 25 years, where he has “a strong connection and love for the people and can give participants something that they really wouldn’t get otherwise.”
His trip, organized through Yoga Out There, welcomes yoga practitioners of all abilities and ages to join two classes daily as part of an introduction to the unique Balinese culture.
From the clove farms of Munduk, participants head to a north coast beach for snorkeling, then to the rice plantations of Ubud for the last eight days.”It’s a cultural immersion into the world of the Balinese with yoga every day, to both prepare and recover from the day’s activities,” James says. A local guide accompanies the group; land only rates include all programs, hotel and most meals.
Find a Yoga Retreat and Meet Your Teacher
The beautifully rustic Feathered Pipe Ranch near Helena, Montana in the Rockies, runs in-house and some international retreats. After 43 years, it claims to be one of the oldest centers for conscious living in the country. Multiday retreats in different forms of yoga, ayurvedic wellness and philosophy are led by visiting instructors all year, with more frequent programs in summer.
The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, founded in 1967 by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi of the San Francisco Zen Center, offers public programs from April to September plus some Zen retreats in winter. One or more multiday sessions themed to Body & Mind, Joyful Ease, Cultivating Trust and other mindful living topics take place weekly at the isolated, energy-independent retreat 25 mile southeast of Big Sur. Their invite reads, “Zen and meditation seekers, yoga lovers, artisan foodies, outdoor adventurists, and everyday people looking to unplug and rejuvenate are invited to experience a truly serene environment at Tassajara.” Known for equally celebrated teachers and guests including Steve Jobs, Governor Jerry Brown and Joan Baez — plus hot springs, vegetarian cuisine and a best-selling bread baking book — Tassajara attracts many vacationers during its summer guest season so early bookings are required.
Yoga Abroad – Traveling Inward with Your Practice
In The Minotaur, Albert Camus wrote, “In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion.” Several yoga retreats have sprung up with this goal in mind.
The Ak’bol Retreat and Eco Resort in San Pedro, on Ambergris Caye off the Belize mainland, is a full-time yoga and meditation resort where yoga teachers and their students come for organized retreats. It was begun more than two decades ago and now encompasses seven thatch roof bungalows, some village rooms with shared bath, a Soul Kitchen restaurant and two yoga palapas for open-air practice. Owners Milio and Kirsten lead regular yoga classes, and there are frequent drumming sessions, talks on Mayan healing, and other spiritual and wellness programs.
New York based Carolyn Christie, who has been teaching yoga since 1995, is leading a weeklong Yoga Retreat in Belize to Ak’bol. She says, “I see this retreat and the retreat I do in Costa Rica as “yoga adventures,” adding, “they are vacations where there is both exploring an environment through physical activities like walking, kayaking, biking, snorkeling, sitting and looking and exploring one’s potential through the yoga asana and pranayama.”
One April, a family with a 10-year-old who likes yoga joined her retreat. You have to; her program offers four hours of yoga daily. “There is great value to going to a beautiful, natural environment and practicing yoga,” she explains. “One opens up quickly, relaxes and regains strength.” Friendships are made easily. “One finds good company because people actually have time to enjoy each other,” she adds. For more information, contact CarolynChristie[at]me.com.
Commune with Nature and Yourself
I’ve found that teacher Michelle LaRue, a professional dancer turned yoga practitioner, has a real gift for seeing the physical potential in each student. When I heard she leads retreats in rural settings where, in between yoga sessions, her students can hike, swim or otherwise stay active, I signed up.
“I really like to offer a beautiful setting, great vegetarian food and a glass of wine at night, something my students can enjoy if they want to,” she adds. For several years, she has held a weekend yoga intensive at Race Brook Lodge, one of many small inns in that verdant corner of the Berkshires that gave us Arlo Guthrie and the Tanglewood Music Festival. She works with One Hundred Skies, a group that organizes yoga adventures with various teachers at domestic and international retreat locations, and her retreats can be booked through them.
If you’re traveling solo and want a home base with minimal structure, Eremito is a more luxurious spiritual resort than many in Asia or the Caribbean. The environmentally-conscious property is a 14-room stone cloister on a 3,000-hectare preserve in Umbria. Gregorian chants play at the grotto pool. Designed for single guests only, Eremito invites visitors to unplug, detoxify and explore their inner selves with daily meditation and yoga sessions. What it doesn’t offer: WiFi, phones,TV, business center, tennis, golf, minibar. Any power used beyond candlelight comes from solar cells; vegetarian meals are locally sourced and served in silence.
