Suryalila

Tucked away in the rolling hills of Andalusia, about an hour North of Gibraltar and an hour South of Seville, sits a little piece of paradise – Suryalila Retreat Centre. Suryalila is like no place I have ever been before. Removed from the rest of the world and in many ways self-sustaining, Suryalila is an ideal setting for Yoga Teacher Training, or just a retreat from the outside world.

Nestled on the grounds of a former olive plantation, Suryalila is blessed with sunshine and warm weather for most of the year, with temperatures ranging from moderate and slightly rainy in the winter to long hot and sunny summer days. The name ‘Suryalila’ actually refers to the Sun – Surya is the name of an ancient Hindu sun god and ‘lila’ means cosmic play. So the meaning of Suryalila is something along the lines of ‘cosmic play of the sun’. This beautiful, temperate climate makes Suryalila an ideal place for growing much of the fruit and vegetables it serves to it’s guests, in addition to keeping the goats, horses, donkeys and chickens that live on the property grounds very happy and healthy. The founder of Suryalila is a spectacular woman, teacher, yogi and guru named Vidya Jacqueline Heisel, who is every bit as impressive as her beautiful Suryalila.

Wanderlusters, yogi’s, travellers, meditators, nature lovers and peace and solitude seekers of all types are drawn to Suryalila from all corners of the globe – and it’s no wonder why. The warm and welcoming doors of Suryalila are open to just about everyone (provided they aren’t fully booked!). The staff at Suryalila are almost 100% volunteer staff who work there in exchange for accommodation, food and yoga (there are also a notable few with masseuse qualifications who help out in the spa). Some only stay for a few weeks, others for months or whole seasons. It is a truly amazing place to disappear to and enjoy some solitude and incredibly healthy living for a while, so it is a wonderful place for travellers to come and stay or work at for a while.

I was drawn to Suryalila after countless hours of research over where I should do my yoga teacher training. I debated numerous locations and options, but after Suryalila popped up in a google search, I knew very quickly, and for a multitude of reasons, that that was where I needed to do my training.

When I first arrived at Suryalila, one of the first things that took my breath away was the view – in every direction, as far as I could see, there were beautiful rolling hills. Some were farmed with rows of crops, others were carpeted with tall long green and yellow grass, and on one of the hills nearby I could see the ruins of what looked like an old monastery. The view was like a 360 degree painting, wrapped around Suryalila – it was absolutely breath-taking.

After arriving and being given a tour of the main building, I was next drawn to the dining hall. Not only was it beautiful – rustic and Mediterranean in style with high ceilings and wooden beams, but it also smelled absolutely delicious. The team of cooks working away in the kitchen I was told had come from all around the world, and everything they prepared was completely vegetarian. I can honestly say that in my 3 weeks at Suryalila, I have never eaten so much delicious vegetarian food. I wish I could have taken a cookbook home with me (something I suggested before I left). Every night was another amazing vegetarian feast I could never have dreamed up – and usually they were themed or regionally inspired. The Italian and Mexican nights were always my favourite but I honestly had a hard time not over eating just about every night. Most of these meals were complete with delicious and even somewhat guilt-free desserts as well – and with lots of vegan and gluten free dishes offered. And the delectable meals to look forward to were not just for dinner, it was for 3 meals a day. Breakfast included a variety of porridges, more fruit than you could possibly imagine, heaping baskets of freshly baked breads (including gluten free), Suryalila’s own home made spreads – jams, butter, almond butter and peanut butter, yoghurts, nuts, cheeses and occasionally eggs from the chickens roaming the property. Every meal was something to look forward to – and in fact mealtime was how my fellow yoga teacher trainees and myself all ended up planning our days. We would schedule meetings and study groups to revolve around our meals.

