THE 2024 JIVAMUKTI YOGA SICILY END OF SUMMER EQUINOX RETREAT
Three Boons Yoga Berlin is pleased to announce The 2024 Jivamukti Yoga Sicily End Of Summer Equinox Retreat, hosted on ancient and sacred Sicilian grounds, situated in a historic masseria villa located in the deep and wandering hills of South Sicily. Join us for the breathtaking expanses of landscape, sea, and sun. The masseria is teeming with life in the late summer, from soon to be harvested olives to wild horses and donkeys, and there is no way not to share in this celebration of nature.
This retreat will be taught by Three Boons Yoga Berlin director and teacher training facilitator Anja Kuehnel and supported by select members from our Three Boons Yoga Berlin teacher faculty for the evening classes and assists.
Fresh, local, and vegan dishes will be prepared daily by our Italian chef, head of our legendary Jivamukti Canteen, Alessia Cecconi and her team.
Celebrate a week of joy and abundance around the spiritually energetic apex of the summer with the end of Summer equinox at that we are celebrating this year on Sept. 22 on one of the first full day of our retreat. Nourish your body, spirit, and mind in this hermetic location, hidden away from the world within almond trees and olive groves.
One of our coolest discoveries of rugged terrain and refined accommodation lately situated in our favorite part of Europe, the very South of Italy, makes for the ideal summer extender retreat we are returning to for the 5th time already now. Celebrating Equinox at the end of summer and practicing yoga during this very special time of the year is ideal in this rebuilt 17th century villa situated on an 40acre ancient Sicilian Masseria dating back to even pre-Roman times. Because the cool thing is that the villa was intentionally laid out by ancient astronomers to be in optimal alignment with the daily and yearly solar cycle. Join us and fill and extend your 2024 summer days with asana, great local fare, gelato by the sea, ancient ruins, and lounging by our pristine pool, all under the abundant Sicilian sun.
RETREAT LANGUAGE: English (Anja teaches in English but also speaks German for individual tips/assists/questions)
THE DATES: Saturday, September 21 until Saturday, September 28 with optional early arrival/slow start on Thursday, the 19th or Friday, the 20th of September, 2024
THE ISLAND: “Italy without Sicily leaves no image. Sicily is the key to everything.“ - Johann Wolfgang Goethe - A Trip to Sicily
GENERAL INFO ON THE YOGA PROGRAM & OTHER ACTIVITIES
THE THEME: The end of summer equinox, in 2024 taking place right at the first full day of our retreat on Sept. 22, marks a time when there is an equal amount of light and dark present in a day. It is all about balance, and as such, a powerful time to rebalance, restore, and refocus our energy.
End of summer equinox (like summer and winter solstice) are powerful times of the year that mark a shift in the earth’s energy because of is in special astronomical alignment with the sun. In the old days, when we were more agriculturally focused, we tended and harvested our fields based on these powerful turns of the earth. In Sicily, the sun was an object of veneration and people always felt a deep respect for the sun and all its related and inexplicable events. Therefore, they planned the axis of their houses and farms to align perfectly with the sun during special times of the year such as equinoxes and solstices. For this very reason, as an ancient Masseria, our retreat location was designed to align with the sun featuring the end of summer equinox sunrise at 90 degree azimuth and sunset at 270degree azimuth.
Yoga has always been a celebration of the sun, the supreme consciousness that illuminates all things and makes them clear. We will deepen our practice by honoring the light and connecting to the powerful energy shift during the equinox time. The same solar energy that brings seeds forth, can ripen our highest intentions into manifestation. In this celebration of life-giving fire and light, our goal is to give participants the opportunity to burn off any burdens, immerse themselves in the dynamic vastness of nature, to eat vibrant and nourishing food, and to enjoy the company of uplifting community.
THE PROGRAM: Each morning (Fri.-Fri.) of the retreat, Three Boons director Anja Kuehnel will lead us on a 4.5 to 5-hour “all-inclusive” journey of yoga practices . We are starting at sunrise with a morning meditation, chanting, and scripture reading, that is followed by a little pranabooster (coffees, smoothies and fruits) and then a 3-3.5hour Jivamukti yoga asana practice. These will be intensive “workshop style” classes focusing and and making use of the special energy of the sacred land surrounding us. With the end of summer equinox taking place right at the start of our retreat, we will also be able to tap into the special energy of the equinox time throughout our retreat week.
Anja will infuse her many years of experience from teaching international Jivamukti Yoga retreats and Jivamukti and Three Boons Teacher Trainings to offer a distilled vision of the practice and its purpose. You will experience and explore different aspects of Jivamukti Yoga like asanas, kriyas, pranayama, meditation and yogic scriptures.
Each afternoon, select members of our Three Boons Yoga teaching faculty will additionally offer offer shorter Jivamukti yoga asana sessions. There is abundant free time in the afternoons and evenings to relax and adventure as you see fit. We also have a great local masseuse Davide who will come for onsite massages and was always fully booked every day of the week in the past.
REGISTRATION AND PRICES:
BASE PRICE: 1.296 EUR
SIGN-UP DEPOSIT: 189 EUR (holds your spot)
ADDITIONAL UPGRADES: Please check out the registration form for detailed prices, discounts and accommodation options.
THE 2-STEP REGISTRATION PROCESS:
STEP 0: Download the registration form, and make sure the offering, dates, prices, options and terms are agreeable for you.
STEP 1: Make the applicable non-refundable sign-up deposit to hold your spot in the retreat and initiate the registration process. See below for payment options and instructions for the sign-up deposit.
