by Adri Kaiser, Featured Athlete | Ever since yoga has been a part of my life I felt the need to learn more about this amazing tradition and way of life. To many of my friends and family members, it seems that I finish a training and then enroll in another one… Some think I am crazy; I like to think I am a student for life…

by Julie Peoples-Clark, RYT | Seven years ago, I gave birth to my daughter Ella. My husband and I were so excited to be having a baby. I had a wonderful full-term pregnancy. I ate right, exercised everyday, didn’t drink alcohol, and stayed away from anyone who was smoking. My due date came and went and I was two weeks overdue when I finally went into labor…

by Adri Kyser, Featured Athlete | I cannot believe we are already in the month of February. It seems like yesterday when we were waiting for the new year to come, ready to embrace it with new hopes and a new attitude. If you are anything like me, you like to write down your goals — or what I like to call MY INTENTIONS. It is never the wrong time to set your intentions…

by Margaret Burns Vap, Big Sky Yoga Retreats | The return of ski season means sore muscles that are trying to remember all the right moves (you want me to do what?!). Many other activities emphasize the importance of what you do to warm-up, and while I’m not negating that for skiing, I’ve found that what you do après-ski is even more important in terms of managing soreness and maintaining flexibility…

by Margaret Burns Vap, Big Sky Yoga Retreats | One too many glasses of bubbly at a holiday fête? Family desserts weighing you down? Don’t wait until the New Year to detox. If you take small steps to balance overindulging now, it will be much easier to get back in the groove in January. Yoga poses can help facilitate your body’s natural detox process…

by Margaret Burns Vap, Big Sky Yoga Retreats | We live in a culture that thrives on results. We like that feeling of accomplishment that comes from crossing items off our to-do list, and from achieving larger goals. It’s not all bad, but one place this drive to achieve backfires is on the yoga mat. There are many life lessons to be learned on the mat, and one of my favorites is being reminded to slow down and honor the three P’s: Practice, patience, and process…

by Courtney Rohan
For years getting to a yoga class was a trial I could not accomplish. I’d find more often than not, when I was done with cooking, cleaning and making sure my husband and son were content that classes had concluded. It was hard enough to get to my mat, now I had to figure out how to get past the myriad of things that tempted to deplete my energy so much that I could not practice being more of myself…

This short yoga practice for fall is designed to honor the lung element while tuning into the earth’s changes we touched on in the Chi Quest Intro…

by Katheryn Harlen, Through Healing Eyes
As a breast cancer survivor, I know the importance of exercise for physical, emotional and spiritual healing. I was diagnosed with an early stage breast cancer on Valentine’s Day 2003 at my yearly mammographic screening exam. I was one of the more unlikely candidates for this disease as I had run competitively for 15 years, cycled for over 10 years, lifted weights, practiced yoga, maintained the same weight since high school and have never smoked…

by Margaret Burns Vap, Big Sky Yoga Retreats
We can’t necessarily go on a getaway every time we need it, but there are many ways to carve out nurturing retreat space in your daily life. Sound like mission impossible? Yes, it may pose certain challenges, but even the perfectly planned vacation has those too (missed flights, not-so-perfect weather, etc.). Like practicing yoga at home, the more you do it, the more renewing it can be. Here are some ideas for creating your own ‘metreat’ without having to travel far…