Planning Your Dream Yoga Vacation

With so many great options, how do you choose the yoga vacation that's right for you?

By Lucielle Hall

So, you've had enough of the overrun beaches, the tiresome tourist traps, the frazzled feeling that comes from fitting too much "fun" into your precious little time off. What you really want this year, you've decided, is not recreation, but re-creation—extending the peace, serenity, and sense of well-being you feel after yoga class. What better way to do this than by taking a yoga vacation?

You ask around for some leads, get on the Web and visit a few sites, make some calls, and soon you're inundated with a stack of brochures promising unique, life-transforming yoga adventures, each one more tantalizing than the last.

But then what? Even if this is not your first yoga vacation, choosing among the vast number of offerings can be a challenge. How do you select the experience that's right for you?

With a bit of common sense and the right resources, it's not as hard as it might seem. Ask yourself the right questions, and you'll soon determine the type of yoga vacation that best suits your needs.

Pick a Place

You'll want to start by looking for ways to narrow down the field of options. For instance, if you've already found a teacher and yoga technique you like, you're in good shape. Even if your teacher doesn't offer yoga vacations, she should be able to recommend retreats with other teachers of the same style.

If you don't have a teacher or technique that you are committed to—or if you simply want to try out other styles—your range of choices is much broader. So start with location. In the United States, you'll find yoga retreats in more than 20 states, from the serene mountains of Colorado to the woodlands of New Hampshire, from the lavish beaches of Hawaii to the mystical silence of the red rocks of Sedona, Arizona. Choose the destination, and then check out what's available in that area.

If you have a taste for more far-reaching adventures, set your sights on India, Bali, Nepal, Peru, or New Zealand—or on vacation staples like the Caribbean Islands, Costa Rica, and Europe. In Switzerland, the Viniyoga Retreat in St. Moritz offers an eight-day yoga vacation during which you practice yoga in the morning and are free to spend the afternoons hiking among the snow-clad peaks of the Alps or swimming in serene mountain lakes. (Barry Liss, 310-578-5561.) If the Greek archipelago is more your style, you could travel to Molivos, a village on the island of Lesbos in the Aegean Sea, where yoga teachers Angela Farmer and Victor van Kooten arrange one- to three-week yoga retreats each year (937-767-7727).

If you do decide to travel to distant shores, take special care to weigh your travel options. Some overseas yoga vacations are turnkey packages that include everything from airline tickets to local accommodations, language instruction, and prearranged sightseeing trips. Others, however, leave you completely on your own. If you choose to go to a remote place like Molivos in Greece, for example, you will need to arrange your own transportation, your own accommodations in one of the village's hotels, guesthouses, or apartments, and your own meals. This is no big deal for a seasoned traveler. But if your idea of adventure travel is a package tour to the Bahamas, think twice before setting out for a place like Molivos.

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