Day One; Arrival Day
Monday 18th November
Malaga to Vilamartin...The Views!!!!
Arriving to Amazing Suryalila; Rooms like The Ganesh & Eco Cases followed by an arrival dinner and rest.
Day 2; Introducing our programme
Tuesday 19 November
Tea & fruit was available every morning from 8. Between 8.30 & 9.30 every morning we had a Yoga Session Followed by the most delicious breakfast EVERY DAY. The rest of day two was spent touring Suryalila and their beautiful surroundings including their permaculture farm. We did a Self awareness class with the very beautiful and gentle Carolina. And then evening Nidra Yoga.
Day 3; Introducing our programme
Wednesday 20 November
This day started with Yoga and Meditation
After Breakfast we went for a Hike in a beautiful area called the Las Lomas. It was a tiny bit Rainey in the morning but it cleared up and was so nice to be out in nature walking together with our new Spanish Amigas. It looked more like Ireland then we though it would with the big green trees, greyish sky and rivers.
Closing sharing ceremony:
To bring our week at the Suryalila yoga retreat centre to a close we all came together in one of the rooms we had been practising yoga in and one by one we each shared, led by Vidya, the things we had been happiest to experience and also if we had any things we were less happy about we had the opportunity to share those also.
Every girl who had come on this trip was overflowing with gratitude for the new experiences they had shared with the other members of their Irish group and also with the lovely Spanish girls we got to meet. As the “talking stone” was passed to each person each girl spoke about having their eyes opened, about having their perspectives flipped around, about all the learning they had managed to fit into one week and how they were excited to bring everything they had learned home with them and to continue the good habits that they had practised here. Many girls spoke of how different the way of life at Suryalila had been in comparison to their usual lives and how they would try to integrate what they had seen and learned there into their lives once they arrived home even if it was incrementally. Keri, one of our Irish group, expressed that she was “happy that we got this experience because not many people our age would get to experience something like this” and another girl, Immaculata, said she felt that “For me to be here is a great privilege because I have never done something similar and now I feel different, I feel a better person”.
A lot of the girls were grateful not only for the experiences but for the exposure to the people who actually live at Suryalila who were living their lives implementing daily all the good habits that they taught us – one girl said “I’m happy that we got to mix in with different cultures and learn how Vidya and all of her team are living over here”. They spoke of how seeing people live like this greatly impacted them and showed them that the habits - things Vidya referred to as elements of a “recipe for happiness”- might take time to make a part of their normal day to day but that the rewards would be extraordinary. Monica shared that “It was a brilliant experience and I will definitely be bringing some of it home with me to teach my children as well”.
Some of the girls took their chance to express their feeling of overwhelming gratitude towards the beautiful humans who we were lucky enough to have leading us on this journey, who held space for us to open up ourselves to different ways of living our lives. Marina, one of the Spanish group, said “I am so grateful to be here with all of you, I am so happy that I got to meet all of you because you are all amazing. I have had so much fun, so much fun!” A lot of the group spoke of feeling like they had become a better version of themselves because of the past week and it was clear to see that each one of the girls had been uplifted by each person, each new experience, the cultural diversity they had lived amongst and all of these factors had added up to a much greater sense of physical and mental wellbeing.
