Off The Mat

Get away into a relaxed natural setting, unplug from your everyday life, commune with like minded people, take a load off and let someone else prepare fresh environmentally conscious food for you.  Does this sound rejuvenating?

Yoga retreats offer a different experience and setting for the healing and development of the students than a regular classroom or workshop setting.  Retreats offer a more relaxed environment and focus more deeply on allowing and nurturing the inner world of the students.

Usually retreats take place in a more natural setting and food and lodging are provided.  The student is being asked to let go of their familiar environment and trust the experience before them.

As a teacher, it is my intention to create a very soft and loving place that facilitates healing and more self love.  By allowing yourself to attend a yoga retreat, you have already taken the first step.

By taking a break from the demands of your daily routine, you are giving yourself space for growth to take hold and make way in your life.  This is a beautiful and wonderful experience.

Retreats are also very different because there is no goal of obtaining more “hours” or achieving any accreditations. It comes from a place of wanting to learn, grow, relax, and heal.  Can you already feel yourself taking a deeper exhale?

Each unique place in which a yoga retreat takes place offers its own medicine.  The setting itself is the teacher.

The Outer Banks is a wonderful setting, especially in the Spring and Fall.  The Spring and Fall offer a feeling of balance.  You can feel the still point of the Earth more clearly.  The high traffic of tourist season is past, but it is still beautiful outside.  The temperature has been in the 80s this week. The air is clean and the stars are visible. No matter where you are on the island, you can hear and smell the ocean.

Clean, clear Earth has a way of reflecting itself to you. It is like looking into a clear mind or reflecting pool.  It is my hope as a teacher that the student in this setting can find their quiet space by removing the outside circumstances of the suburban and city life.

Come, commune with Nature, Sangha, and connect deeper to your own inner space.  I will be teaching a Yoga Retreat in Duck, NC, November 14-16, 2014.  I will be teaching daily led Ashtanga classes, philosophy, chanting, and pranayama accompanied with an evening discussion about the practice with time for Q&A.  We will be serving a light dinner on Friday night, 3 full meals on Saturday, and breakfast and refreshments on Sunday.  My partner who is a long term student and teacher of African drums will be joining us Saturday night for a drum circle and social. Click here for more details and information on how to register.

If you cannot make this one, I look forward to having the opportunity to host retreats in other beautiful venues in the future and hope you will join us then.  You can stay up to date on these events on my website at www.ashtangayogaobx.com.

With Blessings to All Beings,

Michelle Dorer
Owner, Director, Teacher – Ashtanga Yoga Center, Outer Banks, NC