Combining yoga with outdoor adventure proves the ideal recipe for revitalization.
From biking in Tuscany to deep-sea fishing in the Caribbean, vacations centered on outdoor adventure have been in vogue for decades, but a yoga infusion – adding asana to biking, hiking, and even surfing – is taking adventure vacations to a new level of transcendent trendsetting. The perfect complement to a day of mind- and body-bending travel, yoga helps travelers fully engage in their experience.
Take it from Colleen Cannon, founder of Women’s Quest. Colleen has been leading women’s adventure trips around the globe for 20 years, and she had incorporated yoga from the start because she valued the “centering” that her yoga practice provided during her career as a professional triathlete. “Women today are looking for balance in their lives,” she says. “Yoga provides that. It’s also the thread that weaves together the mind, body, and spirit, which, when combined with sports, becomes a very powerful connection.”
– Jayme Otto
Backpacking + Yoga
Set in Rocky Mountain National Park during Colorado’s wildflower season, The Women’s Wilderness Institute’s three-day Mountain Lakes yoga retreat kicks off with a hike to a high-altitude campsite and offers no less than four outdoor yoga sessions below the park’s 13,000-foot peaks. No tent? No problem, the institute provides camping gear – and offers similar retreats in Utah’s canyon and slickrock country.
Surfing + Yoga
After a week of yoga and surfing lessons, you may not want to leave this little rainforest bungalow in one of Costa Rica’s most popular surf destinations. The twice-daily yoga classes are held on a thatched platform right on the beach. Even if you’ve never surfed before, Women’s Quest guarantees you’ll get up on a wave, thanks to the gently rolling swells along volcanic Pacific beaches. www.womensquest.com
Kayaking + Yoga
Located on Deer Island in New Brunswick, Canada, a three-hour drive from Bangor, Maine, this three-day trip combines sea kayaking in the Bay of Fundy with a twice-daily yoga practice designed to put participants in touch with their spiritual connection to the ocean. Comfortable cottages overlooking the water provide ample opportunity for whale watching and birding www.seascapekayaktours.com
Mountain Biking + Yoga
Sunrise and sunset yoga sessions sandwich long, fat-tire rides into the deserts, mountains, and jungles near Puerto Vallarta. In eight days, you’ll enjoy nearly 60 miles of riding, dozens of sun salutations, gourmet beachside meals, a community service project in a rural village, and a night in an eco-hacienda.
I love seeing all the yoga fusion! I too run a outdoor adventure, yoga and meditation biz!
So humbled to be in such beautiful company!