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Zion Shooting Star growing out of the canyon walls By Sonja Bjelland

Swaths of the Utah desert have split, moved and shaken into a range of colors and geologic wonders.

Fortunately, many of these places are now preserved as national parks.

Last weekend I had the chance to venture to Zion National Park and see some of this for myself – flowers growing out of rock formations, climbing red peaks. I was camping with friends which made it all the more fun to have great people to share it with.

Unfortunately, the only drop-in yoga classes are offered at the Springdale Community Center. The town is right at the edge of the park and its resorts and amenities make Zion much easier to visit than a more remote location such as Death Valley. It also means there’s a coffee shop right outside the campground and things like WiFi can be easier to come by than showers.

Zion National Park By Sonja Bjelland

Of course you don’t need a class to rock your yoga on the rocks. But there are a few yogis offering hiking and yoga retreats in Zion this year.

Adventures on the Go will hold a yoga and hiking trip through Zion and Bryce Canyons in “Mother Nature’s Yoga Studio” this Memorial Day weekend. It’s sold out for now but if you’re interested plan your 2013 vacation for it the trip titled Where Nature Nurtures. The team of adventure guide husband and lawyer, yogi wife also holds yoga retreats in California.

A pair of yoga instructors from Alpine, Utah’s, Lifted Life Yoga Center will hold their second annual retreat in Zion this Sept. 20-23. Accompanied by a nutritionist, the hiking and yoga retreat will include gluten-free, organic meals.

North Carolina studio Yoga Blyss will be in Zion National Park for a yoga retreat the following weekend. From Sept. 27 to Oct 1 yogis will explore the canyons and hanging gardens that make Zion a favorite among many visitors.

A Sivananda yoga students sits by the nearby lake. By Sonja Bjelland

I keep seeing different publications listing their “Top 10 yoga retreats.”

In the industry we call this a roundup, it’s what readers seem to like best. So today I’m rounding up the roundups in a collective of the top five lists. A few of these have overlap of the most popular places, but each has it’s own flair. One gives more luxurious places. One highlights a little more adventure with the yoga. It all depends on who their audience is.

Combined this gives a pretty good look at the world’s top yoga destinations, from the U.S. to India. The finds here vary in price point and type of yoga but if you’re making a bucket list of yoga retreats, this is a good starting place. I’ve been to a few of these places and would love to go to many more.

If you’ve been to some of them be sure to let me know if you thought it belonged on the list. And let me know what’s missing. What yoga retreat did you love?

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  View near The Yoga Barn in Ubud, Bali By Sonja Bjelland

  Gayot annually updates its list of “Top 10 Yoga Retreats Worldwide,” that includes Alicante in Spain and Big Sky Yoga Retreats in Montana.

• Coastal Living rounded up its “23 Best Coastal Yoga Retreats.” This includes anything near water from Mexico to Martha’s Vineyard and the Turks and Caicos to Vietnam.
• The UK’s Guardian newspaper has a more adventurous list that couches it’s title as “10 of the World’s Best Yoga Retreats 2012.” Their list includes several places I’ve been including Bali’s Yoga Barn and the Sivananda Ashram in Kerala, India. This reflects the more outgoing British traveler and the list is totally different than the first two.
• Well+Good NYC’s “9 Best Yoga Vacations” has some listings that are similar to the rest but they managed to come up with a few more original offerings. One of my favorites is the yoga, Tango and wine trip to Argentina.
• Departures magazine’s “Top Yoga Retreats” list ranges from the romanticized and secluded in Bangalore to Western and easier access at the Wanderlust Festival. Though it might be possible to buy a plane ticket to India for the price of lodging and an all-access pass to one of the Wanderlust Festivals.

Sailboats anchored off Thailand's islands By Sonja Bjelland

I can only imagine rocking a boat pose aboard a Clipper ship or catamaran with the sea salt sticking to my sunscreen, but for many yogis this is a reality.

