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Ton Sai Bay Koh Phi Phi Thailand By Sonja Bjelland

There’s some good, but not great news out recently for the yoga retreat and travel industry.

The American Express Spending and Saving Tracker Survey taken in January showed about 37 percent of consumers planned to spend more or the same as last year on yoga retreats, fitness cruises and other fitness vacations. The same report stated that 6 percent are planning a spa vacation and 17 percent are up for an outdoor adventure trip.

The CNN article I found on the survey goes on to give a few yoga retreat and wellness vacation spots from Massachusetts to Mexico. But here at BlissPassport it’s monthly roundup time. OK it’s a little late.

The UK’s Daily Mail had a feature on a yoga course in Morocco in the bucolic Berber country. Morocco is still on my list of must-see countries and I’m loving all the yoga places I’ve heard about there. It just makes a comfortable break in a sightseeing trip.

“As we return from the morning’s yoga, the farm’s brunch is laid out like a buffet for the Buddha,” the writer detailed.” ”Carafes of beetroot, apple and ginger juice sit beside thick, nut-studded Bircher muesli, newly-leavened bread and homegrown

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

fig jams rub shoulders with coriander couscous and fava dips, earthenware bowls of giant roasted vegetables and softly cooked lentils find space next to bulging wheat berries drizzled with homemade Argan oil. We look on in stunned, appreciative silence,” the article stated.

I’d also note that the teacher they had at the time had students hold poses for 12 minutes at a time and told students to “acknowledge the pain but don’t attach yourself to it.” A stretch can feel intense yes, but you should never feel pain in a yoga class. This is a perfect example of why it’s important to find out what type of teacher will be leading the yoga retreat.

Then a lucky writer got to go to Surf Haven Bali, at their treat. Yes, I’m a little jealous. I loved Bali and could really use a few days when my biggest decisions are where to sit on the beach or what juice combo I should order.

“Sitting on yoga mats on the lawn in the fading evening sun, we set our intentions for the week, Bali-style. Deeply spiritual, the Balinese are famed for their fresh flower offerings, which they place at the family shrine up to five times a day,” the author describes. Sure sounds like Bali to me.

Sonja Bjelland sporting a tree pose among palms Photo by Dug Begley

Before you take a tree pose, a lot of teachers will have you envision roots coming out of the bottom of your foot. The mental trick helps you feel balanced and stable as you pull your non-rooted foot off the ground.

Lately, the issue of yoga’s roots has turned into a bit of a deal.

A few years ago drama came to the yoga world as personalities attempted to trademark their styles of yoga. India fought back and said no one owns yoga.

Now the NYT science writer behind the kerfuffle over yoga and injuries has pinned an opinion piece that yoga started as a sex cult so why should we be shocked when yoga leaders stray.

I really disagree with William Broad’s take on this. The issue isn’t yoga’s history or science, it’s about a man taking advantage of women from his position of power. Yoga’s roots as a sex cult or not doesn’t make that excusable.

Banks of the river Ganges in Rishikesh, India. Considered the home of yoga By Sonja Bjelland

Also can’t say I’m a fan of him using a “sex sells” approach to selling his new book, “The Science of Yoga: The Risks and the Rewards.”

The comments this got when the NYT put it on their India Ink blog are just exceptional. They range from some accusing the column of being Calvinist and Christian ideologies frowning upon Eastern traditions to questioning the point.

Yoga as a philosophy and meditation practice does go back some 5,000 years making it hard to pinpoint specifics. Indian culture also tends toward accepted history vs. facts making it more difficult for researchers to nail down what we in the West view as the “truth.”

But is it even from India.

Chicago yoga teacher Asar Hapi started studying poses off of Egyptian hieroglyphics some 30 years ago.

“We essentially developed the system from our primary research by deciphering the hieroglyphs and other symbols of ancient Egypt and seeing the connection with yoga. We started the movement now known as Kemetic yoga,” Yiser Ra Hotep, a student of Hapi’s, said in an article in Bermuda’s The Royal Gazette article about his yoga workshop this weekend.

