this was a cute little entrance leading you the facility - I took this pic on my hike
this was the institute from the road - again on my hikeWe arrived Friday evening where we got settled quickly and had a yoga class at 5:30. It was a gentle flow class but in reality, not so gentle. The thing I love about Liz's classes (and Brian's as well) is that breath is the most important and the movement comes second. The movement is very slow and calculated, so you would think you wouldn't be out of breath or your heart rate wouldn't elevate, but it does. The breath work and the movement 1) raised my heart rate and 2) raised my heat level. It's the kind of class where I can close my eyes the whole time and when I'm done, I feel like I've just finished an hour and a half meditation. Very nice.
We ate dinner after and it was DELICIOUS! I should've taken pictures of the food because it was all very delicious. They have gourmet chef there who cooks everything vegetarian. We had gluten free cupcakes that were absolutely amazing!
here is Sharon, the chef. She has a program at the end of the yearYummy Yoga
We had a morning flow class again and then some free time. Everyone was talking about a little hike they took, so i decided to give it a shot myself. And for whatever reason, I REALLY wanted to go by myself. I think partly because I was kind of scared to go by myself. I wanted to test my ability to trust my intuition and build confidence in my ability to do things by myself. I'm fairly independent BUT I don't like to venture out much on my own simply because I'm afraid of not knowing what to do. So while it seems really easy to just go off by yourself and hike during the day, I was actually a little nervous. The hike ended up being so great and I found 3 different trails that I followed. I took lots of pics, but here are some of my favs.
I was totally fascinated by all the pretty wild flowers
this was a different trail I didn't take but looked very cute
I loved this old structure, there were a bunch like this
I saw a hawk here but it was too fast & really it scared the beejezuz out of me
the grassy knoll and I somehow missed the first trail but found the second timeWe had a couple of other yoga classes that were amazing, some delicious food and then set off to return home. Overall, I had a great experience and highly recommend a yoga retreat to anyone. It's a great way to get recharged and away from all of the responsibilities of home. I loved bonding with different women and doing things that were positive and healthy for my body.
the group - I'm in the bottom right, with the black sweater and purple top 
Lynne, who is an awesome yoga teacher and Liz, who is very fun
Liz, the owner of greenville yoga and I after my hike
