8 jours en retraite de yoga et de méditation pour femmes en Crète

Installations

Every day at the retreat includes a morning meditation & women’s yoga practice based on the Iyengar yoga tradition, and a late afternoon women’s circle, both designed to explore the energy of each phase of your feminine cycle.

You will have the chance to swim daily in the cool, turquoise Mediterranean waters at quiet beaches, explore the idyllic unspoilt surroundings of Chora Sfakion, and be nourished by wholesome local food cooked with love by our wonderful cook Maria!

The retreat will awaken your deep knowing and intuition, so that you will find your path and walk it, supported by like-minded women from across the world. You'll experience a deep sense of relaxation and alignment with your body, your womb, your calling, your past, your future, your lineage, your pleasure.

This powerful retreat will give you:

• A greater understanding of your cyclical nature through yoga, meditation, creative movement, art and life coaching
• Self-care practices to take back home
• A playful, safe and supportive group of maximum 10 women
• A chance to soak up the magical Mediterranean
• Our aim is to support each woman in accessing her authentic being and celebrating the gift of this life!

Course program

Each week begins with an opening circle and introductory Women's Circle at 6.00 p.m. on the day of arrival, followed by dinner. All other days will begin at 8 a.m. with a 30 minute meditation, followed by the 1.5 hour Iyengar yoga class focusing on women's needs. After breakfast guests are free to relax and enjoy the beach and sunshine, receive a massage treatment or private session with Julie, or explore the village and region. In the late afternoon is the two hour Women's Circle, and the day's programme closes with dinner.

The fourth day of the week is a rest day from classes; guests can join in an optional excursion, including a guided hike through the magnificent Aradaina gorge (approximately 25 EUR depending on number of participants).

All breakasts and 5 dinners are offered at the house, while on two of the nights guests are free to dine out in the village restaurants (not included in the course cost; approximately 15 EUR for a full meal including drinks). Individual excursions (e.g., hikes, boat trips) can also be arranged at an extra cost.

On the last day, departure can be arranged after morning class and breakfast.

The number of women participating is limited to 10, to create a warm and friendly atmosphere, to ascertain that individual attention is given in the sessions and to create a safe and supportive group dynamic.

Women's yoga

The morning practice with Eugenia, Iyengar Yoga teacher and YogaOnCrete hostess and owner, will start with a 20-30 minute meditation and end with a long relaxation. We will use the precious elements of alignment and focus on detail of the Iyengar yoga style to approach asana practice, and will look at how the body can feel free and open, when allowed to experiment, flow, and be breathed into.

Through the practice we create a more bright, centred, spacious awareness of our being so we enter everyday life more confident, true to oneself, and happy. We will uncover the vitality and joy that is present in the body when we slow down, listen to its needs and make space to receive its wisdom, while we will also look at the body's natural potential for physical and emotional healing.

For women in particular leg-work is important to ground and connect to mother earth, and set the base for a dynamic pelvic floor, which is an essential condition for the spine to unfold, extend and grow, symbolically also creating the ground for this unfolding and growth to happen in less tangible parts of our lives. Another area we will be focusing on is the wonderful potential of an alive belly (the centre of our womb, our life-force and energy), where the forces of earth and sky meet and can be balanced. Eugenia will also offer particular practices for the four phases of the hormonal and/or moon cycle (follicular/waxing moon; ovulation/full moon; luteal/waning moon; menstruation/new moon), for menstruation and menopause to balance and contain hormonal and emotional fluctuations.

Women’s Circles

Each afternoon we will gather for a women’s circle (2hrs) exploring deep connection to yourself, other women and our cyclical nature.

Julie, life coach, menstrual and creative movement therapist, as well as Awakening Women Circle facilitator, will hold space for us to dive deep into exploring the feminine cycle through movement, art and rituals. The sessions will start with a womb relaxation, then enter into a healing journey and we will complete with more relaxation and sharing.

In each circle, we'll experience initiation into another phase of womanhood, another way of entering pleasure and creating oxytocin (the love hormone!), another phase of our cycle, of the moon, of the sun:

• Inner Girl: Finding Peace and safety for our little girls (follicular phase / spring / waxing moon)
• Creative Woman: Healing the mother-daughter relationship (ovulation / summer / full moon)
• Alchemical Woman: Fully embracing our sensuality (luteal phase / autumn / waning moon)
• Lineage Woman: Taking our place in our ancestral lineage (menstruation / winter / new moon)

Whether you have a menstrual cycle, are going through or have passed menopause, these phases apply to the subtle energies that affect a woman and her creative potential throughout life. If you're experiencing (pre-)menstrual pain, menopausal, fertility or sexuality issues, you're likely to find release, opening and a way forward.

Women's circles are a beautiful safe and supportive space to share, practice listening with compassion, allow yourself to follow your heart and be held by a group of like-minded women.

Cooking Classes

On some afternoons before the Women’s Circle you can join authentic Greek cuisine cooking classes with our excellent, intuitive and super creative cook Maria, another powerful woman of the YogaOnCrete team. Her warm nature and dedication to her spiritual practice, shines through her wonderful dishes (every week there is at least one guest who wants to take Maria back home with them!!). In combination with fresh, pure ingredients (many from organic local farms), her food is happy food, even for people who are not accustomed to a vegetarian cuisine. During the cooking classes, which will be a practice of awareness, rather than learning recipes, you will have the opportunity to practice sourcing cooking wonders from your own intuition and creativity.

