'Yee-haws' and 'Namaste' at Cowgirl Yoga

By Travel Writers

July 21, 2018 5 min read

By Nicola Bridges

As I stretch through sun salutations under the high, arched eaves of a beautifully renovated Dutch barn, my gaze lingers through the open hay door on the majestic Montana mountains silhouetted against an early morning big, blue sky. A double rainbow after a sudden heavy shower is about to burst through. I'm feeling relaxed and centered to my soul, thinking of chakras and horses as I bow for downward dog and feel the flow of my favorite worlds coming together.

I'm at LUXE Cowgirl Yoga, Big Sky Yoga Retreats' flagship women's weekend in the nurturing meadows of the Double T River Ranch in Clyde Park, Montana — a ranch retreat unlike any I've experienced, full of vinyasa, hatha and horses, delicious chef-prepared organic food and plenty of flowing wine.

While expectations are that we'll enjoy the offerings, get in some good trail-riding, greet the dawn and kiss the sunset goodnight on our yoga mats, the weekend turns into so much more. Over the next four days, 10 of us (including a special-needs teacher, stay-at-home moms, executives, entrepreneurs and a housewife who has flown in from France) synch easily into a sisterhood.

It's just how Big Sky Yoga Retreats owner Margaret Burns Vap always intended. "Besides what we offer being what I personally love to do — horses, yoga, good food and getting outdoors — I love that we provide an environment for women to feel a sense of freedom and take time to focus on regaining their sense of self," she says with a serene, knowing smile. "It's challenging because we're more likely to put others first rather than ourselves and feel guilty about taking time out.

"But in only a few days on retreat, women blossom from the discovery that 'If I take good care of myself, then I'm better able to care for everything in my life.' It's an epiphany that has to occur by something shifting inside. Our retreats provide the catalyst, and it's an honor to watch it happen almost every time."

On the first morning I witness the specific catalytic moment that brings us together as friends, not just fellow guests. Before splitting into three groups rotating each day through a casual schedule of yoga, trailing the pastures and free time to read in the ranch teepee, hike or just hang, we're all at the corral getting to the know the horses. Instead of matching us by height, weight and ability, wranglers Molly and Henry Glenn stand back while Burns Vap encourages us to stand still and "just be" and see which horse approaches us.

From hesitant first-time riders to confident equestrians, it's an emotional exercise as the horses mill and sniff around us, eyeing us and in some cases strolling straight up, determinedly picking us out of the human pack. It's a perfect and special moment, and we silently let it take its natural time. But far from feeling like the beginning of a self-improvement weekend, this natural matching creates the foundation for a fun, relaxing and — for me — reflective time.

Burns Vap has given us a horse-themed journaling exercise to ponder over the weekend, with no expectations other than it's cool and insightful about how horses behave in their herd and how we can relate to ours. Some of us overshare and others silently ponder as the morning group arrives back from a rainbow- and rain-sprinkled ride on our last day, animated at spotting elk and a bear.

Done with morning yoga, I pull on my cowboy boots and head to saddle up and hit the trails, traversing the meadows and woods along the Gallatin River, listening to wrangler Henry's cowboy raconteuring about local Civil War history and how this land an hour from Bozeman was originally settled.

As I stroll by the pond where we laughingly tried our hand at fly-fishing over bottles of Burgundy the night before, another rainbow rides the sky, and this yoga-practicing cowgirl could not feel more content.

WHEN YOU GO

For more information:www.bigskyyogaretreats.com, 406-219-7685

LUXE Cowgirl Yoga Retreats are held annually in Montana, Costa Rica and Patagonia, including Cowgirls vs. Cancer, a scholarship retreat for nominated cancer survivors. Add days to your stay with a Cowgirl Yogini discount at The Lark, Bozeman, a relaxed, metro-modern hotel in downtown Bozeman. Here you'll be close to 20 blocks of fishing and ranch outfitters, trendy breweries and delightful cocktails at eclectic eateries, including Plonk. Ask for their signature cocktail, the GFC, and take guesses what it stands for.

Nicola Bridges is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Like it? Share it!

  • 0

Travel and Adventure
About Travel Writers
Read More | RSS | Subscribe

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...