solyogatrips.com

Mountains and Meadows – Sierra Hot Springs Yoga Retreat

Solyoga — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:23:46 +0000

Rachel is a San Francisco based yoga teacher and writer, her Vinyasa classes are a music- and philosophy-infused blend of athleticism, dance, song and spirit. She brings her background in the arts and theology to the mat, creating an intense flow-based practice rich in yoga philosophy, sweaty with hard work, and celebratory in tone. She also writes for Yoga Journal and cooks amazing food with local vegan establishment called Bhakti Kitchen. Rachel has studied with Rusty Wells and Bikram Choudhury; her flowing classes are filled with music, wisdom and kindness. She hopes you’ll laugh as much as you sweat, and maybe walk out feeling a little stronger, a little softer, and a lot more balanced. You can find Rachel’s bio, playlists and more on her website: http://www.rachelmeyeryoga.com/

A River Sanctuary – Black Rock Lodge

Solyoga — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:29:11 +0000

SolYoga’s Review

A River Sanctuary – Black Rock Lodge, Belize

By Ben Crosky

I wake up each morning excited about something that I take for granted every day, water. I wake up with the sound of the birds and the warmth of the sun. I could stay in these cozy comfortable beds just relearning the sounds of the river below and the birds all around, but the sweet spring water that runs from the tap pulls me out of bed. I’m instantly happy to have my bare feet on the floor ready to start the day. It really is sweet, the water, and I have to be careful not to smile too much while drinking it. There is no better way to start the day than to be immediately appreciative of your life source.

I walk down the quiet path to the main lodge and sit with my fellow travelers on the long wooden tables. Fresh coffee is made and breakfast is a delicious event that matches my excitement for the spring water. The jungle fog pulls away from the cliffs that hug our cozy home and the river catches the light, inviting us onward. There are usually some toucan or other rare bird spottings just during breakfast.

Today we start our day by walking down to the river where our guides await us with canoes. We hit a series of smooth rapids but mostly glide slowly down the jungle current. Iguanas jump off of trees into the water as we find ourselves in the middle of mating season. Bird spottings are abundant and impressive all the way down until we reach our pull out point at Chaa Creek, another eco-resort in the area.   I’m relieved to see Giovanni, our main man at Black Rock Lodge as it feels like an overly fancy country club at Chaa Creek compared to the honest jungle lodge that eagerly awaits our arrival. Black Rock Lodge seems to miss us as much as we miss it and upon arrival I feel safe and excited to be back in a place that treats me so well and yet is so true to the land. It helps that we’ve made it in time to enjoy a magnificent lunch and have the rest of the afternoon to rest and play.

A yoga class under the thatch roofed palapa by the water leads us to a remarkably delicious meal. But first, the ritual pre-meal cocktail gets us going, as our excitement for the food to come bubbles over with laughter and stories of the day. Somehow we all feel like a family here, even the new guests who slowly join us over the next few days. As night falls the stars come out to play and the warm air seems made for candlelit reading, writing and story telling. It’s almost hard to peel myself away from the coziness of the main lodge, but knowing that my comfortable bed is waiting for me to sleep oh so deeply and that the sweet water of the morning will be there to start another wonderful day is enough to charm me away to put to sleep another lively day.

Dancing Freedom Training

Solyoga — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 19:51:08 +0000

The Path of Embodied Awakening

Ecstatic, Somatic & Shamanic Journeys to Oneness

Embody your Soul’s Purpose with Authenticity, Love and Power. Be and Dance who you REALLY ARE. Become a part of our global team spreading DANCING FREEDOM for awakening, health, intimacy, community and integral leadership around the planet. This training is designed to a.) empower those who desire to teach conscious dance with a facilitation tool-box that changes lives and b.) to change the lives of all who do the training through the practice of dance as a path of liberation and soul-integration. You do not need to know you want to be a facilitator to join us. You simply need to know that DANCE is YOUR PATH.

Embodiment

Dancing Freedom Facilitator Training

With Samantha Sweetwater & Christopher Campbell

March 2 – 11, 2012 • Harbin Hot Springs, California

The Dancing Freedom Facilitator Training Program invites you to be and dance who you really are. Become a part of our global community of facilitators sharing Dancing Freedom for peace, awakening, health, intimacy, community and integral leadership around the planet.

