Community, Gratitude & Appreciation – Yin & Yang Yoga Retreat Vol. 1 – Review & Insights
Looking back at the retreat weekend it almost feels like a dream. Did it actually happen? Did we actually let my vision of a yoga weekend retreat in Brandenburg come true?
Yes, we did. And it was magical.
It was so magical to be practising and just sharing time together in a group. Something that I (and I guess everyone else as well) has missed so much over the times of lockdown.
We as humans are meant to live together in small communities. We are tribeswomen/-men.
I am thankful for the possibilities of the internet, but online events can never replace real world experiences. The space and the intimacy that we created over the weekend reminded me of this.
To be able to practice yoga in a group setting together in one room, the energy that gets created there is something else, something so much more deeply connecting than any online yoga experience can facilitate.
Having the meals together, going on our nature walk together, talking and sharing with people that prior to the weekend you didn’t know, were things that we took for granted pre-corona. After being deprived of these most basic human ways of interacting for so long, they now felt like something quite special.
Here are some impressions from the retreat:
My intention for the retreat was to do what I love doing and thereby create the space for community. I feel this intention was more than fulfilled.
So much work and love has gone into the retreat, so many things that had to be organised and planned, and now with the retreat over, I just want to repeat it again!
Which is what I´m doing in September:
Yin Yang Retreat Vol. 2
10. – 12.09.2021
Check out the event details here.
Thank you to everyone who joined. Thank you for being such a harmonious easy-going group of yoginis.
Special thanks to Marie for providing us with the most delicious meals.
There are so many more things that I am feeling grateful for when thinking about the retreat. Too many more to list here in this blog post.
But there is one thing I do want to mention, and I have already shared this with the participants in the closing circle: Even though I keep ranting on about online yoga never being able to replace real world yoga, hearing some of the participants share that my online yoga (either live-streaming classes at Green Yoga or my YouTube channel) has helped them through hard lookdown times, has really touched my heart.
By its nature, there is a physical distance in online yoga between the teacher and the participants, which sometimes gives me the feeling of it being a one-way street where I am providing, but I don´t know who is receiving and if the recipients even enjoy it. Hearing now, that my online yoga has been so valuable to people, gives me fresh energy to also continue on this path.
Yes, I still am a strong advocate for in-person experiences. Yes, I still say that real world yoga can never be replaced by online yoga. But I do see the value and the benefit of online yoga in our current world.
So, let’s continue together on this multifaceted path of yoga – online and in the real world. My heart is filled with so much love and gratitude!
Thank you. See you soon, Janice.