Finding your calling can be a deeply personal and transformative journey, let’s explore some ways you can help to discover yours….
To this day I still don’t pay for my flights, nor do my daughter or husband and we like to travel! If you are interested I am happy to have a discussion about your travel goals and optimal strategy if you want to join in on the fun of earning FREE travel…
Happy Summer Solstice! The energy of this season is a time of increased light and energy, which encourages us to embrace more joy and abundance all around. Nature is in full bloom, we are too and it is a time to celebrate this growth and get out and have some fun.
This is such a fun time of year and now with a school age child I get to tap into that “summer break” energy and I am excited for our summer together. With these lovely long days we have the opportunity to spend more time outside, connecting to nature, going to the beach, playing in the yard and gardening. What lights you up? I encourage you to design your days to include some playfulness, fun and do your best to soak up the sun!
The warmth of the sun ignites our own inner fire with passion and vitality and allows us to fully engage in life and all the life teeming around us. This is an ideal time to set intentions and pursue goals and harness the energy of the sun to bring about positive change in our lives. I’ll be starting a 13 week roadmap to a business goal using the Best Self Journal, right after I wrap up my Colorado Retreat at the end of the month. I’m looking forward to creating a plan for these goals with consistent execution and measurable outcomes. These tools will ideally help guide me to my best self, keeping all my values in balance. I am excited to bring my attention to this task, in-between my scheduled fun with my daughter of course. If you have a specific goal in mind, maybe its business related, or a health goal or perhaps it’s a relationship you’d like to nurture. Well guess what what my friends, now is the time!
I LOVE that the energy of the solstice reminds us of our interconnectedness with the Earth and invites us to honor and protect the environment. As we spend more time outdoors we naturally benefit from this glorious source of power shining bright upon us. Stress levels reduce, immune systems boost, sleep improves, mood enhances, energy increases and creativity sparks! Let us see the grace and beauty in this relationship and honor this time with deep reverence.
“I’m gonna soak up the sun, I’m gonna tell everyone to lighten up” ~Sheryl Crow
WRITTEN by Alisha Petak
Autumn is a season of transition and change. Embracing the changing colors, falling leaves, and cooler temperatures is a reminder to embrace change in your own life. Here are a few tips on how to adapt to change gracefully and find beauty in the process.
~Nurturing Self-Care: As the days get shorter and the weather cools down, it's essential to prioritize self-care. Activities that promote relaxation and rejuvenation, such as warm baths, cozy evenings with a good book, or practicing mindfulness meditation. It is important to take time for your self and recharge your energy.
~Harvesting Gratitude: Autumn is also a time of harvest and abundance. Make space in your day to cultivate gratitude by reflecting on the blessings in your life. Some ideas are to keep a gratitude journal or start another type of gratitude practice to help focus on the positive aspects of your day-to-day experiences.
~Connecting with Nature: Autumn offers a beautiful backdrop of colors, crisp air, and the sound of rustling leaves. Spending time outdoors, connecting with nature is a great way to embrace this season. Activities like hiking, harvesting your garden, or simply taking a leisurely walk in a park to appreciate the beauty of the season.
~Letting Go: Just as trees shed their leaves in autumn, we can also let go of what no longer serves us. This is a good time to reflect on any negative patterns, emotions, or clutter in your life that you can release. Some practices to help would be decluttering your home or car, practicing forgiveness, or letting go of limiting beliefs.
~Mindful Eating: Autumn brings an abundance of seasonal foods like pumpkins, apples, and hearty vegetables. Incorporating these foods into your meals offer an array of nutrients, best found in seasonal and freshly picked goods. Find healthy autumn recipes (see below), shop local farm stands and have fun with it. Autumn spices such as cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, cloves and nutmeg are beneficial for optimal digestion.
~Cultivating Balance: As the energy of autumn can be both invigorating and grounding, remember to find balance in your life. Encouraging a daily routine that supports your well-being by going to bed at a consistent time. Creating a night time ritual will help your body and mind get the optimal rest needed.
