Casa Santosha — Andalusia, 2017
A story of mountains, movement, and contentment.
There are retreats that feel like events.
And there are retreats that feel like a memory the moment you arrive.
Santosha in Andalusia was the second kind.
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We were tucked high in the hills near Comares, surrounded completely by rolling Andalusian mountains — soft, golden, endless. Our house was a converted farmhouse, simple and beautiful, wrapped in olive trees, avocado trees, almond trees. The air carried warmth and stillness at the same time.
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And the group… oh, the group.
A beautiful mix of souls — some travelling from London, some flying in from Canada, others arriving from different corners of the world. Different accents, different lives, one shared intention: to pause.
From the first evening, something softened.
Mornings on the Terrace
Every morning, we stepped onto the terrace.
The view was vast — uninterrupted mountains layered into the horizon. The light was already warm. The world felt open.
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We unrolled our mats overlooking Andalusia and moved slowly into the day. Breath by breath. Sun on skin. A gentle flow that met each body exactly where it was.
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There was something special about practicing outside — the breeze moving through the trees, birds in the distance, the quiet hum of nature holding us.
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It wasn’t performative yoga.
It was real yoga.
Honest, grounded, connected.
Long Conversations & Open Windows
Meals were never rushed.
Where we ate, there were wide open windows framing the mountains like living paintings. We would sit together — sometimes laughing, sometimes reflecting, sometimes simply enjoying the quiet comfort of shared presence.
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Brunch after morning practice.
Long dinners in the evening.
Tea and small moments in between.
There is something that happens when strangers eat together in the mountains.
They stop being strangers.
Exploring & Wandering
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We wandered through Comares, the whitewashed village perched dramatically above the valleys. Narrow streets. History in the walls. Views that made you stop mid-sentence.
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We visited Torre del Mar. Some chose beach time, feeling the Mediterranean on their skin. Others explored the local market.
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But what I remember most isn’t the itinerary.
It’s the feeling.
The Feeling
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By the second day, there was a softness between everyone.
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New friendships forming. The friendships formed on this retreat are lasting till today, 9 years later.
Conversations about life transitions.
Shared meditations.
Shared silence.
We practiced yoga overlooking mountains in the morning.
We practiced in the cool studio in the afternoon.
We meditated.
We rested.
We simply were.
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Santosha means contentment.
And that’s exactly what it felt like.
Not dramatic transformation.
Not intensity.
Just that quiet inner exhale of:
“I am enough right here.”