The classes will depend on participation, so if interested please ask for details!

A round trip to the beautiful Sweet Water beach is included in the price.

Chora (pronounced "Hora") Sfakion or Sfakia, the capital of the municipality of Sfakia, is located on the south-west coast of Crete. The landscape of the region is particularly dramatic. The mountains in this part of Crete meet the sea, with steep slopes towering over the beaches. The road from the north of the island threads through breathtaking mountains and small villages to reach the port village of Sfakia. A sense of peacefulness radiates from the dry mountains and the sunset skies.

With its quiet, picturesque alleys, the beaches just walking distance away, and a few restaurants and cafes with tasty local dishes on offer lining the old harbor, Sfakia can become the little haven for anyone who wants to step out of the modern city fast-paced lifestyle for a while. If you are up for a short hike after the sun has gone down, just above the last house of the village is the little church of Agios Georgios, hidden away in a cave. Previously a neighborhood of the village, but nowadays abandoned, Georgitsi is also a ten-minute hike up the mountain.

Distances

• Amoudi (Sandy Beach), 1.5 kilometers
• Filaki (Prison) beach, 2 kilometers
• Frangokastelo (Frankish fort), 15 kilometers
• Georgitsi - 10 minutes hike
• Glika Nera (Sweet Water) - 30 minutes walk
• lligas (Vertigo) beach, 1.5 kilometers
• Orthi Ammos (Vertical Sand, literally), 15 kilometers
• Vrisi (Spring) village beach - 10 minutes walk

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You will be served with seven breakfast and five dinners at the house, while on two of the nights' guests are free to dine out in the village restaurants (not included in the course cost; approximately 15 EUR for a full meal including drinks).

Cretan food

The Cretan diet is renowned for its macrobiotic qualities, but also for its great variety of delicious flavors. More than the pure, fresh ingredients themselves, it is the fact that cooking is traditionally performed almost like a ritual, with love, and always in the prospect of offering the food to others, that makes the Cretan cuisine so special.

YogaOnCretes cook embodies this spirit, preparing two nutritious lacto-vegetarian meals a day, using local, and wherever possible, organic products (grown in their own garden!). The village restaurants, only a short walk away, offer a wide range of local dishes, including fresh fish and game.

The fourth day of each week-long course is a rest day from the classes. Guests can join an optional excursion, including a guided hike through the stunning Aradaina Gorge on this day, at an extra cost (25 EUR). Individual excursions can also be arranged to numerous gorges, along the coastal trail, as well as boat trips to neighbouring seaside villages and beaches, in addition to scuba diving lessons.

Area attractions

Most beaches of the region are pebbly, the white of the beach and the turquoise of the water creating a beautiful scene for relaxed swimming and sunbathing. The waters in most beaches actually come from springs high up in the White Mountains, so they are literally crystal clear. The village beach, Vrisi (Spring), is just 10 minutes walk away from the house.

lligas (Vertigo), 1.5 kilometers out of the village has been awarded a Blue Beach Award for its pristine waters. Filaki (Prison), approximately 2 kilometers away offers a nudist choice. Amoudi (Sandy Beach), 1.5 kilometers away is the quietest beach around. Glika Nera (Sweet Water) is the favorite pick. Its name refers to the fresh water springs that are found under the sand and that give the sea its magical clear color. It can be accessed on foot (30 minutes walk along the coastal path) or by kaiki (small boat, 10 minutes from Sfakia).

Frangokastelo (Frankish fort) and Orthi Ammos (Vertical Sand, literally), are two adjacent sandy beaches 15 kilometers away from Sfakia. Frangokastelo takes its name from the very well preserved Frankish (Venetian) castle built by the shore. There is actually a legend that just as dawn is breaking in late May-early June, the image of men on horseback, exiting the castle and riding into the sea, can be witnessed in the early morning mist - these are the mysterious Drosoulites (mist-men).

Choose from Holistic massage, Thai massage, Cranio-sacral treatment, and Reflexology with our on-site or visiting therapist at 40 EUR per hour.

• Morning meditation and Iyengar yoga class focusing on women's needs
• Afternoon Women's Circle
• Professional and experienced yoga instructor (Eugenia) and life coach, movement & menstrual therapist (Julie)
• 7 nights' accommodation in traditional guesthouse located near beach
• 7 breakfasts and 5 dinners included
• A round trip to the beautiful Sweet Water beach
• A special New Moon Circle on Witch Beach
• Linen and towels provided

• Additional excursions to beaches
• All lunches and 2 dinners out per week
• Flights to Crete
• Insurance
• Massage treatments
• Transfers to Chora Sfakion

• Pour réserver, un dépôt de garantie correspondant à 30% du prix total est requis.
• Le dépôt de garantie est non-remboursable si vous annulez votre réservation.
• Le reste du paiement est dû 14 jours avant votre arrivée.