02 · Greece — Four journeys. One trip.
A week of Ashtanga yoga on Paros
Ashtanga yoga with Kino and Tim in the mornings, workshops in the afternoons. We know the routine by now. The practice has not become easier. More familiar, yes.
Arriving at Okreblue
We stay six nights at Okreblue Seaside Yoga Retreat Centre. The accommodation is simple and clean, spread around grounds with trees, plants and dunes. It is green without looking like a carefully landscaped hotel garden. There is a shala for practice and an open dining area with large tables.
Much reminds us of Salento. The place is organised around practice and shared life during a retreat. You need room for your mat, a shower, something to eat and somewhere to dry your sweaty clothes. A spa resort looks different. Somehow, this understated setting belongs to Ashtanga yoga.
Okreblue has something that makes a big difference to us, though: the sea. Rocks and small coves lie just outside the grounds. A short walk along the dunes leads to a sandy beach, complete with loungers, parasols and restaurants. For people who generally enjoy simply being by the water, it is a very good complement to the practice room.
The same sequence, a more familiar setting
Mats lie close together in the shala. Ashtanga yoga does not require much space, although plenty happens on each mat. A small towel is part of the kit. Everything we do not need for practice stays at the edge.
We practise the first series: a fixed sequence of postures linked by transitions and breath. The order is familiar; the work remains demanding. Everyone moves at their own pace while the teachers circulate and help individually.
The routine is familiar now. Kino and Tim tell us our practice has become much more settled. What that means to us stays with us beyond this week.
Around the big table
After practice and showers comes brunch. In the evening, another buffet appears. We eat vegetarian food; vegan options are available too. Everyone gathers around the large tables. Shared meals belong to the week as much as time in the shala.
On Paros, the group is even more international than on our previous retreats. Fewer Germans and southern Europeans; people from Scandinavia, the US, China and South Korea, among others. In the shala, you initially have one main thing in common: you practise. Over meals and on outings, you meet the people behind the practice.
One shared excursion takes us to Paros Park. For a while, we look at rocks and bays rather than neighbouring mats.
We like that combination of intensive practice and shared daily life. We need not be the same age or have similar jobs or plans for our lives. For this week, there is already plenty we share.
Two hours of “Shavasana”
After brunch and before the afternoon programme, we go to the nearby beach when we can. Five or ten minutes on foot, and we are there.
We enjoy being by the water without needing to do much. On Paros, that becomes our extended “Shavasana”: roughly two hours lying down and letting time pass. After the morning’s exertion, it feels particularly good.
Then back to the shala. Afternoon workshops last about two to three hours. The day fills up, even when we barely leave the retreat centre. There is time for island excursions too; Naoussa, Parikia and the other places appear in the island chapter.
Evening walks are part of it too. The sea is close enough that we need not plan an outing.
On the move again
After six nights, we leave Paros. We fly to Athens, collect the hire car and head towards Meteora. From now on, places change more frequently, and our days follow roads, archaeological sites and whatever catches our eye along the way.
The week on Paros had a different shape. Few journeys, a familiar sequence, many people sharing it. And the sea in between.