On our yoga and outdoor fitness retreats, I pay attention to what inspires women. Let me back that up: I notice what inspires me, and then offer it on our retreats. The last few months, I’ve watched horses, yoga, nature, the company of women, gourmet food, and dedicated time to nurture our wellbeing create magic results on our summer retreats. But there’s something else – creativity. When we are engaged and inspired, our creative abilities blossom. Each fall, we offer a retreat that I would go so far as to call a new travel genre: an active and creative vacation. It’s Cowgirl Yogatography.

I always search for the right words to describe the magic that happens on our retreats. We’ve been very fortunate to have our own Montana Yoga Photog, Larry, capture that magic in images. Sometimes his images take my breath away. What we didn’t expect on our first Cowgirl Yogatography a few years ago was how precisely he could share that gift with his students; our first Saturday night slideshow of their work brought many to tears, it was so exquisitely beautiful. The emotion behind each photo is startling. It’s not just a photo of a horse, in a beautiful place. Or of a Cowgirl Yogini in her element. It’s the horse human connection, it’s the epitome of wellbeing on fire.

It’s exciting and rewarding for us to see yoga, horses and Montana come together to create this alchemy. But when we take that a step further and put those experiencing that magic behind the camera lens…it’s simply stunning. It’s elevated creativity.

Watch this slideshow for a taste of Cowgirl Yogatography, and then plan to join us for yoga, horses and photography this fall. We’d love to see you let your creativity run wild and free in Montana. Yeehaw and Namaste.