For more options on hotels that focus on wellness, check out the new consortium called Healing Hotels of the World.
Me Time is a Given
I’ve reported on the detoxifying, stress-relief regimen at The Chopra Center in California, and the equally intense ayurvedic healing retreat at Devaaya in Goa, India, both of which incorporate daily sessions of yoga and meditation. Of course, hundreds of variations on the transformational travel or yoga getaway exist, as varied as the yoga practice itself.
Personal growth is the goal of many of these wellness experiences, whether participants travel around together and explore a culture, or stay still and explore themselves as individual family members.
James Murphy sums it up when talking about his Bali trip: “I wouldn’t call what I do a yoga retreat or intensive… it’s more about how yoga can be incorporated in your life in this beautiful setting, among a very special people and culture… and that allows you to look at yourself in a whole new way.”
Please share your thoughts, favorite retreats and resources in the comments field below.
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People who choose to book trips for summer or further out should do so with caution; the coronavirus pandemic is unpredictable. And many reservations may claim flexibility. Amid so much unknown, there will be one certainty: the headaches of rescheduling and canceling.
With a rugged interior featuring 286 peaks topping 3,000 meters Taiwan’s railway system is shoehorned onto the coastal margins where most of Taiwan’s cultural life is concentrated. Whether you ride the high-speed service from Taipei City to the second city of Kaohsiung or spend a week slowly circumnavigating the island by local train, all journeys are within eyeshot of either the cobalt-blue Pacific Ocean, flatlands of verdant rice-paddies, or towering mountainsides
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Amazing Post! about Amsterdam
There’s one street in Baltimore that’s more festive than the rest. Every holiday season, the neighborhood of Maryland’s miracle on h Street is decked out in Christmas lights and festive displays. From a tree made of hubcaps to classic candy cane fixtures, each house is uniquely decorated.
Considering Northeast Ohio has plenty of breweries, as well, Thomann was asked if it’s more likely we’ll find the members of Dorfrocker touring different venues tasting beers or visiting the Rock Roll Hall of Fame?
Covid-19 certainly affects travels plan…Not long ago my friends were among passengers of the British cruise ship Braemar. And how could the US refuse to help the ship and close the borders?? Unlike the US, Cuba showed its humanity and friendship! Thank you Cuba
Would you like to stay in the gorgeous area around Keukenhof? You can! We have a broad range of great hotels and bed and breakfasts for you. Accommodations in Haarlem, Leiden or Amsterdam are also good options.
I will reach Amsterdam only on 19 May morning, the last day of the flower exhibit. Is it still worthwhile to go Keukenhof Gardens? Will there still be many flowers to be seen?
Tulips and other flowers mainly bloom during spring. March through May is therefore the best time to visit the Netherlands if you want to watch them in bloom. The world’s most beautiful spring park, the Keukenhof, is open during this time.
If a court order states that one parent can travel abroad with the child without the consent of the other parent, what documentation is required? We recommend carrying a copy of the court order stating that the other parent’s consent is not needed to travel abroad with the child. Any questions about the wording of the court order should be directed to a family lawyer.
If transporting your pet by air is the only option, find out whether they can travel in the cabin with you. Most airlines will allow you to take a cat or small dog in the cabin for an additional fee. But you must call the airline well in advance; there are limits to the number of animals allowed in the cabin. If you are transporting your dog, make sure they meet the size requirements. If you get overwhelmed by all the regulations, there are companies that can help you navigate through the process of flying with a pet.
Is a consent letter mandatory? There is no Canadian legal requirement for children to carry a consent letter. However, a consent letter may be requested by immigration authorities when entering or leaving a foreign country, airline agents or Canadian officials when re-entering Canada. Failure to produce a letter upon request may result in delays or refusal to enter or exit a country.
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2 adults available to drive your car from New Orleans to north suburb of Chicago mid October. Need 3 or four nights. Split the gas,
Dogs and cats should always be kept safely inside the car. Pets who are allowed to stick their heads out the window can be injured by particles of debris or made sick by having cold air forced into their lungs. Never transport a pet in the back of an open pickup truck.
