Yesterday we waved good bye to our latest visitors, a group of 12 ashtanga yoga enthusiasts from New York who came with their yoga teacher to enjoy the silence of the Sian Ka’an Biosphere for a 5-Day Spring Yoga Retreat. It was a pleasure to attend to their needs throughout their mindful daily activities which sent vibrations of mantras and the sound of Ujjayi breath reverberating throughout Sian Ka’an Village. Even after they left, a perceptible sense of peace could still be sensed.
The packed yoga routine of this 5-Day Spring Yoga Retreat began each morning at 6.30am, which is the ideal time to catch the sunrise over the Caribbean Sea at Sian Ka’an Village. They chose to carry out their first yoga practice of the day on the beach. Breakfast was served on the main deck of the ground floor around 8.30am once all were showered and ready for their green juices and fruit filled breakfasts.
Each day after breakfast, the Spring Yoga Retreat group enjoyed a different activity such as paddle boarding, snorkeling and kayaking, which they did from the shore at Sian Ka’an Village; some chose to rest and bathe in the sunshine or collect shells along the shore. On the second day of their yoga retreat, the group took a morning trip to Mahahual, where they bought some keepsakes from vendors on the waterfront, and some guests choose to enjoy a diving excursion on their last day.
Lunch was served in various locations throughout the retreat: once under the palapa at La Casa de Piedra (House of Stone), which is lovely swimming beach by a quaint abandoned house, another time under the palapa on Sian Ka’an Village’s own beach and another on the ground floor deck. The menu selected by the Spring Yoga Retreat group for their visit was a strict vegetarian selection, which they specified prior to arrival. Our chef prepared a range of delicious fresh recipes, including a vegetarian ceviche.
The mid afternoon was given over to free time for each to rest from the heat of the day or bask in the sea. A couple of guests borrowed bikes to explore the mangroves that surround Sian Ka’an Village, and came back saying that they had seen several exotic birds and butterflies on their travels.
The second yoga session of the day was held around sunset before dinner was served in the Grand Salon on the second floor of Sian Ka’an Village. Fresh juices and water were offered to accompany dinner, as the Spring Yoga Retreat group were abstaining from alcohol and other vices such as smoking. The evening then ended with a mediation, either with music and mantras in the Grand Salon or in silence by a bonfire on the beach.
We hope to welcome more yoga teachers and their students to host what will surely be a most idyllic yoga retreat hidden from the world, embraced by mangroves and the turquoise hues of the Caribbean Sea.