New Year’s Yoga Vacation in Mexico

Villas Shanti has long been home to yoga retreats and is located just 1 block from the beach.

Accommodations include comfortable sleeping and living space, tiled floors, modern bath with shower, kitchenette, ceiling fans, AC and drinking water with rooms that overlook a beautiful courtyard and private pool.

There is a yoga studio for our practices complete with props.

Retreat package includes

Rooms with a small kitchen and outdoor space to sit

Purified Water Jugs in each room

AC room

3 Dinners & 5 Brunches catered by Dora from John Gray's Kitchen

2 Yoga Classes Daily except on free day

Prop Rental

Opening & Closing Ceremonies

Mini Concert by Mary Bue

Opening & closing ceremonies

Ocean 1 block away

Wonderful restaurants walking distance away

Charming town square with festivities walking distance away

Other Options at an extra fee:

Eco friendly and culturally enriching excursions with Eric

Snorkeling by boat (it's easy to snorkel on your own too ;)

Bodywork by Martina (there are other options to get massage on the beach as well)

Flights

Transportation to Villas Shanti from Cancun international airport. We can help arrange for a reasonable fee.

Meals outside of the villa. 3 dinners and 5 brunches are included in our package. There are many beautiful restaurants within walking distance and grocery stores. Your room provides full kitchen and refrigerator should you choose to cook.

Travel insurance (Mary highly recommends AIG Travel Guard)

Medical care

international phone / internet fees your provider may have

Passport or visa fees if you plan to stay longer

TARA CINDY SHERMAN

My first introduction to the yogic path was in 1970 when at the age of 13 I read Siddartha by Hermann Hesse. The wisdom in that book made such an impression on me that I taught myself to meditate by gazing into the flame of a candle, many years later I learned that this technique is called trataka and is a valid tantric technique for meditation. Though I didn’t continue to practice for very long, being exposed to Eastern teachings at such a young age made a lasting impression on me. The inner knowing that there is more to life than the “seen” world is what drew me to, and keeps me on a yogic path, and is what I strive to bring to all of my classes.

In 1987 I returned to a regular practice of meditation and soon discovered the joy of hatha yoga. In 1993 I received my first 200 Yoga Teacher Certification at Expanding Light in Grass Valley, CA and have been teaching yoga ever since. That same year I was initiated into the tantric form of meditation known as Kriya Yoga as taught by Paramahansa Yogananda.

Since that time here are some of the certifications and trainings that I have taken: DansKinetics from Kirpalu Center in 1999, Atma Yoga from Christopher Baxter in 2001, Ashtanga with Doug Swenson in 2002, Yoga of the Heart Cardiac & Cancer with Nischala Devi in 2004, JAI Prenatal with Jennifer Gray in 2006, Yin yoga with Paulie Zink in 2007, Yogic Mystery School and trip to India with Russill Paul studying Nada yoga in 2008, Vini Yoga with Gary Kraftsow in 2012, and goddess philosophy and meditation with Sally Kempton at Mt. Madonna in 2014.

Over the years I’ve brought together all of my favorite teachings and experiences into what I’ve named Radiant Shakti Flow which incorporates the Hindu Goddesses, ritual, chanting, drumming yogic warms, creative movement and yoga nidra for a full experience of the sacred.

I had the great pleasure to drum for Shakti Chant Band who preformed kirtans around town for 8 years, and now play in Shakti Bhava with my dear friend Coco.

Teaching yoga has brought great blessings to my life. I taught workshops, immersions, and drop-in classes at Yoga Center of Minneapolis (YCM) from 2000-2018. I was also involved with YCM’s 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program and taught in the Advanced 500-hour training there. Currently, I teach at Minneapolis Yoga Training and Wellness. I feel it both an honor and blessing to help train teachers in this ancient art and science so that the full wisdom of yoga is passed on.

COLEEN “COCO” ELWOOD

Coleen was introduced to meditation in 1971 by her groovy theater parents. Initiated in the TM tradition, she was given a walking mantra at 10, seated at 13. As a child, she found the natural world to be a place of serenity & wonderment, and she was drawn to indigenous people & traditions.

A childhood of dancing, singing, acting & playing music (violin) culminated in 9 years as a bass player, singer & songwriter in the indie band Zuzu's Petals (Twin/Tone). She discovered yoga in 1995 & was instantly drawn to its calming, meditative nature and began teaching yoga out of her house in 1998. After attending a weekend with Christopher Baxter (co-founder of Yoga Alliance), she signed up for & completed a 200-hour teacher training in Atma Yoga in 2001. Prenatal yoga training followed with Janice Clarfield in 2002. Drawn to the energy realm, she became a reiki master in 2003 (The Center for Happiness, Minneapolis).

