Harmony Yoga Retreat | Yelapa, Mexico

LOCATION: Yelapa, Mexico—a small fishing village South of Puerto Vallarta—can only be reached by water taxi. Yelapa only got electricity in 2005, there are no roads; only beautiful hikes, sunny beaches, and happy happy people. Truly a magical place to hide from the world and take some well-earned time to focus on yourself.

COST: $600 for double-occupancy ($850 single)

STUDIO: a small space that opens up to the ocean (amazing breezes). Hotel Lagunita does have blankets, mats, and blocks in the space, which is convenient.

SCHEDULE: 2 hours of yoga in the AM & PM. The rest of the day was ours to play. Practice included Hatha Yoga (physical postures), Pranayama (breath control), Raja Yoga (meditation), Bhakti Yoga (chanting & japa), Jnana Yoga (meaningful readings), Yoga Nidra (quiet the mind)

INSTRUCTOR: Helen Mikuska—has been teaching in the fitness industry for over 33 years. She is a AFLCA-certified Group Exercise Specialty Leader, Aquatic Exercise Leader,Older Adult Speciality Leader, YMCA -certified Personal Trainer, Fitness Instructor in Group Exercise, Muscle and Strength Conditioning and Aquatic Fitness (shallow, deep, aquajogger and waterworks instructor specializing in arthritis), Keiser Powerpacing Instructor and Reebok Core Training Instructor. She has completed her Stott Pilates Intensive Mat-Plus and Advanced Matwork courses and received her Diploma with Honours in Food Nutrition Management. Helen is sincere, empathic and has a genuine concern for her students' self-worth, self-value and self-respect.

CONTACT: http://www.harmonyyogastudio.ca/

WOW! First of all, this was my first time out of the country and my first yoga retreat, so it was an amazing adventure, to say the least. I traveled by myself, so you can do this too! I chose this retreat because of the location and the price. It was quite a deal. That cost above covers lodging, food (breakfast, lunch & dinner), water, and yoga practice for a full week. I also was able to find a roomie through Helen, which saved me more money.

I don't even know where to begin with all the great things that happened during this week. First of all, traveling via a yoga retreat is an amazing way to see new places. You have the discipline of doing yoga every day, a group of really great people guaranteed (c'mon, they're yogis!), and then a new location to explore with the group or out on your own if you choose. Now, I can tell you, my mother sent me an article almost weekly with the horrific stories coming out of Mexico. But Yelapa was safe, I had a direct flight into Puerto Vallarta where the hotel had a taxi waiting for me, and I never felt vulnerable at any point... I'm a 34 year old woman, who can't speak much Spanish, traveling by myself, outside of the country for the first time—not vulnerable. Be smart, but don't ruin your adventure... that's all I'm saying.

Helen is a fantastic instructor! I learned so much from her and her extraordinary, traditional teaching methods (don't let her credentials sway you any which direction... it sounds very physical therapy up in that bio of hers, but she trained in India and had (he passed) a wonderful guru to mentor her). Before we even left for Mexico, she walked me through the planning process... always quick to respond and so considerate of what I may need to know since I was separate from the rest of the group (I live in the US and everyone else lives in Canada).

Every practice included sitting meditation, singing/playing instruments, Hatha yoga, japa (with a Mala), and mantras. I never had practiced japa before or worked with a mala... I found that to be so interesting and rewarding, as Helen explained the meaning of each mantra and why you would want to repeat that specific mantra. It took some getting use to her way of instructing the physical postures (nothing bad, just different enough from my home practice that it threw me off), but I tried to stay open to the process because that's what yoga is really about, right? Training the brain to be free (and I have so many bad habits, I could use as many forms of practice as possible). Helen took the series of poses slowly, and I can't tell you how much I loved that. I'm the girl who is ALWAYS behind in class, and it's not because I don't know what I'm doing (ok, sometimes it is). I just really enjoy slowly transitioning from one pose to the next. The control of the muscles, trying to gracefully move and smoothly find your way into the proper position. Having the time to think of all the little adjustments that can be done to go deeper into your pose. Wonderful.

