Diet Mind Spirit

Here are several suggestions for some of the best yoga retreats or “zen dens” in the world.

From concierge:

1. WILDFLOWER HALL
Where: Shimla, India

Guru says: Yoga was invented in the Himalayas, in caves where acolytes of Tantric bliss experimented with astrology, nutrition, sex, medicine, and asanas (postures). But cave dwelling is so 5,000 years ago: Stay instead at this cliff-side manor, once home to British commander-in-chief Lord Kitchener and now a luxury Oberoi property. Instruction with local masters who grew up practicing yoga can be arranged in private sessions or with a group. Most programs last one week and include spa and Ayurvedic treatments.

Classmates: Wealthy Indian families looking to escape the heat of New Delhi and Mumbai, as well as many European couples. The Himalayan environment attracts a steady stream of fit, young professionals into adventure travel.

Om factor: Didn’t we mention yoga was invented here? Teachers are often part of a guru-disciple lineage dating back centuries.

Prerequisites: A simple mountain pose. Better: the sweat-inducing headstand.

Extracurricular: Day-trips on the white water of the Sutlej River, hikes and single-track mountain biking trips leading to king-of-the-world views, tennis in the summer and ice skating in the winter.

When to go: The summer is warm, but not hot; wildflowers bloom in late spring; and snow falls regularly in January and February. Take your pick.

Doubles from $390; morning yoga classes included, individual yoga programs extra

Wildflower Hall
Tel: 800 562 3764

2. COMO SHAMBHALA AT PARROT CAY
Where: Turks & Caicos

Guru says: This is the spot for well-heeled yogis whose idea of Zen minimalism doesn’t extend to thread counts and evening meals. The private 1,000-acre island in the Turks + Caicos has snow-white sand and turquoise coves, and the rooms are unfussy but gorgeous, all teak and white cotton. Instructors give daily yoga classes, but the resort also attracts some of the biggest names in American yoga for retreat weeks.

Classmates: A yoga rule of thumb: When the price goes up, so does the average age of the clientele. Don’t expect the barefoot, stringy-haired hard-bodies you share floor space with at home. Instead, you’ll get moneyed couples and a smattering of New Age yuppies.

Om factor: With American yoga luminaries such as Rodney Yee and Erich Schiffmann as retreat week regulars, the level of instruction is excellent, with an average of five hours per day during retreat weeks.

Prerequisites: Downward-facing dog. If you don’t already know this pose, just watch your dog stretch when he gets up from a nap.

Extracurricular: Dive or snorkel in the most pristine waters and healthiest reefs of the Caribbean region. Or just collapse on the beach for an extended savasana.

Doubles from $680 including group yoga classes; $120 an hour for private instruction; retreat weeks $6,240 all-inclusive

Como Shambhala at Parrot Cay
Tel: 877 754 0726

3. CHIVA-SOM
Where: Hua Hin, Thailand

Guru says: This retreat, my budding spiritual narcissist, is all about you. Thailand’s top destination spa ensures no annoying classmates and no early mornings unless you want them. Upon arrival at the luxurious, secluded seven-acre property located 135 miles south of Bangkok, you’ll be assigned a Health and Wellness advisor who’ll design a personal yoga program, ranging from 3 to 21 days (or longer), and augment it with spa treatments and a nutritional program.

Classmates: There may be no one on the mat next to you (all instruction is private), but other guests do exist. Between yoga and spa sessions you’ll hobnob with British, Swedish, and Australian thirty- and fortysomethings. Most guests are women traveling with their girlfriends or mums to detox or lose weight, but there are plenty of soloists, so you won’t have to dine alone.

Om factor: High. Every morning Buddhist monks wander along Hua Hin beach draped in faded red robes.

Prerequisites: Half lotus with breath of fire (kalabati breathing). You aren’t going to be able to fake this one.

Extracurricular: While most guests don’t leave the property, we suggest shuttling into town to explore the market and local Buddhist shrines.

When to go: The most comfortable time is the dry season, October through April. But prices drop during the summer rains, May to September.

Three- to 21-day retreats from $1,530 to $10,710, including meals and yoga instruction

Chiva-Som
Tel: 949 487 0522

4. BEGAWAN GIRI
Where: Bali, Indonesia

Guru says: Bali seems tailor-made for serenity: The Balinese culture is based on harmony, and locals couldn’t be more hospitable. If you don’t come away from here feeling balanced and fulfilled, you need a personality replacement. The only decision is how upscale to go. The tippy-top is Como Shambhala Estate at Begawan Giri, where the guest villas are architectural masterpieces and the sumptuous spa overlooks the Ayung River. Yoga instructors are on staff, and the hotel hosts retreat weeks throughout the year. But Balinese tranquility isn’t limited to the elite. Australia-based yoga studio Inspya Yoga offers a handful of affordable Bali retreats each year, most of them hosted by renowned teacher Lance Schuler in the town of Ubud (just a stone’s throw from Begawan Giri). Retreat guests are lodged in a simple but comfortable compound with two-story bungalows, an open-air restaurant, and a spring-water swimming pool.

