This summer I discovered a new favorite place: Kripalu, a well-known yoga retreat in the beautiful Berkshires of western Massachusetts. I went with my mom, Jennifer, and Hayley for a weekend in June to celebrate Jen's 50th birthday (she's a part-time yoga teacher). It was my first time there and I was surprised by just how much I liked it and how much I want to go back. It was a peaceful respite and retreat from the world and from life (in that way, similar to the temple!).
To begin the weekend we met for lunch on Friday afternoon at The Red Lion Inn in Stockbridge. I've been there several times in the past and I love it there.
Then we visited a few shops, where I felt inspired to take a picture of just about every owl thing I saw. 🦉🧡
No owls here, just a pretty window display in my favorite shop in Stockbridge.
And then it was on to Kripalu, which was only a few minutes away. The scenery around it was gorgeous!
I could easily fall in love with the Berkshires.
After we checked in, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and explored some of the grounds and went for a walk through the woods to the lake.
This picture of Hayley setting up her phone's timer to take some group selfies reminds me of when she was a little girl.
The group selfie taken with the auto-timer on Hayley's phone came out hilarious. We all look tilted because of the angle at which the phone was placed! 😂
This one didn't quite work either. Oh well, we tried!
We made it to the lake! Group pictures usually come out better when a fellow human takes them. 😉
I loved the trail we took through the woods.
I did two yoga classes that weekend and would have done more, but we were doing one of the programs and that took most of our time. We did 30-minute meals with Jeremy Rock Smith, Kripalu's executive chef. He was a contestant on one of those cooking shows years ago and he has his own cookbook (which I got for Jennifer for her birthday last year!). He was really nice and fun, and he makes really delicious food, and I got some good recipes to try at home. I absolutely loved all of the food at Kripalu that weekend, including the food we cooked in class. I was very well-fed, and it was with nutritious and delicious food that made me feel comfortably full rather than heavily full.
This is some outdoor scenery from Saturday. It was a cool, cloudy, and slightly rainy day.
The main building.
We shared a room. I got the top bunk, which was fine except that it was tricky to get down from!
Packing up to go home on Sunday. 😕
I didn't take too many pictures that weekend because phone use is discouraged at Kripalu (breakfast is silent too!). It truly is a relaxing retreat from the world.
I'm already planning my next trip back!
