I led a Yoga + Snowshoeing Retreat over Presidents’ Day Weekend at Walking Lightly Ranch in Whitefish, Montana. The weekend retreat was perfect in every way, except that everyone thought it was too short! We all flew from Seattle to Kalispell for the retreat and I agree we should have had at least one extra day. Next time around, I am adding an extra day so we can go into the town of Whitefish to have a look around!
The NEXT WALKING LIGHTLY RANCH RETREAT is next year:
May 21 – May 25, 2020 (Memorial Day Weekend)
If you love mountain landscapes and big blue skies, healthy organic cuisine made to fit every person’s specific dietary needs, kind gentle folk who own and run the ranch, sweet loving Tennessee Walker horses waiting for a pat on the head, and if you love a spacious and pristine yoga studio with warm radiant wood floors where you can practice your yoga while looking at the trees from the many studio windows, you will be in heaven at Walking Lightly Ranch. It’s a very special place.
Kim captured the tomatoes in the pattern of a heart before the salad got tossed and eaten!
One evening, I asked everyone to randomly choose a winter haiku from a stack of index cards. Earlier, I had sifted through many winter haiku and selected the ones that stood out the most. Though the haiku were written in the late 1600s and early 1700s in Japan, they are so contemporary and they fit our winter retreat scene so perfectly. Below, I will include the haiku I had prepared for the group along with some photos. Thank you to the yoga retreat participants for contributing some of your photos!
photo by Lee Ann
Tethered horse;
Snow
In both stirrups.-Buson
Awake at night—
The sound of the water jar
Cracking in the cold.-Basho
The winter sun—
On the horse’s back
My frozen shadow.-Basho
Winter solitude—
In a world of one color
The sound of wind.-Basho
Photo by Kim Johnson
Blow of an ax,
Pine scent,
The winter woods.-Buson
Cover my head
Or my feet?
The winter quilt.-Buson
Flowers offered to the Buddha
Come floating
Down the winter river.-Buson
The snow is melting
And the village is flooded
With children.-Issa
From the end of the nose
Of the Buddha on the moor
Hang icicles.-Issa
See the river flow
In a long unbroken line
On the field of snow.
– Boncho
Napped half the day;
No one
Punished me!-Issa
VIEW VIDEO of the retreat weekend set to Coldplay’s Beautiful World
Not too early to sign up for next year’s late spring Montana adventure!
Dave and Mata Mandir playing for us.
