Paradise Island Bahamas
At this yoga retreat, it doesn’t take long to shed your stress.
The typical vacation doesn’t allow much time for introspection. It’s all about discovering what’s out there: seeing the sights, shopping, and checking out that new restaurant everyone’s talking about. Exploring is exhilarating, sure, but it’s also exhausting. So to shake up my travel routine and shake off my overscheduled daily life, I escape to the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island in the Bahamas, with one goal in mind: Do nothing.
Well, next to nothing. At the ashram, a spiritual community dedicated to the study of yoga, the practice couldn’t be taken more seriously. And in exchange for an inexpensive beachfront stay, guests are asked to take it seriously, too. That means requisite meditation, chanting, and an asana (or posture) practice twice a day. And, at least while on the premises, no alcohol, meat, coffee, or TV, either.
“Some vacation,” I can’t help but think that first morning as the 5:30 bell rouses me out of a deep sleep. A silent walking meditation on the beach is scheduled for 6 a.m., followed by chanting, then yoga class, then finally brunch at 10 a.m. Despite the early wake-up call, by late morning I find myself surprisingly alert and energized, with a blissfully unscheduled afternoon ahead before the next class. I park it on a beach towel and make headway on the novel I’ve been trying to read for months.
From my spot on the cream-colored sand, mega resort Atlantis looms large, almost miragelike, in the distance. Throughout the day, I watch as fellow guests sneak over to get a caffeine fix at
Other off-ashram water activities include jet skiing, snorkeling, and parasailing. For guests looking for even more diversions, the main part of Nassau is a five-minute boat ride from the retreat and has a lively downtown. On a typical vacation, these are things I’d jump at the chance to see and do. But this time, I stick with the less-is-more approach that drew me here in the first place, dedicating the precious few days of my ashram stay to reading, swimming in the turquoise-hued ocean, and talking with long-term ashram residents about what keeps them here.
Despite a delayed return flight, baggage trouble, and a killer burger craving, when I arrive home, my mom tells me I’m positively glowing, and my boyfriend of seven years says he’s never seen me look so calm. My stay didn’t result in the kind of life-altering epiphany many seek from an ashram visit, but for the first time ever I am back from a trip feeling rested and relaxed. And that’s a revelation in itself. -- Jenna Pelletier
