New Years often comes with new resolutions. Get ready to stretch, flex and center yourself with this diverse collection of yoga fusion retreats, both domestic and international. As with any retreat, these getaways allow for a necessary and nourishing escape from daily life. Picturesque locations provide new perspective and serene spaces for solitary contemplation. Gourmet meals inspire healthy living from the inside out. Massages and spa treatments provide some much-deserved pampering and a way to give back to the body that works so hard for you.
Rest and relaxation has its place but true transformation arises when yogis challenge themselves to try new things. Ever wanted to learn how to surf? Dance with fire? Help save the sea turtles? Roam with wildlife on an African safari?
Make yoga a sustainable part of your life with a teacher-training program? Now’s the time! Today’s top yoga adventure retreats pair yoga with indulgent experiences, adventurous activities and exploratory excursions to stretch mind, body and spirit. There’s options for people who want to spoil themselves with luxury accommodations and others for people willing to forsake a therapeutic mattress to get more intimately acquainted with the great outdoors. Choose the right yoga fusion retreat for you, in sites both near or far, with options to suit every budget and time-scale.
1. Yoga and Wine (Napa Valley, California)
Do you want a quick escapade where you can maintain your New Year’s fitness resolution while enjoying the best of California’s Napa Valley wine country? The Domaine Carneros winery offers a “Vinyasa in the Vineyard” yoga class followed by a sparkling wine brunch. For budding wine snobs, guests can tantalize their taste buds by adding an hour long educational tasting after the bubbly breakfast.
Chateau for “Vinayssa at the Vineyards” at Domaine Carneros Vineyards. Photo courtesy of Domaine Carneros.
2. Yoga and Kayaking (Madeline Island, North Wisconsin)
Simultaneously improve your yoga and sea kayaking skills at the world-class destination of the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior. Spend mornings developing your yoga practice, and in the afternoon explore sea caves, hike the shores of Madeline’s State Park, and use breathing and stabilization strategies from yoga to improve kayaking skills. Find your best self at this active, playful and adventurous three-day woman’s-only yoga kayaking retreat.
Go glamping in the desert southwest of the United States with Re:treat and Expedition Ops. Photo courtesy of Re:treat.
3. Yoga and Glamping (Colorado/Utah/Arizona)
Find peace and serenity at desert southwest of the United States, with this 8-night retreat brought to you by RE:treat and Expedition Ops, a luxury camping outfitter. Starting the adventure in Telluride, Colorado, guests will be driven through the breathtaking, remote desert landscapes of southern Utah and northern Arizona. While in some of the most awe inspiring, off-the-beaten path areas of North America, you will practice yoga and hiking. Traveling by 4WD and “glamping” in luxury tents throughout this trek will ensure a comfortable stay while maintaining oneness with the beauty of the great outdoors.
4. Yoga and Hiking (Blue Ridge Mountain, Virginia)
Learn how to achieve a healthy, active lifestyle with a five-night Retreat at Veritas in the heart of Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains. Wake up each morning with yoga at sunrise, before spending the day hiking on the Appalachian Mountain trails. After lunch on the trails choose from afternoon exercise, like stretching, massages, cooking demonstrations and wine education. Then unwind, wine and dine with a much-deserved four course, wine-paired dinner and regain strength to start a new day.
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5. Yoga and Hula Hoops (Nicaragua)
Are you an adventurous yogi whose practice isn’t restricted to a mat? You’ll practically be qualified as a circus performer after finishing The Grounded Way retreat. Here, you can try stand-up paddle yoga, slack-line yoga and hula hoop yoga in beautiful Nicaragua. While improving your own health and happiness, this retreat takes holistic health to a new level by spreading benefits to the local community. These retreats support the Wellness Foundation, which provides free activities, instructions and supplies to revitalize nearby villages.
Hula hoop upside-down and seaside Nicaragua with Grounded Way Yoga Retreat. Photo courtesy of Grounded Way.
