Location: Glenorchy
Visit: Aro-ha.com
If you’re craving a reset from the pressures of daily life, Aro Ha Retreat in Glenorchy provides everything you are looking for and so much more. Forget alarm clocks, endless appointments and shots of coffee to navigate through a day.
Here, apart from a Tibetan prayer bowl gently singing at 6am to ease you from a deep slumber, there is no need to worry about time until you flop back into your gloriously comfortable bed around 9.30pm. The days are long and busy but in a gentle meandering way.
A shot of turmeric and orange juice kickstarts your tastesbuds before a morning yoga session eases your weary body into life. The days unfold with sessions that challenge old habits and help reset new ones.
Discussions about values, relationships, goals and life directions are interwoven between connecting with the breathtaking nature that surrounds you.
One day you will find yourself walking a lakeside track barefoot. The softness of the grass and the warm earth beneath your feet remind you of carefree days as a child.
Another day you’ll climb high into the mountains, through low-lying alpine forests and the cool of ancient beech trees, to pop out on a clearing with stunning views. The fresh peach you’ve packed as a snack never tasted so delicious.
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Advertise with NZME.You may find yourself walking with a fellow guest or an Aro Ha teacher and, as the layers unfold through the week, find yourself deep in meaningful conversations.
Or you walk alone with your thoughts and just the sound of nature the birds, the insects, the breeze in the trees, the gurgle of a creek, the rush of a river. There’s time to lie in the grass and watch the clouds overhead, or dive into the freezing clear waters of the lake and laugh. Exhilarated.
Everyone is here for a reason. There are corporates escaping their hectic schedules, couples reconnecting, those looking for new ideas for life, ways to improve their wellbeing through exercise and a healthy menu of vegan deliciousness.
Oh the food, each meal a work of art, the produce fresh from the abundant garden, eaten at a long communal table where conversations grow louder and more revealing with each meal.
The afternoons are for workshops and classes, from making sauerkraut to boosting your immune system in a hot sauna before plunging into the ice-cold pool.
There are soul-searching and profound sessions about letting go of the thoughts that no longer serve you, a powerful session on breathing that is like nothing you’ve experienced before.
A daily deep-tissue massage ensures every last knot in your body is loosened, and wisdoms are passed on by the talented team, who know exactly what you need and when.
Inhibitions slip away as you dance and play, loosening your mind and body into a place that gives you a newfound sense of freedom. You will leave feeling taller, clearer and with a sense the change you are looking for be it big or small is possible. Anything is possible.
Originally published in Viva Magazine – Volume Three
