R&R at the Art of Living Retreat Center
- Amin Esmaily
- Oct 8, 2023
- 9 min read
Updated: Dec 11, 2023
Recently, I took the opportunity to get some much-needed rest and rejuvenation at the Art of Living Retreat Center in Boone, North Carolina. It was a nice getaway and I wanted to share my experience in case you may be interested.
The Art of Living
I stumbled on the Art of Living after attending a talk and meditation with Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar at the Hobby Center in Houston in August of 2023. I didn't know what to expect when I got there but when I left, I felt calm and grounded. So I went home and dug more into the Art of Living Foundation.
The Art of Living Foundation is a global non-profit organization that was established in 1981 by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. Their vision is to cultivate a global society that seeks positive change and well-being for all people. Through their various programs, the Foundation has impacted the lives of millions in over 180 countries!
The Art of Living Retreat Center
Founded by the Art of Living Foundation, The Art of Living Retreat Center is nestled outside of Boone, North Carolina in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. The Retreat Center offers a variety of programs and activities for personal growth, wellness, and peace. For those interested, they provide a quiz on their website to help you identify which program may be best for you.
At the time of this article, some of the programs and activities offered include:
Happiness Retreat: Teaches you how to reduce stress and enhance your well-being through a powerful breathing meditation technique called Sudarshan Kriya Yoga or SKY.
Meditation Retreat: Teaches you how to calm the mind and live in the present moment through meditation.
Silent Retreat: A more structured program that combines the Happiness Retreat with several days of silent contemplation.
R&R Retreat: Self-care programs that let you customize your own retreat with activities like yoga, meditation, spa treatments, nature walks, pottery classes, and more.
Ayurveda Wellness Escapes: Combines Ayurveda with spa treatments, yoga, meditation, and healthy cuisine to rejuvenate your body, mind, and spirit.
Guest Presenters: Featured events with renowned speakers, teachers, authors, and experts who share their wisdom and insights on various topics such as spirituality, health, creativity, and more.
Included in the cost of each program are your accommodations and meals. There are various accommodation options depending on your budget, but all are simple, comfortable, and clean. You are provided with 3 delicious and nutritious vegetarian meals that utilize local, seasonal ingredients.
My R&R Retreat Experience
Pre-Retreat Adventures
For my first Art of Living experience, I signed up to do the R&R Retreat because what I needed most was some rest and rejuvenation.
I booked an early flight from Houston to Charlotte. Having reserved my rental car ahead of time (highly recommend), I drove roughly 2 hours to Boone. While the drive was quite long, the scenery was beautiful as there were massive trees lining the highway for nearly the entire trip.
I arrived in Boone around 1:30 PM. Check-in was not until 4 PM so I decided to stop by the Wild Craft Eatery to grab some lunch. The restaurant had a very cozy feel to it and I appreciated the covered patio that allowed me to enjoy the beautiful weather while I ate. The food was delicious, and the staff was very friendly. Highly recommend giving it a try if you're in town!
Arrival
After lunch, I headed straight for the Art of Living Retreat Center, which was only about a 20-minute drive downtown Boone. It was a beautiful drive through the forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Once I checked-in, I headed to my room to put up my stuff and look over the schedule for the weekend. The Retreat Center has different buildings that one can be housed in. It just depends on which type of accommodation you chose when booking your retreat. I chose the Private Hotel room option but as you can see below, there are lots of options.
Looking over the schedule, there was no lack of activities to take part in. What's great about the R&R Retreat is that you don't have to attend all of these sessions (or any of them for that matter). Unlike other retreats that are more structured and progress with each session/activity, the R&R Retreat allows you the flexibility to attend what you wish.
While waiting for dinner service, I decided to take a stroll through the grounds. There is a very small garden and reflection pond near the Spa building, which is where I was housed for the weekend. I was lucky to catch some deer grazing as I walked up to the garden entrance.
After a quick stroll, I walked to dinner service, which was located in the massive Dining Hall near the reception, about 0.5 miles from my accommodation. While you do have the option to take a shuttle, the weather was too beautiful not to walk.
As I mentioned before, the Retreat Center only serves vegetarian meals. Let me tell you, the food did not disappoint! It was absolutely delicious! The ingredients were fresh, local, and seasonal. The dining experience was cafeteria style, where you grab your tray, plates, and silverware then proceed to serving yourself from the buffet of food. The menu was listed at each meal service so you knew what was being served. I tried everything that was offered and can honestly say that there was nothing I didn't like. It was all hearty, wholesome, and tasty!
After dinner, there was a meditative chant held around a bonfire! The chanting was more like singing and it was all in Sanskrit. Everyone was given a music sheet with the lyrics to the various songs/chants as well as the option to play an instrument. Before each song/chant, the lead vocalist of the group went over how to say each word. Afterwards, he/she started by chanting the first line once and the rest of the group would repeat it. And this would continue over and over again.
At first, I found it a bit weird to chant in a language that I was not familiar with. But as time went on, I realized that it was actually quite soothing and peaceful. The fact that everyone in the group was doing it, regardless of how terrible they sounded, definitely made things less intimidating. So, I came out of my little shell and sang along. Playing the instrument (I had a tambourine) while chanting made it more fun and allowed me to get into the rhythm of the chants. In the end, I really enjoyed the experience and would end up doing it again the last night of the retreat!