6. Yoga and Elephants (Chiang Mai, Thailand)
If you’re an animal lover, who wants to spread love to four-footed creatures of this universe, consider a service “Seva” Yoga Retreat to Chiang Mai, Thailand. Visitors will enjoy twice yoga, meditation, Thai spa services, Thai cuisine and service with proceeds that benefit the Save Elephant Foundation. Participants will begin with three days in the cultural Buddhist hub of Chang Mai before spending five in the Elephant Nature Park. Here, participants will live amongst these gentle giants, helping with the care and keeping of abused and orphaned animals- check out last year’s video here.
For elephant-lovers, the Seva retreat allows you to spend time the Elephant Nature Park in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Photo courtesy of AZAIM retreats.
7. Yoga and Italian Excursions (Italy)
This “La Yoga Bella” European retreat will immerse you in the best Italy has to offer. Enjoy two daily dynamic yoga and meditation classes in a glass barn overlooking the olive groves of Umbrian Hillside. Take advantage of an authentic Italian cooking class, guided meditations, hiking, biking and a Pranayama fire ceremony at the luxury villa retreat facilities. Explore the country with city excursions to Florence, Gubbio and Assisi and a wine tour to the famous Montefalco Vinyard in this surprisingly economical package. To see if this looks as perfect as it sounds, check out this beautiful slideshow.
8. Yoga and Surfing (Riviera Nayarit, Mexico)
Contemplation, focus and conscious balance are key elements to both yoga and surfing. Fine-tune both practices at the oceanfront Las Olas—”the waves”— studio for a woman-only yoga and surf retreat. Nestled in a small fishing village north of Puerto Vallarta, yoga classes for all levels focus on flexibility, breathing, balance and surfing-specific postures. On this five-night getaway, practice yoga high on jungle hills, learn to surf and bond with sister surfistas during afternoon activities that include margarita-making and salsa dancing.
Oceanside Villa at Las Olas oceanside yoga and surf resort. Photo courtesy of Las Olas.
9. Yoga on a Paddleboard (Puerto Rico)
Get a jumpstart on one of the latest fitness trends with a Paddleboard Yoga retreat at the Waldorf Astoria Resort in Puerto Rico. In addition to building strength and stability with paddleboard yoga, revive the mind, body and spirit with hikes, guided meditation, superfood cooking demonstration and a candlelight labyrinth & fire ceremony. Enjoy all these activities during this 4-night retreat on a 500-acre resort overlooking the converging waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.
10. Yoga and Sea Turtle Conservation (Caribbean)
Tune-out the busy world and tune in to nature for a week-long yoga retreat at the Rosalie Bay Resort on the Nature Island of Dominica in the Caribbean. The retreat includes daily outdoor yoga classes and active island pursuits, such as hiking to rainforests, swimming under waterfalls, snorkeling in the island’s famous Champagne Reef, and visiting healing hot springs. In their free time, guests can visit the spa for a massage, swim in the saltwater pool and meditate by walking in the resort’s labyrinth, nature paths or black sand beach. Visitors who visit during sea turtle season (beginning in March) can participate in the resort’s pioneering sea turtle conservation efforts by patrolling the beaches for nesting sea turtles and helping researchers collect data.
Yoga Retreat with Rosalie Bay Resort in Dominica, Caribbean. Photo courtesy of Rosalie Bay Resort.
Top photo credit: Yoga. Photo courtesy of Daniela Vladimirova.
Jessica Festa is the editor of the travel sites Jessie on a Journey (http://jessieonajourney.com) and Epicure & Culture (http://epicureandculture.com). Along with blogging at We Blog The World, her byline has appeared in publications like Huffington Post, Gadling, Fodor’s, Travel + Escape, Matador, Viator, The Culture-Ist and many others. After getting her BA/MA in Communication from the State University of New York at Albany, she realized she wasn’t really to stop backpacking and made travel her full time job. Some of her most memorable experiences include studying abroad in Sydney, teaching English in Thailand, doing orphanage work in Ghana, hiking her way through South America and traveling solo through Europe. She has a passion for backpacking, adventure, hiking, wine and getting off the beaten path.