Our facilitator training is designed to:

Provide a take-home practice and tool kit to all those who want to facilitate the evolution of humanity through conscious, intelligent, joyful embodiment.
Transform and uplift the lives of all who do the training through the practice of dance as a path of soul integration, creative fulfillment and transformation.

You do not need to know that you want to be a facilitator to join us. You simply need to know that DANCE is YOUR MEDICINE. Our training intensives are super fun, totally transformational, a great way to get fit, and an amazing way to participate in a dynamic, collaborative spiritual community!

The Training Cycle

There are three modules to the complete training structure: Mastery, Embodiment and Vision. You can begin training at any point in the cycle. Once you begin, plan to complete the training within one year. MASTERY explores the Big Picture of living in oneness and and offers a life-long learning template for soul expression. EMBODIMENT gives the nuts and bolts of the practice and the foundational tools needed to teach. VISION is a soul journey, inviting each person to take the next step of initiation into full self-expression and participation in the family of being.

EMBODIMENT: The Practice

Journey through the elements as an essential archetypal map for personal transformation and soul magic.
Understand and experience the shamanic and ecstatic intelligence of Earth, Water, Fire, Air & Ether.
Discover somatic sensing, feeling & expression.
Learn practical tools that actually show you how to LOVE WHAT IS, and how to HARVEST the wisdom of body, emotions, heart and spirit received through the dance.
Map the Six Patterns of Total Body Connectivity to reclaim whole-being function and wellness while expanding movement range, choice and innovation.
Inhabit the INNER DANCE – a powerful practice of witness and mover used to access deeper levels of self understanding and somatic healing.
Learn how to facilitate the fundamental Dancing Freedom practice.

WHO JOINS US?

yoga teachers
youth leaders
social change agents
dancers
integral health practitioners & holistic healers
life-coaches
therapists
K-12 teachers who want to integrate movement into their curriculum
organizational development specialists
ministers
dj’s

WHY?

LIFE moves on endless waves of change. Now, more than ever, chaos, transition and emergence, are our constant companions and guides. As a planetary community, we dance on the edge of the unknown. Our ability to grow and to thrive depends on our cultivated skills of fluidity, intimacy, adaptability, resilience and embodied wisdom. Dancing Freedom helps people to access these states and to integrate them as traits of being in tangible, grounded, lasting ways. The practice reveals EVERYTHING about who you are, what motivates you, your shadow, your light and your soul’s purpose.

As we navigate the immense changes happening in this time, we are learning that true humanity and real value is expressed through experience. We are learning that real abundance happens when we anchor in the present time in our bodies, hearts and souls, that true fulfillment is a choice, and that community is the nexus of our next great evolutionary step.

LODGING: Harbin Hot Springs, California

Dancing Freedom EMBODIMENT Spring 2012 will be held at the beautiful Harbin Hot Springs in Northern California. EFor more info: http://www.harbin.org

FACILITATOR TRAINING TEAM

SAMANTHA SWEETWATER, M.A. is the founder of Dancing Freedom and PeaceBody Japan, synergizing body-centric practice, soul empowerment and sustainability leadership training in an integral offering for individual and planetary evolution. Her transformational offerings create a safe space to open the heart, express the soul, and to reconnect with the self-generating capacity to experience wholeness. A Priestess, Guide, Soul Coach and Author, she leads and loves through authenticity, integral perspective, divine play, and sacred presence. Samantha holds a self-created degree from UCSC in Social Theory and The Dance, is a certified yoga instructor, somatics practitioner, massage therapist, Dream Coach, Reiki Master, and an ordained priestess

At the age of 13, Samantha dove into dance to save her life and free her soul. Locked in her high school’s wrestling room for long, sweaty hours, she found a sacred vehicle of expression, integration and healing. Immediately. She choreographed epic pieces about spiritual states with no-names, war and peace, strange play of relationship and found a language beyond words for experiencing the way the universe works. After college, she entered a successful career as a professional dancer, director, producer, choreographer and community activist and San Francisco. Injury and an obsession with questions of presence and PRACTICE (over performance) called her to leave the stage and to shape dance as an ever more communal process of transformative experience and collective action. So, in 1998, she developed Dancing Freedom (and the Contact Improvisation based form called Dharma Dance). Since then, she has taught on five continents in such venues as Esalen, Kalani Retreat Center, Harbin Hot Springs and Grace Cathedral, at conferences, festivals and events such as Bioneers, HUB’s “Actioning Your Brilliance,” Earth Dance, Harmony Fest and the Economics of Peace Conference, and with health experts David Wolfe and Gabriel Cousens. She is also the developer and director of the PeaceBody School, Japan. She is currently, is working towards a Doctor of Ministry Degree with Wisdom University.