But really, who cares. Yes it’s important to know where you came from. I’ve spoken to enough Eastern religion experts to know that yoga teachers spread a lot of myths and that could be improved.  But can we not accept yoga as it is today as a dynamic activity. That there isn’t “one” yoga and we can all practice how we need to.

Ziplining through British Columbia

Tomorrow is one of those special days that doesn’t happen every year. How are you going to honor it?

The day itself is known mostly in the States by the Irish tradition of women being able to propose to men. TimeandDate.com has a host of descriptions about how other cultures embrace it as a leap month and go all out – Dancing, festivals, the works. It would be a great time to be in Asia, or plan a trip to be in Asia four years from now. Maybe I’ll make note of that.

In the States, we tend to take that sort of fun out of things and make holidays about either buying things or drinking things.

So how can you make more out of your leap day?

Well, maybe start with learning how to leap. One of my favorite quotes is “We have to be continually jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down,” from Kurt Vonnegut.

It may be a good day to try skydiving or rock climbing but it’s also a chance to learn a yoga leap. If you’ve been in a class and watched someone float their feet from downward dog to their hands or even downward dog to a seated position you might just get pose envy. But I’m sure there’s none of that in yoga. It’s just respect and you’d like to challenge yourself to do it so maybe you’ll have it mastered before that yoga retreat or yoga festival you’re going to this summer. No ego involved.

To make this happen I’ve found a few helpful articles to get you started. Just don’t break anything.

• A Yoga Journal Q & A about jump throughs
• Also from Yoga Journal: Tips on flying
• YouTube Video from Yoga Body Naturals with helpful pointers

Downward dog is one of several immunity helping poses By Susan Gill

The yoga world tipped out of tree pose recently when one of it’s leaders stepped down from an empire he built amid various accusations.

Long-time readers of this blog may remember that I briefly interviewed John Friend, Anusara yoga founder, years ago after seeing him speak at USC’s Medical School. He tweeted my post and it became one of my most read articles.

What he was selling sounded good, lives transformed by a healing touch and thinking holistically about health care.

But I was fresh off many years as a daily newspaper reporter so I wasn’t surprised to see a few months later when a New York Times profile called him a cult of personality and compared him to evangelical Christian minister Joel Osteen. The Yoga Journal conferences director clarified in the story how important he was to their events, “In 2008, his was the largest yoga class ever held at our conference.”

This isn’t just some guy who did some downward dogs. He was slated to headline several of this year’s Wanderlust Festivals, had merchandising deals with Adidas and had plans for a yoga Disneyland in California.

Friend has now taken leave from Anusara yoga, which he founded, and admitted to being involved with students and employees, some of whom were married. Other accusations that have been previously leveled on the Internet have yet to be addressed from freezing employee pensions to having employees accept marijuana deliveries for him. We should be thankful for bloggers from YogaDork to Elephant Journal who are making yogis aware of this. That’s the whole purpose of journalism and this story isn’t yet big enough for traditional media to tackle. But within our space, it resonates and needs to be known.

It also highlights how all of us, yogis or not, to be aware of ourselves and our space. It’s what one of my teachers here called “the internal ‘or not’ clause.”

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

We all have to be alert while also having the courage to step forward when we know something is amiss.

No, this is not a common occurrence in the yoga world. But it’s not extinct either.

It’s not even the first time I’ve taken up the topic. A string of events last year inspired me to write “Preying on yogis at their most vulnerable.”

Indians are skeptical of many yoga gurus because of accusations over the years. It’s true of many powerful men be it priest or politician, especially when surrounded by students or disciples.

One of my friends in India was groped by a security guard while walking back to her dorm at an ashram. A guesthouse employee in India tried to convince a male friend of mine that he should stop me from going to the ashram because it wasn’t safe.

Yes, we want to let our guards down and be vulnerable to the world. But there’s also common sense and realizing that anyone is capable of anything – guru, teacher, leader or not. That’s what I learned in 10 years of sitting in murder trials and interviewing suspects in jail. Any prison warden will tell you the same thing. It’s what they’ve told me. Under certain circumstances, anyone is capable of the best and the worst society can offer.

