Dr Charlotte Russell, Clinical Psychologist & Founder
The last few years have seen a surge in the popularity of yoga retreats. We have probably all seen beautiful pictures of yogis practicing in dreamy locations on our social media feeds. While yoga retreats certainly seem appealing, they can be a considerable investment. This may leave you wondering whether they are really worth it.
To try and answer this question I’m going to share my experience. As a yogi myself I recently took my first yoga retreat in beautiful Sri Lanka. In this article I’m going to talk you through the benefits of yoga retreats drawing on my personal experience and my professional expertise as a clinical psychologist.
What are the benefits of yoga?
You probably don’t need me to tell you that yoga is amazing for us physically. There is compelling evidence that regular yoga practice can improve our flexibility, balance and strength.
One study of yoga practitioners found that over the course of a one-year diploma, participants improved their cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and endurance. This suggests that committing to your yoga practice can be particularly beneficial physically (Gohel et al., 2021).
The benefits aren’t just physical. A recent systematic review found multiple mental health benefits of yoga (Tamrakar et al., 2023). Systematic reviews provide particularly strong evidence because they summarise a large number of research studies. This review found that yoga can reduce depression, help people to manage work related stress, and improve overall mental health.
There has been considerable interest in yoga’s ability to improve our interoception. This is our ability to perceive and interpret our internal state. In his esteemed book The Body Keeps The Score, psychiatrist Dr Bessel Van Der Kolk explains interoception can be disrupted by experiences of trauma. He gives numerous case studies of the negative impact of trauma on our ability to perceive and ‘be in’ our body. He advocates for both yoga and a EMDR therapy as a way to begin to address these difficulties. This certainly matches my own experience of many clients finding yoga helpful when they have a history of trauma.
Whilst there is good evidence for the benefits of yoga, it doesn’t give much insight into what you might notice as an individual. For me personally, since stating yoga several times a week I have noticed these clear benefits:
Using my breath
I have certainly noticed myself breathing more effectively. Often, I will begin to take deep diaphragmatic breaths instinctively in situations when I began to feel a little bit anxious or unsure. It’s like my body has learned to calm itself when required.
Psychological distance from thoughts
I am fortunate enough to have a brilliant teacher who continually reminds his students that yoga is so much more than exercise. He often invites us into poses that are challenging and reminds us to “not judge me or the posture”. These little but consistent reminders have helped me to recognise when my mind slips into judgements or catastrophising outside of the studio.
Feeling more ‘at home’ in my body
Yoga makes your body stronger and it helps you to feel more ‘at home’ within it. For me, yoga has helped me to better manage feelings of anxiety and step away from self-critical thoughts and feelings of shame. I definitely feel more comfortable in myself and in my body.
Letting go
Loosening our grip on unhelpful thoughts and feelings is something we often teach in psychological therapy. While we encourage clients to do this outside of sessions, we really each need to find our own way of letting go. A good yoga teacher will remind us to do this. Every time we get into savasana we are learning to let go. The more we practice this, the better we get at it.
What are the benefits of yoga retreats?
Embarking on a yoga retreat means that you deepen your yoga practice and solidify all of the physical and psychological benefits described above. But what does going on a retreat add over and above studio classes? Here are my thoughts on this question:
Connection with other people
Getting away to a beautiful place with people you’ve never met is an unusual situation. It is anxiety provoking at the beginning but an important thing to tell yourself is that other people are interested in yoga too, and that’s unlikely to be the only point of connection.
In Sri Lanka our group connected very quickly. This was undoubtedly helped by everyone being in good spirits and making an effort with one another. We reflected on how we found it easier to be open with one another than in usual life: We were not colleagues or neighbours and so there was not a pressure to make a good impression, which was actually freeing.
My biggest observation is just how much we all laughed. Deep genuine laughter. Meeting each other in these unusual circumstances meant that relationships were just able to blossom, and it was really lovely to experience. The shared experiences that we had will genuinely stay with me forever.
I’m aware at this point that I haven’t even talked about the yoga! But this was my favourite benefit of the retreat before we even get onto the yoga.
A break from responsibilities
When we went on excursions and trips, our group would joke about how we had been “allowed out without any grown-ups”. While this gave us plenty of laughs there is a serious point to it. I don’t think there has been any other time in my adult life when I’ve felt completely free of responsibility. Even as a solo traveller there is a level of responsibility to navigate your way around and to keep yourself safe. It certainly felt freeing, but in a different way to when I have travelled solo.
Most of our group had jobs with a high level of responsibility, and some were also parents. Our wonderful yoga teacher often talks about how yoga classes are a way to ‘put down’ our responsibilities for an hour. The retreat provided this opportunity for a longer period. I think that having this carefree time meant that relationships were able to blossom as they did.