I hope these ideas help you embrace with the energy of autumn!
Where do you want to go in 2020?
Preventative Care
A preventative approach to maintaining the body assists in maintaining a healthy lifestyle for years to come. Maintenance-wise, our car requires regular tune-ups and yearly maintenance. Why don’t we tune up our bodies?
In addition to regular check-ups with a physician, Ayurveda emphasizes a holistic, self-care approach to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Ayurveda’s emphasis on preventative healing measures are decidedly effective and teach ways for practitioners to deal with issues before they begin.
According to Ayurveda, there are six stages of ill health. They begin with imbalance and gradually increase to disease. Like weeding, Ayurveda emphasizes clearing the flower bed before the weeds take over.
The preventative Ayurvedic approach is built on four pillars: food, lifestyle, rejuvenators & supplements.
When a person is in poor health, they are in need of a different approach that is meant to address imbalances with holistic healing practices and balancing supplements. Skilled practitioners of Ayurveda use pulse assessment to determine which specific supplements, food and lifestyle practices will restore balance.
Balance through Ayurveda improves a person’s health, energy, and youthful vitality.
The four keys to a healthy lifestyle:
1. FOOD
Whether you are a vata, pitta or kapha person, the most important element for maintaining balance is following the diet that suits your constitution. A healthy person who knows his natural constitution will be able to follow a diet best suited for maintaining balance. A person in poor health can learn what sort of dietary changes will help restore balance.
What we eat goes to our stomach, which is like the root of our system. Like a tree, which derives its nutrients and energy from its root system, humans derive their nutrients and energy from what is put into the stomach. From our stomach, our entire body is nourished. As the old saying goes, “You are what you eat.” Finding the right diet, based on our constitution, is the first and most important step in attaining a healthy lifestyle.
Idli is such a nutritious meal because it is actually a complete protein and the fermenting process involved in preparation stimulates digestion.
2. LIFESTYLE
Finding a recommended lifestyle routine is vital to maintaining balance and correcting disparity. After food, lifestyle comes as the most important way to stay in balance. A healthy lifestyle includes:
• A routine of health
• Waking and sleeping at regular times
• Going out for regular exercise, according to your constitution
• Self-massage with suitable oils
• Centering yourself with a few minutes of stillness and meditation
• Light yoga
Chyawanprash is one such rejuvenator used in Ayurveda, especially during the colder seasons.
3. REJUVENATORS
Rejuvenators, rasayana, are a variety of ancient supplements that promote the rejuvenation of the body and the maintenance of a young, vital, dynamic and energetic self. Rejuvenators work to make the body feel young and refreshed. Rejuvenators are not simply food, they are powerful solutions to problems that ail many of us — solutions to whatever upsets balance and health. Concerning the many factors that upset balance and health, there are equally as many rejuvenators to combat these problems.
4. NATURAL SUPPLEMENTS
There are many traditional Ayurvedic herbal supplements that are used in a variety of ways. They include spices in our food and herbs that promote detoxification of the body. Choosing the right herbal supplements is a matter of understanding both one’s constitution and one’s imbalance. Whether in need of detoxification or wanting to combat stress, lethargy, or poor digestion, Ayurveda has numerous herbal supplements to help promote longevity and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Click HERE to read the original source of this article and learn about Ayurvedic programs and retreats to support your health
In today’s culture of stresses and excesses, reaching and maintaining a healthy weight can be a daunting task. It requires a variety of deliberate life adjustments, and experimentally combining separate-but-intertwining skill sets in five key areas: lifestyle, nutrition, fitness, psychology and spirituality.
Lasting Change
Instant fixes and miracle cures will not create lasting and healthy change. It is essential to be willing to implement simple persistent lifestyle habits and work through self-harming patterns. You must be ready to overcome emotional or psychological problems linked with food, and let go of nutritional and fitness misconceptions. Weight issues do not happen all at once, and overcoming them will not happen all at once. Weight and food issues are complex, involving the body, the mind and the spirit. Therefore the solution must be holistic, integrating all of these aspects.
