Yoga Retreat & Adventure in Peru

If you’re arriving today*, we’ll have someone waiting for you at the airport to bring you to our meeting point in Cusco.

We’ll all pile into a van and ride together to our lodging in the Sacred Valley, where we’ll get settled into our rooms and get to know the cool people we’ll be hanging out with all week.

If everyone’s flights arrive early enough, we’ll stop at an animal sanctuary on our way out of town and meet the wild animals of Peru — condors, llamas, spectacled bears, and so much more.

We’ll have dinner together and be grounded in our new home with a traditional Peruvian Despacho ceremony. A shaman will help us create a mandala of flowers and seeds to represent the balance of masculine and feminine energy in Peruvian cosmology. Then we’ll each create an offering for Pachamama, the Earth Mother, to place in a bonfire. This ceremony helps us express gratitude and align ourselves with nature and the local culture.

After the ceremony, we’ll enjoy a lovely evening yoga practice to recenter ourselves and prepare for deep rest.

* If you get to Cusco a few days early (which is a great idea, so you can acclimate to altitude) I recommend staying at either of the Peruvian-owned Tierra Viva hotels in Cusco. Tierra Viva Centro is close to the action, while the San Blas location is a bit quieter and a short walk from the center. These hotels will take very good care of you!

This day is deliberately slow-paced to let you acclimate to the altitude and soak up the incredible views and extraordinary people of the Sacred Valley.

After meditation, yoga, and a leisurely breakfast, we’ll be visited by a group of women weavers from a nearby village. They’ll teach us their traditional methods of washing, spinning, and dying alpaca wool using local plants and insects. They’ll also show us their unique backstrap weaving techniques, and you’ll have the opportunity to buy directly from the artists.

We’ll spend the rest of the day exploring Urubamba. Urubamba is the heart of the Valley, where locals gather to trade homegrown vegetables in the market or to enjoy an ice cream cone in the plaza.

For lunch, I’ll take you to my favorite café where you can relax in a lovely garden. From there, we can stroll to the plaza and visit the market.

Then we’ll head to the Inkariy Museum, where you’ll learn about the historic rituals, beliefs, and traditions of the Andean people. For dinner, we’ll visit another of my favorite restaurants, where you can feast on fresh produce grown in the valley.

Finally, we’ll return home for a relaxing evening and enjoy a peaceful evening yoga practice to soothe our muscles and spirits for a restful night.

After morning yoga practice and breakfast, we’ll travel to a small village high in the mountains with a guide who will introduce us to his grandmother. She’ll feed us snacks from her garden, take us for a walk, and teach us a bit about medicinal plants,

We’ll have lunch in the charming village of Pisac. Then we’ll journey up to the ancient Incan ruins above the village. We’ll explore some easily accessible ruins, then enjoy a simple movement practice in the mountain air and a meditation to help us connect with all that surrounds us.

Those who are interested can hike down the mountain, visiting other ruins along the way. Those who prefer not to hike can return to the village by car and spend some time shopping or sipping tea on a balcony overlooking the plaza.

We’ll regather for dinner and head home for a gentle yoga session to integrate our experiences and rebalance our bodies after a long day on our feet.

After a leisurely morning yoga and meditation practice and breakfast, we’ll head to Cusco, the heart of the sprawling Incan Empire and the seat of Spanish control in Peru.

We’ll visit the ancient fortress of Sacsayhuman above the city, home to several ceremonial plazas and temples. We’ll have lunch in town together and free time to shop and explore around the plaza. If anyone wants to schedule a healing massage on this day, we can arrange that for you as well.

We’ll have dinner in a restaurant overlooking the plaza and return home in time for a healing evening practice and to pack our overnight bags for Machu Picchu!

After our morning practices and rituals, we’ll leave for Ollantaytambo, a “living Incan city” where we’ll catch the train to Machu Picchu.

Ollantaytambo was where the people of the Sacred Valley traded with the people of the jungle, offering corn and beans in exchange for bananas and mangoes.

You’ll have the option to climb the Incan terraces and explore the ruins; those who want to save their energy for Machu Picchu can enjoy the view from a rooftop cafe.

The train to Aguas Calientes is 90 minutes of breathtaking scenery, including mountains, rivers, ruins, and jungle. We’ll check into our hotel and have a nice dinner, followed by an evening practice in the hotel (if we can find space).

On this day, you’ll wake up early, nosh on the hotel breakfast, then head into the clouds on the most amazing bus ride of your life!

At Machu Picchu, a guide will explain the ruins, including the Temple of the Sun, Temple of the Condor, and other Incan buildings. We’ll take our time and stop at all the best photo locations. Machu Picchu does not disappoint — it is a magical place.

In the afternoon, we’ll return by train to Ollantaytambo and take a van home from there. After a little time to rest on your own, we’ll gather for a very special meditation and yoga practice to integrate all we’ve experienced.

Departure day. We’ll make arrangements for everyone to be returned to the airport in Cusco so you can begin your journey home with a life-changing experience in your heart.

For those who have flights later in the day, we’ll try to arrange a visit to the Salineras of Maras, a collection of 3,000 natural salt wells that have been harvesting salt from an underground stream since Incan times.