If you can easily do yoga in a local studio at home, why would you pay to go practice it overseas? Because it’s also about the adventure and amazing benefits that come with being in a new environment.
There is nothing more fulfilling then waking up in a quiet tranquil setting knowing that all that’s on the agenda that day is a relaxing morning yoga class, followed by a fresh light breakfast, some relaxing time then maybe another yoga class. Not only will your body thank you for it you will also:

1.   Gain time to reflect on your life

Getting away from the everyday grind and stresses of life can be a good opportunity to get back in touch with yourself and assess whether you need to make changes in your life to be more happy and on track. Through the spiritual practice of yoga itself and the relaxing setting your mind naturally becomes more clear, giving you more direction and clarity on your life goals. Often during yoga retreats my mind feels clear and I’m energized to go home and begin the next chapter of my life.

2.   Develop new daily habits

Is it common for you to get up every morning and do a yoga practice followed by a healthy light breakfast? How about practicing mediation daily in order to get a clearer mind? Although it’s often said it takes 30 days to develop new habit even 7 days of engaging in healthy activities is enough to give you motivation to keep these daily practices when you go back to your regular life.

3.   Deepen your yoga practice

Do you find you have been trying months to get in to a ‘pose’ that your body doesn’t seem to be able to do? Do you want to take your meditation to the next level? At home due to the interruptions in our daily life our yoga practice may not be quite as regular or deep as we really want it to be. A retreat is a good opportunity to just let go, flow and let our practice develop without the usual frustrations and interruptions we have back home. During a yoga retreat in India I overcame my fear of inversions by opening up and trusting. Sometimes the physical limitations you have in poses is nothing more than a mental block.

4.   Meet new friends

Chances are you won’t be on a yoga retreat alone and the people around you will have similar interests to you ie yoga and health. Being in a more relaxed atmosphere away from your daily responsibilities allows you to be more open to developing strong friendships. When I did my yoga teacher training for 3 months in Goa, India I developed close bonds with a few people in my course, we were all there for a similar reason to go deeper within ourselves and gain more peace. Who knows these friendships could last a lifetime.

5.   Experience a new culture

If you have decided to go overseas for your retreat, which is very common, take the time to learn more about the culture, language and way of life. It can be really humbling to learn about the life priorities and what makes other people happy in more developing countries. It’s also a good way to get perspective on your life and realize that all your so called ‘problems’ are small in comparison to the big picture of life. It’s also a good opportunity to make friends with locals and share you gifts and knowledge with them as well as receiving theirs.

For more information on how to find yoga retreats check out yoga directories such as

http://yogaretreatdirectory.com

http://www.yoga-centers-directory.net/

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Tranquil setting of my yoga teacher training course in Goa, India

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