Our adventure routine

So, in the Icelandic countryside town of Reykholt for 3 full days, we did more or less the same routine of mindful adventure each one of them.  

7:30am--wake up and meditate together for 30 min.

8-10:00am-- free time for breakfast (choice of hardboiled eggs, toast, jams, cheeses, skyr with cereal, waffles, fruit, yumminess) and time for use of the wellness rooms (hello massage chair!) or a soak in the hot pots

10:30am-11:45 or noon-- Vinyasa Yoga practice.  We practiced in a larger hotel room with wooden floors and nice view out to the old cemetary/church and mountains.  And the last day we had a very special practice on the 3rd floor of the separate school building.  It was full of windows looking out into the fields, the mountains, the horses, the glaciers, the light.  And it had cozy meditation cushions, buddhas, and a great energy.  

Each of our practices were different, per my usual style.  The moon was in Aries and then Taurus, so we did a bold Prana Flow on Monday.  Tuesday, we honored the goddess Idunn, for rejuvenation, innocence & beauty and we started our inversion work.  Wednesday was for the Norse god, Odin, who rules wisdom, courage, poetry.  It was a special practice, as it was our last one in Reykholt.  Everyone was beginning to make breakthroughs, both mentally and physically.  Beautiful.

12-2:00pm--open time for yourself and for lunch

2:00-sometime around 6 or 7pm--adventure excursion of the day (post about these to come next!)

7:30/8:00pm--Dinner.  We always gathered in the dining room at the same table.  Usually we had a different waiter each night, but they were always cheery and delightful.  The chef on staff did the most amazing job at creating delicious vegetarian meals for us all.  Homemade bread with creamy Icelandic butter was always a favorite to us hungry yoginis and yogis after a long day.   On our last night we had the option to choose fresh arctic char, which was absolutely splendid in every bite.  

After dinner time--

Sometimes we'd soak in the hot pots, sometimes use the wellness rooms, but we always had something going on...

Our 2nd night there, the hotel manager, Haukur, gave us the most interesting presentation about the history of mythology and the hidden people of Iceland.  He was the most brilliant speaker/performer and engaging storyteller.  On the 3rd night, we ended up chatting for a long time with local people and the staff (mostly Oskar and Daniel).  It was great to ask questions and they didn't mind answering our curious minds about their culture and people.  A really fun bunch!  Our last night there, Oskar gave us many a riddle during and after dinner to try to figure out.  Lots of laughter!  Later, around 11:00pm, we all went with him to the yoga room to do a session of AcroYoga.  Ben (our SolYoga Trip organizer) taught us some basics and we tested them out for a half hour or so.  My partner, David, and I were able to take turns holding eachother up and "flying" in different asana positions.  Such fun to practice trusting yourself and the person you're working with.  It brought a lightness to our last night in the countryside that we all needed to feel.  

So, the days were long and full.  We all dealt with various soreness and tiredness, but the energy from the land and our excursions made up for it and kept us going, going for those 4 days.  None of us had experienced the 21 or so hours of daylight before.  It made us want to stay up late chatting or yoga-ing.  I guess tiring ourselves out helped us sleep better with the light streaming into the room.  

It was a time for laughter, solidarity, personal goals, serious stillness, overcoming fears and working through them, quirky conversations, openness, magic, belief in oneself, and change.