Our vacation-wanted ad: Have mat, will travel. Skip pedestrian sightseeing tours, questionable food, and creaky joints. Bring on sacred sights, built-in yoga friends, real nourishment, and communion with our mat twice a day. Oh, and move the needle of our life, por favor.
There are at least 108 reasons to embark on a yoga retreat. Instead of fleeting fun, take a deep dive where landscape and heart intersect. Cross your desert, row your boat, and chase your star—bookending the day in Downward Dog. Forget scrambling for a hotel gym or trying to translate “organic, gluten-free, vegetarian, and Ayurvedic” in another language. For yogis, getting away doesn’t get better than a yoga retreat.

But where to start? We scanned the yoga globe and scoped out 11 off-the-beaten-mat gems to spark your wanderlust. From Cuba to Costa Rica, Iceland to India, bathe in the forest, soak in the spring, sing with a villager, dance in the jungle, bow to the world’s wonders, or simply sit in silence. The choices are as infinite as yoga itself.

Yoga and Serenity on the Island of Ithaca, Greece

July 29–August 5, 2017 and August 5–12, 2017
Bow to the azure waters of this mythical island with little more than passing sailboats and grazing goats to distract you. Home to legendary hero Odysseus, some say this sleepy isle hasn’t changed much since Homer’s epic poem. Ithaca is, perhaps, the perfect place for yoga. There are only a few thousand permanent residents on the wild, jagged patch of land, and the elegant Itha108 Yoga Retreat & Creative Resort has no traffic to speak of. Seattle teacher Jodi Boone is leading two back-to-back retreats for sunbathing, stargazing yogis who want to step back in time. Start the day with meditation and an active Hatha practice from the wooden yoga platform, and wind down with yin and restorative from an indoor shala. In between, dive into the silvery waters of the Ionian Sea, get a Thai yoga massage, or cozy up in an Indian daybed on the veranda. The lodge is carved into a rocky hillside with a crisp white minimalism, every object handpicked with a globetrotter’s flair—Indian artifacts dotted around the stone fireplace, for instance. Indulge in mushroom polenta tarts and cinnamon-butter griddled peaches, all seasonal, organic fare straight from the island (or the one next door).

Learn more jodiboone.com
Read full article: http://www.yogajournal.com/slideshow/11-under-the-radar-yoga-retreats/#6