Totally yoga stoked in 2015

It was just three weeks ago on the winter solstice that yogis all over the globe practiced the tradition of 108 sun salutations, celebrating the changing of the seasons and marking the first day of winter.

Ironically, what that first day of winter really means is the start of longer days. And just three weeks later - in the middle of January - those 4:30 p.m. sunsets in San Diego have shifted to 5 p.m.

So if you’re starting to slip on those New Year’s workout goals, news flash: it’s almost bikini weather.

And if the recent string of below-60-degrees-even-the-sand-is-cold days has left you less than motivated, the team at Stoked Yogi has the perfect fix for you to set your intentions and breathe them into life - a Baja Surf Yoga Retreat designed to get you in shape, with so much fun you won’t notice the workout. And it’s just an hour away, where bikini weather is in full season.

“When we say retreat,” said Stoked Yogi CEO and founder Amelia Travis, “we mean you don’t worry about a single thing. Our four-day, three-night Baja Surf Yoga Retreat is all-inclusive, meaning we pick you up at the San Diego airport and drive you across the border to a private, gated, beachfront sanctuary overlooking a fun, uncrowded surf break.”

Your private sanctuary includes a pool and hot tub for before and after yoga, stand-up paddle and surf sessions, and organic meals prepared by your in-house chef. Workout options are full-spectrum and all-inclusive, from morning and sunset yoga classes and SUP yoga classes to unlimited surf sessions with surf boards, leashes, SUP boards and paddles provided.

And it’s BYOW (bring your own wetsuit), but not BYOB. “Our vision at Stoked Yogi is to offer retreats that are like being on your board - a balance of excitement with relaxation, and wellness with indulgence,” said Travis, “so all-inclusive also means everything from organic fresh juices and smoothies to beer, wine and margaritas.”

Maybe 2015 is your first-time-yoga year? Not sure about surfing or getting on a SUP board? “Don’t be,” was Travis’ advice during a recent interview with Discover SD. “If you can stand on one foot, you can paddle and if you can breathe, you can do yoga. You can even sign up for surf lessons!”

And if you’re an inversion junkie or yoga teacher looking to reach a new level in 2015, “What better way to break past restrictions, whether body, mind or spirit, than to take your practice outside the confines of fixed mediums to an unstable surface?” Travis said.

In addition to the Baja Surf Yoga Retreats, Stoked Yogi’s 2015 Teacher Training Retreats will offer the same all-inclusive indulgence along with World Paddle Association, PaddleFit, and Yoga Alliance certifications and a full curriculum from U.S.Coast Guard water safety clinic and SUP to yoga sequencing, acro yoga, and business development and coaching. So it could be you, this time next year, calling all yogis out to the Pacific for a set of salt-water sun sals.

“Stoked Yogi is not just a name or a mindset,” Travis said. “We’re really fun people, excited about what we do, and we want to share that so others find the path to what makes them grateful and passionate.”

The next retreat is just weeks away, in February. So check out StokedYogi.com to register, and for the full calendar of ways to stay salty, sandy, sun-kissed, balanced and stoked on 2015.

Anna Mueco has been a student of hatha and kriya yoga since 2003. Mueco became a yoga instructor in 2006 and currently teaches in Pacific Beach. Send your thoughts about the yoga world to her at anna@HyperNinjaYoga.com.

Source: DiscoverSD