A Yoga Retreat in Andalusia: My Experience
If there’s one thing Southern Spain teaches you, it’s how to live well.
I’ve been practising yoga for over a decade now, and studying it more deeply for the last seven years, completing my 250 hour Vinyasa yoga teacher training back in 2018. But there is nothing like returning to your yoga practice in a place that gives you energy, like Suryalila Retreat Centre, a beautiful eco-friendly retreat venue in the heart of Andalusia. This week became a reset and a return. A week of yoga, meditation, community, and organic food.
Arriving
There is a softness and lightness in the Andalusian hills. The slow mornings, the olive orchards stretching across the land, the way the sunrise bathes the surroundings in a warm glow.
Suryalila is built on an old olive farm, and the environment they’ve built is eco-friendly, intentional, and every detail is considered. Every corner of the retreat felt like a curated place to practise, journal, read, sleep, or meditate.
Daily Flow
One of the things I loved most was the daily routine. A typical day began with a sunrise meditation, followed by a dynamic morning yoga practice and a wholesome organic vegetarian breakfast.
The middle of the day included a sound bath in the forest shala, a nourishing lunch made with local ingredients, and free time for swimming, journaling, napping, or walking along The Pathless Path. Later, we’d gather for a yoga philosophy session, a grounding yin or slow evening practice, and a delicious, colourful dinner.
The evenings were filled with laughter, shared stories, quiet moments, and that easy, effortless kind of connection that happens when people feel at ease.
Our group included long-time yoga practitioners, complete beginners, yoga teachers, and people who came with their sisters or partners. There were reunions, and many returning from previous years.
On the Mat
Gem and Will at Yogary Treats have a way of making yoga feel like a traditional discipline, yet something light-hearted and fun. Their classes balance strength and softness, with more challenging asana options. In our philosophy session, we explored Patañjali’s Eight Limbs, the meaning of Om, and more.
In our opening circle, and at the start of each practice, we gathered for the Togetherness Mantra, honouring both the roots of yoga and the sense of community:
Om Saha Nāvavatu
May we be protected together
Saha Nau Bhunaktu
May we be nourished together
Saha Vīryam Karavāvahai
May we work together with strength
Tejasvi Nāvadhiītamastu
May our study be illuminated
Mā Vidviṣāvahai
May we be free from conflict
Om Shanti Shanti Shanti
Organic, Vegetarian Food
Food at Suryalila is a huge part of what they do there. Every meal is organic, vegetarian, colourful, and nourishing. There is homemade organic cold-pressed olive oil, harvested right on the land, which I drizzled on everything. There’s a smoothie bar with hot cacao drinks, smoothies, and dairy-free, refined-sugar-free chocolate treats.
The Return to Self
After familiar winter blues settling in the UK, this retreat was the perfect escape. Filled with sunshine, warmth, nutritious meals, and a return to the kind of energy that only comes from reconnecting with yourself and your practice.
In the Om Dome, the walls are painted with beautiful quotes, including:
“Even after all this time,
the sun never says to the earth, ‘You owe me.’
Look what happens with a love like that -
it lights the whole sky.”
- Hafiz
“Your task is not to seek for love
but merely to seek and find all the barriers
within yourself that you have built against it.”
- Rumi
If you’re feeling the pull to slow down, reconnect, breathe, and return home to yourself, a yoga retreat with Gem and Will is the kind of experience that stays with you long after you leave.
with love xx
Bridget