Yogasūtras Summer Immersion Greece 2025

Last week we held a special Yogasūtras Summer Immersion retreat in Greece. A group of 15 students, from the US, Canada, Greece, Australia, and the UK, all traveled to meet on the wonderful island of Aegina, at the Irides Luxury beach hotel. We teamed up with local Athens-based yoga teacher Evi Tassa, who has been studying Sanskrit and philosophy with us online for the past few years. 

The theme of the retreat was a deep study of the foundational Sanskrit text of Yoga philosophy, the Yogasūtras of Patañjali. Comprised of 195 short sūtras or “threads,” these dense aphorisms in cryptic Sanskrit offer a systematic theory of the psychology and nature of the mind, the cause of human suffering, and offer a series of yogic practices and tools to quiet and still the mind, develop highly concentrated levels of meditative absorption, and ultimately attain complete liberation and freedom from suffering. For over 1,500 years, this little Sanskrit text has inspired countless yogis, philosophers, theologians, poets, and more.

For six days we had the opportunity to chant the sūtras and contemplate their meaning, practice daily yoga and meditation, eat delicious vegetarian meals, swim in the Aegean sea, and connect and build community with a wonderful group of people. We also took a little field trip off campus to the local goddess temple dedicated to Aphaia, constructed over 2,000 years ago and whose architecture was an inspiration for the more famous Acropolis.