Around the world, yogis are gaining permission to come aboard and taking their yoga out to sea.

To me that’s a little bit of heaven. I love all the fun I’m having in Colorado, but I miss blue water. During a recent cleaning binge I realized my sailing gloves still hold a perfume of sunscreen, salt, fish and algae. The scent made me smile.

And I’m not alone in thinking this is a great idea. From Australia and Turkey to Baja and Connecticut, yoga teachers are floating with the flow.

Lamps at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey By Sonja Bjelland

I’m not saying tree pose gets any easier when you’re bobbing up and down, but sivansana is a pretty good name for a boat. Now, I just have to find a way to make this trip possible. I’ve listed below a smattering of what I’ve found but there are tons of options available. If you have a particular country or island in mind just search for yoga and sailing options and you may well find your next vacation.

• Sailing-Charters.org offers multiple sailing and yoga retreats through the Greek Islands. It’s limited space on the catamaran with six cabins but each day includes sailing for a few hours and yoga classes.
• Herizen Sailing for Women has a whole list of upcoming sailing and yoga retreats – British Columbia, Belize, the British Virgin Islands. Right now they’re in Thailand for a sail training, yoga and self-awareness adventure. I’m not sure jealous quite captures it.
• Seaflower Yoga holds classes on her boat in Connecticut if you want to get a taste of yoga on the water but aren’t sure about a longer trip. If you’re ready for several days at sea, she also offers Caribbean sailing and yoga retreats.
• YogaCruise.net has yachts sailing the Turkish Mediterranean with an iternary that includes twice-daily yoga classes and tea time – a must in Turkey. Sailing down the coast was one of the things I didn’t accomplish during my time in Turkey and this would be a great way to do it. I should admit Turkey may well be my favorite country to visit. It has a lot of competition, but I loved Turkey.
• The ships of Star Clippers hold yoga classes on their teak decks during cruises to Greece and Turkey. Sailing along in the Aegean Sea, yogis have the chance to practice with celebrity teacher Christel Vollmer.

Stand up and rock a warrior pose when you need to By Susan Gill

During a visit to REI last weekend I noticed a rack of men’s yoga wear.

For awhile, I’ve had a note about some yoga retreats for men but that moment in REI got me thinking that there might be more out there these days.

And there are.

Slowly men are creating their own yoga space as more studios offer men’s only classes and more teachers create men’s only yoga retreats.

These days it may be women who are most associated with yoga but traditionally it was dominated by men. Men passed down the great yogic wisdom and it’s men in photos of yoga gurus. In India, it is still very much a man’s world. I was happy the two teachers I had at Parmarth Niketan were women. The other 8 weeks I was in India I mostly had male teachers.

Now you’ve got Broga, a style designed for the modern man and Jonathan Bowra creating what he’s deemed the men’s yoga tribe.

Yoga retreats for men will take place this year in the U.S., Australia, Cambodia and Costa Rica. But not all are the same. Some specialize in retreats for gay men who do nude yoga while others focus in different directions. Granted, I can’t really partake in any of these so if you have any tips or info feel free to pass it along to me.

• Will Duprey forged new paths with his yoga retreats and again this year will meet up with fellow male yogis in New Mexico for a few days of downward dogs, hiking to 9,000 feet and drinking beer. “The real goal is to have some time to reignite the masculine energy and power that, though not glorified, is ever steady and alive,” the information states.
• Through Australia’s Yoga Institute,  men will discuss bringing yoga philosophy into daily life and studying the yogic greats. Pretty typical yoga retreat syllabus but from a man’s perspective and among the company of men. All at a forest retreat outside of Sidney.
• Broga is organizing a retreat in Costa Rica that starts a month from tomorrow. In addition to the daily yoga classes, attendees can take jungle hikes or surfing lessons and one note I haven’t seen on other retreat pages, world-class fishing.
• Also in Costa Rica but happening this fall, the man behind the popular New York studio Hot Nude Yoga will introduce fans to his new home and retreat in the jungle with a 30-day teacher training. But before that, he’ll be leading a retreat in Cambodia.
• Later this fall, several male teachers are joining together for yoga retreat in Hawaii. Mornings will be spent on yoga and the afternoons are open for snorkeling and hiking.
• Bryan Harrelson will also lead naked yoga retreats in Costa Rica and Hawaii this year. The ashtanga primary starts off the mornings and he fills afternoons with poses to work on a particular body part as well as meditation and restorative yoga.

