Retreat to Croatia

June 24th - July 1st, 2025

Friends, for those of you who know me from my writing, I have also been teaching yoga and meditation for about thirty years now. Which is a wild reality, as is having children who are eighteen and fifteen. Time is a funny thing, and not something I think of as linear at this point in my life. It feels more like it folds in on itself, and moments from long ago can suddenly overtake us just because a certain scent is carried on the wind.

I know for many of us these are dizzying, heartbreaking times. And at this particular juncture, I am longing for connection, conversation, beauty, art - and a little reminder that there are so many people who want this world to be a kind and empathetic place. I recognize “the world” has always been full of every imaginable thing under the sun, and that often, we have to dig for the beauty and the hope.

I have had wanderlust since the world opened after Covid. Maybe it’s also losing both parents in the last few years, having my firstborn head off to college, knowing my second will be doing the same before I know it. Maybe it’s saying goodbye to our dog a few weeks ago, which I still can’t even write without crying instantly. I suppose I feel an urgency to do the things I want to do, to say the things that feel important, and to see as much of the world as I can while I’m here.

In the summer of 2022, a group of us went to Tuscany. We hadn’t been able to hug people “outside the pod” in so long. We went to Greece in the spring of 2023, and Portugal this past June. It’s reminded me of how much we need one another, and that we spend far too much time staring at screens instead of into the eyes of someone we love, or out at the sea, or taking in a piece of art that was created long before we arrived here, and will last long after we’re gone.

All we leave behind is the love we gave to the people we cherished, the memories they’ll carry in their hearts, and whatever art we’ve made that might sustain. And while we’re here, I am pretty positive the best things we get in life are each other, and that feeling when we are genuinely connecting to another person, our surroundings, and ourselves.

I am, therefore, excited to tell you about my upcoming retreat to the stunning region of Istria, Croatia. For those of you who’ve been on retreats with me before, you know there is something incredible about leaving your “regular life” for a week, going somewhere far from home, and embracing a different rhythm, culture, landscape, language and history. It’s the best kind of disruptor, and a chance to slow down and reassess…well, everything if you need to. It’s a chance to meet strangers and watch them turn into friends because you’re having real conversations about things that matter.

Istria is a triangular peninsula located in east Croatia, and known for remarkable scenery. Sunny beaches, rolling hills, verdant fields, and picturesque little towns that will make you feel as though you’ve traveled back in time.

We’re staying at a beautiful retreat center near Pula:

We’ll start each day with a 90-minute vinyasa flow class, each with a different theme - things like meeting yourself where you are from moment-to-moment and trying to stay curious. Or cultivating a little compassion for yourself and patience with your own process. Letting yourself grieve when you need to grieve, or shake your fists at the sky, or ask for help when you need it. Things I hope you’ll take home with you. Most days we’ll have a second, hour-long, yin-style, deep, stretchy class in the early evening with a guided meditation. I’ll offer journaling prompts after the morning class for those of you who want them.

We’ll have a private chef preparing delicious meals all week.

The bedrooms all have king-size beds or twin beds, and they all have en suite bathrooms.

We will go on excursions that include a day in Pula with a tour guide, a day on a boat, a trip to a local vineyard, and a day at the beach. If this is like every other retreat I’ve ever led, we’ll laugh, we’ll probably cry at some point - and maybe more than once - we’ll hike and get quiet together, we’ll certainly sweat, and somehow inside all of that, we’ll remember that life can break your heart sometimes, and it will, but it is also a wildly interesting ride. It might be nice if it was a little less interesting sometimes, but we don’t get to control the timeline. We just get to work on the way we meet it, and the way we traverse it. I always do better when I surround myself with people who stay hopeful even when hope is in short supply, and who seek beauty and meaning especially when things feel dark.

If you’d like to meet me there, I can promise it will restore your spirit and remind you there are so many beautiful, kind, caring people in the world. And there are places that take your breath away. And that there’s never any time to waste. Also, there will be hugs.

Pricing

Double Occupancy: $3250/person with a $500 deposit to hold your spot.

Single Occupancy: $5550/person with a $500 deposit to hold your spot.

What’s Included:

Accommodations, yoga twice a day, all meals except lunch in Pula, all excursions, 1 group transfer to and from Zagreb Airport (best, closest airport to fly into from the states).

What’s Not Included:

Airfare, travel insurance, alcoholic beverages, any additional, optional amenities like massage.

To make your deposit and secure your spot*

Please go here!

If you have any questions, please email me at ally@yogisanonymous.com

*If you are new to me/YogisAnonymous, please email me before you sign up, so we can get to know each other a little before you decide to meet me on the other side of the world :)