Click here to access her personal BLOG and SOUL COACHING SESSIONS.

CHRISTOPHER CAMPBELL had a radical spiritual awakening at the age of 18 and has since been immersed in the quest to to embody the oneness he experienced. With a formal degree in religion, 15 years of direct study with a living meditation Master, and a lifetime of dance inquiry, he has traveled the globe as a pilgrim, apprentice and guide.

Christopher is the creator of a unique approach to Self-development known as “Dancing Between Heaven and Earth,” and he leads trainings worldwide that empower people to apply the art and science of transformation in their healing work and everyday lives. He resides in beautiful northern California and has a thriving private practice as a Soul-Life Coach, supporting clients to access their inner calling and mindfully translate it into creative action.

Register Here

*All meals are included. There is no camping available.

www.DancingFreedom.com

DANCE IS THE NEXT YOGA. JOIN THE MOVEMENT. WE ARE DANCING FREEDOM AND ONLY FREEDOM. FACILITATE EVOLUTION IN ACTION.

LIFE moves on endless waves of change. Now, more than ever, chaos, transition and emergence, are our constant companions and guides. As a planetary community, we dance on the edge of the unknown. Our ability to grow and to thrive depends on our cultivated skills of adaptability, resilience and embodied wisdom. As we navigate the immense changes happening in this time, we are learning that real value is expressed through experience, that real abundance happens when we anchor in the present time in our bodies, hearts and souls, that true fulfillment is a choice, and that community is the nexus of our next great evolutionary step.

THIS IS WHY THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO TRAIN AS A DANCING FREEDOM FACILITATOR!

Bring people together through the healing and harmonizing power of DANCE. Be a Force of Beauty. Embody oneness in the dance of life. Lead through the joy of movement, the bliss of stillness, the grace of authentic presence, and the true value of human connection. Learn how to create a safe and powerful practice space for community celebration, process and evolution. Integrate this simple and powerful practice into new areas of your life, your practice, your business and your community. Increase aliveness, adaptability, awareness, well-being and your ultimate gnosis of FREEDOM.

This training is perfect for:

Yoga Teachers
Fitness Professionals
Activists
Managers
Holistic Health Practitioners
Community Organizers
Teachers
Therapists
Management Consultants and Organizational Development Professionals
Life Coaches
Dancers who wish to extend their gifts into transformational community leadership
Conscious DJ’s
Anyone wishing to deepen his or her body-mind-soul practice and mastery

Dancing Freedom is calling forward a loving, spiritual attuned, diverse group of individuals, a group called by the truth of Oneness and the beauty of embodiment, to spread the light of wholeness through the path of Dancing Freedom. This work empowers Unity in Diversity, so come with the intentions of being fully yourself and carrying the work forward through your own, unique voice.

You may begin training with either Embodiment or Vision. Mastery further unfolds your full experience and mastery of embodied awakening. Once you begin, devote an evolutionary year to hone your capacity as an embodied leader and to gain full Dancing Freedom certification by completing all three courses and an apprentice-teaching phase.

WHAT YOU LEARN

EMBODY:

Your Soul’s True Purpose
The living meaning of freedom and the real source of abundance
Somatic, Ecstatic, and Shamanic pathways to embodied Oneness
An practical understanding of transformation and social change
How to set up your own Dancing Freedom teaching practice
How to weave music, meaning and community ritual space
Empowerment strategies for fearless & compassionate Embodied Leadership in a rapidly changing world
How to trust yourself, love yourself and manifest your dreams
Evolutionary perspectives on change, challenge and chaos
A spiritual practice you can work with for the rest of your life
Essential Energetic and Physical Tools for Self Mastery and Service:
- Grounding, clearing and owning your space
- Running your energy
- Connecting to Source
- Holographic Awareness
- The Power of Intent: setting a grid, pillars of light and working with the frequencies of the space & time
- Working with Your Guides, Higher Self, the Ascended Masters & Angels and the Flames of Transmutation
- How to create Ceremony & Planetary Prayer
- Lucid navigation of the five Fields of Consciousness: Instinct, Emotion, Empathy, Intuition and Psychic
- The “lost language of prayer:” Feeling and the Heart of the Universe.
- Basic understanding Movement: Space, Time, Rhythm, Momentum and Composition
- The layering of Somatic, Elemental and Energetic anatomy/alchemy
- The Six Patterns of Total Body Connectivity
- Earth, Water, Fire, Air & Ether
- The layers of the energy Bodies: physical, subtle and causal