Her desire to bring healing & unity consciousness to the planet along with a deep love of the natural world drew her to mystic, shaman, & author Christina Donnell (Winds of Change Association). In 2008 she completed a 2-year training of the Inca Mystery Teachings. Since meeting Christina in 2004, she has taken over 450 hours of trainings in receptive wisdom, deep seeing, & energy medicine. Her study of spirituality, yoga, & healing continues to this day. Her classes are soul-centered, Earth-based, gentle, & meditative, designed to connect people to their bodies' wisdom & intuition.

From 1999 to 2020, Coleen has taught over 12,000 hours of restorative, prenatal, meditation and chair yoga classes in a variety of settings. She has also helped to train thousands of new yoga teachers as a faculty member at the Yoga Center Minneapolis (now Yoga Center Retreat). She continues to blend yoga and shamanism into her Peace medicine trainings and she is more motivated than ever to bring people back into harmony with their own nature and all of nature. She is currently offering Earth based workshops, retreats, space clearing, and shamanic healing.

MARY BUE

Mary Bue is a registered yoga teacher (e-RYT 500), an indie musician, and a teacher in the Viniyoga tradition, a breath-centered, flowing practice that believes in adapting postures to fit the whole person (not forcing a person to fit into a posture!). Mary received her certification at Whole Life Yoga in Seattle, WA by Tracy Weber, (student of Gary Kraftsow, student of T.K.V. Desikachar) and her 300-hour from Yoga Center Retreat (formerly Yoga Center of Minneapolis). In 2020, Mary received an additional 200-hour certificate in Nada Yoga (the Yoga of Sound) from Nada Yoga School in Rishikesh India.

Mary has pursued continuing yoga education in prenatal yoga, yoga for anxiety & depression, pranayama, and 30 hour-certification in Trauma-informed Yoga with Firefly Yoga International. Mary was a teaching assistant for Whole Life Yoga’s ten month long, 200-hour teacher training in 2010 and has also assisted in WLY’s “Yoga for Healthy Backs” Series. She has her bachelor’s degree in psychology, with an emphasis on Transpersonal Psychology from the University of Minnesota – Duluth. Mary has also received volunteer training in sexual assault victim advocacy from PAVSA and domestic violence victim support from DAIP. She founded and ran Imbue Yoga Studio in S. Mpls for nearly 3 years (closing Jan. 2019).

As a wanderer-luster and experience junkie, she has worked in many types of jobs: as a clinical research assistant in a prison & hospital, an AIDS prevention outreach worker on the streets and harm reduction work in needle exchanges, as well as many hundreds of hours as a server, bartender and barista.

In her life as a musician Mary has toured in 40+ states, released 7 albums, been awarded four artist grants, enjoyed three Artist in Residence awards, and has served on the board and steering committee of the Duluth Homegrown Music Festival.

All of these experiences culminate in the guiding of Creativity and Yoga Retreats. Mary has led and co-led retreats in Northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Bali, Malta, Ireland, and Italy.

Mary is an avid runner (10 half marathons and two full marathons), nature lover and vegan. In her spare time, she enjoys playing music, cooking, writing blogs, poetry and in journals, painting cow portraits, reading non-fiction and traveling.

INVESTMENT:

Early bird Double $2099 per person

Double/$2199 per person

Regular Rate Single/$2799 - SOLD OUT

$1000 Deposit for early bird due by May 15, 2024 (incl in full price)

Balance due by November 1, 2024

HOW TO PAY

Send your payment or deposit to Cindy-Sherman-15 on Venmo or via PayPal to: treespirityoga@gmail.com +3% for fees, or no fees through Zelle at treespirityoga@gmail.com or private message Tara to mail a check

REFUND POLICY:

All money can be refunded up to 30 days prior to the retreat less the deposit. No refunds after that unless your spot can be filled.

** Foreign travel may require vaccinations for COVID-19. Please take into consideration before registering for this retreat that there will be no refunds for anyone who doesn’t get the potentially required vaccination for foreign air travel.

*** In case of extreme personal circumstances, we will consider full refunds less small administration fee on a case by case basis if your spot can be filled. Retreat may be transferred to another guest with permission from host, however it is not the responsibility of the host to find a replacement.