STEP 2: Fill in and sign the registration form you downloaded in Step 0. We kindly recommend to use the free iPhone/Android App “Adobe Fill & Sign”! Alternatively, you can also print it out and fill and sign it and then either snail mail, or fax it to +49-30-48491950 or scan and email it to info@threeboonsyoga.de. Download Adobe Fill&Sign for iPhone/ipad here and for Android hier.
PLEASE NOTE: Spaces are strictly limited due to the size of the intimate retreat location.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE: Your sign-up deposit is non-refundable, if you later change your mind and/or cannot come and/or cannot pay the full retreat price, however, you may find another person to take the retreat instead and who did not pay the sign-up deposit yet and transfer you deposit to this person.
MORE INFO ON THE LOCATION
THE LOCATION: Cloistered away upon a lonely hill in southeast Sicily between the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ragusa Ibla and the popular summer beach destination of Marina di Ragusa , our historic 17th century Sicilian Masseria is an oasis with lush gardens, vast patios, beautifully restored rooms, and a grand swimming pool. The entire complex is enclosed by restored ancient stone walls, featuring within them the central courtyard, the ancient villa, and surrounding suites. Situated only 10 minutes away from the Mediterranean Sea and close to a small town for shopping and exploring, the Villa is surrounded by a serene natural park with centuries-old olive, carob and almond trees, embodying the quintessential Sicilian countryside with all its historical hand cut stone masonry, pre-Christian caves, breathtaking views and hills leading to sandy beaches of the Mediterranean Sea. During the peak of the year, experience coming to full flourishing with the Scilian hills as they abound with green and vibrance.
Our Masseria grounds and a brief history of the ancient Sicilian knowledge of mathematics and astronomy: The 17th century villa that we will be exclusively having as our retreat headquarters was designed to align with the sun, featuring the end of summer equinox sunrise at 90 degree azimuth and sunset at 270 degree azimuth.
The front of the house features a round holed stone window paired with an identical feature in the back of the house. These were constructed in such a mathematically precise fashion as to capture the intense sun on the summer solstice. The villa was built around these markers, and means that the sun will perfectly intersect and be directly over the grounds during the solstice. We should not consider these holed stones as a precise calendars or an instruments to observe the sun’s cycle, but rather monuments that provided information on the solstices and equinoxes for practical and agricultural purposes. It is fascinating to discover how our ancestors already thousands of years ago, were able to apply precise astronomical canons to their constructions and living quarters. They would plan the axis of their living quarters at the moment of the laying of the foundation. They would divide the arch of the daily itinerary of the sun through projecting on the ground the shade of the sun itself on a fixed pole in the style of the ancient meridian clocks. In Sicily, the sun was an object of veneration and people felt always in a position of inferiority to the Sun and all its related and inexplicable events. At the center of their lives was the Sun, the Morning star that dictated the rhythm of nature and conditioned their everyday life. To understand the level of mathematical and existential knowledge in the old days we need simply to look into the life and writings of some of the Sicilian people of the time. Especially to Pythagoras who founded a school on Sicily, in which initiates were sworn to secrecy and lived a communal, ascetic lifestyle. This lifestyle entailed a number of dietary prohibitions, traditionally said to have also included vegetarianism. The teaching most securely identified with Pythagoras is metempsychosis, or the "transmigration of souls", which holds that every soul is immortal and, upon death, enters into a new body. He may have also devised the doctrine of musica universalis, which holds that the planets move according to mathematical equations and thus resonate to produce an inaudible symphony of music. In addition, to the astronomical markings, the Masseria features its own small cave cemetery or necropolis located to the west of the Villa itself in the Egyptian tradition of building cemetery and pyramids west of the village / living quarters. This cave is visible on the immediate north side of the hill halfway along the main driveway and it is aligned with the winter solstice sunrise.
CARBON (CO2) OFFSET – WE WILL HAVE 3 TREES PLANTED FOR YOU
As of 2021, your Sicily retreat tuition already includes a carbon offset for the estimated CO2 produced by the retreat participants travelling to Sicily and back. For each 2023 Sicily Sicily Retreat participant, 3YB will have 3 trees planted. A tree absorbs approx. 11.7lbs of CO2 every year, or approx. 468lbs. of CO2 over 40 years, so 3 trees for each participant will absorb roughly 1,404lbs. of CO2 over this time, which is about the same amount of CO2 from a round- trip flight from Berlin to Sicily. We know this is a lot of CO2 and we commit to CO2 reduction whenever possible. As of 2021, we will try at the very least to offset the CO2-related travel costs of our non-local retreats through having trees planted. In no way do we want to white-wash the impact on the climate that our yoga retreats have, and we are committed to offering more local yoga retreats going forward. It is not an exaggeration to say that Jivamukti Yoga has made countless yoga students worldwide aware of the benefits of a vegetarian and better vegan diet for the planet as a whole as well as for their individual yoga practice and their general well-being. Converting to a vegan diet has prominently been named by The University of Oxford, among others, “as the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on earth”, “reducing an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73%”.
ANJA KÜHNEL
ANJA has been a devoted student of Sharon Gannon and David Life since she first met them while temporarily living in New York. She has been directing the two Berlin Jivamukti Yoga Centers, now Three Boons Yoga Berlin, and their Apprenticeship Teacher Training program since 2008. After 15 years of study with Sharon and David, Anja is more than grateful for all she has learned and all that she is still going to learn. Anja has been practicing yoga with teachers of various yoga styles and has traveled the world to do so. But in her heart, Anja knew immediately after her first Jivamukti class, that it was where she belonged. She teaches at her two Yoga Centers, is regularly invited as a guest teacher worldwide.
"The only thing that gives me credibility as a yoga teacher is the graceful association with my teachers." - David Life