Full! Salt Spring Island Retreat May 4th-8th, 2023
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Gatehouse

Join Melissa Krieger and Laura Benson on Salt Spring Island for a four night/five day retreat from Thursday, May 4th to Monday the 8th. You'll be pampered with a variety of yoga classes, 100% organic meals and lots of free time to chill out at the beautiful Stowel Lake Farm. If you're needing time away to restore and rejuvenate this weekend is for you!

This is meant to be a fun time away to recharge, eat great food, do yoga and relax. There will be lots of unstructured time. If you are unsure whether this retreat is for you or not please contact Melissa directly.

Stowel Lake Farm

Stowel Lake Farm is a wellness centre, working farm and community on 120 acres on Salt Spring Island. It's a five minute drive from the Fulford Ferry terminal (ferry to/from Victoria), a thirty minute drive from the Long Harbour Terminal (ferry to/from Vancouver) and a 25 minute drive from the Vesuvius Terminal (ferry to/from Crofton). It's a 15 minute drive to Ganges (main hub of Salt Spring)

Stowel Lake Farm



The Yoga

You'll get to experience several styles of yoga - hatha, flow, yoga4strength and restorative. Plus you'll be guided through some mindfulness activities - yoga nidra, meditation and pranayama.

The level of yoga we offer is gentle to moderate with lots of room to play and explore. Expect plenty of time on the floor to roll around and chill out. You can also count on exploring sun salutations, standing poses like warriors and triangles, balances like half moon and tree, gentle backbends and seated poses.

If you are after a more advanced level of classes (deep stretches, fast paced movements, getting really sweaty) the style of yoga we teach might not be for you. We don't offer fast vinyasa flows, deep backbends like wheel or poses like handstands and headstands. Not that there is anything wrong with those poses or level of intensity! It just isn't us :)

We do recommend that you have some experience with yoga to attend this retreat.

Practice Space



Event Schedule

This is a tentative schedule of the weekend and subject to change

Thursday

Check-in 3:00 - 5:00
Orientation 5:45
Dinner 6:00
Opening Circle and Bedtime Yoga with Melissa 7:30




Friday

Movement and meditation with Laura 7:45
Breakfast 8:30
Moderate Yoga with Laura 11:00
Lunch 12:30
Farm Tour 2:00
Dinner 6:00
Bedtime Yoga with Melissa 7:30




Saturday

Movement and meditation with Laura 7:45
Breakfast 8:30
Free time for the Salt Spring Market
Lunch 12:30
Moderate Yoga with Melissa 4:00
Dinner 6:00
Saturday night social in the barn




Sunday

Movement and meditation with Laura 7:45
Breakfast 8:30
Moderate Yoga with Laura 11:00
Lunch 12:30
Group walk to Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese 2:00
Dinner 6:00
Bedtime Yoga with Melissa 7:30

Monday

Movement and meditation with Laura 7:45
Breakfast 8:30
Yoga4Strength with Melissa 10:30
Closing Circle 11:45
Lunch 12:30
Check-out


Melissa's Bio

Melissa Krieger has been teaching yoga full time since 2005 and has been leading retreats at Stowel Lake Farm since 2016. She helps people stay active, age well and reduce stress in a fun and welcoming manner. Her classes are often flow yoga based but she likes to spice it up with strength and balance work in her Yoga4Strength classes!

Melissa loves facilitating retreats and is excited to teach her 12th retreat at the farm!

If you aren't familiar with Melissa click here to get to her bio and click here to see a few of her videos to get a feel for her teaching style and personality.

Melissa



Laura's Bio

Laura Benson has been teaching yoga since 2012 and this is her second time teaching a retreat. She is delighted to teach alongside her mentor, Melissa, at the rejuvenating Stowel Lake Farm. Laura guides classes with a mix of dynamic slow flow and long holds with a focus on mindfulness which empowers you to be where you are.

If you aren't familiar with Laura you can try one of her free classes here.