The INNER-DANCE: Partner practice
Harvesting: receiving direct guidance through the voice of Body, Heart and Spirit
Foundational Curriculum, class planning and creating from your own class
Being a DJ, creating play lists, and the DF perspective on music as magic
Impeccability, Response-ability, Integrity, Authenticity and Unconditional Love

OVERVIEW

There are three modules in our training: EMBODIMENT, MASTERY and VISION. EMBODIMENT gives you the ESSENTIAL PRACTICE. MASTERY gives you another complete set of energetic and facilitation tools and a much broader experience and perspective on the spiritual, emotional and practical transformation possible for you and your communities through the work. VISION is an invitation to receive the voice of your soul through direct initiation in the Heart of Nature. YOU MAY BEGIN TRAINING AT ANY TIME AND WORK YOUR WAY THROUGH ALL THREE MODULES OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR.

The materials covered in each unit are different and mutually complimentary. They interweave to give you comprehensive experience, a broad and powerful tool-box, and a total holographic understanding and of transformation and integration of body, mind, soul and spirit. They are separated to give you enough time and space to assimilate and embodythe information and experience of one module at a time. Plan to complete all three modules and four apprentice classes within one year. Note: VISION is offered more frequently because it is limited to 14 participants and because we open VISION to the general public.

Both EMBODIMENT and MASTERY are residential training intensives where you A.) come to deeply know the work through DOING IT, B.) learn the practical framework for Dancing Freedom practice and facilitation and C.) practice the essential tools and craft of the teacher/leader/guide/healer. In these two modules you receive the form and structure of the work both experientially and mentally. You also get lots of juicy guidance for creating your business, visionary leadership, how to teach, and how to get out of the way of your higher purpose. In contrast, VISION is an experience just for you – between you, Great Spirit and All of Our Relations. The Vision Quest is an opportunity to receive the direct voice of the soul, to see/feel the shape of your place in the great Mystery, and to expand into your loving service to the animate world. VISION is not so much a training as it is an initiation experience – an appointment with your own destiny. As such, it is a key gateway to Living and DANCING Freedom, and is therefore one of the requirements for full certification.

CORE MODULES

EMBODIMENT – THE PRACTICE: The dance of Self, Other, Community and Planet. Learn how to use movement as a medicine for yourself and others. Learn how to structure a class, how to set energetic and emotional space, how to create both safety and risk, how to work with music, who to market to, and how to grow a community around your teaching. Activate your spiritual, emotional and creative passion, power and purpose through dance. Partner with the Five Elements of Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether, and the Six Patterns of Total Body Connectivity. Learn to source you personal expression of healing, compassionate leadership, pragmatic action and dynamic wholeness through intelligent interconnectivity with your body, the Earth, All of Life and Spirit. Learn how to listen to your soul in the dance and how to help others do the same. HARVEST the basic insights of the practice each day. Understand horizontal, vertical and spherical power, and how to use all three. In Embodiment, we open personal and collective pathways for being fully embodied, fully in our power and fully free. We learn the basic template of the Dancing Freedom Practice.

MASTERY – THE BIG PICTURE: Spiritual Attunement and Soul Manifestation. Dance the body as the luminous container for your soul and spirit. You are both human and spirit. You are an expression of the ONE and a dance of the MANY at the same time. You are love, light and energy in action. Connect to our soul’s true voice and purpose. Connect to Source. Reclaim your power. Expand your capacity to discern, your tolerance for the unknown, your embrace of the shadow, your ability to be and act as love, and your continuous practice of choice. Learn to dance your life in accordance with Universal Law and develop your natural human and spiritual gifts, thus anchoring graceful tools for real-world success and thrival. Dance the Five Fields of Consciousness: Instinct, Emotion, Empathy, Intuition and Psychic to nurture and activate your highest potential – individually and collectively. Choose the path of Mastery – a dance where you, as an individual, fully live your unique gifts -and a dance where you, as a leader, gently but firmly steward the evolution of conscious living through conscious language, conscious music, conscious movement, conscious stillness and conscious community.

