Yoga_Journal_-_June_2016_

FROM LEFT: PHOTOS COURTESY OF SHUNDO DAVID HAYE; MARGO MORITZ

AS I LOWERED MYSELF into the steaming-hot mineral springs on my first night at

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, I breathed a deep sigh of gratitude. Carving out

a four-day escape from my routine as a working mom with a rambunctious toddler

hadn’t been easy, but after just six rejuvenating hours of hiking, restorative yoga,

and meditation in the Ventana Wilderness southeast of Big Sur, I could already

feel a sense of stillness settling deep into my bones.

Part of the magic of Tassajara lies in its remoteness. Reaching the almost-

5 o-year-old Zen Buddhist monastery, which welcomes guests from April through

September for a series of meditative retreats, requires traversing a single-lane dirt

road along mountain ridges. The monk who shuttled me in a Chevy Suburban

called the route “kryptonite to brake pads.” And once you arrive, there’s no

cell-phone service, while kerosene lamps quaintly light the cabins.

Over the next few days, my sense of complete immersion in my natural

surroundings intensified. The retreat I attended included a mix of Iyengar-inspired

yoga, guided meditation, and dharma talks, as well as free time for skinny-dipping

in mountain streams, soaking in Japanese-style bathhouses, and lounging poolside.

At the retreat’s end, after the same monk who’d brought me to Tassajara drove

me back to the lot where I’d left my car, I paused in the driver’s seat of my car to revel

in one more moment of stillness. I was ready to go home and throw my arms around

my husband and child, but also certain that taking this interlude just for myself was

the best thing I could have done—for all of us. (For more info, visit sfzc.org/tassajara.)

Carmel Valley, California

UPCOMING RETREATS

AT TASSAJARA

JUNE 24–29

EXPLORE TWO TRADITIONS

Master meditation teachers Michael

Stone and Paul Haller will teach you

how the practices of yoga and Zen

complement one another, and how

best to integrate them.

JULY 7–10

RESTORE MIND AND BODY

Drop into a deep state of relaxation

with gentle, supported poses and

breath exercises taught by Britt

Fohrman, a restorative yoga teacher.

SEPTEMBER 1–5

GROUND YOUR PRACTICE

Learn how to cultivate mindfulness in

asana and meditation from Zen priest and

dharma teacher Do-On Robert Thomas.

Find solitude and serenity in

FROM LEFTThe view into the Ventana Wilderness from

an overlook near Tassajara; a nearby creek for swimming.

By Jasmine Moir Firchau

24

june

2016

yogajournal.com

live well

ESCAPE