Welcome to our new blog series featuring the personal stories of the amazing guests from all walks of life who retreat with us!
This past month, we opened doors to the start of our 14th retreat season! Fourteen! And it was quite an inspiring start, indeed.
Firstly, we were blessed to have hosted a stay with the incredibly talented visionary artist, Burgandy Viscosi, who had contacted us over a year ago to inquire whether we would be interested in doing a yoga retreat – mural painting exchange. Though we were open to the idea already last year, that shared vision didn’t actually manifest till late April of this year.
But the wait was certainly worth it! The stars aligned and the universe conspired to bring together two soul-sisters in fortnight-long exchange of yoga, art, creativity, open-hearted sharing, and all around pure magic.
However, it was not just Burgandy whose presence blessed us during opening week. There were also 4 other ladies; two from France and two from Germany, each with her own fascinating background and stories to share.
I am always amazed and honoured to share yoga, delicious meals and meaningful chats with our retreaters, and, under the blessed skies of Hvar Island, slowly get to know the most poignant, meaningful life experiences these beautiful people share with one another in our space.
Whether it be their hopes and dreams, their present or past struggles, the great learning blocks they have overcome and gained mastery over only to be the light for others in need, each person has a unique passion and purpose that can help us all come to know our own selves even better.
As Burgandy spent her days drawing out and then painting images from my mind’s eye, hand equipped with paintbrush, flowing rather quickly but carefully along the wall in graceful, fluid strokes, rendering powerful images such as magical trees with peacock feathers for branches, chakra and other mandalas as adorning flowers, butterflies and birds and lavender as finishing touches… it felt as if the whole group was also flowing in and around our own creative waters, coming into greater alignment with our passion, purpose and potential.
Toward the end of the week, just prior to the departure of the German ladies, whose stories I was only just beginning to get to know through bits and pieces of conversation, and who were becoming increasingly fascinating and inspiring to me, I had this “ah ha” moment…
"Wouldn’t it be awesome if we could preserve some of these stories for others to learn, grow from, and be inspired by? Instead of Suncokret being merely a place where people can retreat together, why not also act as an extended channel for spreading word about the struggles and growth, passion and purpose of all these amazing souls who come together to share in a holistic yogic retreat experience together.
In this way we empower our community to grow beyond the confines of the retreat space itself and demonstrate through story-telling just how universal our experiences are, despite our unique spin on things! And what better way to do this than to provide a platform for people to share their own stories, in their own words, on our very own blog?
Alas, the title, “Yoga Unites Us” came to me as a beautiful heading for this expansion of our mission. Because the holistic yoga and spiritual pathway is indeed the very wonderful thing that brings us all together, from various corners of the globe, from diverse walks of life, to a little village on an island, in the middle of the Adriatic Sea… to a place called Suncokret... a place with purpose that is devoted to revolving around the Divine light (of the sun) and providing a platform for the blossoming of one's fullest potential.
So, without further adieu, I leave you with the first interview of the series featuring a chat we had with Burgandy, in the hope that you may find inspiration in the slices of life shared by her and, in future editions, other retreaters alike. Enjoy and thanks for reading! Namaste