Much of the yoga experience revolves around the power of observation. ‘Observe your breathing in, the way the air touches your left nostril, the way your chest rises’. During meal times, we would observe how certain tastes linger longer than others and the necessity of enjoying the bite you chew rather than groveling quickly for the next. Yoga is about hearing sounds in the room, those closest to you, and then others that hit the airwaves just outside your immediate surroundings.

It’s observation, and then the analysis thereof; because by being aware of what we process without thinking, we are suddenly in an empowered position. Empowered by consciously questioning the unconscious…that which we do without even realising; whether it be the way we eat a meal, or the fact that we talk out of a sense of obligation…not really meaning what we say.

The point of this lengthy introduction is that these tendencies to observe don’t just present themselves; rather they are developed, introduced. I’m my case, by Cheryl Lancellas, who ran a yoga retreat at the Blue Butterfly in Tulbagh between the 7^th and 10^th of December. Yoga included meditation, yoga asanas and pranayama.

Day one (the blueprint for all three days), we woke at 6am, drank warm herbal tea and began our first yoga session at 6: 30 until 8am, all this whilst keeping a vigil of silence until 9am. Only after breakfast were we able to speak our first words of the day. The silence was thought-provoking, weird at first but after the first day, necessary.

After breakfast we (being four in total) were left to read under trees, wander through apricot groves or sleep on the grass. At noon, we would gather again for yoga nidra, a mediatory half an hour where the main aim was to participate and not fall asleep. Lying horizontally on a thin yoga mat, a calm Hindi voice led us through this relaxation technique until every muscle; toe and even our tongues had consciously been relaxed.

Substantially aiding my ability to physically relax, were Cheryl’s healing hands, an hour’s massage, as she combined techniques from body conditioning, to what felt like physiotherapy. 

Finally lunch; pre-prepared by Cheryl, whose cooking flair coaxed out decadent flavours in our strictly vegan diet. Anticipating violent coffee withdrawals, my body seemed to accept the vegan way without pain or resistance, and three days later I wasn’t only supple and relaxed, but healthy.

After a daily vegetable drink at around 5: 30pm, all were ready for the final yoga class of the day, followed by dinner at twighlight.

To broaden the horizon beyond the edge of my plate and its contents, there was the valley of Tulbagh.  The Blue Butterfly is located on an apricot farm, close to the mountain range protecting the valley. You turn your back towards the mountains and the valley is expansive and lush, with wetlands just beyond the farm gate, and a stream at the end of a dusty road.

Remote and removed from home seems paramount to the idea that you can now unwind in peace, no phone calls and hopefully no emails or Facebook, as you persistently resist the urge to logon using your new Blackberry.  On this particular note, all present at the retreat were asked to keep their phones on silent, as the aim was to focus within ourselves, and deal with the ‘inner child’ as we retreated from the outside world, sound and bombardment of thought.  

I wouldn’t have considered myself a necessary candidate for three days of de-toxed-yoga, yet at the grand finale breakfast on day three I found myself rethinking lifestyle choices, stress ‘trigger points’ and whether my phone should permanently be on silent. Regarding diet, we had been exposed to a new way of controlling and combining foods, the point being to maintain some form of health on a permanent basis. A new perspective: relief.