Every day started with morning meditations while it was still dark, and by the time you finish the meditation and open the eyes you see the beautiful sunrise from the yoga shala located at the top level of the property. I am definitely not a morning person, but this experience made me get up early everyday!
The asana classes in were mostly led by a lovely Indian woman called Daya, and sometimes a really cool guy called Om (yes, that’s his name!). They’re both really sweet people; always helpful and with a lot of experience. My previous yoga experience was limited to attending some yoga classes back home, but here I realised what I had been missing out on… The yoga philosophy classes were very helpful&interesting, and the teachers made it all so simple and understandable. And at Swan I felt like teaching is not just happening in the classes but basically anywhere… Like over dinner, at the juice bar or the “fake beach”, there could be a spontaneous discussion about some really deep spiritual topic. So cool.
I really loved how they are all deeply rooted in tradition and yet free spirits embracing all the joys of life guilt free…
And I have to mention one other thing I will never forget: the fire ceremonies they had every saturday and sunday evening were really something magical! This was one of the reasons I chose Swan, because I think they would be the only retreat offering something of this kind in Goa. I later realised that they’re free for everyone who wants to join, so people came from other yoga retreats as well (like Purple Valley, which is just down the road). These ceremonies are really worth joining, they were so special my mind was totally calm after the chanting of the mantras, and I experienced a sense of deep relaxation within.
Anyways, I could go on and on abut my experiences here at Swan yoga retreat, but to keep it short, I can only say… I felt really safe as a woman travelling on my own, the yoga was of excellent quality (probably the best I have experienced so far), the food was just amazing (a good balance of tastes and variety), and the juice bar was also great as you could just chill out there and have some fresh juices or coconut water whenever you want. The accomodation is also nice, I was on a decent budget and wanted to pamper myself so I opted for a deluxe hut which was really good value for money, the location was also really amazing as it was on the top level of the property, where I could look down at the whole retreat.
All in all, the atmosphere of the whole place is just great.

Thank you Swan for everything… I will be back.