6 Days Walking, New Beginnings, Meditation, and Yoga Retreat in Valencia, Spain
A Life Changing Yoga Retreat Spain
Deep practice of yoga, the sense of peace it brings and the sense of balance that it brings all useful when you are about the make changes in your life. These may be changes in terms of how you think, how you relate to others or how you relate to the world. Yoga Sutra Shala has a lot of experience in running yoga retreats with several different themes in Spain. On Yoga Sutra Shala's retreat, you can be sure that the quality of excellence in every aspect is constantly maintained and that a warm homely atmosphere as well as personal attention for each guest are guaranteed. This retreat is designed to teach you yoga and meditation techniques that will allow you to change the way you relate to life in terms of developing a healthy mind and a healthy body.
Meet the instructors
Highlights
- 2 guided walks
- Morning chanting & pranayama class
- Morning Vinyasa or Hatha yoga class (yang based)
- Relaxing evening Vinyasa or Hatha yoga class (yin based)
- Daily guided meditations & different series of yin & yang based Vinyasa and Hatha yoga
- Only 15 minutes drive to one of Valencia's most beautiful and secluded beaches
- 3 delicious organic healthy plant-based meals prepared by professional chefs
- 5 nights comfortable accommodation
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
- Advanced
Styles
Alicante–Elche Airport (US$34 per person)
Accommodation
Facilities
- Swimming pool (outdoor)
- Garden
Yoga Sutra Shala offers accommodation with excellent quality, assuring that you will have a pleasant and comfortable stay. During your retreat, you will be staying at a beautiful secluded retreat centre situated in Benissiva. The villa is just 15 minutes drive to one of Valencia's most beautiful and secluded beaches, Oliva.
All of the rooms have beautiful views of the mountains or the village. There are eight bedrooms, each one with ensuite bathroom to make your stay really comfortable. Two of the rooms have their own balcony and three of the rooms have a large balcony which they share with each other. All rooms have air conditioning and central heating.
Budget twin room
La Solana has two single beds and has lovely views of the beautiful hamlet of Benissiva. The room has a lovely ensuite bathroom as well. The beds can either be booked individually by two same-sex solo travellers wanting to share, or by two friends or family members booking at the same time. It can also be booked for single occupancy by one person. To book this room for a male and a female, please contact Yoga Sutra Shala.
Budget double room
Tossal Gros is a cosy room named after one of the mountains seen from it's balcony. It has a comfortable double bed, beautiful views looking out to the mountains and an ensuite bathroom. This room is perfect for a solo traveller wishing to indulge in some private time.
Double rooms
All double rooms can be booked by couples or by solo travellers as a private double room.
El Colomer ("The Dove House" has a lovely double bed and beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. It also has a nice ensuite bathroom. It is situated on the second floor.
El LLimaner has one double bed and lovely views of the village. It also has an ensuite bathroom. It is on the ground floor, so is perfect for those who find stairs challenging.
La Forada is named after the impressive arch-topped mountain visible from the balcony. It has a double bed and a shared balcony-terrace with lovely views of the Valencian mountains. It also has an ensuite bathroom.
Twin rooms
All twin rooms can either be booked individually by two same-sex solo travellers wanting to share, or by two friends or family members booking at the same time. To book this room for a male and a female, please contact Yoga Sutra Shala.
El Misserat has two single beds, a shared balcony and an ensuite bathroom. It has lovely views of the surrounding mountains.
L'Albureca has two single beds, a shared balcony and amazing views of the mountains. It also has an ensuite bathroom.
Deluxe double room
L'Umbria is a very special room. This large, luxury room has a comfortable double bed; a sitting area; mezzanine floor; and an ensuite bathroom with a bath and a shower. It has its own balcony and lovely views of the surrounding Valencian mountains and unspoilt countryside. It is perfect for a couple or for single occupancy.
Program
Typical timetable
We observe silence in the morning until after breakfast.
- 07.45 : Pranayama class
- 08.00 : Morning Vinyasa and Hatha yoga class (Yang based)
- 09.15 : Morning guided meditation
- 09.30 : Silence time
- 10.00 : Organic healthy and delicious breakfast
- 11.00 : Rest time, time for snacks
- 14.00 : Organic plant-based lunch
- 15.00 : Free time for reading, walking, resting
- 17.30 : Pranayama class
- 17.50 : Evening yoga class (Yin based)
- 18.10 : Evening guided meditation
Silence time in the evening after yoga until dinner
- 20:15 Organic plant-based dinner
Yoga and meditation classes
Throughout these retreats, you will be focusing on different guided meditations every day in the morning and evening to teach your mind to relax and focus on silence within. The aim is to help you return with a more positive and happy mindset. There will be different series of yin and yang based vinyasas taught to you every day - yang every morning and yin every evening - designed to slowly open up the whole body over five days so that by the last day of the retreat, every muscle within your body feels open, alive, relaxed, rejuvenated and energized.
