Ecosouthwest.com: T'AI CHI & Yoga Workshop in Havasu Canyon

	T'AI CHI & Yoga Workshop in Havasu Canyon

Our MD2 tour to Havasu Canyon is one of our most popular seasonal Grand Canyon hiking and camping tours. This special T'ai Chi and Hatha Yoga tour, however, promises to be one of high demand. So, if you're looking for something truly unique and special to do on a tour, folks. . .this is it!

Your hosts for the tour will be two staff guides who not only know Havasu Canyon on an intimate basis, but who are certified instructors for their respective fields of study and interest: T'ai Chi and Yoga (Hatha-Kundalini). The aim of this week-long tour is to put you in touch with your body, mind, and spirit in a connected way that leads to wellness on all levels. This inner canyon odyssey will not only allow you to flow with who and what you are as a person, but will put you in touch with the elements as well as the sacred earth where we all must make our
stand. Remember that it is the earth, our planetary host, that sustains all of us while we make our individual sojourns in this space-time continuum. Where better can you imagine a more pristine setting than this idyllic world that exists below the rim of the Grand Canyon's western province?

IMPORTANT ADDENDUM: This tour can be for a combined Yoga and T'ai Chi retreat, or it be one or the other. We will be glad to accommodate such a request if your preference is to run the tour solely for T'ai Chi or else for yoga. Please let us know and there will be some price break in so doing.

What is Hatha-Kundalini Yoga? It is an ancient physical-spiritual discipline that means union; it means putting you in touch with your body; connecting to your breath; releasing stress; fluidity of posture, form, and motion; body awareness; flexibility and strength. Yoga simply energizes and awakens your body in an entirely new way. Come stretch those muscles and joints that are not being utilized to their full advantage. Fill your being and body with the breath of life that will light up your life in an exciting new way! That, and much more will the energetic instructor share with you and help you achieve such goals.

As for T'ai Chi ... the Yin/Yang symbol visually expresses a goal of "never full/never empty." T'ai Chi is the mental and physical dance of this symbol. Applying the Chinese system of energy study known as Chi Kung, the art of T'ai Chi trains the body to efficiently collect, store and use natural energy that is available to all who practice T'ai Chi.

What the T'ai Chi instructor will share with you in Havasu is the emphasis on body alignment and lowering your center of gravity (among other classic techniques). Moving through the T'ai Chi form creates body memories that a practitioner uses without conscious thought. What you will learn in the Havasu setting are invaluable techniques that will translate into your own daily activities when you return to your home, from hiking and rock climbing to meditational and healing practices, including basic everyday walks. Beginners learn T'ai Chi movements (without exposure to injury caused by improper/incomplete alignment), and breathing patterns that increase power and stamina. Experienced practitioners also refine sensitivity to internal and external energy, improving T'ai Chi's benefits. All participants increase awareness and body flexibility.

Of course, along with both the T'ai Chi and Yoga instruction, personal consultation is offered by the instructor-guides of this Havasu odyssey. We feel a morning meditation time using techniques learned in both classes will also be helpful along with Havasu's usual fascinating geology, natural and people history, including our typical ecology oriented hikes. All of this will change the participants' lives by week's end, guaranteed.

We recommend this class to everyone, from novices to the more experienced. All are welcomed to share in the Prana (or Chi), the Life Force, that naturally emanates from each of these two ancient disciplines. Along with the instruction in T'ai Chi and Yoga, nutritional counseling, both vegetarian and vegan, will be shared by the instructors, simply because your body, if it is to truly align with the chakras and meridians of energy flow, needs to have the right diet and fuel in order to sustain its wellness. We guarantee your physical body will be gorged with the light of such sharing just as your mind and spirit will expand and seek new levels never before imagined, for that is the wellness and wonder of T'ai Chi and Yoga.

Like our seasonally scheduled MD2 tour, this special class addition will run only a few times a season, usually one class in the spring and two more in the fall. We begin in Peach Springs, on Sunday, but instead of coming out of Havasu Canyon on Thursday as we normally do on the MD2 tour, we'll come out on Friday. You are welcomed to stay longer, of course, such as taking the all day rafting tour, our SD2 tour, on Saturday. Please keep in mind this region has many other scenic icons and places to visit, such as Sedona, Monument Valley, Chaco Canyon. If this tour sounds like something you are looking for, then please sign up now. We are limiting this tour to twelve people, plus the two hosts. If you are interested please contact us and we will fill you in with the rest of the particulars and you can quiz us with your questions and concerns as well.

The tour starts on Sunday evening, in Peach Springs. On Monday you will depart for Havasu until Friday. We will provide all the meals, lodging (in Peach Springs); entry and camping permit fees (and yes, this is one of our Havasu camping treks, so you can either supply your own camping gear or it can be leased through us). Plus, all your gear, except for day packs each guest provides, will be taken to and from Havasu by saddle horse. The geology of the canyon as well as the fascinating natural and people history will be shared along the way. The group will also be addressed by one (or more) of the Havasupai Indians who will share with you their culture and heritage. Of course, there will be plenty of time to enjoy the blue-green water and breathtaking waterfalls. Hikes to our favorite places are also on the schedule.

On Friday when you return lodging (as well as a farewell dinner) is still on us. However, it's possible to schedule our SD2 tour, the all day exciting whitewater rafting excursion, as a supplemental cost to the tour, including an extra night's lodging.

We think this tour is for those of you who are in good physical shape and who desire to learn T'ai Chi and Hatha Yoga techniques. We'll even accept guests who already have experience in these two disciplines. The main emphasis is to teach the correct introduction to these two disciplines to novices who are seeking something unique and refreshing for their bodies, minds, hearts, and spirits. So, all are welcomed to participate in this specially scheduled tour ... but we'll only accept a dozen or so guests for each tour.

The all inclusive price for the tour is just $1,075.00 per person (which covers all the taxes). And remember: this affordable price includes everything once you get to Peach Springs where the tour originates.

Namaste and happy trails.