Deepening yoga practice
Ok so now some yoga: Going on a retreat allows you to fully focus on your practice away from the demands and responsibilities of life.
Our group differed in their level of yoga prior to the retreat, and this worked well. I can imagine that some might worry that everyone on a yoga retreat is going to be very advanced, which wasn’t the case. Everyone was on their own journey and as yogis we embraced that.
As a small group, we had a lot of individualised support from very experienced and amazing teachers. This really helped me to understand my body and deepen my practice. Prior to the retreat I’d only done studio classes, and if I’m honest had not fully appreciated the need for 1:1 sessions. Now I have a greater appreciation of how the individualised support can be beneficial. I’ll definitely be signing up to more workshops as well as my weekly classes.
Investment and commitment in self
Yoga retreats are expensive and there is no getting away from that. My experience on the retreat made me appreciate how much care and attention had been put into arranging every aspect of it. As guests we felt ‘cared for’ in a way that helped with having a break from responsibilities.
The time and financial investment in a retreat is exactly that; an investment in ourselves. Making this investment is a message to ourselves that we matter and that our needs and growth matter. This can be an important way to strengthen our relationship with ourselves. It reminds me of the investment that people make to have therapy, usually with specific intentions about what they hope to change.
This kind of investment is not one that most people can make on a frequent basis. In a way that’s the beauty of it. It’s something that you might want to do at a certain stage in your life or at a particular milestone. As an example, there were two of us who had gifted the retreat to ourselves to mark our 40th birthdays.
Personal growth
Building the courage to go on a retreat with people you don’t know is a great way to expand your comfort zone. You get to learn that you can do things and that you are more capable than you realise. This provides the right circumstances for personal growth and to help us to build confidence.
Are yoga retreats worth the investment?
This is a difficult question because it really depends on your personal circumstances. I can speak specifically to the readers of our blog here, who are mostly similar to us as contributors: Women over 30 in professional occupations who have a reasonable amount of disposable income.
If this is you, think about what your intention would be for a retreat. Would you like to deepen your yoga practice? Would you like the opportunity to spend time with like-minded people? Are you just interested to try something new? All of these are valid intentions to consider and there are many more.
Obviously I would never advise that you stretch yourself beyond your financial needs or commit to a retreat if you’re not clear on how you will afford it. However if you can afford it and you have a clear intention, I would say a retreat is absolutely worth it.
I should probably mention at this stage that this is not a sponsored post and I attended the retreat as a full paying guest. For me personally, my investment in the retreat was worth every penny. If a yoga retreat is something that you’re interested in, I’d definitely recommend giving it a go.
How should I choose a yoga retreat?
Given that yoga retreats can be a considerable investment, it is important to choose carefully. Personally I chose to go on a retreat organised by my local studio, which meant that I knew the teachers well. This approach worked well for me.
Yoga is so much more than exercise and teachers vary so much in their style, approach to teaching and personality. This means that it’s important to try their classes to see if you connect with them or not. I’ve had many great yoga teachers over the years that I have really felt a connection to. Others have been perfectly good teachers but I haven’t connected for whatever reason. Because this is so personal it is important that you try their classes or at least get a recommendation from someone who knows you well.
Also think about whether the teachers are experienced in running retreats. Experience means knowing what works and what doesn’t, and how to create the right conditions for all of the benefits that I’ve described above. Also think about how the retreat is marketed and how open the teachers are to questions. Green flags include openness to questions and offering to put you in touch with people have been on previous retreats. Another green flag is the teacher having visited the retreat location themselves and being clear on those finer details.
Another important factor to consider is whether you connect with the particular destination where the yoga retreat is being held. Is this somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit? Can you imagine what it is like to be practising in this place? Like teachers, we will all connect differently with places so this is another important factor to take into account.
Conclusion
Yoga retreats provide physical and psychological benefits, opportunities for connection and a break from responsibilities. They offer an opportunity to deepen your yoga practice, whatever your level, and can be a form of self investment. It is important to choose your yoga retreat carefully and look for teachers who you connect with and wo are experienced in running retreats.
References
Gohel, M. K., Phatak, A. G., Kharod, U. N., Pandya, B. A., Prajapati, B. L., & Shah, U. M. (2021). Effect of long-term regular yoga on physical health of yoga practitioners. Indian Journal of Community Medicine, 46(3), 508-510.
Parnell, L. (2013). Attachment-focused EMDR: Healing relational trauma. WW Norton & Company.
Tamrakar, S., Dudeja, K., Kamble, P., Suresh, S. B., & Mittal, R. S. (2023). HARMONY OF MIND AND BODY: EXPLORING THE IMPACT OF YOGA ON MENTAL HEALTH–A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW. Int J Acad Med Pharm, 5(6), 387-390.
Bessel van der Kolk (2015). The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books.