The view from one run at Wolf Creek Ski Area in Colorado By Sonja Bjelland

I’ll be the first to admit that a ski trip is not always the most healthy excursion.

The skiing lifestyle tends toward drinking and a fair amount of carousing. Something has to kill the pain from all day in those boots and sore muscles.

So a yoga and skiing retreat seems a bit counter. But it’s a different way to take the edge off of the body after a day shredding the mountainside. These retreats also mix in healthy and frequently vegetarian meals, again counter to most of what I’ve had on ski trips. And as with all yoga retreats, it gives you specific poses to do before and after skiing so you can continue that on your next trip.

I’ve written before about some of the skiing and yoga retreats in the U.S. but today I’m focusing on European options.

France and Switzerland both have several ski and yoga retreats, and most don’t even require you to downhill ski. It’s a choice of cross-country, snowshoeing or reading a book by the fire if you’d prefer. And being that it’s France and Switzerland, these aren’t exactly lacking wine and I hope there would be a little cheese.

• Yoga with Altitude had one ski and yoga retreat last month and is offering another in April. At resorts of Val d´Isere and Tignes attendees may enjoy morning yoga classes with brunch and access to a sauna and hot tub.
• Villars Yoga has one retreat that starts tomorrow and another in March. The small groups stay in a private chalet in Switzerland by the Villars-Gryon ski area. The weekend includes restorative yoga sessions, post-skiing tea and cakes and a three-course dinner with local wines. The organizers also arrange private ski and yoga retreats for groups of four or six if you have a group of friends or fellow yogis from your studio who want to go.
• Adventure Yoga Retreats Europe is leading a seven-day retreat in the French Alps that they’re marketing as “Eat, Pray, Ski.” The farmhouse setting also comes with organic and ayurvedic meals as well as twice daily yoga and your option of skiing or snowboarding. Days are bookended with yoga and finished off with a yoga nidra session, a deep relaxing meditation that helps with sleep.
• Symmetree Yoga has the longest trip with a nine-night stay in a Swiss ski town. The package include train and gondola passes for the week to ski as well as travel the area exploring other towns that cannot be accessed by car. The daily yoga classes are worked in with a seven-day ski pass to three major ski areas.
• Teacher Michelle Riordan leads yoga retreats all over the world but has returned home to Switzerland to host them there. The two yoga and ski sessions are coming up in March and if you don’t yet know how to ski or board you can mix it with lessons. And if you don’t want to do either of those, she has options for sledding and snowshoeing as well.

Overhead view of Colorado's ski region from a recent flight By Sonja Bjelland

This last weekend I was finally able to pull my ski boots out of storage.  Soon maybe I’ll even get to use them. Until then I’m doing lots of yoga that will help me get ready.

Yoga poses help improve balance and hip flexibility, good for snowboarding or skiing. And it helps you learn to control individual muscles and groups of muscles, also a plus. They’re so good together that several places have created designated ski and yoga retreats.

This is beyond the hotels and resorts that offer onsite yoga classes. The ones I’ve picked out below have a little something special and are spread across the U.S. Or at least the parts of the U.S. that have skiing. There’s so many in Europe that’ll just have to be a separate post.