VISION – SOUL QUEST INITIATION IN THE HEART OF NATURE – A Contemporary Vision Quest combining neo-tribal group practices with the ancient ritual of a four-day, three-night solo vision fast. The universe is an animate intelligence, a dance of soul and spirit. Every aspect of Nature is soul, has soul, and is an expression and a reflection of soul. When you journey alone into a space of communion with nature and open to the total interconnectivity and intersubjectivity of the universe, you receive true reflections of our own highest gifts and knowing. In receiving such Vision, you are empowered to return to the world to give the one gift only you can give – the unique expression of your soul’s purpose. And, you are able to hear what the world is calling from you, showing you how to give and receive in the lively context of an infinitely abundant and interconnected reality. Our Summer retreats are held in the Shasta/Lassen bio-region. Our Spring retreats are held in the American South West.

PRACTICUM – This is the “life course” part of the work – PUTTING WHAT YOU LEARN INTO PRACTICE! Each student is required to teach a four week practicum in his or her community. These classes are offered for free and feedback is requested from participants. Teaching is an initiation that YOU must do for yourself. Only you can take the leap of faith, gathering your courage to PUT YOURSELF OUT THERE (!!!) to teach in your home community(ies). Student teaching (and all teaching) is a practice of self-apprenticeship and learning by doing. We recommend teaching the Fundamentals Series: Self-Love, Inner Connection/Outer Expression, Authentic Expression, & Sacred Community.

MENTORING – We have seen over time that every person needs support and reflection in this process in unique ways. You will have questions, challenges and realizations that are particular to you. We also have found that a final “check in” and time just for you to get support is needed before we give you a final send-off into the world. We require that you do TWO coaching sessions before you graduate and get a final GO AHEAD from us as a fully certified Dancing Freedom Facilitator. Many people also do more sessions with us for support, which is always available.

REQUIREMENTS

A desire to lead and the willingness, creativity and courage to model this in a way that is in the body and “out of the box.”
The passion and grounding to co-create with, for and in community.
A foundation in love, authenticity and embodiment.
An active enquiry into the Self and the emergence of Oneness.
Tenacity, determination and patience

At least two years of stable, embodied practice is highly recommended, but not required. This includes any form of technical dance, improvisational dance, somatics, ecstatic dance, yoga or martial arts. If you do not have a movement background, I ask that you begin your journey now –trusting what calls your heart. Dance at least twice a week, even if it is in your bedroom.

INVESTMENT IN SELF (COURSE TUITION & SITE FEES)

TUITION:

EMBODIMENT – $995 up to 45 days before the training, $1295 therafter
MASTERY – $995 up to 45 days before the training, $1295 therafter
VISION – $995 up to 45 days before the ceremony, $1295 therafter (for VISION only, the course fee includes food)

A deposit guarantees your space.
Full registration must be paid to be eligible for early-bird rates.
Deposit for both MASTERY and EMBODIMENT is $350.
Deposit for VISION is $250.
Deposits are non-transferable and non-refundable.

Full payment is required before the workshop begins, unless otherwise agreed. Payment plans are available by request.

FOOD AND LODGING

Food and housing options and costs vary depending upon our venue. (There are no food and lodging fees for VISION.)

See each event registration page for details.

Fees must be paid BEFORE the start of the workshop. There are no housing fees for VISION.

OUR TRAINING TEAM

Click here to access her personal BLOG and SOUL COACHING SESSIONS.

OMAKAYUEL teaches, heals and activates through the knowing that We are all ONE in Love, Light and Divine Truth. He brings wisdom, insight and compassion to revealing of the Truth. He is a gifted multi-dimensional healer who has spent the last seven years traveling internationally as a principal teacher and practitioner for the Dolphin Star Temple Mystery School. His tools include the ancient and contemporary wisdom and teachings of the Pleiadian, Sirian and Andromedan Emissaries and Archangels of Light, the gentle love of Reiki, Massage, The Reconnection & Reconnective Healing, Meditation, Sound, Movement and an incredible passion for Oneness. He is a certified Dancing Freedom Facilitator. In all that he does, he marries his knowing of the divine with a deep understanding of the human experience – relationally, emotionally, vibrationally and energetically – gained through 20 years as a touring musical theater professional, and living the various facets of live theater.

