Press Room
Yoga Retreats Relax and rejuvenate at the Big EZ Lodge
by Laura Bell
Big Sky Weekly, August 31, 2007
With unparalleled beauty of mountains and nature, gourmet cuisine, well-appointed guest rooms and attentive staff, The Big EZ makes an ideal locale for a retreat.
That was clear to yoga instructor Margaret Burns Vap when she was scoping the Big Sky area in search of the ideal spot to hold yoga retreats. At the time Vap was living in Washington, D.C. managing her studio Georgetown Yoga. Vap toured the Big EZ property and made tentative arrangements to host a retreat. Margaret was introduced to the Big EZ when her husband David received the Lodge’s e-newsletter.
David, a Montana native, and Margaret were contemplating a “later life” move back to Montana. But one thing led to another and the family relocated to Bozeman in [February]. That accelerated Margaret’s retreat program and the first of several retreats will occur Sept. 28th and run through Oct. 5th.
“When you go on vacation you tend to do one of two things,” Margaret explains. “You either eat and drink and then need to come home to recover or you have a fitness vacation and push yourself too hard.” The yoga retreats are designed to create a happy medium.
The winter retreats will combine yoga and skiing. Experience world-class skiing at Big Sky and learn how yoga can improve your ski skills, all levels of skiers and yoga practitioners welcome. The winter retreats will take place Jan. 6th through 11th, March 2nd through 7th and April 6th through 11th.
An avid skier, Margaret learned at Big Sky, she is excited to combine the benefits of yoga with skiing and has created a special yoga for skiers program.
What do yoga and skiing have in common? “Balance, flexibility and focus,” Margaret answers. “Yoga helps cultivate these qualities - so it follows that practicing yoga can help improve ski technique. Let's face it - we love skiing for its adrenaline rush. But the other side of this coin is fear, and fear can arise from common ski scenarios like ending up on a black when you meant to stay on a blue, weather changes, etc. We'll begin to link our yoga and skiing with a focus on the breath, which is the starting point for managing fear or a tense physical body.
By being able to concentrate on your breathing, transitioning your movements with grace, and cultivating an awareness of body balance and alignment, any level of skier will get more out of their time on the mountain and be less injury-prone.
Now on to more technical stuff: in both yoga and skiing core strength is essential. If we have a strong, stable core we will be able to control our movements with more precision. In skiing, a strong core will help take the pressure off the knees, which typically end up bearing too much weight if the glutes, quads and back muscles are weak,” she said.
The yoga for skiers program will focus on:
warming up the muscles for cold weather, creating proper body alignment; breathing techniques to calm the mind; core strength building; increased flexibility in the hips; increased flexibility and strength in the knees and upper body strengthening to balance out the lower-body intensity of skiing.
The Lodge shuttle will take skiers to and from Lone Peak Mountain or Moonlight Basin for skiing.
The following is a “typical day” in the winter program taken from the bigskyyogaretreats.com website:
8 a.m. yoga class. Get warmed-up for the morning on the mountain. The a.m. yoga class will focus on strengthening and stretching in preparation for skiing - and build some internal heat too.
8-9 a.m. Breakfast.
10 a.m.-3 p.m. skiing. You may return to the Lodge for lunch, or have lunch on the mountain if you plan to ski after you eat. For non-alpine days, there will be other options for activities during this time, including additional yoga sessions, snow-shoeing or cross-country skiing. Additional activities may be scheduled with the help of the Lodge.
4:30-6:30 p.m. apres-ski yoga. We'll work out all the kinks from your skiing with a gentle, restorative practice while continuing to explore alignment and balance in asana to help improve ski technique.
7 p.m. drinks by the fire and dinner served shortly after.
There will also be mini spring weekend retreats in April and May when the ski season ends.
But the retreats are not limited to the calendar. Other yoga packages can include weddings and bridal showers or corporate groups who are looking to add something relaxing and invigorating to their schedule.
The yoga retreats at the Big EZ complement each other in a myriad of ways. The Lodge exudes a sense of calm associated with yoga. And others are taking notice. Margaret is sponsored by Athleta, a women’s sportswear outfitter. The company, who produces an annual catalogue with a 1.5 million circulation, is so taken with the Big EZ that they are shooting their spring yoga line at the Lodge next month. Here’s hoping it doesn’t snow.
The retreats do include dining and lodging at The Big EZ. However, there will be a special locals’ package, space permitting, for those who would like to partake in the yoga and lunch.
For more information about the Big Sky Yoga Retreats, please visit the website: www.bigskyyogaretreats.com. For more information about the Big EZ Lodge, please visit their website: www.bigezlodge.com.
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