Yoga and Rafting!

Rio Chama Wild And Scenic 3-Day YOGA River Trip

Come experience practicing yoga on a river journey through a serenely spectacular wilderness river canyon. The 25-mile Rio Chama begins as a mountain stream rushing through tall pines and ends in a multi colored desert sandstone canyon after passing through several geologic eras along the way.  Lovely, wooded campsites and lively, but easy rapids make the Chama one of the most enjoyable river outings anywhere.  Delicious, healthy multi-course meals prepared riverside and daily yoga sessions on this trip make it a truly rejuvenating experience from the inside out.  Soothe the senses with the changing beauty and sounds of the river canyon as we raft down through geological time.  Participants may ride on the rafts with the river guides for a more leisurely experience or the more adventurous can paddle their own funyaks for a more exciting excursion. We provide all the camping and river equipment that’s needed.

Our yoga sessions are designed to balance the body and quiet the mind.  We work all the major muscle groups with an awareness of the breath making us feel better by nourishing the body, mind, and spirit.

Yoga sessions are lead by Monica Martin, a Certified Yoga Instructor with 5 years of teaching experience.  She completed a Certificate in Holistic Health and the Healing Arts this spring and is currently working towards Certification in Yoga Therapy.  For more information about Monica and other Yoga adventures visit www.omhatha.com.

DATES: July 27-29. Other dates possible for groups of four or more.

COSTS: $600 per person, with a 50% advance deposit required. Plus NM sales tax. Organized groups of 12 or more are always welcome and will receive a group discount. Please contact us if you would like assistance in organizing your group

SAMPLE ITINERARY:

     Day 1, our (1-1/2 hr.) shuttle to the put-in features vistas of the craggy peaks of the San Juan Mountains, the massive Brazos Cliffs-over 3000 vertical feet high, and the village of Tierra Amarilla, the center of Reies Tijerina's land grant revolt of the l960's. Our launch point is at El Vado Ranch, a rustic, riverside fishing resort. Our first yoga session will be on the lawn beside the river while our guides prepare the rafts for the journey. The Chama River immediately whisks us away through a series of swift riffles and into the evergreen-lined canyon. We will do a brief standing series on our lunch stop near a historic homestead and hot springs. Next we enter Chama Canyon Wilderness and negotiate Aragon Rapids (Class II). Our camp is on an old high-water bench, under shelter of ponderosa pines and douglas firs. Here we will have our last Yoga session of the day to the sounds of the river and forest.

     Day 2 enjoy a very leisurely morning beginning with yoga followed by a hearty, hot breakfast. Hike up one of the numerous side canyons to see dinosaur tracks or to the top of Navajo Peak for a spectacular vista. We will arrive at camp early for an afternoon yoga practice and camp time.

     Day 3, we will continue the rhythm of a pre-breakfast yoga session, a brief standing series over lunch, and closing yoga session at the end of our trip.  This last day we encounter some longer, steeper rapids and multi-hued sandstone cliffs up to 1000' high. Emerging from the canyon wilderness area, we observe a quiet zone as we pass the Christ in the Desert Monastery. Now begins the lively whitewater run, Class II and III rapids alternate with long calm stretches that allow spectacular views of the rainbow cliffs that captivated Georgia O’Keefe.