Suryalila Yoga Retreat Centre in Southern Spain hosts large yoga retreats and welcomes small informal groups and individual travelers.
Yoga Retreats (3)
22 Day 200-Hour Spring Yoga Teacher Training with Vidya Heisel and Lisa Dunn in Cádiz
March 20-April 10, 202122 Day 200-Hour Intensive Yoga Teacher Training at Suryalila in Cadiz, Andalusia
Jul 31-Aug 21, 2021 | Oct 16-Nov 6, 2021Videos (1)
Instructors (8)

Lidiya Petkova
Lidiya is one of Suryalila’s onsite Vinyasa flow and Yin yoga teachers. Her classes are vigorous, fluid, and energizing with a strong focus on pranayama and mindfulness. Apart from being a tourism management specialist and marketing and manager assistant at Suryalila’s office, she leads and organizes various retreats including wellness retreats, most famously the adventure and yoga retreat and dubbed the retreat of a lifetime by previous participants.

Vidya Jacqueline Heisel
Vidya Jacqueline Heisel, an E-RYT 500 and SYT, is the director of Suryalila Retreat Center and the director of Frog Lotus Yoga International yoga teacher training programs. Vidya grew up in England and lived in India, Bali, and the USA, before arriving in southern Spain in 2011. Yoga has been Vidya’s life-long passion. She started studying, practicing, and teaching yoga in 1975 and since then, she has taught yoga extensively worldwide.

Mélanie Huser, MD
As an experienced teacher of Vinyasa flow, Yin yoga, and a senior yoga teacher trainer for the Yogalife Yoga Teacher Training in Zurich, Switzerland, Melanie enthusiastically offers her medical expertise for a deeper understanding of the both the anatomical and psychological changes that take place during pregnancy. In her eyes, teaching prenatal yoga is a powerful tool to make the phase from conception to lactation a time of magical transition for both mama and baby.

Jennilee Toner
Already a belly dance and fitness instructor, Jennilee immediately knew that yoga would be a perfect complement to any workout regime. In 2008, she chose to study with Yogi Hari of Sampoorna Yoga. She is the author of "The Perfect Chaturanga: A Comprehensive Guide to the Human Body Through the Practice of Vinyasa Yoga", has been practicing Hatha and Vinyasa yoga since 1996, and teaching them since 2003. She has also been teaching experiential anatomy to yoga teachers in training since 2010 and teaching her own Hot Warrior Yoga teacher training since 2012.

Lisa Dunn
Lisa is a 500-hour certified Vinyasa Flow yoga teacher based at Suryalila Yoga Retreat Centre in Southern Spain. She has been teaching for 7 years and practicing for the past 15. Her formula for a great yoga class is to combine intelligent anatomical sequencing with a continual focus on the breath whilst interweaving yogic philosophy - enhancing the practice to bring a profound sense of well-being and aliveness. Lisa’s passion is to encourage and empower students to develop their practice and to have a safe life-long yoga experience.

Karen Ring
Karen is a new age hippie on a mission! Her mission is to play a crucial role in improving health and happiness, and through that process, create a ripple effect that transforms the world! Karen has been practicing yoga since 1999. She took a Hatha Yoga class for one college credit while studying fine art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY. She knew then that yoga would be part of her life in a major way.