• At Big Sky Yoga Retreats in Montana cross country and alpine skiing mix for a yoga retreat at a lodge designated just for the group. Other highlights include a sleigh ride dinner as well as evening discussion about meditating and before bed yoga.
• Utah’s Alta Lodge takes yogis out in the backcountry with a multi-day retreat including two days of guided backcountry skiing in addition to five yoga sessions. Better be in good shape for that one but what an adventure.
• Alpine Meadows in California incorporates yoga into its three-day women’s camps.
• On the East Coast, one of the country’s top yoga centers, Kripalu, has organized two ski, snowboarding and yoga retreats.
• The yoga and meditation center in Northern Michigan, Song of the Morning, is holding a ski/snowboarding and yoga retreat featuring yoga by the fireplace, vegetarian meals and meditation.

BaliSpirit Festival attendees attempt the acrobatics yoga posed I rocked in class the other night. By Sonja Bjelland

Held up by my friend’s feet, I was floating over the floor.

Then the giggles set in.

I was tipping forward and trying to tighten my abs but I cracked up instead and recovered before I went into full Tickle-Me-Elmo hysterics.

Several feet above the padded floor, I felt vulnerable, ungrounded.

The giggles apparently are a natural part of play and that’s exactly what acrobatic yoga was.

I’d seen such moves when I attended the BaliSpirit Festival earlier this year but was too worn out to try it myself. When a friend mentioned a class here in Colorado Springs at the rock climbing gym, City Rock, I figured it was time to try it out.

The nature of the location prevents the type of calming environment I’m used to in yoga classes but it brings out other elements that are hard to achieve in a more traditional yoga practice.

At its core, yoga is individual. I can practice at home or in a class and never touch another person the whole time. I don’t even have to speak to anyone save the person I’m handing money to.

Acrobatic yoga adds almost a 3D element. You’re not alone in your practice anymore.

Partner acrobatics yoga at the BaliSpirit Festival By Sonja Bjelland

The class I attended taught by Jeremy Hasty started with group introductions and efforts such as lining up in a circle and squatting together in chair pose with each person supporting the person in front of them. You’d better get used to touching because there’s going to be a lot of it.

That also means the challenges in a pose are not fully on you either. You and your partner have to communicate when something’s too much or just off.

I know there’s some argument if this is yoga or just some commoner’s attempt to look all Cirque Du Soleil. But it does require a heck of a lot of focus, serious breath work and individual muscle contractions. But then it takes that to another level by involving trust in your body and in your space. Not to mention your partner.

At one point, I was suspended in a locust pose held up again only by my partner’s feet not noticing how long I’d been there. He finally piped up and asked if I was just going to hang out there. I guess I was in the zone.

I watched our instructors do some incredibly complicated poses and realized the woman had no fear of being suspended in air. Maybe it helps that a lot of the people in class are rock climbers. Something else on my list of to dos.

But I have hung dozens of feet above sailboats while fixing mast parts and as the smallest child in my class typically was the one thrown around in elementary school cheerleading and gymnastics.

As adults we loose that comfort of freedom. We become more and more unable to let our bodies and minds float in new ways. Yes, this requires some good grounding poses afterward. But the mental follows the physical and the same in reverse so it’s worth it to let our bodies and our minds find new movement once in a while. Now I’ll have to go back for the slackline yoga class on Tuesdays.  Yep, that’s yoga on a wide tightrope.

In those days after Thanksgiving, yoga studios around the U.S. gathered some of us to recenter ourselves and think about others. OK and maybe work off a few of those sweet potatoes.

That sent my friend Shirin Parsavand to a yoga fundraiser benefiting Haiti and allowed her to meet the people involved. She’s written a guest post for us today to learn more about it.

Living in inland Southern California, I knew the tall pines and rustic wooden buildings in the mountain community of Idyllwild provide a welcome change of scene from the congested cities nearby.

I learned Friday that among the approximately 3,000 year-round residents is a tight-knit group of people who are quick to pitch in on each other’s projects. At the center of one such group is Kate Sirkin, the owner of Idyllwild Yoga Studio.

