It’s time to unwind and reconnect with nature through the best meditation and body balance routines. And what better way to do so than in a tropical yoga retreat?
Tropical Latin America offers hundreds of yoga destinations to help you reconnect with yourself surrounded by the most beautiful natural environments. So now that you know the places that await for you on your next big adventure, let us give you a quick introduction to yoga and why you should start practicing it today!
The first mention of yoga comes from the longest epic poem ever written, the Mahabharata. However, it’s hard to trace back when it originated precisely, as the tradition had been passed on orally for hundreds of years before that. The origins of the word come from the Sanskrit root yug, which means ‘to harness,’ and references the practice of controlling the mind to achieve the illumination of the human spirit.
There are many schools of yoga and thus, many different ways to achieve and define illumination. However, the most popular in the western world develops from Hindu and Buddhist philosophies, and it’s called Hatha Yoga. Hatha means force, so hatha yoga is attaining the state of illumination through force. In hatha yoga, illumination is reached once you have a clean karma — which influences how good or bad your future will be depending on your actions — making you free from the cycle of rebirth. This can be achieved through everyday practices such as mindfulness meditation and physical exercises that lead to self-acknowledgement and liberation of the mind.
As you can see, yoga takes its basic principles from Hinduism and Buddhism, but it isn’t practiced exclusively by these religions. It is practiced by spiritual people all around the world to achieve illumination, and non-religious people do it for the physical and mental benefits it gives to them. For your body, yoga increases your flexibility and strength. For the mind, it helps you to achieve mindfulness, increasing your focus and concentration and helping you fight anxiety of depression. Overall, integrating yoga to your lifestyle helps you to live in the present and at peace with yourself.
Yoga has influenced many aspects of culture, particularly the systems of health, education, and arts of India and Tibet. That’s why the UNESCO named it an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2006. Now it’s easy to find yoga retreats anywhere in the world, as it has become incredibly popular in the tourism industry. Wellness travel is in vogue, as new tourism trends are looking to integrate health into fun and exotic destinations.
If you want to spend a week exercising your mind and body and leave behind the hassles of your busy lifestyle, we invite you to practice meditation and some relaxing yoga postures with Hamaca Tropical Tours. The Tropics give you the opportunity to do this by the sea, in the mountains, and even combine it with soft adventure activities, such as surfing. There’s no better place on earth to surround yourself in a calm, natural environment to get some peace of mind!
Cover photo credit Sandra Jara @jarayoga