Head outside if you've got a long layover in San Diego. The airport's in a great part of town.

USA Today has a story this week on airports giving travelers more fitness options.

I was pleasantly surprised when I flew over the holidays and found a smoothie stand in my terminal at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. I even noticed a few other healthier options countering the BBQ joint that seemed the only option on other trips through Dallas.

Hopefully it’s a trend that continues to grow. The health concerns of long flights have already been well documented and it’s not secrete that Americans aren’t high on the fitness scale. And with this economy there are multiple open storefronts at some of the airports I’ve been in. Yes, I’d like my yoga for free. But if nothing else is taking up the space, it would be nice. I know they have prayer rooms, but I wouldn’t want to disturb someone.

The article riffs off the January opening of San Francisco International Airport’s yoga room and highlights a few more. I’ve added a couple from my own experience as well. Unfortunately, I’ve found most airports don’t at all have what I’m wanting them to. But a few, well, they stand out. So they’ve made the list. What ones haven’t I included that you think need to be here?

• Los Angeles International Airport claims travelers can play 18-holes at a golf course (well, if you have a lengthy layover because all I’ve found is the Westchester Golf Course and you’ll need a cab to get there, but it is close.) The article also recommends tai chi or yoga in the LAX Flag Courtyard. I’ve been trying to figure out where that is and I’m still not sure. I’ve spent a lot of time at LAX and wish I would have known it was there.
• Major airport hotels have opened fitness centers to travelers in Chicago, Dallas and Vancouver ranging from $10 to $30. Sometimes that grants access to the small health club while other hotels include a pool pass or other amenities, the article states.
• AirportGyms.com, I mentioned this a couple years agoas a self-reported list of gyms within airport terminals or a short walk or taxi ride. One I noticed is the Sheraton across from the San Diego airport. What’s great about that airport is you don’t even need to go to the Sheraton to workout but it might be a good place to regroup. The path along the water there would be a great getaway on a long layover to allow for time to get across the parking lot and back through security.
  

  Singapore at dusk By Sonja Bjelland

• Minneapolis/St. Paul International airport sports a designated walkway, according to the article.
• Singapore Changi International Airport takes the cake on all of this. Yes, on a long layover in Singapore you have no need to stay in the airport. In 20 minutes you can be seeing sights. It’s so easy the airport even has a free 2-hour tour. But if timing leaves you in the airport, well then you only have a variety of gardens to choose from on their nature trail. I got a chance to enjoy the butterfly garden even though most were sleeping when I visited. Keep walking and you’ll get to the fern, orchid or cactus gardens. Yep, they also have gyms in different terminals.
• The Abu Dhabi International Airport is one of my favorite places on earth. Really? Yes, it doesn’t matter that I sat on my pack because there weren’t enough seats. It’s an amazing crossroads of cultures. Men and women walk through in traditional dress from various countries in Asia and Africa. If you actually want to disappear from this movie for awhile they also have a spa specializing in 15-minute treatments from facials to massages. And if you’ve really got time to kill, there’s a sand golf course nearby.

"Be the change you want to see in the world" quote by Gandhi at the BaliSpirit Festival By Sonja Bjelland

I practiced yoga for years before I wound up in India learning all about aspects of yoga beyond downward dog and crow poses.

So if you’re like I was, the terminology listed on the websites for some yoga retreat and yoga festivals can be confusing. And considering that Wanderlust is adding a fourth location this year in Whistler, B.C. more of us will be trekking to festivals this summer than every before.

