Organising your first yoga retreat is a BIG deal! So we asked yoga teachers Becca Thorne and Amor Armitage about their experience, advice and lessons from organising their first retreat. Get all the details on the organising process and learn how you can create a truly amazing experience for yourself and your guests.
Q. What inspired you to host your own retreat?
B: I was inspired to host my own yoga retreat after the very first time I was a participant on one. I experienced first hand the transforming and healing powers of being on a yoga retreat and I wanted to share that power with others. Yoga is a spiritual practice, and practicing in breathtaking, natural places like the Greek islands has the potential and power to change you and your life. That’s why I lead yoga retreats: to hold a safe space for healing and transformation, as well as a deep connection to oneself and the natural and spiritual worlds.
A. I had been asked many times to do so by my students, so hosting my own retreat was in the back of my mind for a while and when I saw Aegialis hotel and was approached by it, I knew it was the right place and right time to do it.
Becca and some of her group at Nikouria island
Q. How did you find your attendees?
B. I was fortunate to have 16 attendees on my retreat. They all found my retreat via social media or word of mouth. Word of mouth is powerful! I didn’t know everyone before the retreat, but there was a line of association. For example: my best friend attended and brought two of her friends, both of whom I hadn’t met yet, and one of her friends brought another friend. Another example: one of my past yoga students attended and brought her sister and two other friends. Consistently promote and talk about your retreat—you never know who will want to come or what friends of theirs will be interested. Ask your friends, family, or colleagues if they would be willing to share and promote your retreat. You’ll most likely be surprised by the outside promotion and support you receive.
A. Many of my attendees were my regular students and some had been recommended by my students, the rest found me on the hotel website and “bookyogaretreats.” When I set the retreat, I thought it would be primarily my own students who would join me since I didn’t think many people would want to join a teacher they don’t know anything about! But surprisingly, there were 9 people who saw the retreat online and chose to join me, that made half of the group!!
Q. What are some of the challenges you came across during the organizing process?
B. The greatest challenge I experienced while organizing the retreat was participants having to cancel due to unforeseen family or work issues. That left me with an empty room that I was unable to fill. Make sure you have a clear cancellation and refund policies on your retreat info page, and make sure that cancellation policy gives you enough time to find a replacement.
A, Organising the retreat was quite fun and I enjoyed the process, however there were many things I wish I knew. Firstly, I did not think about people joining me from different countries like America and Canada. At the beginning, when I sat the prices I thought that everyone could just transfer the money to my U.K bank account easily, which was not exactly the case. As some people were from countries outside the U.K, I was paid through PayPal and this incurred a transaction fee, and apart from that, once I gave permission to the hotel to withdraw money from my account as their payment, my bank also charged me a fee for the currency exchange fee, so it is really important to check what these fees might be so that you can add them to your charge, otherwise they will end up coming out of your pocket.
Amor and her group during a rooftop yoga practice at sunset
Q. Why did you choose Aegialis hotel & spa?
B. I was a participant on a yoga retreat at Aegialis Hotel & Spa one year before I actually led my own retreat with them, and everything was magical perfection. I’ve now been a guest of Aegialis Hotel & Spa on four different occasions and I’ve never had one complaint. The sea view rooms and yoga shalas are breathtaking, the food is mouthwateringly delicious, and the staff is loving family. Aegialis Hotel & Spa hosts so many yoga retreats and conventions, so they truly know how to support yoga teachers, their retreats, and their participants. I know it can be intimidating and nerve-racking to host your first yoga retreat; the staff at Aegialis Hotel & Spa has your back completely, which is why I’ll continue to host them… not to mention for the majestic beauty and insanely yummy food.
A. My first reply would be “why wouldn’t I?!.” When I saw Amorgos and the hotel for the first time in photos, I was in love with what I saw. There’s something about Greece that I have no words to explain but it simply captivates me. I actually saw photos of Santorini once and I knew I wanted to get married there before I was even engaged. Eventually, when (my now) husband proposed, I told him we should get married there, and he agreed, so we got married there and it was the perfect place to do it. I have travelled to many countries around the world, and Greece without a doubt is one of my favourites. Amorgos feels quite far from the business of bigger touristic island and it holds the magic and essence of the authentic Greek life, and I could see that when I researched about the island. And the hotel, is just beautiful, it’s got it all.
Q. What are some key learning curves you took from organizing your first retreat?
B. 1. Have the participants send you their flight info, both arrival & departure, as soon as they buy their flights. Double check to make sure everyone is arriving and leaving at an appropriate time that won’t be affected by delays. The sooner you catch it, the better. If that happens, communicate with the participant that they’ll need to change their flight. A couple of ladies on my retreat had their departure flight too close to our arrival time to mainland, so we had to change their departure flight while on the retreat. I handled it, but it was an unnecessary, extra expense for me. Create more than enough cushion time between transfers and flights. 2. When organizing the extra-cost activities, you can choose to be as involved as you want: you can help organize your participants or you can leave it up to them. I went on a retreat where the leader didn’t organize any extra activities—she left it up to us—which I didn’t appreciate as a participant. After leading my first retreat, I understood why she stayed out of it. Organizing and scheduling a large group of people for activities isn’t easy: people change their minds on what they want and when they want it. So, if you decide to organize your group’s extra activities, make sure you clearly communicate that they will still have to pay for an activity even if they change their minds. I will still be involved in the activity organization for my next retreat, but I will send everyone an activities list with descriptions and estimated prices beforehand so we can spend less retreat time going over that and more time enjoying!
A. 1. Make sure you write transaction fees into the cost. 2. Allow travel time. 3. Consider getting to the island a few days earlier in case weather conditions cause disruptions to the ferries. 4. Be flexible
Anatolia shala at Aegialis hotel & spa
Q. What tips do you have for teachers organizing their first yoga retreat?
B. 1. Participate in a yoga retreat yourself – You’ll learn so much by being a participant and observing the retreat: what you like, what you don’t like, and what you would do differently. 2. Visit your retreat location before your retreat – that way, your advertising and marketing can be sincere because you can genuinely boast about the place. 3. Stay organised – keep a single excel list of every participants name, e-mail, room preference, roommate, food preference, flight info, payment info, etc. 4. Practice positive affirmations – I was extremely nervous and actually stressed the weeks before my retreat. So, every day I wrote down and said out loud positive affirmations.
A. Trust – since the moment I considered leading my first retreat, there was doubt in my mind, all the possible “what if’s” flooded my mind, so I really had to step out of my comfort zone to make it happen, I really didn’t believe it would be so successful. In a nutshell, you have to use all of your yoga skills and be open, flexible, accepting and trusting in the universe =) We had an incredibly magic time in Amorgos and I will be hosting more retreats there without a doubt. The hardest of journeys are the ones that lead us to the most spectacular places.
ABOUT BECCA & AMOR:
Becca is a yoga teacher, holistic life coach and creator of Thorne Wellness. She lives in Athens and loves exploring the beauty of the Greek islands.
Amor is a yoga teacher and founder of Yoga Blissipline . She lives in the UK and enjoys travelling.
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Outdoor pool at Aegialis hotel
