NY Catskills Retreat 2024

October 4 - 7, 2024

Deepening Our Relationship To Practice:

An Exploration of Ashtanga, Yin Yoga & Chanting

Join Us for a Rejuvenating Weekend Retreat

Ashtanga Yoga • Yin Practices • Chanting

Led by Bibi Lorenzetti & Alex Tse

— Open to All Levels of Practice —

An exclusive 4 day practice retreat, pulling from the lineages of Ashtanga and Yin Yoga, along with Vedic and Devotional Chanting, in the magical land of Menla. We will spend our days immersed in Yoga, Reflection and Chanting. Menla is a hidden oasis set in a secluded valley beside an enchanting stream in the heart of the Catskill mountains.

Menla is a truly unique venue and a project of Tibet House US – the Dalai Lama’s cultural center in North America – a modern resort and destination spa surrounded by thousands of acres of unspoiled wilderness. Inspired by the ancient Buddhist kingdom of Tibet, we strive to keep alive knowledge handed down for centuries. Dedicated to a small group of participants seeking to deepen their practice and receive lots of individualized attention. Read the full story here.

Accommodations

In 2006 the Dalai Lama visited Menla for a Health & Longevity Conference and to bless the land. He believes that Menla, which was given to him and the Tibetan people as a gift, will continue to become a thriving resource for health, healing, and spiritual evolution for many years to come.

375-400 million years ago, a half-mile-wide meteor crashed here, creating the oldest known meteor impact crater on Earth. The local Native American peoples, including the Esopus and Mahicans, regarded this valley and region, with its enormous first-growth hemlock trees, as especially sacred, a place of the spirits. They never settled here and only used the valley for ceremonial purposes.

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Rooming Options

Single Room - Dragon Cabin: twin bed, shared bath | Potala House: queen bed, shared bath
Shared Room - Dragon Cabin: 2 twin beds, shared bath
Quad Room: Dragon Cabin: 4 twin beds, shared bath
Shared Experience: Shared Bed (only available for Potala House rooms)

Dragon is a two-story cabin with a sundeck and small kitchen.
Cabin includes two shared bathrooms with showers:
Single Room 1 – One Twin Bed
Single Room 2 – One Twin Bed
Single Room 3 – One Twin Bed
Double Room – 2 Twin Beds
Quad Room - Four Twin Beds
A stunning and spacious three-story house with a large living room with vaulted ceilings and huge windows facing Panther Mountain, an open kitchen and a separate dining room. A large sun deck awaits you just outside the living room.
Named after the Dalai Lama’s palace in Lhasa, Potala is located at the top of the hill above the Conference Center and offers total privacy.
This house includes:
Queen Room 1 - queen bed, shared bath
Queen Room 2 - queen bed, shared bath
Queen Room 3 - queen bed, shared bath
Queen Room 4- queen bed, shared bath
Queen Room 5 - queen bed, shared bath
*Queen bed can be shared with a person for only $600 extra (includes food and yoga)

October 4 - 7, 2024 | Menla, NY Catskills

Retreat Schedule

Ashtanga Yoga, Yin Practices & Chanting

Led By Bibi Lorenzetti & Alex Tse

Description

4 Days, 3 Nights of Accommodation

4 Days of Yoga Practice

3 Workshops

Daily Chanting, Pranayama & Meditation

Vegetarian Meals: Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

Tentative Schedule

3:00 PM Check-In
4:30 PM Arrival Practice
6 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Hanuman Chalisa: workshop & Practice
6:30 AM Gayatri Upasana & Japa (Sunday)
7:00 - 8:15 AM Mysoew Practice
8:30 AM Breakfast
11:00AM Vinyasa Practice
12:30 PM Lunch
1:30 PM Be in Nature Time
3:30 - 5:30 PM Yin Practice & Immersion Workshop
6 PM Dinner
7:30 PM Hanuman Chalisa & Meditation
7:00 - 8:15 AM Asana Practice
8:30 AM Breakfast
11:00 AM Check Out
10 AM - Walking meditation & Gayatri Upasana, Japa
11 am Check-out
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch & Departure

Retreat Curriculum

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This Retreat will focus the attention towards a deeper understanding of practice and our relationship with personal practices and care. We’ll explore topics that are not regularly discussed in a daily context of group class, sharing theory, techniques and practical application for spiritual growth and longevity. Topics to be included:

Yin Yoga: A compassionate approach to asana as a means of releasing deeply-rooted habitual patterns of the body and mind
Vedic chanting: Learning the Gayatri Mantra, Japa, and how to sustain these powerful practices
Pranayama: Gayatri Upasana and other advanced techniques of breath regulation
Meditation: Exploring our relationship to Self and the contemplative nature of sadhana practices
Bhakti or Devotional chanting: Befriending the Hanuman Chalisa as well as other divine mantras to tune into the heart connection