Sirkin got an immediate response when she planned a benefit to raise money for building a school in Haiti, a country still devastated from last year’s massive earthquake.

Outside of Idyllwild Yoga Studio with items for a silent auction during a fundraiser Friday to benefit Project Edeline, an effort to build a school in Haiti. By Shirin Parsavand

“The minute I put the call out, people were right on it,” Sirkin said Friday, as the fundraiser to benefit the school got under way.

Businesses donated artwork, jewelry and gift certificates for a silent auction. She also got ready offers of help from fellow yoga instructors. Judi Way, who owns a Pilates studio next door, and instructor Sandi Fulcher joined Sirkin to offer yoga classes throughout the day.  Donations and sales at the fundraiser added up to nearly $1,300 to go toward Project Edeline, named after earthquake survivor Edeline Felizor.

Felizor hopes to run a free school in Haiti, where many children do not attend school because their families cannot afford the fees and supplies. Felizor worked as an elementary school teacher in Port-au-Prince and before the earthquake was studying to become a high school teacher. She was in a building that collapsed during the earthquake and was trapped for several hours in the rubble with a broken neck and five fractured vertebrae. It was more than a week before she received surgery on a U.S. military hospital ship.

Felizor and her sister Isemene now live near San Diego, thanks to Byron Shewman, who met Felizor in Haiti while working as a translator for a medical team. Shewman is managing Project Edeline through his nonprofit, Youth Without Borders, which works on Haiti relief.

Shewman, who knew Felizor would not get the physical therapy she needed in Haiti, arranged for humanitarian visas so the sisters could come to the United States. He also found a physical therapist near San Diego willing to treat Felizor at no charge.

Edeline in the snow near Julian, Calif., early this year. Photo courtesy of Byron Shewman

Sirkin met Felizor through that physical therapist, Stephanie Hoffman. Now, the community of Idyllwild, about two hours from San Diego, has developed a connection to Shewman, Felizor and the school project. Early this year, Felizor came to Idyllwild for a monthly forum where she sang and told her story to about 75 people.

Lou Bacher, a friend of Sirkin’s, was at that talk and said he was deeply moved. He spent Friday running the silent auction outside the yoga studio for Project Edeline.

Bacher is president of the Idyllwild Help Center, which provides food and other services to local people in need. He said he understands the difficulty of aid work in places like Haiti but still believes in the school.

“Yes, it’s possible. If enough people get behind it and the organization stays legitimate, absolutely, it can be done,” Bacher said.

So far, Shewman said, Project Edeline has raised about $20,000 of the estimated $200,000 needed to purchase land, build the school and run it for the first year. Plans call for the school to begin small, starting with three kindergarten classes of 25 students each, and expand gradually. To learn more about Project Edeline, visit Youth Without Borders at http://youthwborders.org/.

Most recent snow fall By Sonja Bjelland

I’ve already felt some winter chill so it’s no wonder I was drawn to a few tropical locations for this month’s roundup. I really can’t believe there’s already another month gone. How did that happen? Obviously, I’ve been a bit busy traveling this month and trying to set up my new place. But I know that after Halloween it’s a crazy shot straight through New Years and all of a sudden it’s 2012. Just thought I’d remind you in case you weren’t already freaking out about all that.

Instead give your mind, and body, a break. It’s no secret that I loved Bali and now Surf Haven Bali is giving visitors a $300 discount if they come by the end of the year.

I’d take them up on it because from what I hear that’s the best way to learn and yoga and surfing fit well together. I tried when I lived in California and took a serious beating. Maybe I’ll have to try again next time I’m in Bali.

Or if you’re still thinking tropical, Black Tomato Costa Rica has a new adventure and yoga vacation in the works.

Some of Bali's most famous surfing in Ulu Watu By Sonja Bjelland

The trip promises endangered wildlife, eco-lodging and yoga. Another one to add to my list.

