PINK ELEPHANT SUMMER YOGA RETREAT, VIS ISLAND
8 days of yoga, delicious vegan food, clear sea & untouched nature of beautiful island of Vis
CAN YOU IMAGINE a week of total surrender into yourself where you only enjoy the beauty of the present moment, magnificence and wild nature of very special island and the simplicity of yogic living? This is what you are going to experience during Pink Elephant Summer Yoga Retreat. Yoga retreat is an opportunity that every yoga practitioner should give to themselves as a necessary gift. A moment of true introspection, joy, freedom from daily routines but also a moment to develop your personal yogic practice, develop discipline, go out of the boundaries, explore new amazing places inside out, meet new people and enjoy a dreamlike holiday.
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Guided by personal experience of being teachers as well as students in many different yoga retreats, we structured this program for you in a way that you will reach all the benefits of such a meaningful occasion by integrating the body-mind complex and recharging your battery for the coming year. It serves your highest soul desires to create space for true reflection as well as giving your body and mind an extra care and attention necessary for meaningful and joyful life. This year Pink Elephant Yoga House decided to organize a retreat in the beautiful island of Vis, Croatia.
The island of Vis is an exceptional place which captivates the visitor with its natural and cultural heritage along with its super special energy.
It is located in the sea between Croatia and Italy, 25 miles southwest from Split, which makes it the most remote inhabited island of the Croatian coast.
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”Estate under the paintbrush” which is going to be our home base is a family-run estate, where creativity rules. It is a fascinating place, a unique blend of beauty, art and nature. The name of the property expresses the notion that it is a hand-painted space, using the paintbrushes of the extremely talented and creative artist Josip Karakaš, a painter and art historian. Concept of this unique estate is based on the realization of creative and sustainable tourism as a personalized offer aimed at tourists who wish to develop their creative potential, become closer to the local people, experience the authenticity of the area and the people who live there, actively participate in artistic and spiritual development workshops, healthy food and other experiential activities.
It is located in the village Rukavac on the southeastern side of the island. The sea is about 800m to the bay of Rukavac and about 400m to the bay “Srebrna”.
Srebrena bay is one of the most attractive beaches in the island with its immaculate white pebbles and large flat rocks ideal for yoga practices in the evening time.
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The property is made of a mediterranean garden of 1500m2 which includes 2 houses, an art studio and several shaded terraces and porches. Two houses consists of six single-unit residential apartments which are decorated with the idea that nature and art are two inseparable terms. Special attention is paid to the garden and the plants cultivated by principles of organic farming and using home-grown produce. The surrounding nature will be the perfect place to learn and experience the amazing yogic cleansing techniques, kriyas, and a proper environment to deepen the knowledge of yoga practice and philosophy.
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28.06.-05.07.2019.
8
days
PRICES PER PERSON
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Early bird (until May 15):
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Double bedroom in shared apartment 765 €
Single bedroom in shared apartment 940 €
Single apartment 1290 €
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Late bird:
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Double bedroom in shared apartment 825 €
Single bedroom in shared apartment 1000 €
Single apartment 1350 €
INCLUDED
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apartment with bathroom
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2 meals (brunch and dinner and fruits, tea & cofee during the day)
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yoga course in total
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transportation from Vis harbor
TYPICAL DAILY SCHEDULE
6:00 Kriya time (Yogic cleansing practices like neti, vaman, danda dhauti)
6:30 Sunrise meditation, pranayama and mantra chanting
7:40 Tea / coffee and little snacks
8:00 Ashtanga Vinyasa practice (mysore and led style)
10:30 Delicious Vegan brunch
11:30 Philosophy immersion
12:30 Free time for sun and swimming or visiting around the island
18:30 Beach gathering for sunset meditation or mantra chanting (optional)
19:30 Dinner
21:00 Yoga Nidra
22.00 Good night
ACCOMMODATION
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Two houses in the property consist of six single-unit residential apartments. Shared apartments are approximately 80/90m2, with 2 rooms and a living area, an open kitchen, a bathroom and a veranda. This slightly unusual and very comfortable space charms by its spaciousness and artistic atmosphere. Each space has a separate entrance and its own terrace. The living space of studio apartments occupies 20m2 and gives onto a 20m2 covered terrace. It is an open-space with a kitchenette, a sleeping area and a bathroom. The terrace itself is an intimate space with a panoramic view of the nearby hills and a line of sea in the distance. A cosy, romantic place, ideal for couples. Bedding and towels in all apartments are made from high quality cotton. TV SAT, WiFe Internet included.
