Yoga Behind the Lens: Photographing from the Heart (Sept 1-7, 2024)
Join this photo workshop & yoga retreat on a coastal Maine island for a unique travel experience. There will be photo discussions and lessons, yoga sessions, and shooting excursions. You’ll expand your vision, deepen your mindful awareness, and ignite your creativity. Slow down, be present in the moment, and enhance your observational skills on this rare and exclusive workshop retreat.
We will weave together a tapestry of activities, on and off the mat, that builds and supports mindfulness, which is one of the threads that will interlace the goals of this yoga and photography retreat. On our photo journeys, as we explore through the lens of yoga, we’ll look beyond the obvious to find the unexpected. Go beyond the ordinary to create the extraordinary.
Yoga and Photography – creating images with mindfulness
DATE: Sept. 1 – 7, 2024
FEE: $1545, + Lodging
- Pay by cash or check.
- Pay by credit card with a 6% booking fee.
- Option to start with $600 deposit.
- Balance due 60 days before retreat.
- Registration information and cancellation policy at the bottom of page.
Your Package Covers:
- Photo leader & instruction
- Yoga teacher & props
- Healthy home cooked meals
- Excursion transportation
You’re Responsible For:
- Meals while out on excursion (2 or 3)
- Your beverages of choice
- Snacks
- Transportation to and from the Island
Lodging:
We are staying at the Sparrow Farm, a perfect place for a yoga retreat in Maine. It’s a charming, big ol’ fashion farmhouse on a tidal cove with beautiful surrounding views and hiking trails. Here are your room choices.
- Queen bedroom
- $1250 – 1 person
- $625 – each for 2 people
- Twin (2 per room)
- $1000 each
- Bunk, bottom only (3 in one large room)
- $875 each
More lodging info and payment options are below.
I’ve created a separate newsletter list for this opportunity only. Here’s where you can sign-up.
Yoga and Photography Retreat: Accessing your creative potential.
Learn more about Dee with this link to her bio page.
A word from your host and photo leader:
The idea for this photo workshop – yoga retreat started two decades ago when I began attending yoga retreats at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. in Stockbridge, MA. I experienced how yoga and creativity are complementary practices in that they are both rooted in mindfulness. When I quiet my mind, I can hear my heart and it is from the heart where powerful, moving images come from. It is how we breathe life into an image.
In search for the ideal place to hold this retreat I traveled as far as the Azores. Then, 2 years ago I hosted a week long photo workshop on Vinalhaven island, a 12 mile ferry ride from my hometown of Rockland. I realized that the ideal location was right in front me the entire time.
Join Sandy Cyrus and me for this unique combination of practicing yoga and daily photo excursions on a coastal Maine island. We will provide space on the mat, and on our excursions, for you to connect and listen to your heart. We will dive deeper, look longer, and tap into the essence of your unique vision.
Photo Workshop:
- Any camera type welcome
- Any skill level
- Excursions every day
- Guidance as needed
- Image review
- Group discussions
- Shooting exercises
Excursions:
- Nature hikes at stunning preserves
- Boat rides to explore island scenery
- Beautiful sunrises & sunsets
- Meet interesting island locals
- Explore the village & its rich history
- Visit nearby artist studios
Yoga:
- Daily sessions
- No previous experience required
- Vinyasa & Pranayama
- Restorative & Qi Kong
- Meditation & Chanting
- Deep Relaxation
- Focusing on heart opening
Meet your yoga instructor:
Sandy Cyrus has been teaching and practicing yoga for over 20 years. Trained in the Kripalu Yoga tradition, Sandy combines centering meditations, yoga postures, and breath work. Her classes awaken the heart and train us to step into the present moment with reverence and awe. Sandy lives in Orono, Maine where she offers group and private classes, massage sessions, days of mindfulness and yoga retreats at her studio, Full Circle Yoga & Retreat Center.
Sample of a day’s itinerary of yoga and photography. All activities are optional.
5:30am – Sunrise Photo or Qi Kong at 7:00am
7:30-8:30 – Breakfast
8:45 – 10:15 – Photo Discussion
10:30-11:45 – Yoga
12:00pm -1:00 – Lunch (a.k.a. “dinner” in Maine)
1:15 – 4:15 – Afternoon Photo Excursion
4:30-5:00 – Guided meditation on the ledges
5:00 – 6:00 – Free Time or Early Supper
6:15-7:15 – Sunset Photo Excursion
7:30 – Supper or Night Shooting
Getting to Vinalhaven:
- The ferry leaves from the Maine State Ferry terminal in Rockland, 517 Main St.
- I encourage you to take either the 1:00 or 2:45.
- You will leave your car on the mainland and park at the terminal lot. Get there early to park. Sometimes an auxiliary lot is needed, which will take extra time.
- Buy your ticket there or earlier online.
- You will be picked up on the island.
- Note: it is not advised to take your car over because getting it off the island on your time frame is not guaranteed.
Lodging at a private residence:
I’ve separated your lodging fee to help reduce your costs. If you’d like to pay by cash or check there is no extra fee. If you need to pay by credit card I can fold your lodging cost into your retreat cost, but there will be a 6% service charge by the booking company. Call to secure your room and discuss payment options. I have not marked up the cost of renting the farmhouse and this is, by far, a more economical lodging option.
- 7 bedrooms
- 4 bathrooms
- wrap around deck
- meals prepped & served in house
A beautiful 150-year old rustic saltwater farm surrounded by acres of fields and woods with thousands of feet of shorefront on a tranquil cove. There is the main house with 5 bedrooms and 3 baths, and a guesthouse with 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. You’ll have access to kayaks, a canoe, a paddle board, and bicycles. You’ll be 5 minutes from swimming in a crystal clear quarry.
There are two staircases and a large deck in the main house. Another spacious deck at the guesthouse and the bunk rooms are quite spacious, too. In the bunk room the mattresses are more narrow than a twin.
Registration:
- Either full payment or $600 deposit with balance due 60 days prior to the retreat.
- Credit card – you will need to go through the online booking by clicking the “Book Online Now” button. There will be a service charge of 6% by the booking company.
- Cash or check – contact me for a registration form. Then, you will fill it out and snail-mail it back along with a minimum deposit or more.
Photo Yoga Retreat Cancellation Policy:
If you cancel your registration more than 60 days before the start of the event, your tour fee will be refunded to you, minus a $150 processing fee. If you cancel 59 – 31 days before the start of the event, 50% of your tour fee will be refunded. 30 days or less, there is no refund unless your slot refills in the program. Trip cancellation insurance is recommended.