Ever dreamed of driving along the cliffs that overlook the Pacific with the windows down? Or wanted to travel the historic Oregon Trail in a car instead of on a computer? Explore these eleven incredible cross-country road trip routes across the U.S.
Rhonda, from a railman who started his train travel when he was 16, I would strongly suggest a Canadian Train Ride! Via Rail Canada offers four significant rides through wilderness and coastal areas with deluxe, overnight trains from Toronto to Vancouver ( 4 nights), and Montreal to Halifax, Nova Scotia (one night). Both offer a chance to have decent meals enroute, and sleeping car accommodations. Train crews tend to be a bit friendlier than south of the border, Canada, largely uninhabited, offers many scenic vistas with little hamlets few and far between, certainly a wonderful way for both of you to enjoy these new experiences.
Via Rail Canada also offers Railpasses, which enable you to travel on other routes as well for a bit of a price reduction. It’s all up to you!
Their website is http://www.viarail.ca for further information.
My son is a rail fan and we have traveled only in the US but I would love to surprise him with an excursion where he could talk to the train staff and railroad personnel. I would also like to include beautiful scenery as well for Both of us. My son is 16 and I am 59. We love to explore and don’t mind walking and roughing it!! any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Get your pet geared up for a long trip by taking him on a series of short drives first, gradually lengthening time spent in the car. And please be sure to always secure the crate so it won??™t slide or shift in the event of a quick stop.
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This driving route of the Appalachian Trail parallels the epic hike. From the top of New England to the heart of Dixie, it takes you through continuous natural beauty—without the sweat, bugs, or blisters.
7 memorable Tips for Traveling to Mexico
Don stress if you don Mexico is agreeable to English speaking travelers, And there a ton of tips to get to know the country landscapes, terms, And younger culture.
yet still, If you new to traveling or have never been out of the us, A trip to Mexico may be somewhat frightening.
If you interested in learning some tips for traveling to Mexico, Take a look at our 7 easy to remember tips for your journey. We outlined some of the basics that you’d like to learn for your own aventura!
1. Choose the Right Transportation If you traveling to Mexico, You need to decide you might arrive by car, aeroplane, Or liner. It important to know how you want to arrive because it will searching,an extravagance,good to have city you arrive in, How much luggage you results, and so forth.
an individual can find international flights if you prefer to travel by air. instead, There are plenty of cruises to Mexico that you can enjoy if you like the amenities and beautiful views that are included in ship travel!
If you live nearby the border, Or just need to take a bit of a road trip, going down the road by car is always an option as well.
2. Use Pesos When You Can It best if you use the local currency pesos when you can. while touristy areas accept USD, They choose the rate at that they accept it, So it is possible to get a better deal if you just use pesos.
Consider exchanging USD for pesos somewhere in the usa before your trip and dividing up your cash between USD and pesos during your trip.
3. Know bathing room Etiquette In Mexico, The sewage pipes just aren built to handle a lot. this means that people rarely flush their toilet paper. rather than, There will often be a trash bin near the toilet for you to put your used toilet paper in.
further, Men may make of entering a bathroom labeled with an M, let’s assume that it stands for However, The M actually can stand for mujeres, Which is the word for in Spanish. Men needs to look for doors labeled H, Which stands for the Spanish word for men, Hombres.
4. Practice Some Spanish One of the most basic tips for traveling to Mexico is to learn a few Spanish phrases before your trip.
once you know basic things, Like how to ask where the bathroom is or how to order food, Will make your trip to Mexico a lot smoother. sometimes, The locals will appreciate the effort, Even if they undoubtedly speak English as well!
5. Adjust to the Time Whether you are changing time zones while having trip or staying in the same one, You find that Mexico runs on a lot more fluid schedule. Punctuality is less of a concern, So you take pleasure in it a lot more if you can relax and don push a strict schedule.
furthermore, Meals are spaced out a bit distinct in Mexico. You will usually have a large breakfast, associated with the main meal of the day between 2:00 together with 4:00 pm hours. then finally, You will enjoy a smaller meal at dusk.
6. Drink Bottled Water Bottled water can be found on just about any street corner for purchase. Why exactly do you wish to buy bottled water?
let me tell you, Most of Mexico plain faucet water is unpurified. Some hotels may have filtered water, But be sure to go shopping for a sign above your sinks before you test it out!
