Summer Soul-Searching: Yoga and Meditation Events to Check Out

Looking to make some exciting plans this summer? Do some soul-searching? Nourish your mind and body?

Summer is the perfect time to vacation, and pairing time off with an event that will fuel your mind, body, and soul will make sure that precious vacation time is well spent. Whether you can afford to take a week or two away from the grind, or you only have time for a weekend, a soul-nourishing vacation is a great way to reduce stress and hit the internal reset button.

The first trick to planning your summer vacation at a soul-charging event is to determine what you’re looking for. Answer the following multiple-choice questions to target your event style, then check out the recommendations below for handpicked events. Each offers a very different experience, so you can match your vacation style with the right retreat.

Mini Quiz: Ask Yourself the Following Questions

Choose the answer that best matches your current state.

1. What are you looking for this summer?
   • A) I want to learn how to meditate
   • B) I’m seeking adventure, a dose of natural beauty, and lots of yoga
   • C) I want to learn about holistic health practices, nutrition, and how to find physical and mental balanced. I want to relax completely
2. Which of these are you most interested in practicing and learning about while you’re away this summer?
   • A) Meditation and some yoga
   • B) Yoga and outdoorsy activities
   • C) Ayurveda
   • D) A little bit of everything, but I plan to spend plenty of time in a hammock, too
3. The location of your dream vacation looks like…
   • A) Luxurious: Top-notch accommodations, pristine gardens, beautiful swimming pool, and lots of sunshine
   • B) Outdoorsy: Camping or hotel overlooking the mountains
   • C) Easy to get to and amenities galore: I like to keep travel simple and treat myself while on vacation
   • D) Exotic: A treehouse in a foreign place with waterfalls, rivers, and plenty of hiking
4. If you were to give your ideal summer vacation event a mood, what would that mood be?
   • A) Peaceful, effortless, restorative
   • B) Lively, active, celebratory
   • C) Engaging, transformational, enlightening
   • D) Relaxing, exotic, rustic
5. Your idea of soul-searching on vacation is …
   • A) Getting very quiet and having plenty of solo time
   • B) Meeting new people and exploring new places and practices
   • C) Learning about new practices to bring back to your everyday life
   • D) Unplugging completely, spending time in nature, and going with the flow
6. What would your ideal event format look like?
   • A) An all-inclusive, week-long retreat: I like things all planned out for me and I need a week to really integrate
   • B) A weekend of options where I can mix it up with different classes, adventures, and gatherings
   • C) A long-weekend workshop, full of lectures and classes on health and balanced. A week of yoga in nature, waking up to the sound of birds chirping and waterfalls nearby

Tally your numbers, check out the recommendations, and take advantage of the summer sunshine and at one of these inspiring getaways.

If You Answered Mostly A’s, Try This Meditation and Yoga Retreat

Spend a week learning to meditate and practicing yoga at the Chopra Center. A retreat created and led by Deepak Chopra, Seduction of Spirit offers the unique opportunity to learn meditation, yoga, and the Seven Spiritual Law of Success—bringing your deepest desires into clear focus and connecting with your true self

If You Answered Mostly B’s, Try a Yoga Festival

Sounds like you’re looking for a weekend of yoga, meditation, and music, with a splash of adventure—check out Wanderlust for all of that and more. Wanderlust hosts six weekend yoga festivals throughout the summer in various locations—all naturally stunning places, like Lake Tahoe, Aspen, and Whistler.

Wanderlust weekend festivals are all-out celebrations of mindful living, offering a wide variety of unique activities like stand-up paddleboard yoga, aerial yoga, mountaintop meditations, trail runs, sunset hikes, and mountain biking tours. Where else can you take a yoga class, hear a lecture, go for a mindful hike to the top of a mountain, and dance at a concert all in one day? Plus, the festivals are kid-friendly, so you can turn it into a weekend for the whole family.

• This Event Is Great for: Yoga lovers; music lovers; adventurous spirits; people looking for a lively, socially conscious experience
• Various Summer Dates and Locations
• Learn More

If You Answered Mostly C’s, Try a Mind-Body Healing Immersion

Head to sunny Southern California to detox and ignite your health at Journey Into Healing, the Chopra Center’s Signature Mind-Body Healing Workshop. At this four-day weekend workshop, you’ll learn how to tune into the wisdom of your body and recognize (before disease or illness strikes) when something is amiss and needs to be rebalanced. You’ll learn how to integrate easy-to-master Ayurvedic healing techniques, which originated in India over 5,000 years ago, into your modern lifestyle.

This powerful weekend of wellness, where you’ll learn how to transform the way you manage your health and well-being, is led by Deepak Chopra, Kris Carr, and Dr. Mark Hyman.

• This Event Is Great for: Physicians and healthcare providers; luxury-minded travelers; People interested in taking their health into their own hands and healing themselves in a holistic way
• Event Date: August 6-9, 2015
• Event Location: Carlsbad, CA
• Learn More

If You Answered Mostly D’s, Try an Eco-Yoga Retreat

Pack your sunscreen, yoga mat, and river hiking shoes … this summer takes you to exotic lands. There’s a little-known retreat center in the jungle of Costa Rica where you can practice yoga, learn to teach, relax in one of many hammocks, and explore the waterfalls nearby.

If getting up close and personal with Mother Nature, sleeping in a treehouse, eating locally grown food, and doing yoga outdoors sounds like your kind of getaway, find out what The Sanctuary at Two Rivers has to offer this summer.

• This Event Is Great for: Eco-conscious travelers; yogis; nature-lovers and outdoorsy people
• Various Retreat Dates in June and Trainings in July and August
• Event Location: Cabuya, Nicoya Peninsula’s Blue Zone, Costa Rica
• Learn More

For Everyone…

There’s one event ideal for everyone happening this summer. Don’t miss The Chopra Center’s Second Annual Global Meditation. Tune in from anywhere in the world to participate in the largest meditation gathering in history on July 11. Hundreds of thousands of people from nearly every country in the world will join together in meditation to spread compassion. Will you join us?

• Event Date: July 11, 2015

Learn More About the Global Meditation for Compassion