The main house at Suryalila has a very warm Mediterranean feel to it. Terracotta tiles, wooden beams, hand-painted decorative Spanish tiles in the bathrooms, colourful quilts and bedspreads on all of the beds. Not a single detail has been overlooked – including a beautiful salt water pool just outside the main house. The furniture throughout much of the property, from the beds in all of the rooms to the dining tables and chairs in the dining hall, is made of a heavy, distressed looking wood that I later learned is mostly from Bali. Vidya, Suryalila’s founder, has spent much of her career in both India and Bali, training and teaching yoga. In Bali she fell in love with the architecture and craftsmanship of the region and much of the furniture in Suryalila as a result, is furniture she has had handcrafted and shipped from Bali, specifically for Suryalila. Part of my heart will also forever belong to Bali so learning this detail about Suryalila particularly resonated with me.

Accommodation for guests is scattered all around the property. There are several wings and dorms connected to the main house, all with the names of different Hindu and Buddhist gods – Casa Govinda, Casa Kali and Casa Ganesha are just a few of the names of the rooms scattered around Suryalila. Accommodation choices range from deluxe single rooms with en-suite bathrooms, to 8-person dorms, bell tents or even a yurt. The single rooms, sharing rooms and dorms are all incredibly charming and warm with strong feng shui (something that is very important to Vidya). They all have terracotta tiled floors, high ceilings with wooden beams, and very comfortable bathrooms and showers. Further afield on the property are the bell tents, which are the definition of glamping. Guests in the bell tents sleep on beds, have electricity in their tents for lights and fans, carpets on the floor and even dressers to unpack their clothing into. The bell tents are all made of a thick waterproof canvas and are situated just next to the very impressive outdoor showers and toilets – definitely nicer than any place I’ve ever camped before. The yurt that sits amongst the tents outside is also furnished to a very high standard – complete with a skylight and wood burning stove.

The Om Dome, by far the most amazing yoga hall I have ever set foot into, is like something from a dream. And after I had been there for a few weeks, I learned that that is exactly what the Om Dome is: the manifestation of one of Vidya’s greatest dreams. She practiced Envision Yoga and meditation and many more techniques which she used to help her manifest her great Om Dome. And it is truly a sight to see. Walking into it for the first time I remember how it literally took my breath away. My jaw fell open and an “oh my God” fell out. The dome itself is a massive sphere, built onto one of the hills just behind the main Suryalila house, but the most impressive part about it is that the back of it is open air, covered with a screen for most of the year and a plastic cover in the winter. It faces East, so every day we would meet before sunrise in the darkness of the dome and meditate. Then, after meditation, we would start our yoga training and as we would start to warm up, so too would the sun as it would slide over the horizon painting the endless sky in front of us with a different masterpiece every morning. Every day we would see the sun rise (and set) in the most beautiful way – and every day we would think that day was the best we’d seen yet…until the next day.

The Om Dome is one of my favourite places in the world. I remember the night before my last critiqued teaching experience, I stayed up on my own in the dome until very late just practicing my sun salutations and looking out of the open side of the dome at the ocean of stars in the sky. I did very well on my last critiqued teaching session at Suryalila and I credit much of it with me having the Om Dome to myself the night before.

I stayed in one of the bell tents at Suryalila – something I highly recommend to anyone who goes there. It was incredibly comfortable and all of the tents are cleaned daily, just like all of the rooms and dorms. One of my favourite experiences from staying in the bell tents was on my second night at Suryalila, I woke up and realised I was out of water. I decided to venture to the big house to refill my water bottle. I remember stumbling, half asleep, putting on my flip flops, unzipping my tent and stepping outside – and being almost knocked over by the beauty of the sky there at night. High up on the hills with no light pollution I have never seen the stars so bright. Tripping towards the main house in semi darkness to fill up my water, I remember just stopping and staring at the stars in complete awe – and to complete the perfect moment, I saw a shooting star. I remember gasping and looking around in the hope that someone else was also up with me at 3am to see what I had just seen. The next day when I told everyone about my shooting star experience I was informed by one of the traveller staff members that it was apparently shooting star season. And as the nights went on and I saw more shooting stars, this fact was more than confirmed for me. The following week, waking up in the middle of the night to a full moon was equally, if not more, impressive. The moon was gigantic and lit up everything – I didn’t even need a torch to get to the main house.

Suryalila sits on the top of my list of places to chill out in the Mediterranean. If you can go there, you should. Everything about that place is magical.