"Free to do/attend" retreat
Note that all the classes are all optional during your yoga retreats. We want you to develop at your own pace and we want you to enjoy your stay. We want you to enjoy your yoga retreats as much as possible, to become healthy in mind and body, to learn how to relax and deal with stress and to learn how to feel at one with yourself.
"Your yoga" structure
At your yoga retreat centre, our aim is to help you develop your health, learn relaxation techniques and learn meditation so helping you to deal with stress, improve the quality of your life, your happiness and your sense of well-being. On your yoga retreats, you will be taught meditation, asana (posture), chanting, and breathing techniques. All classes will be optional as we want you to enjoy your stay and develop at your own pace.
You will be asked at the beginning of each yoga retreat what areas you want to develop in. Your yoga retreat will be personalized according to your wants and needs for your own development whether you are a new or established student of yoga.
Namit will be using his highly developed teaching system during each class at your yoga retreat at Yoga Sutra Shala to teach Vinyasa Yoga. Your yoga retreat centre will be run specifically as a shala - a place of refuge and a place to find inner peace. Your shala will be a perfect place to escape the stresses of the modern world and develop a sense of peace, calm, well-being and happiness.
Guided walks
During this retreat, there will be 2 guided walks (on Mondays and Tuesdays). You will be taken to the beautiful mountain called La Forada in the stunning Valencian valley called La Vall de La Gallinera. In summer, when the days are warmer, the guided walks will take place in early morning. During autumn and spring, they will take place in late morning. During winter season, midday is the best time to do the guided walks and catch the sun.
Get the most out of this retreat experience
Our experience of guests arriving late leads us to strongly advise you to come for the 6 days (5 nights), Sunday to Friday:
On the Sunday we have a Welcome lunch and introductions to staff, fellow guests and the retreat program: This is the time that many good friendships begin and you have the opportunity to orientate yourself and rest from your journey.
The first yoga and meditation class, on Sunday afternoon, provides the important foundation for you to build on for the rest of your week.
To get the most out of your retreat and fully enjoy the loving and peaceful family sentiment here, come for the whole retreat.
If your available flights don't match the retreat times, you could stay a night in Alicante or Valencia before and/or after the retreat and make use of our Alicante shuttle bus transfer (the quickest, easiest and often the cheapest way to get to and from the retreat) or use public transport from Valencia.
If you decide to come for less time, be aware that your booking and cost would be as for the whole retreat and you may miss out on certain aspects of the retreat experience.
Instructors
Namit Kathoria
Namit has a strong family tradition of yoga and has studied yoga all over the world including in his native India. His background as a leading health professional allows him to apply and explain the health benefits of yoga scientifically and to a high level. Namit has yoga teaching qualifications from Rishikesh in India (the birthplace of yoga) and also from Dharamsala in the Himalayas in India (the current residence of His Royal Holiness the Dalai Lama). Namit is a registered Senior teacher with Yoga Alliance Professionals.
Joe Hessenius
Yoga flowed into Joe’s life in early 2012. After healing a broken foot, Joe was looking to find a new way to bring balance into his life. He completed his 200 hour teacher training in Vinyassa/Hatha at White Lotus in California to further his own personal practice. Joe has been studying & practising Yin Yoga regularly with his teacher & mentor Samantha Akers, owner of TheraYoga, since 2016. He completed his Level 1 Yin training in October 2017 and has been teaching Yin ever since. Joe happily lives part time in Northern California, where he teaches yoga, farms/gardens & does freelance writing.
Lu Gladman
Lu left her job & her life in England in 2016 to travel the world and find a new life-path. During her year in India, she threw herself into learning yoga, ayurveda and all things spiritual, to gain as much knowledge as possible. She visited ashrams, learnt from recognised teachers in Rishikesh learnt traditional Hatha Yoga from an experienced local yogi in the mountains of Tamil Nadu, a state in Southern India. She also completed an intensive Yoga Therapy course at an ashram in Kerala, India. Now she is in her element, travelling and teaching yoga with passion, reverence and dedication.