Day 1
The next morning, I woke up a bit early to hike around. While the Retreat Center offers several hiking trails, I found them difficult to navigate as they were not well maintained. As such, parts of the trails led into some tall greenery, which was concerning for ticks. While I didn't come prepared for that, I checked myself as thoroughly as I could after hiking.
After my hike, I wandered over to the Main Meditation Hall to catch the sunset. While I never ventured inside the hall (all of my meditation sessions were held somewhere else), the exterior was beautiful!
The September mornings proved to be a tad bit chilly, but the surrounding area was too beautiful not to sit on the patio of the Dining Hall during my meals. Throughout the weekend, I was often the first person at breakfast, which started at 7:30 AM. This gave me the opportunity to enjoy the breathtaking scenery all by myself. What a way to start the morning!
After breakfast, I attended 2 educational sessions on Ayurveda, 2 guided meditations, and a yoga class. As I said before, the R&R Retreat is flexible in that you don't have to attend all of the sessions if you don't want to. But they all seemed so interesting to me and being my first retreat, I didn't want to miss out. I figured if I came back for future retreats, I could be more selective in what I chose to attend.
The Ayurveda classes were so interesting and eye-opening for me. They offered a completely new perspective on health and nutrition that I had never encountered before. Among other things, I discovered my Prakruti or dosha composition. In short, there are 3 primary doshas (Vata, Pitta, and Kapha), which are all composed of different ratios of the 5 universal elements (Fire, Earth, Water, Space, and Air). I am a Pitta, which is characterized by the following traits:
Medium, muscular body frame (between girthy and skinny)
Higher metabolism
Intellectual mind
Success-oriented
Natural leader
Impatient
Irritable
Rational
Critical and discerning
Knowing your Prakruti can help you frame your life to best align with your natural self. This includes everything from the food you eat and climate you live in to the color of clothing you wear. It can also help you understand what can throw you into an imbalance (or Vikruti) and ways to combat that. I will dedicate a separate post to all of this as there is so much to unpack. But in the meantime, I will leave you with a quiz to help you identify your Prakruti.
A few of notes about this quiz: 1) when taking the quiz, answer the questions based on your entire life experience, not just how you live or who you are currently, 2) answer the questions based on who/how you really are, not who/how you want to become, and 3) while most people will have just 1 primary dosha, it is possible to have 2 or all 3.
In addition to the Ayurveda classes, I attended 2 guided meditation sessions. They were so relaxing and soothing, but it was difficult to completely give into the practice at first as my mind is usually racing with thoughts and to-do lists. However, the guidance provided by the instructors was helpful in getting me to relax and be present.
Lastly, the yoga session was nice, but it wasn't anything different than what I had experienced in yoga studios back home. I was hoping the yoga sessions here would be more traditional in the sense that it would incorporate a spiritual practice as opposed to just physical movements, but unfortunately that wasn't the case.
Day 2
This day followed a very similar format to the day before: I attended an educational Ayurveda session, 2 guided meditations, and a yoga class. I also attended an Ayurveda cooking demo where I learned how to cook Khichdi and gained insight on the beneficial effects of various herbs and spices. Unfortunately, the cooking class was not hands-on. It was simply watching the cook prepare the food; however, she was very knowledgeable and entertaining.
After dinner, there was supposed to be another meditative chant around the bonfire but because it was raining outside, the chanting was held indoors.
Day 3
On my final day, I attended a class called Discovering Your Soul's Purpose. During the class, we went through an exercise called the Dharma Blueprint to discover what our life's calling. While it was a bit difficult to fully concentrate on the exercise in the classroom, I found, to my surprise, that I was actively pursuing my calling through the creation of my website and blog. Similar to Ayurveda, there is a lot to unpack but if you want to get a start on your very own Dharma Blueprint, I suggest visiting Sahara Rose's blog.
Parting Thoughts
I really enjoyed my time at the Art of Living Retreat Center. It was a nice getaway from the hustle and bustle of daily life. As weird as it may sound, life was just different while I was there... in a good way. Things that worried me at home seemed so insignificant. I was able to slow down my thoughts and be in the moment. I wrote in my journal A LOT and reflected on some important questions that I had been avoiding. The staff and attendees alike were so warm, friendly, and kind. It really was like a model of what our society could be and that gave me a lot of hope.
In writing this blog post weeks after returning, I noticed that I quickly got back into some of the old habits I engaged in before the retreat, like overthinking, worrying, rushing, etc. But I'm definitely more aware of it now and can take a pause in the midst of it all to slow down the momentum. I also start and end my days with meditation, usually aiming for 20 minutes but sometimes only being able to do 10 minutes. And lastly, I'm slowly starting to incorporate some Ayurvedic practices into my life.
Overall, I would highly recommend this retreat to anyone willing to go into it with an open mind. It's not a glamorous, chic, all-inclusive resort-type place so if that's what you're looking for, the Art of Living Retreat Center isn't for you. But if you're looking for a getaway where you will be treated warmly by the staff, provided with clean yet basic accommodations and delicious meals, and learn practices that you can take home with you, particularly related to meditation, I believe the Art of Living Retreat Center is a good investment. Personally, I plan to go back for the Happiness Retreat sometime in 2024.
With gratitude,
Amin
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