JAY MA is a permaculture designer, facilitator, and community organizer committed to cultural healing through Peacemaker Principles. He received his first permaculture design certification through Naropa University in 2001, a B.A. through New College of California in Culture, Ecology, and Sustainable Community with a concentration in Eco-Dwelling/Natural Building, and is a graduate of the pioneering two-year training intensive in Regenerative Design & Nature Awareness. Jay has developed educational programs, retreats, workshops, and events as well as community land development projects with organizations including the Regenerative Design Institute, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Earth Circle, Gaia University and others. He is currently an associate with Gaia University in Organized Learning for Eco-Social Regeneration, working on organizing educational courses in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. Jay is also a certified Permaculture Teacher, a Fire Walk Instructor through Sundoor International, and is passionate about renewing Rites of Passage experiential programs for people of all ages.

Belize Yoga Retreat 2013

Solyoga — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:57:47 +0000

Summary:

Join us for this beautiful journey into the Jungle and out to the Sea. The beauty of Belize is found in both of these magestic places, so in order to experience this country fully we’ll start the trip with 4 nights surrounded by the rainforest at the beautiful Black Rock Lodge. Here we’ll practice daily, breathe in the crisp clean air, visit Mayan Ruins, float down the Macal River and soak in all the beautiful nature that embraces us. From there, we’ll head to the sea where the golden sand of the Caribbean will welcome us to relax and rejuvenate. Our days will beat to the rhythm of the water as we take our practice to a beautiful platform over the sea and fill our afternoons with relaxation, snorkeling trips, kayaking, and more in this world class diving destination.

Accommodation:

Black Rock Lodge – 4 nights at the unique eco-lodge of Black Rock Lodge nestled in the dense rainforest above the Macal River in the Mayan Mountains of Belize.

Thatch Caye – 3 nights on the private island at Thatch Caye.

Includes:

4 nights at Black Rock Lodge
3 nights at Thatch Caye
2 delicious meals daily
All yoga classes
Mayan Ruins Adventure
Snorkeling/Sailing Trip
All Transportation

Does not include: Airfare, tips, optional excursions, alcoholic beverages.

Optional:

Scuba Diving
Horseback Riding
Additional River Adventures
Bird Watching
Spa Treatments
Beach Extension

Airfare and Travel Insurance

You are responsible for purchasing airfare and travel insurance. It is mandatory to purchase travel insurance and we reserve the right to deny participation if it is not purchased. Participants will cover any additional costs due to arrival/departure outside of the dates and time ranges listed below. More information in Trip Planning Guide …

Flight Information:

Airport: Philip S.W. Goldson International Airport, Belize City – (BZE)
Arrival Date: Dec 3rd, 2011
Arrival Time Range: 12:00pm – 4:00pm
Departure Date: Dec 10th, 2011
Departure Time Range: 2:00pm or later

Pricing:

Non-Refundable deposit due upon registration.

Deposit – $500 USD | Register For Your Trip Now by Making a Deposit Prices if trip is booked after September 1st, 2011.
- Backpacker Occupancy – For travelers on a budget – dorm style, shared beds, cots – ask for more detials
  Price: $1,995.00 USD, per person | book now
- Shared Occupancy – shared room separate beds or couple in private room
  Price: $2,195.00 USD per person | book now
- Single Occupancy – single, private room
  Price: $2,695.00 USD, per person | book now
*Airfare not included.
*Travel insurance not included, but is mandatory.
*Non-refundable deposit due upon registration.
* Payment in full due 45 days before departure or upon registration.

SolYoga Trips Spotlight: Groove Yoga

Solyoga — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 23:43:51 +0000

Solyoga Trips Spotlight

Here at Solyoga trips we love people and places that are doing something unique–whether that be through sustainability and activism, donation and volunteer-based business, owning and buying locally, or anything else that goes above, beyond, or in a completely different direction from what’s considered a normal business practice. Introducing Solyoga trips Spotlight–a weekly shout out to the people and places of business that we think are super cool.

If you think that you’re doing something awesome, let us know at info@solyogatrips.com. We’d love to hear from you.

Solyoga Trips Spotlight: Groove Yoga

Groove Yoga in Berkeley had its one-year-anniversary a few months back, and they sure do have a lot to celebrate. Not only is this newborn poweryoga studio thriving and building a loyal base of students, but they were also just voted Best Yoga Studio in the East Bay. Groove is a “Build it Green” space, meaning that it was constructed with minimal demolition, bamboo flooring, energy efficient heating systems, and eco-friendly paint on the walls.