Clara Smets
Clara worked for many years as a sports teacher. She understands the needs of others, which makes her able to help people to feel safe, supported & guided. Suddenly becoming very ill with Lyme’s disease, she had to adapt her lifestyle. She began to focus & deepen into herself more with yoga, meditation & nutrition & her health improved amazingly. This personal experience together with her yoga teacher training have convinced her that these are important keys for returning to health from many dis-eases. In her classes she focuses on creating a safe, supportive & relaxed environment.
Gabriela Ortiz
Gabriela was born & raised in Puerto Rico & is an avid artist, traveller & yoga instructor. After completing her studies in photography & sculpture in The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, she completed her 200hr certification from Red Sun Yoga in Orlando. She has now been practising yoga for about 5 years. She has continued her education, constantly learning through different lineages that include the schools of Anusara, Amrit & Ashtanga. She is a dynamic instructor with the ability to hold space for practitioners of various styles, ranging from restorative to powerful Hatha sequences.
Meliesha Platt
Meliesha has always had the desire to help others in a natural & sustainable way. Originally from New Zealand she has spent the last 10 years travelling on & off. Though she has been dipping in & out of yoga communities over a long period of her life, it has been in the last 4 years that yoga has become an integral part of her daily life. In 2016 she went to India to study, practice & learn more about yoga. Her teaching & self-practice is ever-evolving & she is currently enjoying teaching Hatha and Yin yoga as well as leading meditations, especially yoga nidra which she loves.
Location
Retreats are based at the yoga and meditation retreat centre in Benissiva, a village in the province of Alicante, Valencia, Spain. The retreat centre is surrounded by 8 beautiful mountains and it is situated in complete silence. The retreat center is only 15 minutes drive to one of Valencia's most beautiful and secluded beaches, Oliva.
Food
Healthy, delicious plant-based, 100% organic meals will be provided using locally grown organic fruit and vegetables on every yoga retreat. The recipes used will be created by health and nutrition experts including Namit and Maru, the founders of Yoga Sutra Shala. Wholemeal foods will be used as well as foods low in saturated fat during your yoga retreats. All meals are based on the principles of good nutrition, health and good taste.
There is no meat or fish on the yoga retreats. All the food is plant-based in the tradition of yoga and ahimsa (non-violence). The yoga tradition encourages the plant-based diet during the practice of meditation in order to increase the experience of peace.
Instead your meals at the yoga retreat centre will contain beans, nuts, avocados, tofu, seeds and other plant-based sources of protein, allowing you to build core, back and other muscle groups that have been developed from practicing yoga postures by yogis for millennia.
Other special dietary requests such as vegan, dairy free, and wheat free will also be catered for. Gluten free and lactose free diets as well as other allergies can also be catered for. Our chefs will make delicious alternatives for you.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten Free
- Organic
- Lactose Free
Things to do (optional)
During your free time, you can go for a nature walk and admire some of the stunning views of the surrounding mountains as well as breathe in some of the lovely mountain air. You can also arrange a trip with a local taxi driver to the surrounding villages or to one of Valencia's most beautiful and secluded beaches, Oliva. Most people, however, like to relax by the pool, read, chat to new friends at your yoga retreat centre or listen to quiet music.
Spa treatments
There are people from the local villages who come to the shala and offer deep tissue massage. Treatments tend to cost around 60 EUR each. Please feel free to send an inquiry to Yoga Sutra Shala if you want to find out more.
What's included
- 2 guided walks
- 5 nights accommodation in the cosy villa
- Fun and professional yoga and meditation classes twice a day
- 3 delicious organic plant-based meals daily
- Use of the swimming pool
- Over 20 of the best quality organic teas from around the world which you will have available to drink whenever you want to
- Wi-Fi available for the entire length of your stay
- A library of books on yoga, philosophy, meditation and travel
- A library of CDs with mantras, meditation music, philosophy lectures and classical music
- A library of blue ray discs and DVDs with documentaries on nutrition, yoga and philosophy
- Fresh organic fruit from the local organic farmers available all day for you to snack on
What's not included
- Airport transfers (30 EUR one way)
- Flights
How to get there
Recommended Airports
Alicante–Elche Airport
66 km
Transfer available for additional US$34 per person
Arrival by airplane
The nearest airport is Alicante (ALC). Yoga Sutra Shala can help you organizer a transfer from Alicante airport to the venue and from the venue to the airport during scheduled times below:
- On Sundays at 12pm (airport - venue)
- On Fridays at 1.45 pm (venue - airport)
The cost is 30 EUR each way.