Here’s a little primer to get you started. If there are any other terms you’d like for me to address, just ask:

• Bhakti: Considered the yoga of devotion, this is the spiritual side of yoga. It frequently includes chanting to Hindu deities but can also include dancing.
• Kirtan: The act of doing those chants in a group. The call and response chants are historically in Sanskrit but many have been rewritten in English or new ones created by Western devotees.
• Meditation: Expect anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour. There are multiple types of meditation. Some require paying attention to your breath. Others have you repeat a mantra in your head or maybe focus on the flame a top a candle. In most cases this isn’t an effort in getting your brain to stop but in getting yourself to ignore the thoughts your brain is pumping out, at least for a few moments.
• Yoga philosophy: This can be a discussion of the works of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, the Upanishads or the Bhagavad Gita. Patanjali is said to have written the collection of  yoga philosophy that guides us today including the principals of being non-harming and most popularly, doing asana or poses. The Upanishads are considered the core of Indian philosophy and some of the base teachings for Hinduism. The Bhagavad Gita, a 700-verse Hindu scripture, reads more like an epic battle story but address philosophical matters within the tale.
• Pranayama: A variety of breathing exercises used to enhance concentration as well as warm up or cool down the body. These include, among others, a fast paced forced release of air out of the nose and using your fingers to breathe in one side of the nose and out the other.

Kissing Camels rock formation at Garden of the Gods By Sonja Bjelland

Awhile back a friend posted on Facebook “The process is: Love yourself -> Love other people -> Love that one other ‘special’ someone. If you aren’t happy in your relationships, it’s because you skipped a step.”

Valentine’s Day isn’t just about that loving someone special. Because before we do we have to be able to love ourselves.

Without loving ourselves first, we expect other people to fill a void they cannot and then we resent them for it.

So on this Feb. 14, take the time to send some love your way.

Maybe you do that by helping out others with what a few organizations have declared as Generosity Day. They’re encouraging people to leave a larger tip and say “yes” when someone asks for your help, time or attention.

But there’s also plenty of you who are so busy helping others that you fail to help yourself. Today is about loving the one you don’t normally show your love to – be it yourself or others.

It’s not sending yourself flowers, you can always buy yourself some to pretty up your place. Maybe it’s something simple like giving yourself the time to go to a yoga class today. Or maybe it’s deciding to get down to business and buy “The Four Agreements” or ask a friend for the name of their therapist who seems to be doing such a good job. Or maybe signing up for a yoga retreat that specializes in self-regard or self-discovery.

"The longest journey is the journey inward" quoted at the Bear Creek Park sculpture By Sonja Bjelland

The Omega Institute for Holistic Studies has several of these throughout the year in both New York and Costa Rica. For a longer dive into making such changes, Yoga Life has a three-week course on Koh Phangan, Thailand, to jump start the process. No, you don’t usually resolve such things in three weeks.

This can be especially difficult for people with certain backgrounds and coming from different cultures but it  is the basis of yoga. “Namaste” the salutation of certain parts of India, means the divine light in me honors the divine light in you.

In yoga philosophy, we are humbled by God while being able to love ourselves the way we are. Some sections of Christianity have trouble with that because of a basic tenet that humans are unworthy, sin-filled souls.

It was what one American woman at an ashram in India wanted all Westerns to take back with them. That we are all are created in God’s image and worthy of love.

So celebrate this as a day of love for all things – for yourself.

As we’ve been reminded this week, “learning to love yourself, is the greatest love of all.”

A-maze-ing Laughter statues in Vancouver, B.C. By Sonja Bjelland

It’s a brilliant marketing move.

The creators of the movie “Happy” have declared Saturday World Happy Day. In celebration, they are having yoga studios, movie theatres and campuses across the world show the movie.

I had a chance to see this film at The Yoga Barn back in April when I was in Bali and recommend you check it out if there’s a screening near you. It looks at how cultures interpret happiness and what science says makes people happy. There’s even a showing at the Lululemon store here in Colorado Springs so double check because there really could be one near you.

But this marketing effort isn’t just a ploy. It’s doing what the science proves ­– happiness often comes from a connected community, according to this Wall Street Journal article about the movie. It’s not only marketing a movie about being happy, it’s creating happiness as well.

And it’s working, the article said the movie will be screened in 40 countries on six continents thanks to one in Antarctica. The effort is to get people into groups of 5 or more and have them do something outside their comfort zone, both things that science has proven make people happy.