Just as during your asana practice you align with your inner core, so you can learn to recognize which food your body needs at any given moment in time and consciously observe how it reacts to it. Food is one of the most effective mediums for initiating changes in consciousness and it should never be just about filling up the physical body with fuel or satisfying the needs of your senses. This year you will have an opportunity to choose how deep you want to detox your body and your mind through a specific diet and reach a state of total health and lightness. We want you to experience a new feeling of energy in the body and that’s why we developed a new concept for this occasion in which each person can choose one of the three types of diet (smoothies, raw food, vegan food) or a combination of them.
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1. SMOOTHIES
Being on smoothies for one, two or more days is a very deep experience and an opportunity to detox and nourish your body with a high amount of vitamins and minerals. If you choose this option, each day you will be served with five smoothies so that you don’t feel hungry but constantly full of energy. Your body will get all the nutrients needed to feel good with a very easy digestion. In each smoothie it will be a different combination of fruits (local and seasonal), green leaves, superfood (spirulina, maca, hemp powder, etc) and seeds (chia, flax, sesame..) or nuts (almond, hazelnuts). Highly recommended at least for a day of your stay with us.
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2. RAW FOOD
The raw diet is vegan, organic, not cooked in any way, but just blended, cut or dried at a very low temperature. Each day, this type of diet will be organized in 3 parts: breakfast (fruits), brunch (smoothie, almond milk, salad, raw bread, guacamole, gaspacho, raw cake, fruits) and dinner (big salad with nuts and seeds, raw bread, energetic balls…)
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3. VEGAN FOOD
Vegan diet is based on ingredients not connected to animals products in any way (no meat, fish, eggs or milk). This diet combines raw and cooked recipes. Each day, the vegan diet will be organize in 3 parts: breakfast (fruits, tea, coffee), brunch (spelt bread, humus, guacamole, gaspacho, cake, grains with vegetables, salad) and dinner (salad, soup, main course (sushi, tortilla, falafel, vegetable cake, etc)
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Important: each person can choose the diet he/she wants to follow during this retreat. It is possible to combine different diets, for example to be on smoothies for a couple of days and then on raw or vegan. Please let us know in advance which diet or combination of diets you prefer to have during your stay. All ingredients we are going to use will be vegan, organic and local.
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MARIJA MATIĆ (our cook)
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Marija is a Psychologist and a Jungian Psychoterapist. Her passion for healthy food started at young age, in Firenze, where she followed a macrobiotic school for many years, learning the recepies, philosophy and experiencing a big change in the body. Since then she never got sick as she started to eat healthy! In 2013, she started to learn about raw food. A new experience with healthy food happened when she became a mother and with love and passion started to prepare food for her children. Today, she has 4 children that are vegan and share her passion for food that is both tasty and healthy at the same time. The quality of ingredients is very important for her as she use fresh, organic and local products as much as possible.
She likes to cook and try new recipes but her main focus is on the effect of the food on the body and on the mind. Hyppocrates said „May your food be your medicine and may your medicine be your food“. Food can be a very effective therapy for the body. According to what we eat , we can reach different ways to feel and experience our body.
Marco Bianco
Pink Elephant Yoga House Co-founder, Yoga teacher
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Born and raised in Italy, Marco dedicated his life to the wisdom of Yoga by spreading it to the people around the world. Today he lives in Zagreb with his wife Petra, taking care of different schools and programs dedicated to yogic education. He is the Advisor for Croatia at the European Yoga Council, member of European Yoga Federation and International Advisor of the World Yoga Council. He first meets eastern philosophies in the mid 80’s and, since then, in his rich life experience, he had the opportunity to meet and work with many great teachers of many different traditions such as Iyengar Yoga, Shivananda Yoga and his favorite Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. Besides his great knowledge on the asana practice and anatomy of human body, he is a passionate meditator and philosophy scholar in the field of Patanjali Yoga Sutras. In the nineties he received his education in yoga from Carlo Patrian, the teacher who, after spending many years in India in contact with the most renowned yoga teachers of the19th and 20th centuries, received the honorary title of “Yoga Ratna” and was the first person who brought yoga to Italy in the late 50-ies. After several years of study in direct contact with his teacher and mentor Carlo, received the diploma of Yoga Teacher in Milan at Carlo’s “Istituto Yoga”. In 2005 he moved to Croatia where he was invited to teach and soon after he developed the first croatian teacher training program for yoga teachers according to the high international standards of European Yoga Federation, Yoga Alliance and International Yoga Federation. In early 2012, he opened the Pink Elephant Yoga House with his wife Petra and, together with her, created a new program for yoga teachers called Pink Elephant Yoga Institute as well as a three-year program called School of Consciousness dedicated to practice of yogic philosophy. Institute is registered by the European Yoga Federation and recognized by the “World Movement for Yoga and Ayurveda” and “World Yoga and Ayurveda Community”. Marco is often invited to teach as guest teacher in many different countries. He constantly collaborates with many teachers and, in particularly with Swami Suryananda (Amadio Bianchi) with whom is bound by a profound respect and a long term friendship. He teaches Ashtanga, Vinyasa, meditation and philosophy classes. Marco’s classes contain a a great sense of precision, alignment, fluidity and strength, a lot of philosophical wisdom and … a touch of fun!
