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Join Melissa Krieger and Laura Benson on Salt Spring Island for a four night/five day retreat from Thursday, November 9th to Monday the 13th. You'll be pampered with a variety of yoga classes, 100% organic, vegetarian 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!
We have been running retreats at Stowel Lake Farm since 2016 and are thrilled to return for the 13th time! We know our stuff and are proud to say we are excellent at planning and facilitating well run, organized events.
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 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)
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.
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 Relaxation Yoga with Melissa | | 7:30 |
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| Friday | Movement and meditation with Laura | | 7:45 | | Breakfast | | 8:30 | | Yoga with Melissa | | 11:00 | | Lunch | | 12:30 | | Farm Tour | | 2:00 | | Dinner | | 6:00 | | Slow Flow to Restore + Yoga Nidra with Melissa | | 7:30 |
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| | | Saturday | Movement and meditation with Laura | | 7:45 | | Breakfast | | 8:30 | | Yoga with Laura | | 11:00 | | Lunch | | 12:30 | | Group hike to Ruckle Park | | 2:00 | | Flow Yoga + Yoga Nidra with Melissa | | 4:00 | | Dinner | | 6:00 | |
| Saturday night social in the barn | |
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| | | Sunday | Movement and meditation with Laura | | 7:45 | | Breakfast | | 8:30 | | Yoga with Melissa | | 11:00 | | Lunch | | 12:30 | | Group walk to Salt Spring Island Goat Cheese | | 2:00 | | Dinner | | 6:00 | | Slow Flow to Restore + Yoga Nidra with Melissa | | 7:30 | Monday | Movement and meditation with Laura | | 7:45 | | Breakfast | | 8:30 | | Yoga with Melissa | | 10:30 | | Closing Circle | | 11:45 | | Lunch | | 12:30 | | Check-out | |
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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 13th 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.
Laura Benson has been teaching yoga since 2012. She is delighted to teach her third retreat 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.
Stowel Lake Farm is famous for their delicious, vegetarian and 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 vegetarian, 100% organic with almost 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.
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 want us to help you find you a room mate to share a room let us know*
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.
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.
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