If you be residing in Mexico for a lengthier trip, Consider buying or bring a water filter with you to purify the tap water and avoid buying so much bottled water. You be decreasing costs and plastic consumption!
7. Stray off the Beaten Path While sightseeing attractions and famous beaches are always fun to see, Traveling to lesser known places will offer you a more authentic taste of Mexico.
of which this isn an excuse to be reckless or oblivious to your surroundings. Be mindful of the areas you visiting and research where you will make sure it a safe area.
Now You Armed with all very reputable Tips for Traveling to Mexico Mexico is a diverse country with so much to see and offer.
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Many parents of individuals with an Autism Spectrum Disorder dread traveling or often avoid it altogether. Most people with ASD do better with routine and structure and a break from that (vacation) can often lead to stress and even meltdowns. Additionally, traveling by air can include having to navigate a multitude of unpleasant experiences from airport security procedures, moving sidewalks, and boarding tunnels to cramped seats, unfamiliar noises, and lots of strangers. Experts indicate that preparation and practice is the key to a successful flight and travel. Before your trip, talk with your child about what to expect. Go over the details of the travel: how you’ll get to the airport, wait in line, go through security, find your departure gate, get on the plane, buckle seatbelts, and spend time onboard. Flying to See Janet: A Fun Guide to the Airport Experience is a book you can use to prepare children for the unfamiliar sights and sounds of the airport experience. You can also write your own social story.
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Emily, my coming of age years were the late 1970s, early 1980s at the YMCA. I agree with you about the open showers versus the individual shower stalls. From a guys perspective, I spent many nights and weekends swimming or playing basketball at my local YMCA. Showering with not only my friends, but over the years, dads, neighbors and guys from church. It really makes one comfortable, not in a sexual way, with one self and others. Never had the nude swimming, I think that ended in the 1960s as women/girls joined the YMCA, forcing may YWCAs to close their doors.
Amelie, here in the US a number of Korean Spas have opened. As with Japanese, Korean families bath together (grandmother, daughter, grand-daughter), (dad, son) separated by gender. They are starting to attract a diverse clientele (age, race, etc). So who knows, maybe the nude swimming will return to the Y someday.
The Ski and Snow Vacations for Families article is one of the best I have ever read!
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Note that Global Affairs Canada cannot provide you with advice about the Consent Letter for Children Travelling Abroad beyond what is offered on this website.
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helo, do you happent allow drive passengers to another state?
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I’m so happy that you enjoyed your experience at the Onsen!
I’ve never been to an Onsen, but I would love to get to visit one some day.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s my mom was the head supervisor at a YWCA in Ohio. I practically lived in the YWCA (not literally, of course) for the 19 years that my mom worked there. I had a part time job at the YWCA for a few years in the 1990s.
One of the great things about spending so much time at the YWCA was that I grew up using the locker room all of the way from a young child to a young woman and being 100% comfortable with both my own nudity and the nudity of all other females.
I feel that it was so much better back then when the Y had one big room full of shower heads on the walls than it is with stalls these days. The group shower setting was great from a bonding experience. I feel that it’s much healthier psychologically speaking that females are exposed to other women’s and girl’s bodies, as opposed to feeling that we need to hide from each other and change clothes in toilet stalls or under towels.
One of the benefits of having a mom who was a supervisor of the Y was that after hours my mom and my sisters and myself could just skinny dip in the pool, and my sisters and I were allowed to have our female friends with us for a skinny dipping session on Friday and Saturday nights.
Also, my aunt and a few of my female cousins would skinny dip with my mom, my sisters and I every once in a while.
My mom said that she had heard that the YWCA used to have one night a week that was for nude swimming back in the 1960s and most of the 1970s. Obviously it was a female only facility at the time.
Dubbed the Great Northern in memory of the pioneer railroad that parallels the western half of the route, US-2 is truly the most stunning and unforgettable, not to mention longest, of all the great transcontinental road trips.
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Oh man. I’m so sorry this happened to you. I certainly appreciate your take on this though, a little humor goes a long way. I’m headed to Barcelona in a few days, so I’ll be sure to keep my valuables close. Thanks for sharing.