Deep Listening: Yoga, Mindfulness & Hiking Retreat

There is one yoga class per day. Yoga classes are for all levels of practice.

Yoga classes are progressive, variations for different levels of practice and particular limitations are always offered. The sessions combine Hatha Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga principles, as well as movement and mobility exercises.

The afternoon sessions are Yin Yoga, a gentle, therapeutic and meditative yoga. The main objective is to relax physically and mentally and let go of self-demands and the need for control.

Meditative walks and hikes are esencial practices in our retreats. They are very simple and accesible for everyone.

They help us to understand, through experience, our deep connection with nature. It makes us notice in each step and in each breath, that the energy that exist inside us it is just the same as the energy that exists out there.

Nature is our greatest teacher. Silence and deep listening helps us enrich the experience She offers.

There will be a daily 90 minute meditative walk in nature, opening the senses and developing mindfulness.

Two days will be dedicated to meditative hiking, starting just after breakfast and coming back for a gentle yoga session. It is a perfect opportunity to enjoy the wonders of the the Ordesa National Park or surrounding areas.

Some of the hikes we will include Forest Bathing activities.

Allow yourself to stop and relax in the nature. Immerse yourself in it, listen to it and feel it with every pore of your skin. With a forest bath you can recover your energy, connect with the natural rhythms and your inner voice.

• Recover your vitality with simple practices that can transform your daily life.
• Reconnect with nature and its cycles.
• Enjoy the natural movement, breathing in and out and simply being in nature.

In the 80’s the term shinrin-yoku emerged in Japan, to give an ecological alternative after the exhaustion of the technological boom and to bring people closer to nature again. This term can be translated as Forest Bath.

In the 1990’s, science began to investigate the physiological benefits of this practice. To name a few:

• lowering blood pressure
• lowering cortisol levels
• improving concentration and memory
• it was also discovered that a chemical released by trees and plants, called phytoncide, stimulates the immune system.
• and that the benefits are evident even several hours after exposure to trees, the sky, birdsong ….

We believe that the benefits are not only evident a few hours later, but for days and months. In our retreats, it is one of the fundamental practices.

Everyday there will be guided meditation sessions, in the morning and some nights before going to sleep. The best way to start and finish the day.

We practice simple techniques that are easy to carry on at home. We use universal elements to all of us as concentration objects, such as the breath, the body sensations, sounds, etc.

After the meditations we open a sharing circle for questions or to offer mindfulness tools and practices to guide us during the day. We will also share “deep listening and loving speech” techniques based on Thich Nhat Hanh teachings.

In Sanskrit, Sat means truth and Sang means group or community. Satsang is a gathering to share our concerns, questions, and our deepest insights. It is also a time to meditate together, contemplate nature and sing meditative songs or mantras.

During the week we will have some planned activities to awaken our creativity being inspired from the connection with nature and with ourselves.

We will explore art through dance, painting and writing, to name a few proposals. It will be a time to experience and feel, and thus allow us to get to know ourselves better.

Through silence, calmness and the awakening of our senses it gets easier to connect with our creative power. In some of us this power is forgotten, asleep. We just need space, practice and care to cultivate it.

These activities are intended to connect us with our listening skills and our intuition, so we can let emerge what we carry inside. The essence is in the process, in self-discovery and exploration. The result does not matter, but our ability to be present, to relax and to rediscover ourselves, without judging. In this way, we broaden our vision with another perspective, from which we recognize, accept and embrace what arises.

A moment of silence to connect with nature, with yourself and with the group. Sharing a bowl of “living tea” we deepen all the richness that dwells in “the way of tea” (Cha Dao).

We give ourselves the opportunity to make from something ordinary something extraordinary and full of meaning.

Karma Yoga is Yoga in action = finding skillfulness and integration in any action.

We bring the principles of Yoga in everything we do. We invite you to practice Karma Yoga by helping us with simple tasks of the house as fetching water from the fountain, chopping vegetables, drying dishes, etc.

6:30 Wake up
7:00 Meditation
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Meditative Hike
11:30 Yoga class
13:00 Lunch
14:00 Free time
17:00 “Deep listening” Art & creativity session /Satsang
19:00 Dinner
22:00 Rest

We believe that true health is everything we do to bring harmony to the physical body, mind, heart and to all the beings around us: WELL-BEING.

Your stay at Casa Cuadrau is a perfect opportunity to practice a mindful and respectful living with yourself and the environment.

Coming to our home for a few days is also giving you the opportunity to live in an Ecological and Sustainable House. You will be able to learn or deepen practices that help you cultivate a greater connection with Nature, our great teacher, and enjoy the wonders of the Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park and the UNESCO Sobrarbe-Pirineos Geopark.

We are part of the Spanish Ecotourism Association “Soy Ecoturista“ and our activities inside and outside the house are aligned with sustainable, mindful and respectful tourism, offering experiences to contribute to local development and the conservation of the geodiversity and biodiversity of the territory.