Energizing Detox & Yoga Retreat

This Energizing Detox Week is designed to rest, calm down and reload your battery in a beautiful, off-grid setting.

Jagadish (Peter Photikoe, Thailand) and Marije Horbach (the Netherlands) will be your teachers in this retreat. Jagadish focuses on the organ of the day in his yang morning classes. In the afternoon yin class, Marije will focus on the meridian that is paired with the organ. The retreat is designed to be beneficial to all, no matter what you think your limitations may be. We strive to help you deepen your practice and knowledge of yoga and meditation in this week. All levels are welcome to this retreat.

Full retreat price €899,- for 8 days (7 nights), including accommodation, food and drinks, airport pick-up, one meditation class and two yoga classes a day.

Teachers

Jagadish (formerly Peter Photikoe) has been teaching yoga mostly in Thailand for the past decade and has intensively studied native approaches to wellness as well as western techniques such as Pilates. He is a kriyaban and continues to study at Ananda Europa, outside of Assisi, Italy. His international group of students does not need to be athletic, flexible nor all speak perfect English to get benefits from the practice. Jagadish will start the day with a series of basic movements, the Energization Excercises, as taught by his guru, Paramhansa Yogananda. The gentle stimulation of the body allows for a more pleasant stillness during meditation. If you have never meditated before, please don’t be frightened, as you can lie down if you are in extreme discomfort and still get the benefit. Expect a fun class where you will be challenged. However, Jagadish is very good at making the class accessible for all levels. You will get into poses in a new a refreshing way and you might get into poses you never expect you could do. You will work hard and laugh for sure! Marije teaches regularly at several studios in Amsterdam and has taught Anatomy at Movements Yoga’s Teacher Training. She will teach the evening yin yoga classes, a great combination with the powerful yang class you do in the morning. These more passive classes are based on long holds, targeting the connective tissue and meridians of the body. In Chinese medicine internal organs are linked to meridians, through which energy flows.

Food

We will detox our body in this week with solid vegan food (It’s not a juice cleanse week). We don’t have any sugar, dairy, little salt, etc. The food is specific for the organ we are dealing with that day. We buy our food locally, from our farmer neighbors as much as we can. We prepare you breakfast, lunch, snacks, fruit and we have soup for dinner. Every day we take a different supplement to support the organ of the day. If you really do not like something or if you are allergic to something, please let me know up front. All the food and drinks are included in the price.

Drinks

Every day has a special tea that is beneficial for the organ we are targeting that day. You can have as much tea as you like during the day. In the afternoon we will have a special juice. We don’t have any alcohol or coffee in these weeks.

Daily schedule

The daily schedule is more or less as follows:

07.00: We begin the day early with Jagadish for energization and meditation.

07.45: A short refreshment break

08.30: Main morning yang yoga practice

10:00: Breakfast

13.00: Lunch

16.00: Juice

17.30: Yin yoga practice

19.30: Dinner

This schedule might change slightly from day to day.

Location

The retreat will be set in Vidovina, in a remote location, on top of a hill in the middle of a nature park, around 2km from Casola Valsenio and around 70 km from Bologna.

The premises feature extensive, green grounds with hammocks and swings, a big farmhouse with 6 bedrooms and an 80m2 hayloft which has been turned into a stunning, open yoga space with views over the surrounding nature.

Built as a luxury farmhouse in the 40's, the house has been renovated in 2015, using mostly local styles and materials. The result is a simple, comfortable home that is spacious, functional, sober and authentic. Expect no exquisite decorations or marble bathrooms here, it's a farmhouse. Its luxury lies in the abundance of privacy and space: great rooms, big terrace, huge studio and lots of nooks and crannies to discover. And a night sky you rarely see.

Due to its private location in nature, this place tends to bring out the primitive side in guests. Many come in full of plans to see cultural highlights in the region, but soon they find themselves gather some wood, build a fire, sigh in relief and stare at the world in the distance. This off-the-grid aspect, without the noise of smartphones, busy jobs or stress, allows you to (re)connect with yourself and others. Before you know it, you’ll start to get up when the sun rises, have siestas and forget about time altogether. There is no wifi at Vidovina for our guests, but the village has bars with wifi if needed.

