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The Magazine for spa and wellness in Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America​

Wellnessing Getaway, Grand Velas Riviera Nayarit

With an all-star lineup of guest presenters both national and international, the 6th Wellnessing Getaway by Grand Velas, hosted at their impressing Riviera Nayarit resort was certain to be a huge success.

The concept of the Wellnessing Getaway retreat was inspired by Velas Group spa consultant, Diana Mestre, there to welcome us at the first morning yoga session and to introduce each of the workshop or session leaders throughout the 3-day program.

Sherrie Baptiste, author of Yoga with Weights for Dummies, based in San Francisco at the Baptiste Power of Yoga Center, led us through a yoga sequence reminiscent of a guided meditation. She called for us to move with intention, feel our breath and connect with our bodies.

Ana Paula Dominguez, the Founder and President of the Mexican Institute of Yoga, introduced the group to Kundalini Yoga, explaining the basics and the purpose, while encouraging us to challenge ourselves and improve our breath of fire and core strength. We finished with a bliss inducing sound healing meditation provided by Roberto Gopan.

Claire Grieve shared her love of yoga and music with fun, uplifting Vinyasa flow classes as she glided through the group encouraging and assisting with adjustments to deepen our practice and improve our flexibility.

Colleen McCann of Style Rituals guided us through the mystical process of selecting and working with crystals, teaching us the basics of cleansing, charging, combining and working with crystals and pendulums. We created a despacho, where we intentionally placed various treasures: crystals, feathers, chocolate, seeds, salt, petals, beans, leaves, herbs and even gold stars – for beauty of course! The despacho is wrapped and tied with string (all elements are biodegradable), it’s then burned, buried or thrown into the ocean – we chose the latter, of course!

Chef Yogui, notorious for his creative food preparations on yoga retreats in Mexico, concocted an array of dishes to suit all tastes and catering to all diets at several mealtimes during the event. My favorites included a cacao based smoothie and chickpea sopes with a peanut salsa – an imaginative take on a Mexican favorite.

Rebecca Sutton of Dyna Training in Mexico City energized the group with a morning workout of cardio, strength, yoga and dance combined and choreographed to uplifting and motivating music to get us moving on the beach.

Javier Bautista led a musical narration or ‘Kirtan’ around a firepit on the beach as the sunset lit up the circle of attendees. We danced and sang before Javier invited us to maintain the dance in our soul while our bodies sat still once more around the fire.

Adriana Azuara of All4Spas and AgaveSpa brought product creation to life with fresh ingredients, creams, clays and scrubs, essential oils and even mezcal. All custom blended by each of us in a pestle and mortar. We finished this interactive workshop with a body soak, a scrub and a body mask to use back in our suites.

Roberto Gopar of Oaxaca, Mexico, enchanted the group with the healing vibration of sound. A harmonious collection of indigenous Mayan instruments including shells and drums are played alongside Tibetan singing bowls to create harmony and align cellular energy in the body. A magical experience.

By Sara Jones, editor

www.vallarta.grandvelas.com.mx

Fabiola
Author: Fabiola