My fellow yogis were mind-blowing inspirations. Most of them attended yoga once or twice a week when they were home, but that didn't stop them from signing up for a retreat that required four hours of yoga out of them each day. And they made it to almost every class. I was impressed. One of our yogis has MS and finds yoga to be therapeutic for her symptoms. Her daughter came with her to help as she had trouble just walking from our palapas to the studio. But there she was, fearless, doing yoga every day... and quite beautifully, I might add.

The food was amazing. We did have to talk them through vegetarian and vegan (I was the one who didn't eat meat or dairy) options, but Hotel Lagunita was accommodating. Breakfast was possibly the best... a platter of fresh fruit, homemade yogurt (for some), homemade granola, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and then the main entree which is many options on their regular menu. I was a fan of the huevos rancheros, myself. I usually ate so much for breakfast I would skip lunch. But everyone loved the avocado stuffed with shrimp salad. And for dinner they would start us off with some form of juice (guava water, for example, that had me in the kitchen asking how they made it) and a salad. Each night they would offer two options for the main entree... a lot of these were meat & cheese based, so I usually just asked for whatever vegetables they had on the side.

Sleeping accommodations were rustic, but refreshing. Two beds, usually, to a palapa. No ceilings—open to the thatched roof. Open-air showers. No TVs, just a couple outlets. Mosquito nets over the beds. There were spiders and lizards and bugs, but I found it releasing. No computers (although they did have free wi-fi near the office if you needed to touch base with reality), no cell phone connection, no TV... after dinner we would all usually retire to bed to read. Sometimes you need to unplug from the technology that is taking up space in your brain. My heart broke, for many reasons, when we left Yelapa and I saw the first car in Puerto Vallarta or got on the plane and watched the little TV come down to play The Simpsons. Having that quiet time should happen every day, not just on a retreat... thanks to Yelapa, I try to make it happen.

Yelapa, the village itself, was charming. We'd walk from our hotel on one side of the beach to the other side that had the stairway leading up to the village. In the "downtown" area there were a couple grocery stores, a quaint church, and lots of vendors selling jewelry, knick-knacks, or sarongs. There were two options for waterfall hikes, one through the town and the other one a bit more hiking through the country. I can't wait to return, and intend to make Yelapa a yearly destination if I can afford it.

As for you... if you can visit Yelapa with Helen and her group, you will have yourself an inexpensive retreat that spoils you rotten. Love to my friends in Canada!

Harmony Yoga Retreat | Yelapa, Mexico from Anni Poppen on Vimeo.

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Yoga in the Park | Des Moines, IA

LOCATION: The weekend I went there was quite a bit of rain and the river flooded. So they moved us to a school yard, which was less scenic but yoga outside was new to me, so still appealing. They did have excellent signage that led me to the right place (as I didn't know we were flooded out until I arrived that morning), and the school had free parking.
COST: Free!

STUDIO: Outside! (see location)

CLASS DESCRIPTION: The Des Moines Park and Recreation invites you to enjoy your Saturday morning by participating in a free weekly yoga session at Grays Lake. Maximize your stress relief by practicing yoga next to the water's edge while being led by local volunteer teachers—each week will be a different yoga experience!

INSTRUCTOR: Roxanne from Harmony Yoga was the instructor this morning. They rotate instructors each week.

CONTACT: City of Des Moines

Just Allow!

Roxanne kept sneaking this into the practice... just allow your breath to flow naturally, just allow yourself to sit in this pose, just allow yourself to reflect on your practice. It was a wonderful reminder for yoga and life in general. We went through a very similar order of things as I'm use to at home. This was the biggest class I've ever attended, probably 30-40 people I'd guess. That was really interesting too. I tried to get a picture of it, but at the beginning there weren't that many people, in the middle I'm not breaking my stride, and at the end everyone jetted out.

