Family Holidays: Yoga, Mindfulness, Art & Nature

Family Holidays

Yoga, Mindfulness, Art & Nature

July 23 - 28, 204

- Limited availability -

Connect with ourselves, with others and with nature

If we know how to listen, care and love each other as parents, our children will naturally know how to do the same. The most valuable inheritance we can give our children is our happiness.

Connect with with your family in nature with a fun and enriching yoga and mindfulness practice in our ecological retreat house.

Throughout the retreat, we will cultivate love and reverence for life, for nature and for our families.

Yoga, Mindfulness, Art & Nature for the whole family

Families learn and practice yoga and other mindfulness techniques to cultivate togetherness and harmony.

During the retreat, we take the opportunity to share essential mindfulness seeds* as tools for family development.

These are:

freshness and joy
gratitude and respect
loving kindness
deep listening and loving speech
ecology and interdependence

We rely on the arts and nature to nurture and awaken our curiosity and creativity.

Art is a natural way to practice mindfulness. Practicing yoga and mindfulness offers endless physical and mental benefits. It helps cultivate essential virtues in children and adults, including generosity, honesty, self-confidence and respect towards all beings starting with oneself.

The benefits of mindfulness

The benefits of mindfulness include the following.

In children:

it helps develop concentration
they experience calmness and hence reduce stress and anxiety
they improve impulse control and learn to respond to challenging emotions
they become empathetic and understanding toward others
they develop practical problem-solving abilities

And in adults:

increased self-awareness and family connections
enhanced empathy and sensitivity concerning their children’s needs.
emotional balance
improved emotional management
healthy family (and other) relationships

*Benefits according to “Planting Seeds” by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Community of Plum Village.

"The retreat was an awesome experience for us"

“The retreat was an awesome experience for us. We came to Casa Cuadrau looking for a place where we could share more with our little ones (2 and 3 years old) of what Yoga means for us. What we found is an amazing place, with beautiful nature and energy. Katya / Dani & Team gave everything to make every moment a great experience to enjoy and develop ourselves. Looking forward to the next one!”

-Mauricio Camos, Argentina/ Suiza

Activities

All activities are optional, but we recommend participating in the entire program for the whole retreat experience.

A familiar adult must accompany children five or younger during child-specific activities.

YOGA & MINDFULNESS

ADULTS

Yoga classes are for all levels of practice. The sessions combine Hatha Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga principles, as well as movement and mobility exercises.

There is one yoga class per day.

Yoga classes are progressive, variations for different levels of practice and particular limitations are always offered.

Classes will be after the meditation session and if children wake up they can join us in the yoga shala and be there reading, drawing or playing calmly with building blocks until class is over.

FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

Classes combined games and exercises in which we explore natural movement from animals and nature, yoga postures and mindfulness activities.

Designed for all family members, so we can play yoga together.

WALKS IN NATURE

We will have short and long walks with professional mountain guides. During the walks there will be nature interpretation, and we will also learn how people used to live long time ago in this villages and about animal and plant life around us.

During the longer excursions, we will have picnic in nature and time to swim by the river.

TREKKING & CAMPING IN NATURE

There will be a 2 day trekking, sleeping under the stars for those who want.

We will take our food and set up our camp.

We will adapt the itinerary and the difficulty of the journey to the possibilities of the group.

*What to bring?

Backpack
Sleeping bag
Light clothing and warm clothing for trekking and starry nights
Comfortable light mid-mountain shoes or light boots
Walking sticks (optional)
Raincoat
Hat, scarf or buff for the neck and / or hat or cap for protect from the sun
Sunglasses
1 lt. Water bottle (very important and available at our boutique)*
Flashlight

MEDITATION

Early mornings, there will be time for meditation for adults followed by a yoga class.

Children will walk up according to their natural rhythms (usually during the yoga class). Before breakfast and some afternoons, all family members will learn and practice concentration and contemplation techniques.

