Island Yoga Retreat April 7-11

After the exhilarating but exhausting trip to Myanmar I was excited to then spend the next couple of days relaxing at a yoga retreat on the island of Koh Yao Noi. First I had to spend a night in Phuket after my two flights that day back from Myanmar because the boat rides had stopped to the island unless I wanted to take a private boat which would cost and arm and a leg! I stayed at a wonderful guesthouse called Moonlight Cottages. The owner was so nice and made me feel very welcomed! It was very clean and the bathroom was huge! It was nice to have a proper shower and bed after roughing it for a week. The next morning the owner personally drove me and some other guests to the pier to catch the afternoon boat at 12:30. It took about an hour on the longtail boat to get to Koh Yao Noi and the boat was nice and full! When we approached the island I was shocked by its beauty. I mean over the past couple of weeks I had witnessed some of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen in my life I didn't think I would witness more! How blessed and lucky I am. The island was not crowded with tourists and very quiet. Perfect for a yoga retreat! The yoga resort was beautiful and Mary was there to greet me when I arrived. My room was right next to hers, and even though it was not air conditioned it was cute! Yoga classes were twice a day 7:30 am and 4:00 pm. I was able to go to the afternoon class. The yoga was more difficult than I was expecting. I've done beginner classes back home and videos but this was intense. It felt good to push myself and the instructor and owner of the retreat, David, was amazing! He was probably around 50 years old and filled with so much knowledge and loves to share it! After yoga class we rushed to go to a viewpoint to see the sunset. It was hazy so we couldn't see much of it, but the view was still beautiful! We then went for dinner on the beach with a group of girls from the yoga retreat. I was really happy to have my Thai food back. The food in Myanmar was amazing but Thai food has stolen my heart. I could eat pad see ew  for every meal!!! We all called it an early night because David does Tai Chi at 6:00am on the beach and I thought it would be a cool thing to try. I didn't have the best sleep because it was hot and no AC was killing me. It would just take some getting used too. When my alarm finally went off for Tai Chi i wanted to stay in bed, but I was here to get the full experience so I got up. It was magnificent. Tai Chi is very relaxing especially when the sun is rising while you are doing it. David supplies coffee and fruit before the Tai Chi which is nice because right after Tai Chi is 2 hours of morning yoga. The morning yoga was a little easier than afternoon yoga and focused more on breathing and mediating. I haven't thought much about meditation before but it is really relaxing and can set you up for a positive and stress free day. David talked a lot about the power of positive intention and if you think about something happening it will happen because you have positive thoughts about it. During meditation dream about what you want and how to achieve it and it will happen. After morning yoga we get a buffet breakfast. It was amazing!!! Yogurt and muesli, fruit, eggs, rice and french toast. I could get used to this! After breakfast Mary and I went for massages and then to the beach. This beach was beautiful and had an awesome view of the many islands and rock formations that surround Koh Yao Noi. We swam and lounged in the hammocks. This was the most relaxing island and trip I have taken so far! Afternoon yoga David kicked my butt and I was doing yoga moves I had never tried before. Pushed myself and I am very proud of the progress I am making during this yoga retreat. A couple of girls went for dinner together at a restaurant on top of a hill. It was dark so we didn't get the view but the food was amazing! I had cashew chicken and a coconut to drink, so great! Most nights during the retreat I was in bed by 9 because we were all exhausted from the day and knew morning would come too soon. It was now Saturday and and the morning started off the same as the one before; Tai Chi, morning yoga, breakfast. After breakfast the yoga retreat they set up a day trip to go kayaking in the mangroves by Krabi. We took a 40 minute boat ride to get to the mangroves, and then spilt in pairs, as they were double kayaks. Mary and I went together and had a blast! It was the hardest kayaking I have ever done because we were going against big waves and then maneuvering in between trees in the water, but so worth it! During our tour we saw monkeys who jumped on the kayaks, a king cobra snake in the water that scared the Thai guide because they are extremely dangerous, and in some of the caves it was so peaceful just to take in the beauty around me. We stopped for lunch on an island and went swimming. It was a perfect day. This was one of the coolest tours I had done, and unfortunately my go pro broke during this trip so none of my pictures were saved, but the memory is enough. When we returned from our day in the sun we still had afternoon yoga to attend. We were all exhausted and our arms sore from hours of kayaking. We had a new yoga instructor as well who took it easy on us. She focused a lot of breathing and holding poses for 10 minutes at a time. It was still difficult but a type of yoga I enjoyed. After that we grabbed dinner at a restaurant right next to the resort, and I extended my stay by a day. I was suppose to leave Sunday but I wasn't ready so I changed my last day to be Monday. The sunrise on Sunday morning was beautiful. The best one I had seen yet. No Tai Chi on Sundays but we still got up for coffee and the sunrise and then yoga and breakfast. This retreat was teaching me so much about myself and how to channel negative thoughts into positive ones. Mary and I spent the afternoon at a cafe reading our books and drinking coffee. It was a nice calm day and the last full day I would have with Mary as the next day we would be going our separate ways and then she would be going back to Boston. Afternoon yoga introduced us to another new instructor. I did not like her, she was very critical and if people weren't doing it exactly like her she would come over and say something, like sorry I can't move my leg like that I'm trying my best now leave me alone!! After we went for dinner with the great friends we had made that week; Tanya from Germany, Emma from England and Mia from New York. We had all become very close and it was sad knowing this would be our last dinner together. The next morning was bittersweet at Tai Chi knowing it would be my last. We all got a little emotional knowing it was coming to an end and we would all be leaving each other. Mary left right after breakfast and I saw her off. It was sad and I am going to miss her so much. She has been my rock and travel partner for the past 6 months. She will be a friend for life. I left late afternoon and was headed back to Phi Phi Island. It was a last minute decision to go back, but I knew it would be a good party island for the Songkran festival. I caught a boat to Krabi first because there is no direct boat from Koh Yao Noi to Phi Phi. And then once I got to Krabi I then caught the ferry to Phi Phi Island. I finally arrived at 5pm on Phi Phi Island to spend the next week exploring the island on my own. I hadn't done much travelling on my own so I was interested in how it would go.