There will be two daily opportunities to practice Asana: early morning Mysore style Ashtanga Yoga and mid-morning Vinyasa Yoga. The vinyasa class is structured to feel like a moving meditation: asanas mindfully threaded together by breath. Each class will include a gentle warm up, sun salutations, standing & seated postures, inversions, backbends, final relaxation and guided meditation. You can expect a balanced, rigorous, and clearly delivered experience. The Asana classes will leave you feeling rejuvenated, spacious and grounded. All levels welcome! Our afternoons will be spent in workshop, and in nature. We will conclude each day by chanting the Hanuman Chalisa.

View the Full Curriculum >

Meet Your Instructors

Prior to opening Newburgh Yoga Shala in 2021, Bibi led annual domestic & international yoga retreats in the Hudson Valley, Ibiza, Portugal, Costa Rica, Morocco, Mallorca, Nicaragua, & across Italy, including the Tuscan region. Alex is a Shala senior teacher, Licensed Massage Therapist, Reiki II practitioner and movement instructor. Both Alex & Bibi look forward to spending time at this retreat with you.

Originally from Italy, Bibi is the co-owner of Newburgh Yoga Shala. She has been teaching for over 10 years and is both an RYT Certified Yoga Instructor and a Level 2 Ashtanga Yoga Teacher, having received her blessing to teach from Paramaguru R. Sharath Jois, at the KPJAYI Institute in Mysore, India, where she spends time yearly since 2011.
She has been featured on WanderlustTV, Vogue Magazine, Netflix documentary 'On Yoga: The Architecture of Peace', Ekam Inhale online Magazine, Ashtanga Yoga Parampara, the Finding Harmony Podcast, Ashtanga Yoga Parampara, Dharma Talks Podcast, Ekam Inhale, Heartbreak Kids Podcast, and many other online forums and podcasts. Bibi has privately taught many high-profile entertainers including Madonna. She intends to share the transformative and healing practice of Yoga with you through accessible, intelligent, and adaptable instruction.

Alex Tse (she/her/they/them) is a Licensed Massage Therapist, Reiki II practitioner and movement instructor. Born, raised and currently based in the Hudson Valley, they spent the past 10 years living and learning in NYC. Alex spent that time working in education, as a Spanish language interpreter, in off-Broadway theater, before making the transition into wellness.
She incorporates Traditional Chinese Medicine with her knowledge of Western science, along with her studies of Ayurveda, Herbalism, and Aromatherapy. They teach Pilates and various styles of Yoga that include Vinyasa, Hatha, Restorative, Yin, Prenatal and Katonah. Alex’s background is in dance, martial arts, music, and theater, which is where she draws much of her inspiration from.
Additional Interests: She loves horses, bodies of water, poetry and stringed instruments.

Back To Retreat

Designed around fresh locally and seasonally sourced ingredients, including produce harvested from our on-site organic garden, Menla’s buffet-style dining features protein-balanced plant-based dishes.

Our Executive Chef and her team bring a creative flair to dishes that are as delicious as they are nutritious. Menla’s wellness cuisine is centered around healing foods, sourced primarily from the Menla garden and local farms with an eye toward seasonal and organic fruits, vegetables, grains, and legumes.

Chef Alicia:

Originally from Los Angeles, Chef Alicia grew up surrounded by the rich cultural and culinary heritage of her Mexican family. She is classically-trained in the culinary arts with a career spanning more than 25 years. Among the many roles she has played professionally, she has always been a creative force. She served as Executive Chef for Dreamworks Studio, Managing Chef for Bon Appétit at Sony Music, Executive Chef at Beets Cafe in Austin, Texas and more recently as the retreat chef for Australia athlete, Grant Campbell, in Thailand. Chef Alicia was also invited to be the Executive Chef for the Woodstock Fruit Festival.

Menla Cuisine

FAQ

INQUIRE NOW

3 nights of accommodation, daily vegetarian meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) daily yoga practice, daily meditation, pranayama & chanting practice, and workshops.
Not included: Transportation, Cost of any other excursion or service
Due to limited space, this retreat is only for participating students.
By car. Directions here
Yoga equipment is provided, but we always suggest brining your own mat.
Bring:
water bottle, notebook and pen, chargers, soap, shampoo & conditioner, hiking shoes, raincoat in case of rain, layers for chilly fall upstate weather.
Towels are provided by the host.