SHARING CIRCLES

In Sanskrit, Sat means truth and Sang means group or community. Satsang is a gathering to share our concerns, questions, and our deepest insights. It is also a time to meditate together, contemplate nature, enjoy some mindfulness activities, sing meditative songs or mantras.

KARMA YOGA

Karma= action Yoga= integration.

We will learn bring awareness into everything we do, giving our best wholeheartedly in each present moment. Little and big ones will collaborate with easy tasks (garden, drying dishes, sweeping, fetching water from the spring, etc.) to cultivate a sense of responsibility and cooperation.

VEGETARIAN FOOD

All meals are prepared with love and care. The food is, as much as possible, organic, local and seasonal, following a vegetarian diet. The balanced, healthy and delicious meals are children and adult friendly.

JOYFUL SILENCE & REST

Everyday from the end of the last activity up until after breakfast of the following morning, we cultivate joyful silence in the house. This deep silence is very healing for calming the mind and being in peace with ourselves, allowing us to deeply listen to ourselves. We will have a restful sleep and the next day we will enjoy the silence with mental clarity during our asana practice, meditation and other activities. By participating in this period of joyful silence we will be supporting each other in our practice.

You will be amazed of how children enjoy very much the silent time.

Facilitators

Daniel Benito

Co-director of Casa Cuadrau, Dani is a yoga and meditation instructor and mountain guide, as well as an ecological builder.

From a young age Dani felt deeply connected to the mountains and it was in the Pyrenees and the Himalayans where he discovered hiking to be a powerful meditation practice and a way of deepening his connection with nature.

Dani completed his yoga teacher training with Bharat Shetty (RYT 500) and his meditation practice is based on Buddhist teachings, inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh (Zen) and S.N. Goenka (Vipassana).

Katya Ríos

Co-director of Casa Cuadrau, Katya found in Yoga a way of life, a system for self exploration providing her with constant support on her path. When she arrived in Vio she rediscovered her love and devotion for nature, as well as a path on which she can continuously learn from her and be in tune with her.

She underwent 500 HR of Yoga Teacher Training course in International Yoga Sivananda Vedanta Organization, and later a 500 HR with Bharath Shetty (in Mysore, India) of Hatha-Yoga, Vinyasa and Therapeutic Yoga.

She is passionate about practicing meditation and mindfulness and studied a postgraduate degree in Mindfulness for Children and Teens at the Barcelona University and Wake Up Schools Association.

A retreat for all ages

This retreat experience is for all ages, including babies, children, pre-adolescents,

teenagers, mothers, fathers, grandmothers, uncles, aunties and cousins.

Duration

The retreat begins on Tuesday, July 23 and ends on Sunday, July 28, after lunch.

Check-in is from 15 to 16:30h. Afterward, there is an introductory session and yoga class followed by dinner and the retreat opening ceremony.

Accommodation options

shared bedrooms
private rooms with shared bathroom
private rooms with private bathroom
parking area for vans and caravans
nearby rural house

Before coming

Sliding scale

Casa Cuadrau is a Cooperative Society of Social Interest.

We want our programmes to be accessible to as many people as possible, regardless of their economic situation.

This is why we put forward a sliding scale contribution system, to adapt to the economic capabilities of each family. The sliding scale is based on trust, solidarity and reciprocity.

Rates vary depending on the type of accommodation. There is a minimum price (assisted rate*), a standard price and a maximum (generous rate).

Minimum prices are available for the shared dorms or for the “no accommodation” options (if you stay in your van).

Please consider paying the highest rate you can afford, to support others in a more difficult financial situation. You will also be supporting Casa Cuadrau to continue renewing its facilities.

Prices start at 1235 euros in shared accommodation for an adult and a child (standard rate).

The rates include all meals, activities, insurances, taxes and accommodation*.

*If there are no private rooms available at Casa Cuadrau, there are other accommodation options nearby.
We can help you find the most suitable accommodation option (private rooms).

Click here to fill a family form so we can send you the price.

What to bring?

Check carefully this list of things you would need to bring.

Do not forget to also bring the equipment for the Camping Night.