Three Trees Yoga Retreats

Three Trees
Yucatan Adventure:
Yoga, Ayurveda & Maya
featuring Jeni Martinez, Emily Navar and Alfred Rordame

February 14th - 22nd, 2009

You’ve been practicing yoga for some time now. You yearn to deepen your yoga practice and explore yogic philosophy, meditation and ayurveda. You thrive on adventure and would love to combine your passion for yoga with your desire to explore an ancient and mysterious culture. This is the week you’ve been waiting for.

Click on images for a larger view

Class with Emily Navar

Eight night package includes: comfortable accommodations in a Mayan style room with private bathroom; outstanding breakfasts and dinners featuring the freshest local ingredients; use of natural rock bottom pool; 28 hours of yoga and yoga-related classes including meditation, ayurveda, philosophy and kirtan in an open-air palapa.
(Airfare and ground transportation not included.)

Per person pricing:

Triple Occupancy Room: $990 per person
Double Occupancy Room: $1090 per person
Single Occupancy Room: $1225 per person

$350 deposit to register; $350 more by November 15; balance by Jan. 15, 2009; No refunds after Dec. 15.

Come to deepen your yoga practice; quiet your mind and renew your zest for life.

*massage; personal Jyotish readings (Vedic astrology); and chartered side trips available for a small extra charge

Registration

Visa & M/C accepted. Payment plans available upon request.

About the Instructors

Fountain at Macanche

Jeni Martinez, RYT, has been teaching Hatha Yoga since 1990. She blends her background of Kripalu, Kundalini, and Iyengar influences in a playful, yet challenging format. In 2005, along with her partners, Suzy Cindrich and Karen Schwisow, Jeni opened Federal Way, WA’s first yoga studio, Three Trees Yoga & Healing Arts Center. This Yoga Intensive is an extension of her passion for building a yoga community and for helping others to incorporate the deep spiritual truths of yoga into their daily lives. This will be the fourteenth yoga retreat that Jeni has hosted since 2002. She combines her business management skills with her yoga teaching to create retreats that are as organized as they are inspirational. Jeni is thrilled to be returning to Macanche for the third time with her husband, Rocky, and her twin boys Devin and Cody.

Spectacular meals

Emily Navar, RYT, teaches an Iyengar-based Vinyasa style with a deep understanding of the body from years as a professional dancer and a licensed massage practitioner. She creates an atmosphere of trust and confidence supporting and developing her student’s strengths and guiding them to a deeper understanding of yoga. In addition to teaching yoga, she has taught anatomy to yoga teachers and is a Certified Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist. She delights in weaving her knowledge of yoga, dance, massage and Ayurveda into each class. Emily and Alfred left their Seattle home in 2005 and purchased the Macanche Bed and Breakfast (see www.macanche.com) with the goal of creating a space not just for vacationing but for retreat and reflection.

Alfred leads a kirtan session

Alfred Rordame is an intrepid explorer of Sanskrit, Vedic philosophy, Jyotish (Vedic astrology) and the science of yoga. He will lead Jyotish classes and sutra studies (yogic philosophy) as well as kirtan (the call and response style of Indian music and chanting). Alfred is also known for his gourmet talents in the kitchen and promises some fresh, delicious dinners with a Yucatecan flair. Alfred will draw on his knowledge of Vedic astrology to offer personal Jyotish readings.

Why the Yucatan? The Yucatan is renowned for its wealth of ancient and mysterious Mayan ruins; stately, restored haciendas; colonial cities; beaches and friendly Yucatecan people. Macanche is located in Izamal, a quaint pueblo close to Yucatan’s capital city of Merida, and very near the Mayan ruins and Cenotes (underground caves.)

The Mayan people retain a clear vision of their ancient ways, living in harmony with Nature, keeping time with the rhythms of the seasons. Nature and the ancient ruins remain sacred books, calling softly with the voice of many thousands of years.

Mayan Bedroom

Getting there:

We recommend flying Continental airlines from SeaTac to Merida, Mexico. As of March 28, 2008 the flights are about $700 with taxes and fees.
We recommend the 10:59 am flight leaving from SeaTac #CO1766 arriving in Houston at 5:16pm. Continuing on flight CO1842 to Merida, Mexico. Then on CO1842 leaving Houston at 6:45pm and arriving in Merida at 8:46pm.

The return flight leaves at 6:55am from Merida on CO1843; arriving in Houston at 9:05am and continuing on to SeaTac on CO267 at 12:48pm, arriving in Seattle at 3:20pm.
Note:Traveling to Merida on Thursday or Friday is less expensive than Saturday. Returning on Monday or Tuesday following the retreat is less expensive than returning on Sunday.
Optional: Many of us will stay at Casa Del Balam in Merida before and after the retreat. Reservations can be made online or by calling
1-888-556-3845 during office hours: M-F 7am-9pm (CST); Sat 9am-6pm (CST);
Sun 12pm-6pm (CST)

Group transportation will be offered for a small fee from Merida to Macan Che in Izamal where the retreat will be held.

All passengers must have a valid passport for this trip. We recommend you apply as soon as possible to avoid having to pay extra for expedited service. Passport photos are available at Costco or the UPS store.

Air fares vary. Check Travelocity, Priceline or Expedia for competitive fares.

Duplex View

History of Izamal: Izamal, known also as The City of Three Cultures, represents both the collision and assimilation of Catholicism and Spanish cultures on top of the original Mayan tradition. The ancient Mayan pyramids lie among the downtown blocks, incorporated into the modern town. Long before the Spanish arrived, Izamal had been a prosperous ancient city, occupied continuously from the late Pre-classic period onwards (from about 300 BC). Twelve large pyramids made the city one of the most impressive in the Yucatan.

Izamal was dedicated to the worship of Itzamna, patron of learning, science, and the arts, who was also associated with healing and medicine. The pyramid of Kinich Kak Mo, which has been translated as "Fiery Sun's Face" or "Fire Macaw -- Face of the Sun" was built to honor the god, Itzamna. According to legend, offerings left on the pyramid were collected by Itzamna, in the form of a macaw. Already established as a major pilgrimage center for the Mayan people, it was converted to a Christian pilgrimage site by the Franciscan order after they arrived in 1549.

For more information on the Yucatan, visit travelyucatan and yucatantoday.