| The articles featured on "Travel for a small planet," in | | | | soak up all we can during our 1 week retreat. We are |
| the April issue of Ode didn't say anything about a yoga | | | | to be in the now, in the present - in the |
| vacation in Switzerland, but they should have. For the | | | | AAAOOOMMM, in order to re-create the magic of |
| fourth year in a row I'm travelling to Soglio, Switzerland | | | | this place, and not back home, sitting at work in |
| for an amazing adventure centered around yoga and | | | | windowless cubicles or in fume infested traffic jams. |
| hiking in the mountains. | | | | The cornerstones of yoga are "proper exercise, |
| This retreat is so close to the ideal holiday described in | | | | proper relaxation, proper breathing, proper diet, and |
| Ode. It's economical; it's in a place that never swayed | | | | positive thinking and meditation." The people of Soglio |
| from being eco, organic, green and spectacularly | | | | don't need a neighborhood yoga center or ashram to |
| beautiful. It features fresh, incredibly fresh clean water | | | | teach these concepts because they learned them in |
| and air. In fact, in Soglio sound actually interrupts silence | | | | the womb. And from their parents, and their parents |
| - that of cow, goat, sheep and church bells echoing | | | | before them - dating all the way back to when my |
| through the valley. The inexpensive and mostly Italian | | | | sweet husband's family, the de Salis' carried the stone |
| cuisine never tasted as good. | | | | (by donkey) up the side of the mountain to build this |
| Soglio is in a remote, off the beaten path village, with | | | | haven of a place. Hundreds of years ago they left, |
| next to no traffic, in the Engadine, at the Swiss Italian | | | | looking for a better life in the city. |
| border. Local residents are farmers who take their | | | | That's how I found this most beautiful place for a yoga |
| wisdom - not from the media or commercially driven | | | | vacation. It took me dragging my husband back by the |
| trends - but from Mother earth. Always have, which is | | | | arm into the splendor of this place, for him to actually |
| why they continue to use ancient farming techniques - | | | | see and feel the magnificence of what is there. Now, |
| despite (being Swiss) having all the latest modern | | | | THAT is Yoga. Not the dragging by the arms bit, but |
| technology at their finger-tips. And it's why they look so | | | | the waking up enough to let go enough to actually feel, |
| gosh-darn healthy. | | | | see and appreciate what IS there - along with waking |
| These people are yogis in the truest sense - without | | | | up to what is actually inside of oneself. It's a wower...an |
| even knowing it. They and their children before them | | | | artists' paradise, because of the unique, one-of-a-kind |
| have not eaten anything resembling junk or | | | | lighting. Soglio is an ashram, because of choices the |
| preservatives or steroids or plastic or anything but | | | | locals have made generation after generation. |
| fresh, organic, locally grown and prepared. And, | | | | It is with such humble gratitude and love, that I say |
| my-oh-my, does it show. These are the most | | | | thank you to these people who epitomize generosity |
| gorgeous sturdy people you'll see anywhere. | | | | and who welcome Rupert and me with our growing |
| The people of Soglio are natural and of the earth and | | | | "family" of yogis into the warmth of their expanded |
| because of it, they inspire the yoga vacationers to | | | | embrace. |