Spirituality (Spirit) & Mind
Spirituality will give you a broader outlook on life. With this improved perspective you are not carried away so easily by quick fixes or short term temptations and will tend to make choices which have sustainable long term impacts. When we are connected to our meaningful life purpose, we are more likely to make conscious food and life style decisions. Over time your connection will build a natural self-discipline which will bring you enormous and real freedom. This freedom will empower you to let go of the instant-gratification of unhealthy foods and look forward to long-term benefit of health. By empowering yourself to be in charge of your health and your life instead of depending upon anybody else you will see health as your real wealth and your body as a divine instrument to live a meaningful life. Life becomes a celebration.
Yoga (Body)
Yoga, which literally means the union of the body, mind and soul, is a spiritual route to weight loss – that is why Yoga is such an effective way to tackle this complex issue. Yoga is certainly a means to that end, but not exactly in the way one would expect. Yoga will help you develop a leaner, more supple body not by emphasizing a restricted food intake and targeted muscle-building, but by nurturing an attitude adjustment that paves the way for long-term change. Regular practice of all 8 limbs of Yoga establishes physical and mental poise in a natural, gradual, lasting and organic way. With this poise, you will see life in a much more expansive perspective and you are naturally equipped to make far better choices and handle any situation in much more effective way.
The physical aspects of yoga have become more popular worldwide, and people do consider yoga as another means of physical fitness, but yoga as a way of life offers a holistic package for total personal transformation. More than a workout, yoga is work within! It brings harmony between our body, mind and spirit so that all three function in unison. Coupled with its sister science – Ayurveda, an ancient healing method from India, the practice of yoga becomes easier and goes even much deeper. Combining Ayurveda and Yoga offers a complete system of well-being for body, mind and consciousness.
When practiced regularly and in disciplined way, yoga will not only improve your physical health but also mental and emotional health. Practicing yoga changes the way you approach life, your body, and eating. Yoga shows you how to honor and appreciate your body for all of the amazing things that it can do for you and points you in the direction of wanting to fill your body with the best possible fuel rather than processed junk food. And changing your mind or the way you look to your body and the foods you feed it will be a much more effective weight-loss tool than mindlessly following any diet fads.
Typical weight-loss programs address the symptom (excess fat) and ignore the cause, which is essentially an imbalance caused by or manifested as any range of emotional problems, bad life style habits and poor nutrition. Unlike going to the gym, calorie burn is not top of mind for a yogi. Yes, aerobic exercise burns calories and can help you lose weight. But will it change you internally, thereby causing a lasting weight loss? The calorie calculated weight loss program does ultimately create a load on the system and eventually you will get bored and stressed by constantly remaining on your toes to watch the calories!
Yoga fosters a body awareness and discipline, which is something that goes deeper than calorie burn. Yoga cleanses and purifies your body from the inside and as an effect you will naturally want to put healthier and nourishing things in the body. Over a period of time, your taste buds change, and so will your cravings and aversions. Thus it can lead to healthier eating, mindful living, and self-care. Yoga can make you fall in love with healthy living. All of these things can lead to successful and lasting weight loss. While an hour spent at the gym exerts pressure on the body, yoga helps ease the resulting stress and helps tackle emotions like anger and frustration which often are often the cause of weight gain tendencies. Through a sustained yoga practice, your body will change, your health and metabolism will improve, and your peace of mind and self-discipline will return. A balanced mind and self-discipline are the key components for solving any kind of life problems, sustainable weight-loss is just one of them.
Click HERE To read the entire article
If you’d like to learn more about a holistic approach to weight-loss that combines Ayurveda & yoga, check out the ebook on Weight-Loss tips from Ayurveda.
Even the best computer needs to be restarted every once in a while. Between the toxins and chemicals in most modern western foods to the particles in the air we breathe to the stress that we put ourselves under at work and home, there are times when what you need more than anything is a chance to clear out the mind and body and start fresh once again.
Cleansing retreats are designed to refresh and restore the body inside and out. Relaxing and fun, these retreats are an escape with a purpose, one where the end goal is to leave feeling you are more energized and ready to take on the challenges of the everyday world.
