Yoga, Self-Inquiry and Meditation Retreat
An eight-day inquiry-led retreat above Lake Atitlán, distinctive for treating emotional intelligence as the foundation of meditation rather than an afterthought. The premise: when the emotional world is no longer at war with itself, the heart opens and the body softens — so the work is less about silencing the mind than learning to listen to and understand it. The days are structured around self-inquiry — investigating a set of pointed questions by directly witnessing their answers in the body, without leaning on prior knowledge or belief. The framing is refreshingly unsentimental, naming things like "self-improvement as a form of self-inflicted violence" and spiritual bypassing as a false neutrality that deadens genuine feeling. Sitting meditation is balanced with daily morning and afternoon yoga, hiking, and stillness. The setting is Kawoq Forest (formerly the Yoga Forest), a retreat center in the highlands above Lake Atitlán near San Marcos La Laguna, with studio spaces overlooking the lake and surrounding volcanoes, fresh vegetarian meals, and the quiet of the forest.