December 29, 2020

Me Time Iceland

What is Me Time? Other than time for me, myself and I? Well, a simple description is that it’s a weekend of cleansing, detoxification and relaxation, for the mind, body and soul. You are hosted in the Mula Lodge on the banks of the salmon river Þverá in Borgarfjörður, a cosy winter lodge boasting a fireplace, modern rooms and an outdoor spa.

The lodge is fully catered, with all meals included in the retreat price for the weekend (dinner day 1, breakfast lunch and dinner day 2, breakfast and lunch day 3). Food served is 100% vegan, with a focus on nurturing our bodies together thru caffeine and alcohol free drinks. The use of cellphones and tobacco is also restricted.

We’re offering a weekend getaway to the countryside, filled with yoga, nature walks and mindfulness. All yoga classes are taught by certified yoga teachers, who accommodate beginner to advanced practitioners. Me Time was founded by three friends and certified yoga teachers, Þorgerður, Guðny and Katrín. They met over 7 years ago working at the Fishing lodge Þverá during the summer season. With all three women having roots in Iceland and a passion for yoga, they realised this beautiful lodge was the perfect space to connect to Icelandic nature and the winter season while practicing yoga and meditation. By disconnecting from the hustle and bustle of Reykjavik and getting out into the countryside for some “Me Time,” the otherwise empty lodge has now found a new winter life: hosting weekend retreats for yogis. The time spent at the lodge is complemented by a complete detox: all the vegan-friendly meals are cooked by chef-in-training Þorgerður, and the whole getaway remains alcohol and caffeine free, and for those who don´t mind… cellphone and wifi free!

Because its an event totally for you to do as you like, attendance to any event or meal is optional! You can always retreat to your private room with ensuite bathroom to have more privacy. All rules can also be broken in that safe bubble, so don’t let the vegan and digital detox scare you away! At least stay open minded to join us for an electricity-less night on arrival, and a silent day on day 2 where noons speaks until we break the silence together in a cacao ceremony. Live music is also always a highlight – various musicians and sound practitioners come each retreat to share their sound.

Retreats run throughout the winter, approximately once a month, and have a limited capacity of 7 people per event. January 15-17 and February 12-14 are sold out, but March 5 – 7 is open for booking. Check out our instagram account for photos @metimeiceland.

April 25, 2018

JOY Workshop in Iceland: 50% early bird discount

SATI Mindfulness had their first Mindfulness workshop in Iceland last year; I attended and wrote about it here. I’m super excited to say they’re hosting another one this year, in the stunning playground that is Hveragerdi, which includes more mindfulness and meditation exercises, nature hikes, hot river bathing, plus a bit of ´art and science´ of meditation at Solir studio in Reykjavik.

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My friends Devon and Craig are now offering a limited-time discount on the workshop – for one week only – at 50% off the original price. For only $169 (with airfare to Iceland from many American and European cities not much more than that), you can attend their 3-day workshop, which includes:

An evening teaching at Iceland’s most beautiful yoga studio, Sólir.
Two full days of teachings at a gorgeous boutique hotel in Hveragerði.
An optional mindful evening hike to a hot river.
Gourmet lunches during the workshop.
Meditations, discussions, and exercises designed to elicit joy.

You just get it all for $169. Total. That’s it. Ridiculous, no? For the discounted price, register here.

If you’ve even been considering this workshop, now is the time. To put this in perspective, mindfulness workshops guided by others like Jon Kabat Zinn cost $700+ in Iceland right around the same time!

Offer expires May 1st – don’t wait! It will fill up quickly, and double in price after a week.

August 2, 2017

Mindfulness in Iceland

I was recently in Nepal and participated in a number of yoga and meditation classes, and realized they’re not very different. Meditation is actually something we do all the time, though it may be mindless, and sometimes misused to be a tool for negative rumination.

I’ve always noticed that Icelandic nature, and the things I do in Iceland, seem a perfect setting for productive meditation. I’m usually most relaxed when I’m horse back riding, looking out on some epic scenery in the highlands, sitting in a natural hot tub in the middle of nowhere, or watching the midnight sun touch the ocean before going back up into the horizon. If the weather was better, I’m sure there would be more yoga retreats here.

meditating with my horse in some summery sunny Icelandic weather

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, an ambassador of peace and well-known spiritual leader from India, was in Iceland last week to give on a talk on the importance of meditation. He explains it as a way for people to find inner calm and happiness, which spreads naturally through a population and serves an important role in creating peace.

Exploring Iceland and SATI Mindfulness worked together to put on a Mindfulness Retreat in Hveragerdi last weekend, and I was lucky enough to take part with another 20 or so participants, a mixture of Americans, Icelanders, and one German. Our teachers were Craig and Devon, along with a landscape architect with a Phd. in Environmental design. Calling it a Mindfulness Retreat was an interesting marketing move, since telling my family I was going to a 3 day meditation workshop would have made them a little worried about my mental health – why is it that practicing meditation is such an alternative/hippy thing?

Along with some hiking, stretching and exercising, we learned that meditation is a transition from movement to stillness, and noise to silence. It gives you time to contextualize life, commit to happiness, and consider compassion. When meditating, Sri Sri’s three mantras are: I want nothing. I am nothing. I am doing nothing.

Have you ever wondered how hard it is to do nothing? Its nearly impossible. Your mind never shuts up, and if it does it only lasts a few moments before something else you need to remember or plan to do pops up. Devon and Craig also like to call ‘mindufulness’ ‘bodyfulness,’ since its in those moments when your brain quiets that you can really feel and listen to your body. Even if its pain or tiredness, just listening to your physical sensations is an extremely powerful ability that many of us ignore.

Sometimes I caught myself imagining what it would be like to have a super low IQ, or super intense ADHD, maybe then it would be easier to focus only on the here and now. Focusing on just yourself in the moment is a really difficult way to narrow your thoughts, and I’m not sure I ever managed to truly get there in our 3 days together.

Reykjadalur, the smokey valley and hot river most people come to Hveragerdi for

Hveragerdi was a wonderful place to have the workshop. We were surrounded by summer, green vegetation, a steaming mountain side, and a hot river to bathe in. There were also hundreds of girl and boy scouts having some kind of retreat at the same time, offering endless fields of coloured tents and people walking around with rolled neck bands. We didn’t have to compete with them for a supply of nature and relaxation, but one day when we all ended up in a forest with instructions to try and hug a tree, literally, I was hoping some of them would walk by and see a bunch of grown, sober adults tree hugging and wondered what their reaction would be.

We did some other strange exercises, like trying to walk as slow as you can without stopping (you can go really slow!), or making one hand a fist be the sun and smashing it into the other open palm which represented the moon, but everything was more fun when we did it together. What I came away with from this retreat was to remember more often to bring out the inner child and just play – with myself, with nature with thoughts, and with feelings. It definitely makes you feel lighter.