What is a Cleansing Retreat?
There are several strategies that can be used at these retreats. At the Art of Living Center in North Carolina offers cleansing retreats designed to detoxify the body using relaxing spa services, nourishing Ayurvedic techniques, and a venue that helps each attendee become more in touch with nature.
For example, our Panchakarma Detox Retreat is a cleansing retreat that involves:
Daily Ayurvedic Meals – Delicious meals cooked by trained chefs that nourish and detoxify the body.
10-14 Spa Treatments – A variety of relaxing and enjoyable spa treatments that give you that sense of relaxation that eliminates tension and stress.
Daily Progressive Yoga and Meditation – Engagement in yoga and meditation that helps to bring you more in touch with your spirituality, and develop mindfulness that can help you address upcoming challenges.
Different Cleansing Retreats – Each a Great Experience
Every cleansing retreat addresses detoxification and relaxation differently. But the idea is the same throughout – to eliminate toxins in your body so that you feel alert, energized, and in many ways like a new person. It is to give you that restart that so many people need to feel more vibrant, strong, and calm, able to work and play at your peak capacity and be ready to give all of your energy to any task you undertake.
Plan Your Own Retreat
Are you an instructor in the health and wellness industry? If you’ve got the passion to incorporate these types of cleansing practices into your life as well as share it with others, then we can help. Mindful Balance Retreats has many amazing destinations to choose from that would be the perfect space to hold your own cleansing retreat.
Tirta Empul Temple- Water Cleansing Ritual in Bali
Attend a Cleansing Retreat
You can find many opportunities for cleansing on any of the upcoming Mindful Balance retreats:
Hawaiian Healing: Explore and Restore in Hawaii August 24-29, 2019
Spiritual Cleansing: Journey to Spirit Retreat in Bali November 8-15, 2019
Weekend Reset: Paso Robles November 7-10, 2019
and soon to come…Connect to the Earth: Empowered Eating Spring 2020
We would love to support you on your journey, please let us know how we can help
Namaste~
Cleansing Retreats – This article originally appeared on artoflivingretreatcenter.org/blog
Learn why gratitude is great for you and how you can experience more of it. (Hint: This may involve a gratitude journal.)
Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, it’s hard to miss the incredible photos and stories of yoga teachers practicing and teaching in exotic locations.
Leading a retreat is an amazing step forward in your teaching career. You’ll have a chance to engage with your client base in paradise! As a bonus, you’ll get a nice boost to your income while doing something you love. A retreat experience can reinvigorate your regular classes, and give you new inspiration and insight.
Prospective retreat leaders often come to Mindful Balance Retreats with questions. We’ve rounded up seven of our most common queries for you.
Students in gorgeous Chacala, Mexico.
What are the requirements for retreat leaders? How much experience do I need?
You do not have to have experience leading retreats in order to partner with us. There are, however, a few basic requirements we have for our retreat leaders. We only accept certified and insured yoga teachers. We ask that you submit proof of insurance and certification along with CPR certification.
We also want to set you up for success by making sure you have the experience necessary to lead your students in a new environment. Retreat leaders must have at least two years of consistent teaching experience and teach a minimum of six classes per week. Leading workshops or involvement with yoga teacher training programs can also help you develop the skills necessary to be a great retreat leader.
In addition to being an experienced instructor, we also ask that prospective leaders have a strong client base and established email list or studio partnership. You can plan the most incredible retreat in the world, but if you don’t have an target audience, you’ll have a hard time filling slots.
If this isn’t you just yet, don’t worry. Think about the steps you can take to build the skills a retreat leader needs to have. Get in touch when you’re ready. We’d love to hear what you have in mind.
2. Why enlist the help of Mindful Balance Retreats?
You can absolutely plan a retreat on your own, but there are some serious advantages to working with us. First and foremost, we have years of experience leading retreats. We understand best practices and common pitfalls. We can help steer your retreat in a direction that will lead to happy students. Mindful Balance Retreats has your back every step of the way so that you can stay focused on bringing your best self.