KULA
Partner yoga has been brought up a lot lately... at thai massages, in class, in magazines, etc. I'm not much of a group person. Maybe it's the only child in me that prefers the time alone... or maybe like everyone else, it's just uncomfortable. So this has never been really appealing to me. Well, at one point Roxanne said we had a great Kula [sanskrit for community or family] & asked people to form a line of 3-4 people or more. Sigh. We were asked to form our normal tree pose [vrksasana], but place our hands on the back of the people next to us. Once we all found our position we would press our hands into our other buddies back to help lift our hearts to the sky [which opens the chest and forms a stronger core for the position]. It was great. To my left was an elderly woman who was worried she'd knock us all down with her lack of balance, I assured her we'd help one another out... and in return, to share awkwardness, I pointed out it was probably worse to have to touch my gross, sweaty back. It was pretty gross. Then we lifted and held our pose. What a great experience, it really was nice to adjust my balance to not only the movement of myself but those on either side of me... and down the line. You could hear different groups giggling and impressed with their ability to do this... it was really rewarding.

MUDRA
At the end, after savasana, we brought ourselves up to our sitting position, normal for the yoga classes I've taken. But Roxanne went into a different mudra than normal. We placed our left hand on our heart and our right hand on the ground. It was a moment to recognize the energy we gain from the world around us, and that out of respect we should replenish the energy we removed. I love being reminded that I'm small, that I'm just a tiny cog in this ginormous universe. It makes my problems seem ridiculous and it makes my actions more meaningful. It's a nice place to be.

A fantastic morning, thank you Des Moines.

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Living Yoga Center | Urbana, IL

LOCATION: Living Yoga Center is in downtown Urbana, upstairs from Crane Alley. There are two entrances to the studio, but the more common-used one is off the upstairs level of the parking garage it's attached to... you do have to pay for parking in this area, but the parking garage is only 50¢ for the first two hours.
COST: You'll have to go to their website to see the drop-in fee. I signed on for the monthly fee of $65, which allows me to take as many classes I want, along with a few other benefits.
STUDIO: A beautiful space... with two bathrooms, a changing room, a kitchen, a lobby-like area with free tea, and the studio itself is always a breath of fresh air for me. The studio is painted a happy yellow, has a wall full of windows bringing in wonderful light (and privacy, since it's on the second floor).
CLASS DESCRIPTION: The classes I choose are based on when I can make it in the middle of the day... for a while now I've been taking mostly flow classes (with one Hatha in there on Monday mornings)—A stimulating and creative practice that focuses on integrating strength, flexibility, alignment, and awareness through a dynamic sequence of asanas linked by the breath.
INSTRUCTOR: My regular instructors are Hayli and Jenna, with a dose of Mary, Steve, Deb, and Kerry when schedules spoil me. All the instructors at LYC offer wonderful instruction, but I am definitely drawn to Hayli since she as my first instructor (it's like yogic imprinting or something, lol). For full bios on everyone, please visit the site, but i will highlight Hayli in my review. Hayli Peterson has been practicing yoga since 1998 and teaching since 2003. She has trained with Shiva Rea and teaches her flow classes in the Vinyasa style, a stimulating and invigorating practice that focuses on moving the body with the breath while allowing students to work at their own ability level. She also studied and is trained in traditional Ashtanga and Hatha yoga by Yoga Vidya Gurukul in Nasik, India. This is where she derives most of her gentle yoga technique from and teaches these classes with the emphasis on maintaining comfortable, relaxing, and steady postures. She is a certified Massage Therapist with her practice on the same floor as the Living Yoga Center. She also has her MBA through the University of Massachusetts - Amherst and works with her father at Financial Synergy, Inc doing tax accounting and financial planning. Most importantly she has three amazing children and a fabulous husband that are the center of her life.
CONTACT: Living Yoga Center

When I decided to switch from The Refinery to Living Yoga Center I knew I had made the right decision just walking into the studio. The space instantly felt like home to me. What surprised me, was it never occurred to me that Hayli and Steve also feel more comfortable at LYC too. They knew their students well here, and could help the class move along at different levels with ease. It was here I participated in my first oms, my first class longer than an hour, had beautiful passages read to me at the end of a savasana, and my first steps down a lifelong journey with yoga. It's so exciting, looking back on what is probably my year anniversary with LYC.