Petra Bianco
Pink Elephant Yoga House Co-founder, Yoga teacher
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Petra grew up in a yogic environment in Zagreb as her parents were practicing and teaching Yoga back in eighties. They are her great inspiration and her first yoga teachers. In 2001, when she was working worldwide as a successful professional model, yoga became her daily practice, helping her to balance between worldly life under reflectors of fashion industry and her intimate nature of yearning for connection from within. Very soon she realized yogic path is her life calling and after finishing her carrier in 2010 she decided to enroll in teacher training program in Rishikesh and started teaching Ashtanga Vinyasa method on a daily basis. Today she is studying Ashtanga Vinyasa system under a guidance of her beloved teacher Eddie Stern who also introduced her with power of mantra chanting and puja performance. In 2012 her strong passion for pranayama practice brought her to study under the guidance and tradition of her great teacher, O.P.Tiwari, one of the few living masters in India teaching pranayama practice in a traditional way. With his blessing, guidance and yearly extensive education in pranayama teacher training program in Kaivalydhama Yoga Institute of India, she became the first registered pranayama teacher of this tradition in Croatia. Every year she is going back to Kaivalydhama to continue her studies with Tiwariji and his son Sudhir. She is a passionate TM meditator and today she is very grateful to her meditation master and guide Ananda Vdovic, amazing woman and well-known meditation teacher and musician, for guiding her on the path of self discovery since she was a teenager. In early 2012, together with her husband Marco, she opened the Pink Elephant Yoga House, well known house for Yoga in Croatia and developed one of the most complete teacher training program taught today in Zagreb and Rijeka called Pink Elephant Yoga Institute. Beside teaching in Pink Elephant and other places, she is a passionate traveler, philanthropist and sociologist by profession who loves to share her energy with people around the globe. Petra teachings are based on a deep understanding of all aspects of yoga: anatomical, philosophical and experiential. She is putting a lot of attention on traditional approach in teaching Ashtanga method, classical pranayama and Sutras and mantra chanting. She works a lot with mindful hands-on adjustments and energy transfer, breath and bandha work by focusing the attention of students towards their own personal experience and discoveries.
OPTIONAL TRIPS
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Take a day trip to Komiza, beautiful old stone fishing village
See the underground caves and tunnels used by Josip Tito's partisan fighters
Visit the Blue Cave on Bisevo Island
Visit a new beach each day
Climb Mt Hum
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REGISTRATION AND PAYMENT
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1. Fill out the registration form below.
2. Wait for our e-mail confirmation with all payment instructions.
3. Submit your non refundable deposit of 250€ to reserve your space.
4. Full payment has to be done until June 24, 2019.
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* Please feel free to ask us for any assistance or suggestions about your traveling plans to Vis, Croatia.
* If you would like to come with your partner / family member / friend who is not going to attend yoga classes, please fell free to do so. There will be some reduction of total payment amount for this person.
* If you have allergy or special food requirements feel free to inform us in advance so we can prepare your meal properly.
* Consummation of alcohol and drugs is not allowed during our stay.
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HOW TO GET TO VIS
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The island of Vis is accessible by ferry or catamaran departing from the harbor in the town of Split. A journey by ferry takes 2h 15 minutes and by catamaran 1h 15 minutes. Check timetable HERE.
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The town of Split can be reached by all means of transportation:
Split airport HERE
Train information HERE
Bus information HERE
There is no public transport from Vis harbor to Rukavac. It is best to come by car or on the island rent a car or scooter. For those people who are going to come without car, we will organize transportation to the estate included in the total price of your stay with us.
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Pink Elephant Summer Yoga Retreat
Estate under the Paintbrush (Apartmani “Imanje pod kistom”)
Rukavac, Širokovac 17, 21480, Otok Vis, Croatia