6 Days Walking, New Beginnings, Meditation, and Yoga Retreat in Valencia, Spain

Facilities

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 twin single beds and has lovely views of the beautiful hamlet of Benissiva. The beds can either be booked individually by two same-sex solo travellers wanting to share or by two friends booking at the same time. It can also be booked for single occupancy. The room has a lovely ensuite bathroom as well.

Budget double room

Tossal Gros has a very comfortable double bed and a beautiful balcony with views looking over the mountains. It also has an ensuite bathroom. The room can either be booked by a couple or for single occupancy.

Double rooms

All double rooms can be booked by couples or by solo travellers as a private double room.

El Colomer has a lovely double bed and beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. It has a nice ensuite bathroom.

El LLimaner has one double bed and lovely views of the village. It also has an ensuite bathroom.

La Forada has a double bed and a shared 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 booking at the same time.

El Misserat has twin single beds with a shared balcony and ensuite bathroom. It has lovely views of the surrounding mountains.

L'Albureca has twin 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. It has a double bed, an additional double bed on a mezzanine, its own balcony and lovely views of the surrounding Valencian mountains and unspoilt countryside. It is perfect for a couple, 2 family members, or for single occupancy. For price list, please contact Yoga Sutra Shala.

Typical timetable

We observe silence in the morning until after breakfast.

• 07:30 Chanting class (optional)
• 07:45 Pranayama class
• 08:00 Morning Vinyasa 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 vegetarian 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 vegetarian 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.

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.

Healthy, delicious vegetarian, 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 vegetarian in the tradition of yoga and ahimsa (non-violence). The yoga tradition encourages the vegetarian 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 vegetarian 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.

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.

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.

• 2 guided walks
• 5 nights accommodation in the cosy villa
• Fun and professional yoga and meditation classes twice a day
• 3 delicious organic vegetarian 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

• Airport transfers (30 EUR one way)
• Flights

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.