Catherine Gallagher

Katrina Petney
Throughout her life, Katrina Petney has been fascinated by the human body and mind. A combination of science, philosophy, yoga, and meditation guide and inspire her professional and personal life. Originally from New Mexico, Katrina began practicing Hatha yoga in 2004 while studying biochemistry at Texas Tech University. She developed a passion for Vinyasa Flow yoga at Black Dog Yoga in Los Angeles in 2007 while she was simultaneously getting her Master of Arts in Education at Loyola Marymount University and teaching high school biology and chemistry.
Reviews (28)
Anonymous
from Great Britain, August 2020
Everything
Jonna Den Uyl
from Netherlands, August 2020
"Solid teacher training in a stunning environment"
This is a very solid teacher training that breaks up all content of the 200-hours in a manageable schedule and lets you design, practice and perform your class step by step. The food was great, the teachers A-class and the the retreat center looks dreamy. The rooms are spacious with a nice bed and a massive closet. The swimming pool was a nice break between the busy 200-hour schedule. We had a group of 23 people and through the program we became a tight group with supporting each other in hardship and chilling out together by singing and dancing in the evenings in the pagoda. It has truly been an amazing experience and I will stay in touch with my fellow FLY teachers.
Rachel James
from Great Britain, September 2018
"A great holiday"
I was looking for a holiday for me and my daughter where we could ride together and stay in a nice place with great vegetarian food. This holiday gave us all of this and the yoga was an added bonus. Connie was a great guide and her horses were forward going and well looked after. . Suryalila is a beautiful place to stay with so much care and attention to the space. I would recommend it.
Anonymous
from Great Britain, August 2018
Beautifully site with lots of colorful Eastern decorations. The tents with their furniture are very comfortable and the pool has a good size. The garden is very well mainted. The mostly vegan food buffet is a particular highlighted and each meal is lovingly presented. The staff was very friendly and welcoming. The horses were also very well behaved and easy to ride! The sunset ride is a real highlight. For the Yoga classes you are able to use a lot of the provided props and the flow integrated a few poses new to me which was great to try.
Anonymous
from Great Britain, August 2018
"Stunning scenery, hotel quality service, scrumptious food "
The staff at Suryalila are very warm, super friendly and relaxed. They cater to your every need and the rooms are very clean and pleasant. The food is amazing. It’s lovingly prepared and exquisitely presented and the package gives you three meals per day.
Paula Mccullough
from Great Britain, August 2018
"A very enjoyable yoga and horse riding holiday"
The facilities, food and accommodation were superb. I booked this holiday primarily for the yoga, but actually enjoyed the horse riding even more. This was thanks to Connie's calm and friendly manner and her beautiful horses. She was also very helpful when I was booking the holiday, giving advice about transfers and other practicalities. All the yoga instructors were very professional and provided excellent instruction, especially Camilla.
Joanna Cole
from United Arab Emirates, July 2018
"Superb suryalila"
Relaxing environment
Gemma Oades
from Great Britain, June 2018
"Everything was perfect!"
The first thing I’d like to stress is that I felt transformed and regenerated after only 5 days here, I’m sleeping better, feeling calmer, thinking positively and I’m so much more grounded. For this alone I’ll definitely be back!! I visited alone and found that there was plenty to do by myself but also a host of friendly people so I never felt lonely! The yoga is once or twice a day, with evening sessions being restorative, so a great wind down before dinner. I stayed in one of the tents which turned out better than I expected! Comfortable beds, plug sockets, a fan, chest of drawers and hanging rail so you can make yourself at home. The tent is beautifully cool at night but gets very hot in the daytime (in June) so you have to branch out! However, the centre has ample communal space for the guest numbers so there’s always a shady hammock or a big soft sofa if you need a siesta! The food was consistently incredible, always delicious, varied and plentiful. The produce is largely from their thriving garden and the staff will happily chat to you about their organic sustainable practices. The centre appears to be designed to nourish the land. Definitely get a Thai Yoga Massage, which has to be experienced to be believed. Conny cares deeply for her 9 beautiful horses and So service is more unique than the usual “trekking” business. The horses comfort comes first so riding is at cooler times of day only (great for humans too). The horses give 100% and there’s one for every ability.