We also help with marketing. We’ll set you up with a website so that you can advertise and handle transactions. You’ll be able to reach your network more effectively and reach beyond your network.
We offer support to your guests from the moment they sign up. Whether it’s figuring out what to pack or where to go on an optional excursion, we’ve got information, and we’re happy to share. This takes some of the onus off you, and it helps students feel supported in their journey.
3. I like the itineraries on your website, but I’d like to do something different. Can I make some changes or pick a different location?
The itineraries on our website are examples of what is possible, but your retreat is yours to shape as you wish. We would love for you to customize your retreat to meet the needs the of your students. Whether that means trying out a new location or modeling your retreat after the itinerary of an existing retreat, we’re all ears and happy to help.
Experience culinary and gustatory magic happening in Panama!
4. What do I do if I have a student with many dietary restrictions?
Your student can still enjoy being part of the retreat! All of the retreat centers we work with are happy to accommodate any dietary restrictions, an intake form will cover all of that upon registration.
We’ll also help you plan the meals for your trip, so if there are particular dietary choices you want to make for your retreat, we can make a plan that accommodates those wishes. Let’s put our MA in Holistic Nutrition to work for you!
5. What happens if I have a student who really doesn’t want to do one of the excursions?
We want you to make the most of your retreat and listen to what is best for you. All of the classes, excursions and activities are optional. If a student needs to spend a day relaxing or has a specific reason you’d prefer to not to take an excursion, that’s a-okay. This experience is all about what you and your students need.
6. How much lead time do I need to plan a retreat?
To plan efficiently, it’s Ideal to start the process 9-12 months out for international retreats and 6 months out for local weekend retreats. It may sound like a lot of time, but it really flies by. This gives us ample time to collaborate, advertise, and prepare your guests for their adventure.
Never miss a chance to give to others. Photo Credit: Diego PH
7. I have an organization that I’m passionate about supporting. Can they be part of your karma yoga program?
We absolutely love our karma yoga partners, but we’re always eager to work with anyone serving the greater good. We would love to support your passions! Let us know which organization you’d like to help out so we can contact them and make sure they are open to this collaboration.
We love questions!
There’s no doubt that leading a retreat can feel like a big undertaking. It’s natural to have many questions. We’re here to help!
Didn’t see the answer to your question? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us here.
Big Island dates TBA
You've made your plans, and it’s nearly time to board the plane for your great yoga escape. You might be wondering what you should bring along for the adventure.
It has become increasingly more common for people to vacation in areas of the world where they can directly contribute to the conservation of the land and help preserve the sensitive ecology that is being threatened by humanity’s destructive ways.
Our destination for the “Touching the Emptiness” retreat is the Costa Dulce Eco-Resort and Retreat Center, which is nestled between the jungle and a sea turtle hatchery at Playa Escameca Grande beach, near San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Costa Dulce’s core mission is to positively contribute to our collective social and environmental well being. By simply enjoying the beauty of the Costa Dulce Eco-Resort you will help them succeed with their many community and environmental initiatives!
As a beach resort and an eco-lodge it comes naturally to focus on protecting the ocean. Costa Dulce has a successful partnership with Vital Action Project that supports the sea turtle hatchery right in front of the hotel. In their first year of operation, 10,000 baby turtles were successfully released into the ocean. Regular beach clean ups also take place, with the intention of keeping the beach in it’s beautiful natural state.
It has always been a challenge to get a complete education in rural Nicaragua. It is no different in the Playa Escameca area. Without a local high school, the drop out rate is an astounding 95%! Many kids need to take a bus to San Juan del Sur to complete high school. This is beyond the economic means of many families. Costa Dulce has partnered with Barrio Planta Project on the Escamequita Project. The Escamequita Project will eventually be a school/community center for the town of Escamequita (closest town to Costa Dulce).
In an effort to maintain our spiritual connections with all of our planet’s inhabitants, the “Touching the Emptiness” retreat led by Jack Greene offers an opportunity to explore, conserve and play.