Jen


Food

Stowel Lake Farm is famous for their fresh and delicious, 100% organic meals! Look forward to lovingly prepared meals starting with dinner on the first night and finishing with lunch on the last day. Save room for dessert after dinner, this reTREAT is delicious!

All of the food served is 100% organic with all of the produce grown on the farm! The food not sourced on the farm is as local as possible. Gluten free, dairy free and vegan diets can be easily accommodated but keto or paleo diets cannot. 

Food



Accommodations

Shared yurt is a cozy yurt built for two with two single beds and a shared bathroom. There are four yurts available.

Shared regular room is built for two with two beds and a shared bathroom. Size of the bed (twin or double) depends on the room. There are three shared rooms available.

Shared deluxe room is built for two with two beds and a private bathroom. Size of the bed (twin, double or queen) depends on the room. There are four shared deluxe rooms available.

Private room is built for one with a shared bathroom. Size of the bed (twin or double) depends on the room. There are seven private rooms available.

*If you are coming on your own you will need to book a private room*

NEW - If you are sharing a room with a friend only one of you needs to sign-up and we will contact you for your partner's information.


Accommodations



How To Get There

You can travel to Stowel Lake via the ferry or the float plane.

The ferry that runs the most often to Salt Spring is the Victoria (Swartz Bay) to Salt Spring Island (Fulford Harbour). This is the route we recommend. This harbour is five minutes away from Stowel Lake and the easiest one for us to pick you up if you need a ride. This ferry can't be reserved.

If you are travelling from up Island you can take the ferry from Crofton to Salt Spring (Veruvius Bay). This harbour is 20 minutes away from Stowel Lake. It's a little trickier for us to come get you for a pick-up here. We recommend bringing a car or preparing to wait a bit! This ferry can't be reserved.

There is a longer ferry (three hours) from Vancouver (Tsawwassen) to Salt Spring (Long Harbour). This terminal is also 20 minutes away from the farm. It's another one that's trickier for us to get to so we recommend driving or preparing to wait. This ferry can be reserved, it just doesn't run that often!

If you want to take advantage of the free time on retreat to explore the island we recommend bringing a car.

The closest airport is Victoria International.

There is also the option to take the float plane to Salt Spring from downtown Vancouver, Richmond YVR and Maple Ridge. The float plane arrives in Ganges and we can pick you up.

Cost

$1,450.00 CAD Shared Yurt (Sold Out)
$1,550.00 CAD Shared Regular Room (Sold Out)
$1,700.00 CAD Shared Deluxe Room
$1,700.00 CAD Private Room (Sold Out)
All taxes (5% GST, 8% PST and 2% MRDT Tourism Tax) are included in the above price.
There will be a $350.00 non refundable deposit needed to secure your spot upon registration. The remainder of the balance will be due by Tuesday, April 4. You can pay by e transfer, cash or cheque. If you don't have a Canadian bank account you will need to pay via PayPal and we will send you an invoice.There will be a 4% fee of your total cost added to the final payment.

A note from Melissa: We recognize this retreat is expensive and may be out of reach financially for some. For that reason we have a few spaces for a sliding scale option where you could pay between $850 and $1100. You don't need to apply or fill out any forms, you just need to ask for this offer. Please reach out to me at melissajkrieger@gmail.com to request this. It will be available first come, first serve. This is an option for any room, regardless if you are in a single room or shared.

We also recommend visiting our friends at the Salt Spring Centre of Yoga. They have wonderful two night yoga and wellness retreats and are less of a commitment of time and finances.

Let us know if you have any questions!
Please register online by clicking the button below.
We are currently accepting registrations for:
Waitlist
Click Here To Add Your Name To The Waitlist
Cancellation Policy
Payment and Refund Policy:  A deposit of $350.00 is required to reserve your spot upon registration. The remainder of the balance will be due on April 4. For cancellations before April 4 you will receive the balance of your payment minus the $350.00 deposit For cancellations after April 4 you will not receive a refund. If the retreat is cancelled at any point by Bloom Yoga or Stowel Lake Farm you will receive a full refund.