Reviewed by Spa & Wellness MexiCaribe in 2015<\/p>\n
With the recent popularity of retreat experiences in the bohemian resort town of Tulum on the Riviera Maya, I decided to investigate a little further and review one the retreats on offer for the readers of Spa Professional Mexico. After looking at the array of wellness experiences on offer I was drawn in particular to Life Source Retreats, located at the Alaya Tulum Hotel. With their stylish branding, organized website with clear information and array of retreat offerings they stood out from the rest. A range of dates was offered and those that worked best around my other travel commitments led me to join the Power Light: Fitness and Wellness Intensive Retreat. I believed this
\nwould be perfect retreat for me as a yoga enthusiast, healthy food fanatic and fitness devotee.<\/p>\n
Day 1
\nI arrived on Monday afternoon to spectacular weather and a calm turquoise-blue sea. I met the retreat leaders who each greeted me with a warm hug, setting the tone for the wonderful week to come. The majority of the retreat group had arrived by early evening and we enjoyed a gentle restorative yoga class with Enicia Fisher, Yoga, Creativity and Spirituality specialist from California, perfect for those having landed from lengthy flights from as far afield as Switzerland. The \u2018Heart Ceremony\u2019 opened the retreat where David and Michele, Co-Founders of Life Source Retreats,
\nwelcomed the group and outlined the purpose of the week to come. After dinner, Enicia led the group in a guided \u2018Yoga Nidra Meditation\u2019 to relax the mind and body.<\/p>\n
Day 2
\nOn Tuesday morning we woke early to greet the sun and take part in a Mayan Blessing led by a local shaman. The Mayan Blessing incorporated a Copal spiritual cleansing (or \u2018smudging\u2019) of each participant. Copal is a tree resin extracted by the indigenous Mayan people who consider it sacred. The extraction of this resin must be done with honor and respect and is a ritual of meditation, peace and harmony with the universe. I soon found out this was just the
\nfirst of many \u2018blessings\u2019 to come! The morning Power Vinyasa Yoga class was taught by Nikki Carter, a New York based yoga instructor of Yoga To The People. An inspiring teacher, Nikki\u2019s carefully articulated instructions really helped each of us get the most out of our yoga practice as she reminded us that \u2018everything is an invitation, work with your own body\u2019. An intense afternoon workout session with Nick Soderblum challenged our fitness and, after what seemed like a few hundred high kicks later, we were rewarded with a fantastic lunch. The Mayan Clay ceremony was one of the most fun experiences of the week. Starting with (another) Copal cleansing, we commenced with a self-application of the rich, remineralizing and detoxifying orange clay. Once covered, we then lay in the sand (the first time in years I\u2019ve laid out in the sun without the worry of having applied enough sunscreen!). In the afternoon workshop, New Moon
\nIntention Setting, facilitated by Enicia we identified our intentions and answered to ourselves: \u2018What do I have to do to make this a reality?\u2019, \u2018What do I need to let go of, to achieve this?\u2019 and \u2018How will I feel once I have achieved this?\u2019 <\/p>\n
Day 3
\nParker Hurley, also of New York\u2019s Yoga To The People, taught Wednesday morning\u2019s power yoga. A natural teacher, Parker challenged each of us and encouraged us to work hard and believe that our bodies can do more. During the workshop \u2018Change Your Attitude, Change Your Life\u2019 we heard David\u2019s story of following his passion, overcoming
\nlife\u2019s challenges and learning from mistakes. David Graziano, owner of Alaya Tulum, Ahau Tulum, Villa Pescadores and Co-Founder of Life Source Retreats, left a career in design and architecture in New York to settle in Tulum. He and his wife now raise their children in a place where they connect with nature on a daily basis and are surrounded by a multitude of nationalities, languages and cultures. The evening activity was the \u2018Sound Healing Journey\u2019, which started with another Copal cleansing (number 3 so far!). <\/p>\n
Day 4
\nOn this rainy Tulum day, after our morning yoga and a little free time, the group gathered in the tree-house palapa to explore our creative side and get in touch with our \u2018inner child\u2019. With glitter and glue of all colors imaginable, an assortment of scrapbooking scissors and an array of magazines, we set to work creating our vision boards. Cutting
\nout anything and everything that \u2018spoke\u2019 to us from the pages of old copies of travel, yoga, lifestyle, fitness and style publications, we created boards that embodied our ideal vision for our lives ahead. Not surprisingly, sunshine, white beaches and turquoise blue waters featured heavily in my board along with wellness, spa, publishing, family, friends, and yes \u2013 a glass of wine!<\/p>\n
The evening dried out just in time for us to experience the Temazcal. A traditional Mayan spiritual ritual of rebirth that takes place inside a stone and mortar domed structure \u2013 a symbol of Mother Nature\u2019s womb. Carlos, the local shaman and \u2018Temazcalero\u2019, first performed a copal smudging to cleanse the aura, before we entered the mystical chamber one by one. Using steam created by herb infused water poured over glowing hot rocks in a central pit, the Temazcal ceremony purifies the body and the spirit. During the four stages of the Temazcal, the four \u2018doors\u2019, the intensity of the heat rises and with it, feelings and emotions are liberated. The experience is shared but individual at the same time. Between each stage of the journey a welcome influx of fresh air rushes in, as the blanket-covered entrance to the Temazcal is uncovered. The ritual ends with a dip in the ocean as the powerful waves cooled us down.<\/p>\n
Day 5
\nBy day five I had noticed a distinct improvement in my Yoga practice, a development in strength and a deepening of the postures. I was pleased to hear from Parker, our teacher that morning, that he had also noticed the improvement in a couple of us during the week. The afternoon activity \u2018fishbowl\u2019 was deliberately kept a secret with none of us aware of what it would entail. While I won\u2019t give it away, I will say we were all left with warm heart, full of compliments and deeper understanding of the group of individuals we had shared this amazing week with. During our
\nfarewell dinner we all expressed something we had gained from the week\u2019s experience that we hadn\u2019t expected. With participants from across the globe, it may not be feasible to all get together again as a group, but we stay in touch
\nand will always share the wonderful experience of finding our \u2018Source of Life\u2019 on the beautiful beaches of Tulum.<\/p>\n
By Sara Jones, editor<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":31381,"template":"","spas":[3047],"country":[3045],"facilities":[3090],"class_list":["post-31380","spa","type-spa","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","spas-retreat","country-mexico","facilities-temezcal-sweat-lodge"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n