Cape Men's Yoga annual retreat: 8 - 11 August 2019

Dear Yoga brothers,

This is to confirm that we will be having another Cape Men's Yoga retreat at our favourite venue in the Overberg, Western Cape, South Africa.

CMY is a voluntary group of yogis based in Cape Town. For 7 years we organised annual or biannual retreats. Our aim is to create a space for you to come and practice, be in a place of kindness and meet some very special people in a beautiful natural environment. 

This is again a Winter retreat in the southern hemisphere:  8-11 August 2019. This is over the long-weekend, so it should be easier for people to join for the whole of the Friday practice. We will again offer the option of coming a day earlier to start with quieter meditation and yoga time, and then a full programme beginning on Thursday 8 August. This in practice means you can come for 4 nights, 3 nights or just the Friday and Saturday nights.

The exact cost of the retreat depends on a number of factors, including how many men will attend, how many nights you want to stay, if you are sharing or wanting a single accommodation room. We are working on a figure of ZAR 2700 per person for 3 nights all costs included except the transportation. That is USD 200 or Euro 175 for those coming from overseas.

This is a winter retreat, so keep in mind it is going to be cool, perhaps cold, and often wet. We do our best to keep the practice room at a good temperature but this is not a fancy yoga venue, it is an eco-farm, and you will be fine, just remember to bring warm things and a blanket. Winter also means that the beautiful Cape fynbos is in full bloom. The mountains are covered with beautiful proteas, leucodendrons, leucospermums and other wild flowers including gladioli. It is a paradise.

For local men, we recommend you bring a blanket, boots, your own mat and so forth. If you are coming down from Gauteng for from overseas we have extra mats and blankets for you.

We normally have been 5 and 7 qualified yoga instructors. It is a naked men's yoga practice, supported by a series of other activities, including mountain hikes, art and creativity projects, meditation, sometimes songs, poems, working with flowers, all sorts of things. It is a time of spiritual attention, of putting down your daily life and making some time for your inner self in a supportive, non-judgemental and kind environment with fellow men.

Styles are very mixed in the retreat and include: yin yoga, vinyasa flow, ashtanga, hatha, some pilates thrown in, and usually some partner or acro-yoga for fun. 


Venue and catering
It is fully vegetarian catering. We can accommodate special diets including no gluten, fully vegan or raw food. We are aiming at detox while at the same time there is plenty of food and for the non-vegetarians, you'll be fine. The food has always been a great hit during our retreats.

We can accommodate a maximum of 21 men. If we have everyone sharing we can go up to about 24. We regret we cannot take complete beginners. It is just too intense for your body. You do not need to be super fit, but you need to know what you are doing with basic yoga and be following a reasonable practice so that you have the foundation to work with. If you are in Cape Town, we evidently recommend you go to the weekly classes on Sundays in Claremont.

Some guys come with a yoga background and yet have never done naked yoga. That is cool, just dive right on in! We've all had our first time dropping our shorts in a class full of men. It is more fun than it sounds and you'll be welcome, whatever your body time, age, or self-image. Just be yourself.

Deposit and contact
We are calling for deposits now until 30 May 2019. This will secure your room and place at the retreat. The balance will be due during the month of June. Everything has to be settled by the end of June as we need to pay for the catering. The deposit is in principle not refundable but if there is really a major problem we can discuss it.

The deposit is R400 per person, followed by the balance.

It is easiest to communicate via email, so contact us on:
capemensyoga (@) gmail.com

You can also whatsapp on +27 (0)82 579 6868.