Classmates: Donna Karan at the Begawan Giri; attractive, down-to-earth Aussies with Inspya Yoga.

Om factor: Spirit saturates Bali. There are thousands of temples on the island, and even if you don’t know anything about Hinduism, it’s hard not to be intrigued.

Prerequisites: Wheel pose. Bali attracts types that do full back-bends in their sleep.

Extracurricular: Visit the mother temple complex, Pura Besakih; scale the sacred Mt. Agung volcano; dive in the pristine waters of North Bali; or learn to surf on the south coast.

When to go: Lance Schuler’s next Bali retreat is in July 2007. Begawan Giri announces its retreat week calendar in November 2006; check the website for details.

Begawan Giri: Doubles from $495, including daily yoga; retreat weeks from $3,882. Inspya Yoga: 10-day retreats from $1,009, including accommodations

Begawan Giri
Tel: 62 361 978 888

Inspya Yoga Retreats
Tel: 61 2 6687 2717

5. ADVENTURE YOGA RETREATS
Where: All over the Americas

Guru says: Perfect for those as likely to find enlightenment charging down a mountain or carving a wave as during yoga and meditation. Founder and yoga instructor Ted McDonald teams with well-known New York- and L.A.-based yogis to lead students on adrenaline-addled eco-adventures in some of the world’s wildest places. His students run rivers in Patagonia, hike the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu (pictured), snowboard in the Sierra Nevadas, surf Costa Rica, or scale Mt. Whitney—all between morning and evening yoga sessions.

Classmates: Young, mostly single, fun-loving sensualists who can enjoy an ayahuasca ceremony with a Peruvian shaman as much as a midnight skinny-dip.

Om factor: Low on spiritual pretense, high on thrill-seeking.

Prerequisites: Warrior III. Expect an athletic intermediate practice with lots of standing and one-legged balancing postures.

Extracurricular: Drinking fine Chilean wine, soaking in snow-banked hot tubs, and exploring altered states with Peruvian medicine men.

When to go: Scale Mount Whitney, October 5–7 ($300); snowboard Mammoth Mountain, January 12–15 and March 15–18 ($595); raft Chile’s Fútaleufu River, February 1–10 ($3,800).

Adventure Yoga Retreats
Tel: 310 455 6681

6. ESALEN INSTITUTE
Where: Big Sur, California

Guru says: A New Age hot spot since the ’60s, the institute grows its own vegetarian food, has basic rooms with a view, and hosts workshops in everything from African dance to Tantric sex. The time freeze means you kinda expect John Lennon to drop in at any moment. The yoga classes are led by internationally renowned figures such as Mark Whitwell and Shiva Rea. Too granola for you? Well, the property is outrageously beautiful, as it’s balanced on the edge of the Pacific cliffs. And the coed naked hot-spring tubs—50 feet above the swirling, crashing Pacific—are pretty nifty. Some are exposed to the elements, others are sheltered beneath dynamic cantilevered ceilings; each sucks the stress from bones and souls.

Classmates: Flower children and their ilk. Whoever they are, you’ll be seeing a lot of them. Public displays of self-assured nudity are rampant—height, weight, and body fat be damned.

Om factor: Esalen is fervently committed to a set of spiritual and ecological ideals, and attracts visitors of like minds. So it’s high on pious sanctimony and low on collective sense of humor. Which, in a way, is sort of funny.

Prerequisites: Sun salutations, the central series in vinyasa or flow yoga practice.

Extracurricular: Workshop schedules are pretty packed, but you’ll find time to comb the beach, enjoy a massage, and dip in the hot springs—if you know what’s good for you.

When to go: Hit Shiva Rea’s high-energy Thanksgiving weekend retreat, November 24–26 ($655), or learn how to develop a daily practice in Mark Whitwell’s more introspective and gentler Flow Workshop, December 10–15 ($1,120).