This movie comes at a time when multiple books tout what makes us happy and this course of study is becoming more and more popular. So today I’m listing a few books for you all to study happiness and figure out what you can to do.

There’s no shortage of books on the subject these days so this is just a sampling. If you have a favorite that’s not listed, leave a comment to let everyone know it’s also a good read. And from all that I’ve read, get started now by putting a smile on your face and lower your expectations. Yep, I’m serious.

• The Geography of Bliss by Eric Wiener took a similar trek as the movie in visiting countries that rate at ends of the “happiness scale,” (yes it exists) and finding out why. It’s more in depth than the movie and I appreciate the former NPR foreign correspondent’s wry sense of humor.
• The How of Happiness by Sonja Lyubomirsky looks at the science of happiness and how we can all apply it to our everyday lives. She’s a professor at the University of California – Riverside, where I used to live. And her name is Sonja. Oh yeah, and she’s quoted extensively in “Happy” the movie.
• The Art of Happiness by His Holiness Dalai Lama, a classic. Really, need I say more. It’s the Dalai Lama talking about happiness. Expert advice for sure.
• The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin takes all this science and ancient wisdom and puts it to the test. During her studies, she tried all the recommendations on how to be happy and offers practical advice on what worked for her. Her thoughts continue online with regular musings and advice on how to live with more levity.

Float at the Chiang Mai, Thailand Flower Festival parade By Sonja Bjelland

This weekend several of the studios where I live in Colorado are having couples yoga workshops.

The classes focus on heart opening partner poses and improving communication. Instead of being in the moment with yourself, you’re in the moment with someone else.

These are somewhat different from the acrobatics and yoga class I wrote about last year. That can focus on your ability to trust and communicate with another person vs. building the connection between the two of you.

These short workshops can be a good way to see if you and your sweetie might enjoy a yoga retreat for couples. Like any vacation, a few days away helps you notice what habits and patterns you have formed and what that relationship can teach you about yourself.

Seeing it with a yoga perspective might show you how to keep yoga in your daily life while also keeping a practice for yourself.

The retreats range from whatever your interpretation of a couple’s yoga retreat might be.

A few concentrate on sexual energy and the chakras but most focus on building communication. Like any yoga retreat, I always encourage people to do their research and accept that if you end up somewhere unexpected, figure out why the world thinks you need to be there.

• Yoga With Love is holding an all-day partner workshop at the end of the month in Los Altos, Calif. With a focus on “compassionate communication” the retreat includes partner yoga poses, meditation and lessons in giving and receiving more mindfully.
• Denver’s Principal-Based Partner Yoga has several workshops annually, including one this weekend. They also conduct teacher training, hold quite a few events at Colorado’s Shambhala Mountain Center and have a weekly class in Boulder. Hopefully while I’m in Colorado I’ll be able to catch up with them at some point.
• The Galiana Meditation Retreat in New York state holds it’s annual Valentine’s couples retreat the weekend after Valentine’s Day. The classes focus on ways tantric yoga philosophy can improve communication and understanding of each other. No, tantric yoga isn’t all about sex. It’s just another way of viewing the world that is different from the hatha yoga perspective. But in this case, it does involve lessons in sexual energy and healing.
• British Columbia-based Sound Body Yoga will have a couples yoga retreat at Loon Lake that same weekend with the tag line, “Balance your inner and outer relationships.” It looks at understanding each others differences and building a stronger bond using “The Four Agreements” based on don Miguel Ruiz’s teachings. The literature specifically talks about how to work through daily differences when you’re first living in the same space and the patterns we all fall into.
• The Blue Osa Yoga Sanctuary and Spa in Costa Rica has multiple group events throughout the year but also does personalized yoga retreats for couples. I really liked what they had to say about what their retreat so I’ll just let them say it: “In this personalized yoga retreats for couples, you’ll learn to break through accumulated habits of distraction that perpetuate throughout our lives, while still affording you the space and solitude needed for the development of a daily practice that you can use as you continue along life’s path.”

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.