Montana Treasures
Big Sky Yoga Retreats
By Elsie Johnson
September 2007
Located at Big Sky in Southwestern Montana, Big Sky Yoga Retreats’ magic begins even before entering the Big EZ Lodge. The road to Big Sky surrounds you with folds and ripples of land like gatherings on the skirt of Mother Nature bringing you into her fold to rest and refresh. Ascending the mountain brings you to a place of new beginnings. Big Sky Yoga Retreats founded by Margaret Burns Vap is located at the Big EZ Lodge at Big Sky Ski Resort in the Madison mountain range just north of Yellowstone Park. The varied experiences of a retreat week that refuel and refresh you, are tools you can integrate into your everyday life improving your health and wellbeing.
Margaret Burns Vap is no stranger to bringing about new beginnings. Her own new beginnings range from the business of bringing the benefits of Yoga to people, the places her life has brought her, and how she became a Montana Woman. Margaret recognized yoga’s benefits to body and mind when she took part in Yoga classes while working in New York City. She combined her business acumen and passion for yoga when she created Georgetown Yoga in Washington DC. In addition to her BS and MBA and travels abroad, Margaret studied Yoga and teaching of Yoga with renowned yoga teachers and is a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance. While living and working on the East Coast, Margaret met her husband, a Montana Man (raised in Missoula). As their family grew to include daughter, Morgane Sienna, she brought about new beginnings for herself and every retreat participant with the move to Montana and the creation of Big Sky Yoga Retreats.
I traveled to Big Sky Yoga Retreats to meet Margaret and have a sample of a Big Sky Yoga Retreat. The focus on slowing down and transforming began with the ascent up the mountain, rising to panoramic views. The Big EZ is a simple set of buildings connected to each other and fit into the mountain as if a part of it. Inside is quiet with a different view from whichever vantage point you choose to stand or sit – sky, mountainside, flowers; with this setting another facet of my being puts me in perspective with these restorative views.
Margaret’s skill at opening our bodies and minds to our restorative potential began with assuming a basic sitting posture. When my efforts to assume the Yoga sitting position she modeled proved uncomfortable for my body, I experienced first hand that at the Big Sky Yoga Retreat, customizing to the specifics of each person’s body, with communication and clarification about what we were doing is an important part of each session. This single sample session showed me that this get-away holiday provides a catalyst for self-discovery about both my body and mind. I learned that a retreat week works on techniques on how to integrate yoga in daily life with less effort. Two daily Yoga practices take advantage of our natural rhythms – the energetic vigorous morning and restorative relaxing afternoon. We have group and individual discussion of personal goals so to evolve to a new level. Given the spectacular setting, we have a choice of hiking or horseback riding, or river rafting. Evening get-togethers bring reflection of self discovery and group connectivity.
After our Yoga session, it was time for lunch. A Big Sky Yoga Retreat lunch is not just any lunch. Native Montanan Chef Peterson classically trained at the New York Culinary Institute and in France, has come full circle returning to Montana with his wife and two children as head chef. Eating healthy doe not have to mean eating sparsely. We chose charred salmon over fresh salad greens from lunch entrees from the local produce and wild game specialties. The cup of sweet potato soup and salad were perfect for our leisurely lunch.
This beautiful outdoor setting that makes space for your spirit, currently offers sessions this Fall and Winter. Big Sky Yoga Retreat combines the benefits of healthy living with Yoga and gourmet fare to expand your limits, transform body and mind, and a place and time to strengthen and relax. These offerings remind me of a phrase Yoga Works’ Julie Kleinman who co-teaches at Big Sky Yoga Retreat says: “…being a yogic gourmand who delights in many tastes, styles, and approaches.” Her quote refers to the best for you is what works for you as your grow. In terms of ‘yogic gourmand’ it can be said that the Big Sky Yoga Retreat is an epicurean delight from which one can take new beginnings to integrate into our every day life.