Weekend retreats, $655 per person, including yoga workshop, accommodations, meals, and access to hot springs; weeklong retreats $1,120

Esalen Institute
Tel: 831 667 3005

7. LIFETIME RETREATS
Where: Kangaroo Island, Australia

Guru says: This family-owned property on secluded Kangaroo Island, off the coast of Adelaide, oozes character, with three distinct villas that include the Cliff House, reminiscent of a ’70s rock’n'roll crash pad, and the earthen Sky House. A pre-arrival questionnaire not only includes queries guests about yoga habits but also favorite tunes, dining preferences, and even comforting smells from childhood (it isn’t unusual to arrive to find an apple pie in the oven). Rachel Hannaford, a former personal chef who’s fed the Dalai Lama and is now LifeTime’s general manager/yogi/head chef, teaches yoga every morning at eight, and an Introduction to Tibetan Meditation class in the evenings.

Classmates: American couples here to view the island’s diverse wildlife; group retreats full of fit Aussies.

Om factor: Up to you. Hannaford can discuss Buddhist philosophy if you like, but she’s more than happy to keep it light.

Prerequisites: Chair pose or child’s pose. A disciple of Baron Baptiste’s athletic brand of hatha yoga, Hannaford uses techniques that’ll make quads rattle and brows drip.

Extracurricular: Humans are outnumbered ten to one by mobs of wallabies, kangaroos, seals, and koalas. Romp with them (or close enough) around the stunning, unspoiled coastline.

When to go: Australia’s spring and summer, October through March.

Retreats from $493 per person per night, all-inclusive

LifeTime Retreats
Tel: 61 8 8354 2368

8. MAYA TULUM
Where: Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico

Guru says: Set on an absurdly gorgeous stretch of Yucatán shore 90 minutes from Cancún, this is the best-regarded retreat destination within the yoga community, hosting more than 50 events a year. Join a group trip sponsored by one of several international yoga stars, such as Baron Baptiste, or simply sign on for Maya Tulum’s five-night or seven-night MBS (as in mind, body, spirit) program. The price includes yoga sessions, meditation classes, three vegetarian meals per day (fish is optional), massages, and day-trips. The spa serves up specialties such as Mayan clay massage and Sobata Maya—a concentric navel massage. Oh, and there’s a sweat lodge run by a third-generation shaman named Fabian.

Classmates: Among the hippie-chic 20-to-45 set, this place is more popular than soy chai lattes. You’re liable to share hardwood with film and rock stars, politicians, and Manhattanites looking for time off from the social circuit.

Om factor: Given the Mayan context and enthusiastic clientele, expect bizarre conversations about Krishna, string theory, indigo children, 2012, Tantra, the evils of Fox News, and the holographic nature of reality. Quick: Say, “Mayan navel massage” 50 times fast.

Prerequisites: Crow pose. You don’t have to know how to balance on your hands with legs curled up like a perching crow’s wings, but if you don’t, you may have asana envy.

Extracurricular: Aside from getting sweaty with Fabian, explore the nearby Mayan ruins in Tulum and some of the largest pyramids in Mexico at Coba. Snorkeling is also first-rate.

When to go: Winter and spring are the most popular, but good deals can be had in summer and fall. Baptiste leads weeklong “boot camp” retreats October 21–28 and May 19–26. (For more information, visit Baptiste’s site.)

All-inclusive MBS retreats from $1,020 per person; Baptiste’s boot camps from $2,595

Maya Tulum
Tel: 888 515 4580

9. THE STANDARD MIAMI
Where: Miami Beach, Florida

Guru says: A state of egolessness in South Beach? Sounds suspect, huh? Well, while retaining all the retro-cool design motifs of Andre Balazs’s hip hotel brand, this property on a small bay island off the Venetian Causeway is geared around wellness. Its daily group yoga classes are open to hotel guests and the paying public, as are its pranayama and Tibetan meditation classes. The spa is off-the-charts slick, with an emphasis on water therapy—a Turkish hammam, a waterfall hot tub, a spa menu full of double entendres like “Tag Team” (four-hands massage) and “The Standard Spanking” (yes, it involves your buttocks). But it isn’t style over substance here; this place does deliver the goods. There’s a staff acupuncturist and naturopath, a diverse stable of instructors, and terrific yoga facilities. It’s generating great buzz in the yoga world.

Classmates: Two parts international travelers, one part models (and wannabes), and a garnish of Miami locals.

Om factor: Undetermined. The Standard is working to deliver age-old techniques in cool packaging. Does that make it less authentic? You be the judge.

Prerequisites: There’s a touch of Kundalini yoga here, which means holding poses longer and with a variety of breathing techniques. Endure some pain, and you’ll leave feeling high.

Extracurricular: South Beach, and all its toned and tanned glories.

When to go: This one’s wide open.

Doubles from $125; yoga and meditation classes $17

The Standard Miami
Tel: 305 673 1717

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