Are you afraid to go on a yoga retreat holiday?

When you think about a yoga retreat, do you think discipline, hard work, grueling effort?
It’s really not like that. Here\’s why it’s the best way to spend a vacation…

Yoga retreats are for everyone, but not everyone knows this. We asked random people in the street whether they would consider going on a yoga holiday and we were surprised to find that many people, even those who do yoga regularly, were scared to commit to a full week-long retreat.

Here are the top eight reasons why people are afraid of a yoga holiday and, more importantly, why these fears are totally unfounded because a week away can literally change your entire year for the better.

1: I only get two weeks off a year, I don’t want to spend my precious holiday time forced into a military exercise routine.

We’re not sure what happens on other retreats, but at Kaliyoga there are two yoga sessions each day (morning and evening), each lasting two hours, and often hill walking or other activities. But these are totally optional and they are there for you to enjoy when and if you feel like you’ve had enough of lying by the pool reading a book.

Most people enjoy the yoga so much and feel so good afterwards that they can’t wait for the sessions and the hill walking is such a laugh, that they don’t want to miss out. There is, however, no pressure and no persuasion. No one will think anything of it if you don’t want to go hill walking or attend a yoga session, if you choose one session a day, or indeed have days where you don’t do anything other than sit in the hot tub or indulge yourself with one of our swoon-inducing treatments.

Heck! No-one even cares if you change your mind halfway through a yoga session and wander off to go for a snooze. It\’s always your choice. 

2: I don’t want to be forced to diet. A holiday is exactly the occasion where I should to be able to eat what I want.

If you come on a Kaliyoga retreat, you’ll wonder how you ever could have felt food would be restricted. The gourmet cuisine we offer our guests might be healthy, it might be vegetarian, and it’s definitely fresh, but it’s certainly not restricted and it is perhaps the most delicious you’ll have ever tasted and with so much variety. You can eat as much or as little as you like. No one ever goes hungry on one of our retreats.

3: I’m not fit enough, I’ll never keep up with everyone else.

We go at your pace – always – and we are experts with years of experience in working with people of all stages of fitness. Many Kaliyoga guests are beginners doing yoga for the very first time on our retreats (as well as seasoned yogis). There is never any ‘keeping up with the yogis’ and we gently guide you to improve without force. The whole atmosphere is of meditative relaxation, inner exploration and peaceful enjoyment. We help you to find your flow and to relax into poses and deepen your inner experience by focusing on the breath. It’s more hypnotic than hyper!

Where hill walking is concerned, you can amble along at your own pace as there are always different levels of fitness. If you don’t feel like forging ahead, no problem.

4: I won’t know anyone.

Everyone agrees that a retreat holiday is the very best way to make new and lasting friendships. We’ve seen relationships grow and blossom in one week into friendships that outside of a retreat take years to establish. Something about the atmosphere of the place means connections forge faster and deeply, discussions are more profound and personal. People care more about what you think and feel than what you do or who you know. It’s one of those rare places where you feel comfortable being your true self. And the best thing is this doesn’t leave you for a long time after the retreat. The sense of belonging stays with you.

5: I’ll have to share a room with a stranger.

Even though it’s not compulsory, we actually recommend sharing a room because of the easy and quick establishment of friendships that seems to occur at Kaliyoga. ‘Roomies’ tend to be the ones whose friendships become lifelong and we’ve had many people who were originally apprehensive about sharing end up booking future retreats together with the person they shared with!

No one is forced to spend time with anyone else. Freedom is the buzz word at Kaliyoga.

6: It’s far too expensive for me.

Kaliyoga is one of the least expensive yoga holidays available, but it’s not a ‘going back to basics’ vacation by any means. We strive for beauty and comfort and we think we manage to pull it off rather well. Where else can you get a week’s break in the sunshine with beautiful surroundings, gorgeous accommodation, all-inclusive world-class gourmet cuisine, twice daily yoga, and other activities, new friends, relaxing and self exploration for such a low price? (Check out our prices here).

So you can see that any fears you might have about a retreat holiday are empty fears. Now you know the truth you can begin the journey to changing your life!

By Rosie Miles, co-founder

Kaliyoga Retreats in Andalucia, Spain