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The sun gods were on-board with us last Auckland Anniversary weekend as Kanuka Yoga and YogAscend hosted 24 keen yogis on a three-day Lake Tarawera Retreat.
We had people from the UK, Singapore, Japan, Italy, Ireland, USA (and, of course, us local Kiwis) all taking part in events focused on breath and movement.
Read more to see what we got up to...
The Activities
Starting with a Power Flow on Saturday morning with Jock from YogAscend. The sun was blazing which was a natural fit for the sun salutations we were doing. Stu/Raquel from Kanuka led the team through some Acro Yoga and by the end we had confident birds flying all around us. The bases did a fantastic job too!
Kanuka teachers, Laura, Angie and Megan guided the group individual sessions each day of the retreat. Whist Jock and Laura each led a fun-filled session on Shaye's Aqua Mats - funny, difficult, scary and exciting all at once.
Buddha praised Angie with a small bit of cloud cover for her classic Sunday Restore, and Megan closed out the weekend with a Slow Flow; finishing with a Human Mandala. We all shared a couple of words to describe the magical weekend in our own unique way.
Mixed into the weekend, we also completed a 6KM silent meditative hike through the forest, stand-up paddle boarding, kayaking, live music, plenty of bombs into the lake and still enough down time to fully recharge the batteries.
The Food
We were spoilt for choice with a range a meals to cater for everyone.
Six freshly smoked trout was a staple in our Poke Bowls - filled with all the tasty Poke ingredients, like edamame beans, ginger, avocado, seaweed, scallions, bean sprouts and cucumbers. Take me back!
Falvio (our Italian pizza maestro) guided us through the pizza night; with homemade bases, and authentic toppings to bring out the smiles.
Other highlights included the vege dahl, roast veges on the open grill and our freshly cut fruit + muesli breakfasts. Oh, and the iced tea from Raquel was a hit on the hot days (i.e. every day).
I think it's fair to say we all made a handful of new friends and fun memories.
We tried something a lil' different, and enhanced the skills we already had. We shared starry night skies and, for some, still sunrise reflections from the lake.
Huge kudos to Jock from YogAscend for arranging the serene venue. We all felt right at home!
Until next time...
