Yoga Retreats in Greece: A Secret Getaway from Stress

Whether you live here or if are visiting, Greece offers many unforgettable yoga holiday retreats that allow one to rejuvenate while enjoying Greece’s picturesque view of the Mediterranean Sea. Yoga holidays such as those offered on Silver Island, Paros, Crete and Santorini allow an escape that makes the financial crisis encompassing Greece feel a world away.
Benefits of Yoga
Chronic stress can have long-term negative effects on health such as diabetes, hyperinsulinism, and high blood pressure, just to name a few. The benefits of yoga and meditation are multi-layered. One can reduce stress and anxiety, but also discover an inner calmness and learn nurture the mental tools needed to reach a state of calmness and awareness in our daily lives. Stress effects physical, spiritual, emotional and mental energy blockages which can occur when we allow negative energy to encompass our energy centers. Yoga and meditation help to unblock these energy sources.
All the yoga holiday retreats mentioned below are instructed in English.
7 Days Yoga Retreat in Silver Island, Greece
Argironisos, Gulf of Volos, Oreoi, Evia, Greece

The little known Silver Island is located just a few miles from the mainland and has no  working Internet on the island, making it an ideal place for an amazing yoga destination.
In order to reach Silver Island, you will first travel to Evia, Greece’s second largest island, which is connected via bridges to the mainland and is the “gateway” to Silver Island. Sisters Lissa and Claire Christie run the yoga activities on Silver Island, which has been the Christie family home and olive farm for generations. The olive groves inspired the name of the island, from the shimmering “silver” leaves of the thousands of olive trees growing on the island.
The retreat offers 2 hourly yoga classes per day that take place outside, overlooking the sea.
While there, one is completely absorbed in the healthy atmosphere. All the meals are vegetarian and organic and provided in the price. For the duration of the 7 day stay, accommodations are simple and tastefully decorated are twin rooms in 2 houses, the Main House and the Villa.
Of course, the natural, unspoiled beauty will call to those on the island, encouraging more exploration. Perhaps take a walk to the lighthouse, or the small church? Also there are countless trails to hike throughout the 2,000+ olive tree grove that expands across along Silver Island’s 60 acres.
Dates: April-October (10 guest limit/week)
Contact Silver Island:http://www.silverislandyoga.com
13 Days of Essence Yoga Retreat
Paros Yoga Shalla, Paros, Greece

The 13 Day Essence Yoga Retreat takes place in Naousa, a quaint fishing village on the northern coast of the island, Paros. At the center of the villages is the picturesque port filled with fishing boats and easy access beaches of Piperi and Ay Argiri, which are located at less than 1 kilometer away.
During the retreat Paros Yoga Shalla aims at giving an experience of inner transformation through Integral Hatha, Vinyasa yoga, meditation and self-awareness. Also special sessions are offered specializing in Yoga Nidra, silence therapy, visualization and chakra work.
If weather permits, yoga sessions on the beach and nature walks are scheduled excursions.
An essential factor to relaxation is accommodations. The 13 Day Essence Yoga Retreat includes 12 nights and 11 day(s) at the charming Sunrise Hotel Apartments in Naousa. The hotel is just a 5-minute walk from the yoga studio and the surrounding atmosphere is tranquil and brimming with nature.

Irana JiAn Fouroulis is the founder, owner and director of ParosYoga Shalla and ParosYoga Retreats & Workshops. She has practiced yoga for more than 20 years and is a senior yoga teacher with more than a decade teaching experience.
Also an important element of the program is Chef Elda Molla, who follows basic Ayurveda principles. Chef Molla has developed a unique meal program that creatively uses different herbs and complimentary colors. The daily vegetarian breakfast, brunch and dinner are included with the program.
Extra therapies such as Thai massage, healing bowls, Ayurveda and alternative therapies are available at Yoga Shalla but are not included in the retreat price. Also available are other activities of interest such as hiking or cycling through the Park of Paros, visiting the Mycenaean Acropolis and swimming at Kolimbithres Beach.
Dates are August 2-14, 2016
Contact Paros Yoga Shalla: http://www.yogaretreatsparos.com
8 Days Iyengar Yoga Retreat Greece with Constantinos
YogaOnCrete, Sfakia, Crete, Greece