Now thinking more toward next summer, Canada’s Globe and Mail had an article on Montreal that included a note about the Shea Mayer’s Fitz & Follwell Co. bike and yoga tour through the city.

“His Bike & Yoga tour, for example, takes visitors through the bohemian neighbourhood of Le Plateau, with a break along the way for smoothies at his favourite juice bar and stops for yoga sessions in three of the area’s tranquil parks,” the article stated.

Kanyakumari, India By Sonja Bjelland

Sounds like a pretty good way to spend the day and yet another note in my ever-growing list.

In more practical yoga travel information, Anusara yoga founder and yoga stuperstar John Friend has teamed up with Manduka for a product line that includes a travel mat.

I haven’t seen the new mat yet to compare it to my prAna yoga travel mat but I’ll have to check it out because Friend travels all over the world for yoga. It’s a toss up for me between taking a yoga travel mat and just taking the ToeSox and gloves. Or going au naturel. But I kinda like having a mat between me and a hotel room floor.

But what if that hotel room was on a women’s only floor?

The New York Times InTransit blog had a piece this month on more Indian hotels offering floors for women only. So if you’re planning on an Indian yoga holiday, this might help ease you into the chaos.

The phenomenal streets of Delhi By Sonja Bjelland

One year ago today, I caught a train to New York City and made my way to John F. Kennedy airport.

I wouldn’t hit U.S. soil again for seven months. First stop, Delhi.

As I walked on the plane, they were playing a version of “Feelin Good.”

“It’s a new dawn, it’s a new day, it’s a new life for me… And I’m feelin’ good.”

How could that not feel right?

What was ahead I didn’t know, but I was off.

Its not that I wasn’t scared. I was terrified. But it also felt right. The power of wanting to travel overwhelmed the fear of doing it.

When I arrived I went to the hotel room without checking it out first. First travelers mistake. When I was paying $60 a night I had assumed a certain standard that didn’t hold true in India.

The challenges always fell away to the joy of discovery and adventure. The streets proved intense and overwhelming. Drivers calling out to me while I was trying to find where I was going and not twist an ankle on the potholes in the once paved streets.

But a smile makes everything better and so did finding a restaurant that always gave its female patrons a jasmine bracelet.

Laundry in my first hotel room in Delhi

I went back to my notes from that time to help me recall those first few days when jetlag had a stiff grip on me. Delhi was chaotic with my taxi sharing the road with cows, horses, buses and scooters. Lest I not forget the ubiquitous rickshaw.

It’s almost hard to imagine now how jarring it was. But in some ways it also felt like coming home. I’d lived in the developing world before and a part of me missed being fascinated daily by something I saw on the street. Furniture jury-rigged on a moped, or a family of six. Or all of the above on the same moped.

That first week also brought a lot of drama. Someone shot up a tourist bus outside the main mosque in Delhi, the Jama Masjid. A car bomb went off down the street from it. I just wanted out of Delhi but I had to rearrange my plans because Rishikesh was flooded. I needed a yoga class and forced myself to venture out on the streets to get to one. I was so glad I did. The class helped calm me down and I met two Thai monks studying in Delhi. We shared a rickshaw to the subway station and road back together.

Me at the Jama Masjid

People really did seem to come into my life when I needed them.

Over the next seven months, I became more adept at walking on less than stellar surfaces. I grew more confident in my ability to find hotel rooms on the fly and navigate a train station. And I watched how serendipity so frequently happened when I let it.

I’m getting ready to move again but this one seems easy compared to last year. Most things seem easier and few are worth a big to do. After you’ve mastered the Indian waitlist train seating system, the Chicago Transit Authority feels like a breeze.

It’s not like every moment of my travels were easy. But most problems were resolved within 24 hours and turned out not to be a huge deal. Solutions could be found and 20 min. of drama need not ruin one day, much less a whole trip.  So yes, I’d do it all again in a second.