Solyoga trips loves businesses that are committed to sustainability, but we also love Groove for another reason–their donation-based classes on Saturdays that benefit local nonprofits. This is the place for teachers and students from all over the Bay Area to give back to the community that supports us all.

Happy Birthday, Groove–you young, hot, eco and community-friendly thing!

Deserted Island Yoga Retreat

Solyoga — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:39:25 +0000

Escape and Connect:

Escape Work
Escape Technology
Escape the city
Escape society
Escape!

Connect to your body
Connect to the earth
Connect to your true self
Connect to the ocean
Connect to your food
Connect!

Panama Yoga Surf Retreat 2013

Solyoga — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:28:47 +0000

You can stop day-dreaming about being on a deserted island in the Caribbean and come with us on this Yoga and Surf adventure to Panama.

Most days, after waking up to the sounds of ocean, you’ll start with a meditation followed by a delicious healthy breakfast on the water. Afterward you’ll pull out your mat for your daily yoga practice with Heather. After lunch jump on the boats with our Surf Instructors. They’ll take us to beautiful beaches to learn how to Surf or to get better at it if you already know how. There is so much to do in Bocas, snorkeling, diving, deep sea fishing and more. Of course, you can always just choose to soak up the Caribbean sun and relax.

Check out a blog post and pictures from our last trip:
Blog: Finding peace in Panama
Pictures: Panama Yoga and Surf Retreat 2011

Includes:

All yoga sessions with Solyoga
Surf Lessons and rentals *pending on weather
Local guides for tours
Transportation
Accommodation
2-3 meals daily and drinks (at meals excluding alcohol)

Optional

Biking, spa treatments, snorkeling, kayaking, fishing, dolphin bay tour

Airfare and Travel Insurance

Airport: Bocas
Arrival Date: Januray 24th, 2011
Arrival by: 1:00pm to take our water taxi
Departure Date: January 29th, 3022
Departure Time Range: 12:00pm – 6:00pm

Trip Planning
For more detailed information regarding travel, passport and visas, travel insurance, packing lists and more, please see our Trip Planning Guide.

Pricing
Non-Refundable deposit due upon registration.
Deposit – $500 USD | Register For Your Trip Now by Making a DepositEarly Bird Prices if trip is booked before November 5, 2010 – Save $200.00.

Shared Occupancy – shared room separate beds or couple in private room
Price: $1,595.00 USD per person | book now
Single Occupancy – single, private room
Price: $1,895.00 USD, per person | book now

Standard Prices if trip is booked after November 5, 2010.

Shared Occupancy – shared room separate beds or couple in private room
Price: $1,795.00 USD per person | book now
Single Occupancy – single, private room
Price: $2,095.00 USD, per person | book now
*Airfare not included.
*Travel insurance not included, but is mandatory.
*Non-refundable deposit due upon registration.
* Payment in full due 45 days before departure or upon registration.

Santa Fe Yoga and Culinary Adventure

Solyoga — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:00:51 +0000

Costs:
Price: $750
Single supplement: $400

Price includes: 4 nights hotel accommodation in downtown Santa Fe, 4 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 4 dinners, guides, transportation included in events above, and local taxes

Price includes: 4 nights hotel accommodation in downtown Santa Fe, 4 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 4 dinners, guides, transportation included in events above, and local taxesOutdoor cooking classes in the mountains!
Enjoy the beautiful and scenic mountains just north of town in the Santa Fe National Forest in a special way. One of our chefs will prepare a gourmet, Southwestern meal right before your eyes! Ask questions, sit around d the campfire and learn cooking techniques to help with your next camping endeavor or just relax and enjoy the sights and smells, while enjoying the expansive skies of northern New Mexico. Sample Meal cooked in the mountains:

salsa fresca and guacamole
Southwest paella, flour tortillas
vegetable skewers
peach cobbler

Costs:
Price: $750
Single supplement: $400

Interested in sharing? We do our best to pair up same-sex travelers so as to avoid the single supplement. However, priority is given to the first deposits received. If you’re interested in sharing – PLEASE send in your deposit as soon as possible in order to take advantage of this benefit. (Why a single supplement charge? See this FAQ page for an explanation.)

Final payment due no later than July 20, 2012.

Price includes: 4 nights hotel accommodation in downtown Santa Fe, 4 breakfasts, 2 lunches, 4 dinners, guides, transportation included in events above, and local taxes

Price does not include: airfare, airport transfer or alcoholic beverages, gratuities .