For a Iyengar yoga retreat, YogaOnCrete offers a 1 week (6 days instruction) retreat centered around the practice of Iyengar yoga and meditation, surrounded by the natural beauty of Crete. The week-long program focuses on the importance of external alignment as a necessity for developing awareness.
The retreat takes place in Sfakia, which is located on the southwest coast of Crete. The tranquility of the surroundings only lends itself to finding inner peace and balance with a dramatic landscape of steep mountains meeting to crystal blue sea below.
Constantinos Giannetakis is the main instructor and has been as practitioner of Iyengar yoga since 1992. In 1996, his studies took him to France where he became certified as a clinical psychologist from the University of Picardie. When he returned to Greece in 2003, Constantinos opened the first Iyengar Yoga Centre in Athens. His teaching is “alignment-based” focused on clarifying the biomechanics of both asanas and pranayamas.

The program offers the practice of Iyengar yoga twice daily with professional and experienced yoga instructors. And the accommodations, a traditional stone house guesthouse, are sure to lend to relaxation. Located near the beach, the rooms are a mixture of tradition and modern design. The house is located around 5-minutes walking distance from the village center and has a beautiful olive grove in back where one can relax in blissful peace.
The program includes 7 breakfasts and 5 dinners prepared by YogaOnCretes cook who is sure to prepare two nutritious lacto-vegetarian meals a day, using locally grown products. Also, they use their own organic products which they grown in their own garden.
Also, a round trip to the beautiful Sweet Water beach is included with the price.
To keep busy there plenty of nearby places of beauty to explore such as Amoudi beach and Frankish Fort to name a few. Or choose from Holistic massage, Cranio-sacral treatment, and Reflexology with Ginger compress treatment with Federica at 40 EUR per hour.
Dates: July 17-24
Contact: http://www.yogaoncrete.gr
Azul Fit 8 Days Santorini Pilates and Yoga Retreat in Greece: ‘The Fire Within’
Oia, Santorini, Greece

Combining Vinyasa Yoga, Pilates, Kundalini yoga and meditation Azul Fit’s “The Fire Within” retreat offers a unique program located on the amazing island of Santorini.
The island is known for its breathtaking beaches with clear water and white, red or black sand, spectacular rock formations and impressive lunar-like landscapes.
The program is situated in Oia, Santorini, which is a destination in itself because of the amazing views of the volcano responsible for the current formation of the island. As the result of 12 enormous eruptions over a 20,000-year period, the volcano collapsed, creating a huge caldera (crater) in the sea, leading to the present day geography of Santorini. The location for this retreat, “The Fire Within” is ideal. Just two kilometers from the beach one can truly relax, explore and discover the inner beauty of themselves and Santorini.
The program offers 8 yoga classes and 5 Pilates classes as well as evening guided meditation. The classes will leave practitioners relaxed, centered and with a sense of awareness.

Azul Fit boasts 3 instructors: Frauke Behrens, an internationally certified Kundalini yoga teacher; Valentina Parmigiani, teaching classical Hatha yoga; and Jo Dombernowsky, an advanced practitioner and inspiring instructor of Pilates. The instructors inspire and motive participants to balance and explore their inner spirits.
The accommodations for the program are a complex of 3 detached Cycladic buildings. The rooms are spacious and can be booked as a single room to quad. Also included in the retreat, healthy, vegetarian, multi-course meals, consisting of starters and a main course.
Also, one can enjoy the energy of this special island by soaking up the Greek sunshine or take inspiring walks with spectacular views all around.
Dates: June 4-11
Contact Azul Fit: http://www.azulfit.com/retreats/

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