I just returned from a wonderful weeklong yoga retreat led by Carie Garret at Feathered Pipe Ranch near Helena, Montana. It was a wonderful experience and I have already signed up for 2018 when she returns August 18-25. She is taking over the slot for a freedom-style yoga retreat at the ranch that was long led by Erich Schiffmann until he retired last year.
For those who don’t know her yet, Carie with the long-red hair was a long-time assistant of Erich’s freedom yoga style. To say she is filling his shoes would be trite because while she remains loyal to the principles of freedom yoga, she is going steps further by adapting freedom-style yoga to a unique and refreshing style that is all her own. In contrast to the more cerebral emphasis of Schiffmann, Garret seems more focused on the heart and emotional aspects of yoga. For example, she is a devotee to Bhakti yoga, a branch of yoga more oriented to expression through singing, dancing, and other artistic forms. Most yoga studios don’t offer Bhakti classes so yogis have few opportunities to sample the Bhakti experience.
Carie is also emphasizing a freedom form of hatha yoga that gets away from some of the old techniques that other yogis drone on about that actually create stress rather than bring peace. She has created some of her own poses and sequences. For example, I remember “pigeonish” which is a way for people with tight hips to get the benefit of pigeon without the strain. Another pose is “running dog” that is an interesting variation of down dog. I have a tough time with balance poses but she did a sequence that brought me to a brief instance of dancer’s pose.
In addition to the mediation, some discussion and standard asana of the morning, each afternoon we had a session of freeform. This involves turning on music for about an hour in which you do any poses—existing or self-created--in any way that the spirit and music moves you. During one free-form session, interested yogis even had a change to draw mandelas which was a popular group activity. Although I lack any artistic skill, I found the mandela a very cathartic activity. Don’t worry about the day being too busy to relax. There is ample time between the morning and late afternoon sessions to hike, boat on the lake, get massages, or my favorite activity take a nap. Some group members even led a yoga nidra session after class one day.
A highlight of the week for me was the way Carie blended in story-telling with a dramatic flair. One tale in particular was the fascinating legend of the monkey god, Hanuman. These are some stories only some teacher trainees learn, but after that enthralling tale I now understand why splits are called the Hanumasana.
Carie was very much a part of our group activities. Sometimes after dinner she led many of us to hike up to a scenic overlook over the ranch that also has a view of the continental divide. The sunsets there are spectacular. Often a group of us yogis line up on the ridge and have a picture of us in sundry poses.
Of course, this whole week had the lovely Feathered Pipe Ranch as a backdrop. The accommodations can suit all tastes from lodge, to yurt, to tipi, to tents. As usual the food was scrumptious and varied. There were many options for vegans and those with restricted diets, but the carnivores had their shot. We circled the world on our bellies with Thai, Indian, Mexican, Chinese, etc.