We recommend MedEx Assist for travel and/or evacuation insurance.

This trip is limited to 15 people and requires a $250 deposit to secure your spot.
Minimum required: 8 people

Taos Mountain Retreat

Solyoga — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:54:18 +0000

Vallecitos Ranch

Homesteaded in 1898, the ranch is a spectacular 135 acre “in-holding”—completely surrounded by 300,000 acres of the Carson National Forest, including some of the most majestic old growth forest in the Rocky Mountains. The ranch is a dedicated wildlife refuge and showcases lush alpine meadows, beautiful mountain lakes and wetlands, towering stands of ponderosa pine timber, sweeping groves of aspen, and bountiful game and wildlife. Our network of trails, including a stunning section of the national Continental Divide Trail, offers extraordinary opportunities to re-connect with nature. The exquisite Vallecitos River, designated wild and scenic, runs through the ranch

Katie Silcox, recently named one of San Franciscoʼs Best Yoga Teachers Under 30by Common Ground Magazine, has studied with the world’s pre-eminent teachers, scholars and visionaries in the world of mind-body health. She is a senior student and assistant to Yogarupa Rod Stryker, one of the worldʼs most well-respected yoga and meditation teachers today. This style of practice, known as Para Yoga, blends the three rivers of Tantra Hatha Yoga, Ayurveda and the Yoga Sutras into one comprehensive study.Katie was also taught yoga in south India, in the home of the yogis A.G. and Indra Mohan, authors of Yoga for Body Breath and Mind, and two of Krishnamacharyaʼs last students. She is a certified Ayurvedic Wellness Educator and Bliss Therapist from the country’s most recognized school of Ayurveda, and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in Hindu Religion and Philosophy. Her Ayurvedic studies includes personal mentorship with Devi Mueller, President of the Ayurvedic Medical Association. Katie currently teaches local classes, workshops in the San Francisco Bay area, and periodically teaches on a national and international scale (www.yoginiwarrior.com).

Rogue on the Rogue

Solyoga — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:25:39 +0000

Our goal this year was to uncover the most spectacular adventures for under $1000. Man are we glad we did that. We’ve teamed up with Rouge Wilderness, named one of Outside magazines best adventure travel companies on earth to bring you a ridiculously SWEET adventure.

Join us for 4 days of river runs, yoga, swimming, hiking, fires and delicious food on the Rouge River in Oregon, recently named one of the best river rafting experiences in the country.

Welcome to the Wild and Scenic Rogue River. Rogue Wilderness Adventures is your gateway to this beautiful and pristine wilderness area. For over 38 years Rogue Wilderness Adventures has been the leader in adventure travel on Oregon’s Rogue River.

Novelist Zane Grey felt the draw of this beautiful area; he wrote many of his western books in a cabin which still stands along the Rogue today. The area is steeped in history and lore from Native Americans to recent stories told around the campfire. The Rogue has famous fun rapids like Rainie Falls, Upper and Lower Black Bar Falls and Blossom Bar that will leave you memories of the sun dancing off of frothing warm water through beautiful rock formations and narrow canyons edged by towering cliffs.

Our adventures will open your eyes to the legendary wildlife viewing the Rogue River canyon. Deer, black bear, river otters, mallard ducks, turtles, bald eagles, and osprey are usually seen during your 34 mile trip from Grave Creek to Foster Bar. Enjoy your wilderness adventure on the nation’s first national Wild and Scenic river. Whitewater rafters are guaranteed an uncrowded, pristine adventure.

The Rogue River canyon from Grave Creek to Foster Bar features a historic hiking trail just above the river so hiking to side creeks and hidden swimming pools is easy and the views are spectacular. Checkout our new 28″x10″ waterproof Rogue River Hiking Trail Map. The Pacific Northwest Cascade Mountain Range near Crater Lake National Park in southern Oregon is where the Rogue River starts its journey to the Pacific Ocean.

Register:

Price: $960

Price includes: 3 nights catered camping, 3 breakfasts, 4 lunches, 3 dinners, guides, skilled professional guide service, expedition equipment including 2-person shared tent and waterproof bags, high-quality inflatable rafts and kayaks and related river equipment including paddle and helmet and personal flotation device, gratuities and local taxes.
Price does not include: airfare, airport transfer, pre- and post-trip accommodations and meals, alcoholic beverages, sleeping bag & sleeping pad (these items may be rented on site for $40) or items of personal nature