Mountain Yoga Retreat in Hainan, China
Sadhvi Daya Mata from Vancouver Ashram, organised a 5-day Yoga in Daily Life Retreat at the Mount Qixian Hotsprings National Forest Park, about 4 hours drive from Haikou, capital city of the island province Hainan in southern China.
A bus from the hotel at Mount Qixian came to Haikou to collect the group, which included yoga practitioners from Vancouver, Canada, and the Chinese cities of Shenzhen and Chongqing.
The program began at 6am on the roof-top facing the 2,800m high mountain, with morning prayers, chanting 108 x OM, meditation, asanas, pranayama, etc. The echo of the chanting and the bird song, along with the rising sun, were magnificient.
The afternoon session was in the open air, by the lakeside facing the mountain. The topic was a talk on Karma, including the muladhara chakra, as well as yoga nidra and asanas.
In the evening, the group enjoyed a candle light meditation and further discussions.
The group made a half-day climb to Mount Qixian, with some of the adults and all of the children climbing until 1300 meters, and the rest of the group continuing to the peak - at 2,800m high. All rooms in the hotel had a hotspring tub - which was certainly a welcome treat after the climb!
The mountain was a perfect environment for recharging energy with the Yoga in Daily Life system.