We will enjoy a week of relaxation and connection through yoga and other movement traditions, meditation and breathwork and plenty of time to play in nature. In addition to our group practices and activities, there will be ample free time to explore the Playa Escameca area through jungle/waterfall hikes, SUP adventures in a nearby river, visiting the turtle hatchery, horseback riding, and of course surfing!
Costa Dulce Eco-Resort offers the perfect blend of natural living and rustic luxury, providing much needed relaxation, tranquility and ultimately, emptiness.
Join us this December 8-15, 2018 as we seek to discover who we really are underneath it all, the vast peaceful emptiness within. “Touching the Emptiness – Becoming Who We Really Are” is calling you…will you answer?
$500 deposits are being accepted now to secure your space.
https://www.mindfulbalanceretreats.com/nicaragua
Namaste,
Jack Greene, Mindful Balance Retreats, and Costa Dulce
7 TIPS FOR DEVELOPING A HEALTHY MORNING ROUTINE
Harness the power of journaling to improve your yoga practice and your overall well being.
Mindful Balance Retreats is heading to New Zealand. Stay tuned for more updates! In the meantime, enjoy learning about the many meanings of the fantastically beautiful koru.
Selecting your flights doesn’t have to feel like alchemy. These best practices can steer you toward the most efficient and least expensive route to adventure.
A retreat is the perfect opportunity to catch up on some reading. Add one of these to your suitcase and experience the magic of curling up with a good book.
Signing up for one of the Mindful Balance Retreats offerings could be your ticket to relaxation. You get the plane tickets, and we set you up with great teachers, beautiful lodging, and healthy food. The specific amenities vary for each destination, but we take a lot of the uncertainty and stress out of travel
One of the many retreats we love at Mindful Balance Retreats is our retreat to Bali. Bali, an island in the Indonesian archipelago, is sometimes referred to as the Island of the Gods. The island comes by the moniker honestly. The stunning landscape and deep spirituality of its people set it apart. It's a go-to destination for people trying to satisfy their wanderlust and need for self-reflection.
Go to Bali to heal your body and soul
Our retreat in Bali focuses on healing and restoration. Every day begins with a series of mindfulness practices and opportunities for self-reflection. If you've been having trouble carving out the time to take care of yourself, this trip is an incredible opportunity to jumpstart healthy habits. Take some time to practice asana, meditate, or journal before you set out on the day's adventures.
Every afternoon, we have a restorative yoga practice with aromatherapy and healing touch. Our Bali retreat also includes a massage to give you the maximum healing benefit of all these practices. Feel your stress melt away as you tend to your body and mind.
The lush volcanic landscape provides plenty of healthy foods to nurture your physical body. We start off every day on the right foot with a nourishing organic breakfast. An on-site restaurant offers organic fare, and you'll have the chance to do a 1-day juice cleanse if you wish.
Take in the sights
Bali is known for its natural beauty and affordability compared to other island destinations. During our retreat, we stay at the stunning Desa Seni eco-village, where you'll have access to on-site-yoga (of course!), a saltwater pool, a sun deck, and a spa. The antique wooden houses of Desa Seni are arranged in the style of a traditional Indonesian village.
We are staying in an incredible place, but you'll also have the chance to visit sacred Balinese temples and well as wander around the streets of Ubud, where food, shopping and monkeys are abundant.
Be contemplative
Most of us struggle to find the time for introspection every day. There's so much noise competing for our attention. For this reason, we devote one day of our retreat to silence. In Bali, you can create the space that you need to work toward your wellness goals. Dedicated time to practice the niyama, svadhyaya (self-reflection), is an opportunity you're rarely afforded in class, but on this retreat, it's a major focus.
Come home refreshed
Taking time away from your regular routine can put you on a path to healing. You'll not only feel better, but there's a good chance that you'll be more productive after doing some inner work on the Island of the Gods. When you return from Bali, you'll carry the fruits of deep and introspective practice into your life.
Can you see yourself retreating to Bali this year....Join us.... or Lead it?