A Life-Changing Experience – My First Yoga Retreat – Yoga Sutra Shala review.
Written by Rupert O.
In this video, Venus isn’t in her apartment in Barcelona. Instead, she’s at a yoga retreat that’s situated not far from Alicante, Spain. She went there for Christmas and she can hardly believe that it is Christmas. It’s December 26th and she’s wearing a t-shirt and standing in the sun, outdoors.
This year, she’s given herself: ‘the best, best, present ever.’ If regular viewers have already watched the video: ‘The Art of Spending Christmas Alone’ then they’d be familiar with her opinion of the festive period. In fact, she’s not a big fan of Christmas.
However, she decided that, this year, she was going to start a new tradition. It will be about dedicating Christmas to herself and self-love. Venus explains that this will be her first experience with a yoga retreat. She’d wanted to go to Yoga Sutra Shala for 3 years. She saw it online, 3 years ago and was blown away by its possibilities.
One of the reasons for this was that Yoga Sutra Shala ticked many of the boxes for her. There were vegan meals ( 3 of which were included). These turned out to be organic and delicious. The rooms were en suite as well. This was important for her because she was looking for separate, en suite rooms especially.
A lot of other yoga retreats offer accommodation in dormitories that mean sharing a space with other people that you might not know. Also, shared bathrooms are not her thing. These things are particularly important when you’re alone. Venus went to Yoga Sutra Shala on her own. When she arrived, she didn’t know anyone.
There turned out to be a group of 11 women there. She couldn’t quite believe that. When she saw that it was absolutely true, it made her very happy. Venus realised that it was possible for her to fulfil her mission there of raising orgasmic awareness. In fact, she was able to give a workshop, a few days previous, about how to use orgasm to manifest. And that was amazing.
Even though Venus is on a break, she was even more inspired to continue with her work. That meant encouraging more women to take better care of themselves sexually, with many orgasms. And in other ways too.
She has experienced a variety of amazing things at Yoga Sutra Shala. These included doing yoga every day. She’s already practised yoga before but hadn’t done it for quite some time before arriving at the retreat. She practised meditation already but the group had been meditating every day also. The yoga had been very gentle when compared to the yoga she did back in Barcelona. Yoga Sutra Shala’s approach to yoga would be ideal for anyone starting out on their yoga journey.
Venus has experienced lots of new things including chanting. Later on that day, she would be trying a Pellowah healing class. She’s also been practising periods of silence. When she looked at other yoga retreats online, she saw that some were women only and that there was silence. She was intrigued by those things but she didn’t think that she was quite ready to do a silent retreat. She really wanted to connect with people.
However, at Yoga Sutra Shala, there were a group of women only, which was great and unique. There were also silent times at breakfast and just before dinner. So, it was: ‘really , really, nice.’ She thought it might be difficult. But it was cool to be really quiet with your food. It meant that Venus could enjoy the taste of the food so much more and be alone with herself rather than talking, nodding and eating at the same time. She guesses that it was: ‘mindful eating.’ It was definitely a new experience for her.
The group had enjoyed hiking together. And that was in silence also. It had been another new experience. Because, when you’re in silence, you’re alone with your thoughts. And thoughts can be very interesting in those circumstances.
So, what is the truth about yoga retreats?
Well, Venus thinks that going to a retreat like Yoga Sutra Shala is ideal for people who are solo travellers. It offers an excellent way to love yourself. A lot of holidays are about self-destruction. Some people want to go away with their friends, get wasted and eat terrible food. In fact, they might need a holiday after that holiday when they get back. Just to recover.
Yoga Sutra Shala is all about self-love: ‘pure self-love and nourishment which is really, really important.’ Over the last few years, while Venus has been eliminating any self-destructive habits out of her life, everything is now about everything being on the self-love path. She’d encourage other people to do that as well.
The thing that has been really interesting about the Yoga Sutra Shala experience is that the group comprised 11 women. Even though they didn’t know each other before, the conversations had been: ‘incredibly, incredibly, deep.’ Everyone was there to heal in some way. And it was incredible, in those circumstances, how during those conversations, people shared incredibly intimate things with her. Traumas, experiences, things that: ‘ they’ve brought to the retreat which isn’t about a normal Christmas.’
They’re also going to a yoga retreat instead of spending it with their families and friends. It’s like a gift when someone shares something really secret, or intimate, with you. And Venus did the same thing. So, everyone’s been giving each other support, which is something that Venus finds amazing. She feels that; ‘ even knowing the group for only a few days that, who knows what happens after, the connection they’ve all made is really, really, deep.’
Venus hopes that her stay at Yoga Sutra Shala is going to be the first of many yoga retreats. And now, she’s more inspired to continue with her own yoga practise when she goes home to Barcelona. That won’t be yet though. She still had another 24 hours to go and she’s going to make the most of it and them.
If you’re interested in going on a yoga retreat, Venus recommends Yoga Sutra Shala or going online to bookyogaretreats.com. There, you can look at all the retreats around the world and book one that’s right for you.