Putting yourself into an even more isolated environment during the pandemic might not seem appealing.
But going for a spiritual retreat can be especially helpful now, at a time of surging depression and other mental health challenges.
Long before COVID-19 spread around the globe, retreats were popular ways to explore one’s inner world and simply take a break from busy city life while staying in quiet solitude.
Today the spiritual practices serve as helpful tools for resting from digital overload and finding inner peace amid crisis. They also are alternatives to the now-inaccessible regular tourism.
Here are four upcoming retreats that will take place near Kyiv and farther away in the Carpathian Mountains, ranging from yoga and meditation to art therapy.
All of them welcome foreigners since the organizers can provide assistance in English.
Silent retreats
For those who are ready to dive deep into their own subconsciousness, Denys Buchma, a yoga teacher with 10 years of experience, organizes spiritual retreats with elements of vipassana meditation techniques of self-transformation through self-observation.
Staying completely silent, without access to the internet or phone calls, participants will face a real challenge. The program will also combine hatha and kriya yoga, the practice of conscious sleeping, tea ceremonies and more.
The upcoming retreat by Buchma’s Moksha Yoga Project will take place on April 16-18 at a marvelous Zvenyhorod estate, surrounded by forest and close to a river, some 100 kilometers southeast from Kyiv. The three-day retreat package includes accommodation in a room for two, transport to the location and three vegetarian meals a day for Hr 4,700 ($170).
Another retreat will take place on May 1-8 in the Carpathian Mountains. The price for a full package is Hr 9,200 ($333), which includes a vegetarian menu, accommodation in a room for two and transport from the railway station in Pylypets, a village in Zakarpattia Oblast. The participants will have to pay for getting to Pylypets separately. The price for a one-way ticket starts at Hr 400 ($15).
Moksha Yoga Project. +38093 224 1630. www.moksha.com.ua.
Gnosis retreat
During this retreat right by the Dnipro River, participants will focus on answering the main question “Who am I?”
Three days in complete silence, with no gadgets and no access to news, television and books, the attendees will have to focus on their own thoughts and nothing else.
The retreat is organized by spiritual techniques teachers Max Mo and Irina Nebos from the School of Integrity Free Souls.
“Of all the things I’ve tried, this is the coolest opportunity to reboot emotionally, to find yourself (even if you haven’t lost yourself),” a participant of the previous retreat wrote on its website. “Distract from the hustle and bustle and improve physical health.”
Calling themselves masters of the transformation of consciousness, the organizers guide attendees to reach “gnosis,” a higher state of human consciousness when an individual comes to understand the true nature of things.
The retreat program will also include dynamic meditations and dancing sessions.
The retreat will take place on April 23-25 at the Open Skies Retreat Center in the village of Trypillia, 50 kilometers south of Kyiv.
The price of the retreat depends on the participant’s choice of accommodation. Staying in a hotel room for two or three people starts from Hr 9,163 ($330), the option of a room for five people costs Hr 8,330 ($300), and a bed in a hostel with 12 people in one room starts at Hr 7,820 ($260). The package includes vegan meals three times a day. The participants have to bring a mat and a raincoat.
School of Integrity Free Souls. +38050 874 2505. www.integrality.info/gnosis.
Women attend classes during a retreat for women organized by Kateryna Iskrova in the Carpathian Mountains. Iskrova’s wellness tourism trips usually mix various spiritual practices including yoga, tantras, meditation, art therapy and more. (Shine88sun/ Instagram)
Retreat for women
Having lived in Thailand for six years and learned about all kinds of spiritual practices there, Kateryna Iskrova now creates opportunities for self-exploration for women in her native Ukraine.
In late spring, she organizes another retreat in the Carpathian Mountains, where five teachers will share insights into different spheres of spirituality.
The seven-day program mixes daily yoga, female tantra aimed at revealing women’s sexuality, meditation, as well as consultations with a sexologist, art therapy, aromatherapy and group discussions.
The exact location, dates and prices are still to be announced. The approximate price is about Hr 10,800 ($390) for the whole program.
Retreat for women by Kateryna Iskrova. +38095 124 6002. www.instagram.com/shine88sun.
Meditative shamanic retreat
Shamanic practices, meditations and yoga during this retreat are aimed at deepening the participant’s connection with their inner selves and clearing the mind from the unimportant.
The three-day retreat program includes singing mantras, dancing around the bonfire and walking on hot coal to experience unity with nature.
The team of trainers from the Universum center of spiritual development that holds regular classes of yoga, meditation and breathing practices in Kyiv, will guide the participants of the upcoming retreat.
It will be held on May 1-3 in a picturesque location near a pine forest and a river in the Dozvillia recreation center in Kozyn village, 30 kilometers south of Kyiv.
The participation cost is Hr 1,600 ($58) if booked before April 1. Later on, the price will go up. The accommodation in bedrooms for two or three costs Hr 600 ($22) for the duration of the retreat.
Meals provided by the recreation complex and transport are charged separately.
Universum center of spiritual development. +38063 352 7581. www.universum.world/shaman-retreat.