Maïté Chemin
from Great Britain, May 2018
An amazing place, with beautiful views, delicious food, fantastic yoga and horse riding, and warm, welcoming people!
Couldn’t recommend it enough, I hope to go back!
Kaja Curry
from Great Britain, May 2018
"Yoga, learning Spanish and Nightingales"
Suryalilia is an amazing place - oozing love, compassion and harmony - the perfect retreat centre. Having broken my leg 3 months ago, I needed somewhere to heal my damaged mind , body and spirit and to explore more movement again.
Suryalilia delivered this in buckets. The teachers were all very patient- always cueing alternatives to the poses for me and the place would soothe the most troubled soul, including mine.
I chose the yoga and Spanish language week because I thought I would need something else to keep me occupied due to my limited mobility (no long distance hikes for me). It was a great choice. We had 3 hours of lessons Mon - Fri before lunch. Who knew learning Spanish could be so much fun! We spent a lot of time laughing. And now I’ve come away well on my way to my Level A1 Spanish certificate thanks to our incredible language teacher brought in from the local language school.
And finally there were the nightingales - in late April the place is surrounded by nightingales singing their rich, clear bubbling song that lifts the heart like no other songbird.
I’m already wondering when I can return.
Anonymous
from Spain, December 2020
"Amazing experience"
La experiencia es, en todos los aspectos, inolvidable.
El entorno es mágico, la calidad de las clases es inmejorable y las actividades son magnificas.
Destacaría el conocimiento y la calidad de las clases de yoga de Vidya. Practicar con ella es una fuente de inspiración.
Anonymous
from Spain, September 2020
"Paz contigo y el entorno"
Es un forma de encontrarte, de recuperar la escucha a las necesidades vitales, dormir, Respirar, comer, caminar, ademas todo unido al entorno y las personas que allí colaboran como voluntarios permiten entrar en una dinámica de paz contigo y convivencia con la naturaleza.
Bastante limpio.
Anonymous
from Germany, December 2019
"Meine Beste urlaubswoche!"
Allgemeine atmosphere,
Super essen,
Sehr gute yogastunden.
Highlight für mich war reiten mit Connys pferde!
Anonymous
from Switzerland, November 2019
"Tolle Umgebung, Ruhe, Yoga, gutes Essen, tolle Menschen"
Tolle Umgebung, Ruhe, Yoga, gutes Essen, tolle Menschen
Werde zurückkehren, es war eigentlich top
Catharina De Lange
from Netherlands, March 2019
"Paardrijden en Yoga"
Het paardrijden en de yoga waren fijn en relaxed. Je ziet echt hoe de natuur tot leven komt in de lente. Het eten was fantastisch. De sauna was een overwacht genoegen (ondanks de badkleding) met een duik in het koude de zwembad als toppunt.
Anonymous
from Germany, November 2018
"Wunderbare Kurz-Auszeit "
Alles war sehr gut organisiert. Auch das Reiten. Yoga Facilities sehr schön und gut ausgestattet.
Jessica Maluscik
from Germany, October 2018
"Einfach nur fantastisch um einfach mal abzuschalten!!!!"
Wundervolle Atmosphäre und sehr liebevoll geführt.
Man fühlt sich sofort in die Suryalila Familie aufgenommen und es war alles perfekt.
Das vegetarische und teilweise vegane Essen war beeindruckend schön hergerichtet frisch gekocht und einfach nur lecker, da könnte sich manches Sternehotel noch etwas abschauen. Essen und Trinken ist mehr als ausreichend vorhanden.
Unterkunft ebenfalls sehr schnuckelig und liebevoll eingerichtet und vor allem absolut sauber.
Einfach perfekt um mal auszubrechen aus dem Alltag und kpl. abzuschalten.
Flore Colas
from France, October 2018
"Séjour parfait, je reviendrai ! "
Tout était parfait :
- le lieu est isolé et très calme, parfait pour se reposer
- les cours sont très intéressants et stimulants sans être trop difficiles. J'ai pu faire pour la 1ère fois un cours de Yin yoga qui était génial ! Un grand merci à Ellen !
- la nourriture est divine !
Au mois d'octobre c'était parfait, il fait encore très beau, ce qui était agréable pour se reposer au bord de la piscine ou faire de l'équitation.
Toute l'équipe est sympathique et disponible si besoin. Un grand merci à tous pour ce superbe séjour.
edouard Steinthal
from France, August 2018
"Awesome teacher !"
Everything !
Anna-sophie Müller
from Germany, August 2018
"Traumhafte Auszeit im Paradies "
Ein wirklich paradiesischer Ort in Andalusien, an dem man einfach abschalten kann - ob beim Yoga, Reiten durch die Felder, Relaxen am Pool oder beim Anblick des Sonnenuntergangs zwischen Sonnenblumenfeldern. Alles ist hier rundum schön, die Unterkünfte sauber und rustikal modern, das Essen ein Schlaraffenland für veggies und das Personal super hilfsbereit und freundlich. Ich habe mich sehr wohl gefühlt und komme sicher nochmal wieder.
Jana Klutznik
from Germany, May 2018
"inspiring and joyful yoga experience in beautiful nature"
great combination of yoga (chance to experience different styles) and outdoor activities, wonderful people, delicious home-made food, laid back atmosphere, beautiful nature