Why you don’t need to be a “yogi” to join a Yoga Retreat?
I remember going to my first yoga class. It was 2015, and my mental health was at its lowest. I was on antidepressants and seeing a psychologist to help me get through my first year at university. I went home for Christmas, and my sister’s friend suggested I join the local yoga class at the gym. At first, I thought...
She doesn’t get it. I don’t need to exercise.
I need help getting out of bed in the morning.
I need confidence to talk to people and make friends.
I need energy to live and do all the things people my age should be doing.
I need to learn to laugh, to have “fun,” to enjoy my life.
I need hope.
I need a miracle.
But somehow, she convinced me, and I went.
It was a Wednesday evening, and the class was Vinyasa with Daisy. I rolled out my mat in the far-left corner at the back of the room. I felt like I didn’t belong, afraid of being seen, ashamed to look at my reflection in the mirror.
I wanted to leave—but I stayed.
I looked at the clock frequently. “30 minutes more, I can do this,” I thought.
I looked around the room. “These women are so flexible. I can’t do any of this. I hope no one is looking at me.” My inner critic was super loud.
But I stayed for the whole class.
And then something happened. A miracle, I thought.
I lay on the floor in Shavasana, and for a moment, my thoughts stopped racing. I became aware of my breath, aware that I was alive, conscious of my body beginning to relax, my hips letting go and melting into the ground. It was a feeling I had never experienced before.
That was my first ever yoga class. I didn’t love it, but I came back because I found moments of peace and stillness there, moments I couldn’t find anywhere else. I could have given up. I wasn’t a “yogi,” I wasn’t flexible or strong. I didn’t know the poses. Yoga was hard work. But I kept going, and if yoga hadn’t found me when it did, I’m not sure I would still be here today.
Yoga opened so many doors for me. It was like learning to walk again—walking tall, with a better understanding of who I am and what makes me happy.
I finished my degree and then went to India to become a yoga teacher—but I’ll save that story for another time.
What I’m trying to say is this: you don’t need to love yoga to do yoga.
You don’t need to be flexible or do challenging poses to practice yoga.
You need a body. That’s all.
So, the next time you see a yoga retreat advertised, don’t be put off by the yoga part. Yoga retreats are SO much more than just yoga. Take our Dolphin & Yoga Retreat in Egypt, for example.
We do yoga for one hour a day—and even that is optional. You can skip it if you want.
There is so much more that happens during the week:
Meditation
Breathwork
Sound Journeys
Inner Soul Exploration Workshops
Swimming with Dolphins
Exploring the Coral Reef and Finding Nemo
Heart-Opening Cacao Ceremony
Blue Lotus Flower Ceremony
Dance
Creative Hand Workshops
Laughter… oh, so much laughter!
Deep, Heart-to-Heart Connections
Sunbathing
Mid-day naps and book reading
Stargazing
And all the other in-between moments of magic and bliss.
So, if any of the above resonates with you, but you’re unsure about yoga, don’t let that hold you back from experiencing the best week of your life.