The fresh air and absolute silence makes for deep sleeps at night and peaceful slumber during the day, and if you do this long enough, you’ll resurface relaxed and recharged, full of energy and ideas.

Vidovina lies on top of a hill that gives you great vistas over the valley and nearby ridges. You'll see that the park which the farmhouse lies is situated within the larger Parco Regionale della Vena del Gesso Romagnola (Gypsum Vein Park), which is perfect for hiking, mountain-biking and gypsum cave excursions. But even a short stroll through the woods or vineyards behind the house is great. There's probably a pheasant, deer or porcupine behind the next corner!

Accommodation

The central spaces inside the house are the living room and the kitchen. The living room has a dinner table the size of an Italian family, an indoor fireplace, a wood stove, a couch and comfy chairs to relax. There is a big collection of books in Dutch, English and some even in Italian. So no need to bring those. Next door there’s a fully-equipped kitchen with granite tops and a big oak kitchen table.

The house consists of 6 big bedrooms with terracotta floors, white walls and high ceilings. The bedrooms are shared between two, three or four people. The interior is really simple, somewhat monastery-like. Beds have comfortable mattresses, summer duvets and fluffy cushions, all covered in clean, white, cotton linen, and the tables and nightstands have been made from the wood of a huge pine tree that got blown over nearby. Comfortably, there are four bathrooms, each with a luxury hot shower and toilet, with the walls and floors all done in rustic Italian ceramics. Clean towels are provided as well as bio-degradable soaps, shampoos and laundry detergent.

During our yoga weeks in summer you’ll spend most of your time outside the house though.

Traveling The best way to travel to Vidovina, is by flying to Bologna Airport. Someone will be waiting for you at the airport to pick you up and bring you to the house. This transportation is included in the price. From the Netherlands several airlines are flying to Bologna: KLM (Amsterdam), Transavia (Eindhoven) and Ryanair (Eindhoven and Düsseldorf/ Weeze). There won’t be any yoga classes on the traveling days. The first class will be the next morning. So arrival date should be the first date of the retreat. Arrival time doesn’t really matter. We kindly ask you to travel with only hand luggage, this way we will be able to fit you all and the luggage into our cars.

Activities

In your free time you will have a chance to relax, wind down, lie in the hammock with a book as well as walk, hike, bike or visit nearby villages or sights. Two kilometres away lies Casola Valsenio, a small but nice farmer's village that doesn't see many tourists, despite its lively character, interesting culinary festivals and ancient herb garden. Main sites in the village are the Cardello house at the park entrance, the nearby Valsenio Church, both from the 11th century, and the cliff overlooking the Senio River on which the village is built. Casola's got some nice spots to walk/ swim near the river, a big public swimming pool during summer, and a couple of truly stunning natural ponds a short drive away.

That said, most people who planned to make all kinds of trips find these plans disappear once Vidovina's rhythm sets in! Every now and then we will surprise you by doing yoga at a different location. That way you will get to know the area. Marije knows all the perfect spots to do yoga outside!

Why a retreat?

One of the most frequently asked questions from those who have never attended a retreat is why they should take a week out of their busy lives in order to practice yoga. Isn’t going to class after work a couple of times a week enough? Jagadish says that after 15 years of regular yoga practice, he finds that in order to experience transformation, one must apply both faith and effort. Modern culture is awfully good at emphasizing the latter, as evident by the ‘no pain no gain’ mentality in physical and profession pursuit. The former, ‘faith’, has perhaps fallen out of fashion because of its inclination toward religion. Imagine joyful, painless effort, based on a platform of non-denominational security. Come see how you can infuse your practice with a sense of greater purpose much deeper than attaining a flawless body or the perfect pose. Experience how attunement with the divine power of nature can mutate strain and negativity into bliss.

Be prepared for an energizing week full of yoga, good and healthy food, kicking back, chilling, sun in Italy! Learn what the Italians mean by ‘il bel far niente’, the beauty of doing nothing.