Each instructor has offered new ways for me to learn about my body and how it should play with the poses. Each class offers me a break in the middle of the stressful work day to breathe, find joy, relax, re-energize, and just be in my own special space on my mat every day. It is here that I have found patience in myself, excitement in my short-comings (knowing I found a starting point to chart my progress), amazement in my capabilities, confidence in my true self, beauty in the people I'm surrounded by, and constant wonderment in where yoga can take the mind, body, and soul.

Yoga's Reach

It is a wonder
how a simple stretch
deepens breath,
and an elegantly held pose
grows to touch the
whole of me.

Like sugar stirred into tea,
the potency
of yoga spreads
from body into mind
and heart, revealing
an ocean of energy
that heals and opens,

holds me close
and sets me free
all in the same moment.

—Danna Faulds

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The Refinery | Champaign, IL

LOCATION: A bit out of the way, but a great gym... The Refinery is on the west side of Champaign, IL. With a membership there you can take as many classes as you want with out signing up for them. This lack of commitment is what attracted me to this gym. And I'd be remiss if I didn't include it in my reviews, as it was here that I discovered yoga.
COST: Since I work for the University of Illinois, I use to get some sort of group discount. I think it was $25-30/month

STUDIO: The yoga space was one of the smaller rooms, which was great for the class size. Unfortunately, it was usually next door to some sort of Body Jam or Ab Attack... read: non-stop loud music.
CLASS DESCRIPTION: Twice a week they offer restorative yoga classes that integrate asanas (yoga postures), breathing exercises, relaxation, balance work, and flowing sun salutations to build strength. Yoga postures will streamline and lengthen your body, increase flexibility and feel rejuvenated and refreshed. Other times during the week you could also find BodyFlow which "combined" yoga, tai chi, and pilates maybe. It wasn't traditional yoga or tai chi, but it did offer more classes similar to yoga.

INSTRUCTOR:My first yoga teacher (and currently one of my teachers at the Living Yoga Center), Hayli Peterson is an amazing instructor. At the refinery she offered a gentle introduction to yoga that wasn't very challenging, but gave me time to get to know yoga. The second night a week was taught by Steve, another instructor at the Living Yoga Center. Steve Willette offered a little more challenge and always changes things up. He was more daring with The Refinery crowd, which was good for me to experience and get to know yoga even more.
CONTACT:The Refinery

I don't think I can really remember my very first class at The Refinery, to be honest, but I would hate to leave out the location that introduced me to yoga. At the time I was running a couple miles per day, and yoga ended up being the perfect way to stretch it out. I went to this class with a new friend, and it was for this reason we got to know each other. Now I can't imagine life before Katie. OK, this review may be ridiculously sentimental. To the basics, maybe? Hayli and Steve did the best they could given the situation, looking back, but the room was covered in mirrors (which I later learned was really a distraction for me). The sound from other classes easily leaked in... so you would often be going into savasana while thumping music was going on next door. But I had nothing else to compare this experience to... so I really didn't mind. They had everything you needed there... mats, blocks, props, etc.

I think if you're curious about yoga, but intimidated by a room full of super lean, stretchy woman (which isn't the norm, from my experience... super stretchy, often, but yoga graces all types of bodies); maybe your local gym is the perfect place to start. Start with a gentle yoga class, for sure, and if you're in the Champaign-Urbana area... I would recommend The Refinery. I think it's an excellent gym for what it's group fitness classes offer alone (and they offer a lot more)!

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