4 Day Sacred Backpacking Women Yoga Retreat in Washington State

This is a four-day, USA-based sacred yoga pilgrimage into the heart of the North Cascades Range of Washington State in the Pacific Northwest:

• Step into the healing rhythm of nature and unplug from fast-paced, technology-centered modern life
• Practice healing and expanding goddess-based yoga
• Connect to physical strength and intuitive wisdom
• Learn backpacking fundamentals and how to set up camp
• Explore sacred activism and “artivism” for supporting women and the environment

Do you want to unplug from the fast-paced modern world and step into the rhythms of nature?

Stephanie’s call to slow down and retreat to the mountains

In her late twenties, she followed her heart's calling and founded a design/build skatepark construction company, Airspeed Skateparks LLC, with another passionate creative soul. They were artists and entrepreneurs first, business people second because their dreams demanded it of them. The years sailed by and the day arrived when she realized it had been years since she has taken a backpacking trip, which she had heretofore relished almost every year of her life. Years had passed in a blur of business responsibilities.

She was anxiety-ridden, exhausted, and spent. She hadn't prioritized and made time to commune with life-balancing and regulating sacred natural places. When her mother suggested a backpacking trip with her and her two younger brothers her heart cried out, "Yes! I'll find a way to come." It was on this journey that she was called back and reminded of the vital importance of walking and living the earth’s rhythms, and of how profoundly the earth heals and balances one in such a short span of time.

Sleeping upon Her earthen floor, allowing Her mountain breezes to calm and caresses one’s high strung city soul, to pad at one’s natural pace upon Her spongy and pebbled paths, and to live simply, by having one’s complete home upon one’s very back is grounding and healing. It's this shedding down to what is necessary and essential to life that is so relieving. It is in the comfort of the forest or on a high mountain ridge that you are reminded of who you are and what a blessing it is to be alive.

It is by slowing down and drinking in this exquisiteness that you attune with the gift of existence. It is in wild places that you reconnect with who you are and can come into a place of ease and peace within, gaining clarity and direction on how to go forth living in harmony with yourselves and the larger world once you return to your everyday lives - whole once again, replenished, and invigorated.

And this is what they offer and will guide you deeply into during this pilgrimage - your peaceful at-ease self, so you can reconnect with who you really are, access wisdom and inspiration of the divine feminine wilds and learn the yogic tools to recharge, support and guide you once back home. Our general itinerary is a flow schedule. Please note that things are subject to changes and we will go with the energy unique to our Sisterhood and that of the natural environment and local conditions.

Also, remember an important part of this journey is to step into the rhythm of nature and out of a scheduled life, and into an inner place where we honor our own natural flow.

It is helpful to have an idea of the day's activities and the timing of things. Here's an example of a flow schedule:

Saturday - Day 1 (Introduction to Shakti):

• 11:00 Meet up at the designated spot
• 11:00 - 13:30 Caravan by car to the trailhead
• 17:00 - 18:00 Set up camp
• 18:00 - 18:30 Devi Yoga Flow
• 18:30 - 19:30 Dinner
• 19:30 - 21:00 Introductions and welcoming ceremony
• 21:00 - 22:00 Bed

Sunday - Day 2 (Goddess Bhuvaneshwari):

• 06:30 - 08:30 Coffee/tea brewing and breakfast
• 08:30 - 09:30 Break camp
• 09:30 - 10:30 On the trail
• 10:30 - 11:30 Devi Yoga Flow
• 11:30 - 15:00 On the trail with lunch
• 15:00 - 16:30 Set up 2nd camp and free time (write, read, rest, reflect, explore on your own)
• 16:30 - 17:30 Teaching on Goddess Bhuvaneshwari
• 17:30 - 18:00 Break
• 18:00 - 20:00 Dinner
• 20:00 - 21:30 Group time and moonlight dancing
• 21:30 - 22:00 Bed

Monday - Day 3 (Goddess Durga):

• 06:30 - 07:30 Coffee/tea brewing
• 07:30 - 08:30 Devi Yoga Flow
• 08:30 - 09:30 Breakfast
• 09:30 - 10:30 Teachings on Goddess Durga
• 10:30 - 15:00 Freetime/lunch
• 15:00 - 16:00 Devidance Yoga
• 16:00 - 17:00 Sisterhood circle
• 17:00 - 18:00 Break
• 18:00 - 20:00 Dinner
• 20:00 - 21:00 Group exchange of writings/poetry/stories/art
• 21:00 - 22:00 Bed

Tuesday - Day 4 (Goddess Lakshmi):

• 06:30 - 07:30 Coffee/tea brewing
• 07:30 - 09:00 Devi Yoga Flow and meditation
• 09:00 - 10:00 Breakfast
• 10:00 - 11:00 Break camp
• 11:00 - 14:00 On trail and lunch
• 14:00 - 14:30 Back at the trailhead, load gear into cars
• 14:30 - 16:00 Last special hike to stunning views
• 16:00 - 17:30 Start drive back to civilization
• 17:30 - 18:30 Stop at local eatery/store catch a bite to eat and say our goodbyes before heading towards our respective homes!

This is a journey of a lifetime, one that invites you into deep positive change and opens you to a reverence for All that Is. For there is nothing quite like sleeping upon Her earthen bed basking above at the endless expanse of the cosmos, drinking from Her glacial waters, and feeling Her varying breaths and Her summer sun on your skin. %Come with Mountain Shakti on the path to all that She is, Her Majesty, Her pure reality: You. She has the power to heal and open energy pathways like no other place can, as you explore yogic practices in the setting of their origin - in Mother Nature.

This sacred yoga pilgrimage will take you into the heart of the North Cascades Range of Washington State in the Pacific Northwest. It is the place with mountain mist filters through cedar treetops as golden rays of Goddess Lakshmi light shimmer in the morning motes, following a rock-strewn path leading you into the Pacific Northwest North Cascades Range. Traversing a granite slab you will be walking supported by Goddess Durga while overlooking endless ridges, the limitless sky above, you're welcomed into the domain of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari.

Rosy-golden rays of summer sunlight warm your face as you bask in Goddess Lakshmi's late afternoon glow below a coin-like full moon. A sea of ancient forest spreads as far as the eye can see, the mystical realm of wise Yakshis, female tree spirits. Your whole being nourished by breath-enhancing beauty before you, glacial peaks extending out into space, the roof of the world, sharing nutrient-rich stream water, the domain of Goddess Bhuvaneshwari.

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Mountain Shakti provides vegetarian and gluten-free backwoods fare (vegan fare upon request). Daily breakfasts and dinners included. Meals will be prepared by the trip leader with the flexibility to prepare your own coffee/tea, snacks, and hot soups as you please. Lunches you will provide so you can have exactly what you like to eat of this meal each day. Also to gain experience in how to buy and pack your food for future backpacking journeys you’d like to take on your own.

• Backpacking
• Earthing
• Contemplative free time
• Investigative journaling
• Sacred art making
• Swimming
• Writing

• 3 nights accommodation
• Daily breakfasts and dinners
• Daily Wisdom Goddess yoga
• Guidance into magical goddess-infused natural places
• Instruction on leave-no-trace backpacking
• Intimate healing and expanding goddess-based non-dual Shakti / Shiva and Shakta Tantra
• Sacred activism/artivism support
• Sacred art-making for meditation
• Supportive sisterhood
• Yogini circle practices

• Airfare
• Airport bus or car rental
• Lunch
• Pre-and post-pilgrimage accommodations

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• A reservation requires a deposit of 100% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.