"Gratitude Refuge" Yoga Retreat

Last weekend for the first time, The Yoga Effect in Grayslake (one of the local yoga studios that I teach at), hosted a 3-day yoga retreat in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. They called it a “Gratitude Refuge Retreat” in keeping with the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.

I attended and participated in the retreat -- and I taught, as well. For the closing session on Sunday morning, and I led a workshop called “Aroma Yoga®: with Gratitude.” It was a co-mingling of several workshops I have taught previously, both at The Yoga Effect and elsewhere – a taste of what Aroma Yoga® has to offer (yoga, essential oils, chakras, energy exercises, etc.), sprinkled with some reflections on the importance of gratitude in our lives.

Before my Sunday session, we participated in several types of yoga classes on Friday evening and Saturday – including some Yin Yoga, Reiki and Restorative Yoga, and Yoga Nidra. We also enjoyed a conversation and meditation with the Venerable Bhante Sujatha, a Buddhist monk from Blue Lotus Buddhist temple in Woodstock, Illinois.

Why attend a yoga retreat? I’ve attended several in the past five years, and each time I come away feeling refreshed, rejuvenated, and re-committed to my yoga practice. There is always something new to learn, and taking a few days to focusing on that learning – and to practice a bit of self-care – revives both body and soul.

A yoga retreat is also a wonderful way to connect with like-minded yogis. I’m still in touch with a woman that I met at a yoga retreat and training that I attended almost five years ago. And in just a few months, I’ll be traveling to Massachusetts to see her again for the first time since we met – and to attend a yoga retreat that she now offers! No doubt, I’ll be sharing about that retreat in a future blog post!

Meanwhile, you might consider a yoga retreat in your future… Namaste!

“Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so let us all be thankful.”

Buddha