My 16-year old son Reuben and I arrived at Purple Valley Yoga Retreat just in time for the Saturday evening orientation. There were about 40 of us yogis spread amongst the purple and pink cushions.

Purple Valley offers everything a serious Ashtanga Yoga practitioner could want. Within the sprawling lush compound there is a 15-meter pool, juice bar, Ayurvedic spa, a relaxation/dining area reminiscent of an Arabian tent, and of course at the end of the path the very atmospheric yoga shala.

Noah Williams was to be our teacher for the week. It is always quite exciting to practice under a new teacher, because each teacher has a different way of bringing across the fundamentals that make up Ashtanga. Noah expounded upon the importance of the drishti (focal point for the eyes), which I had found to be lacking in my practice. It is another piece of the puzzle that makes up a fully rounded practice.  He held two classes each day, a beginner's led class at 8.30 a.m. and a self-practice class at 6.30 a.m. My son was quite pleased with this, as he felt that practicing in the same room as his apparently totally out of touch mother was just not cool. 

As we drove from the airport to Purple Valley, it became soon obvious that this part of India was very different from Mysore. The streets are buzzing with Westerners on scooters. Even though you see Westerners on scooters in Mysore, here in Goa the Western culture has to some extend usurped that of the Goan culture. It is common to see shirtless men with bikini clad girls on motorbikes zooming along the narrow street. The Goans have learnt to ‘put’ up with this kind of disrespect to their culture, as the tourist trade is what keeps them alive. Goa is also more expensive than Mysore due to the large tourist trade. This is a place where people come to party - party like it’s 1969.

Hippies with well-tended dreadlocks litter Arambol beach, which is famous for it’s street markets and bars. Bob Marley is still king here. His anthems ‘One Love’ and ‘I shot the sheriff’ fill the air with their deep base reggae sounds.

On Wednesday’s Anjuna Beach explodes at the seams with tourists as the weekly ‘flea market’ sets up along the beach. With what seems to be well over a thousand market stalls, it seems hardly enough time between the opening hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. to see all there is. The place sells everything from clothing to Tibetan artefacts, and it is essential to barter the prices down to at least half of the asking price. The beach is lined with thatched roofed structures posing as restaurants. The food is generally good and the music gets louder towards the evening.

My 16-year old thought he had gone to heaven. There is a free and loose feeling to Goa. Reuben made friends with another 16-year old ‘yoga dude’ and without any problems they had hired some scooters and spent their time playing pool and hanging at the‘juice’ bars along the beach, with Club Fresh being the cool place to do so. Considering that I had brought Reuben up in a fairly sheltered environment I was amazed that he took to Goa with such gusto; and that I felt no trepidations in letting him roam free. As long as he turned up to yoga each morning I had no objections. Also there was a team of people always on the lookout for our wayward sons. As with all the yoga centers I have been to, Purple Valley’s yoga guest immediately moulded into a community. Someone was always around at the places the boys went to. 

Overall, Goa was not the place for me. The beaches are not particularly clean, with perhaps the exception being Mandarin Beach. The place also needs a really good clean up. I have never seen so much plastic waste litter the sides of streets. Purple Valley amongst all of this was a haven. I was quite happy to stay within the compound and experience all it had to offer. Especially the food! Now here I could simply go on an on. Certainly the chef Sayuri is a genius. 

She has developed a cuisine consisting of a fusion of raw, macrobiotic and vegetarian that is outstanding. Every day she surprised us with innovations such as her Mexican lunch. There would be mango and tomato salsa, cashew nut sour cream as well as cashew nut Parmesan. Every dish she served up was delicious and surprising. Matter of fact I would have loved to have bundled her up and taken her home, so that I could have her gourmet creations at my leisure.

Purple Valley caters exclusively for the Ashtanga practitioner and has a constant flow of world-class teacher coming and going. They run a very tight ship, and even though there is no wi-fi and the rooms are basic but lovely, it is a fabulous place to practice yoga.

In and around Goa are several great retreats and one such retreat that stands out is a fairly new retreat, the Satsanga Yoga Retreat, which is also situated near the Purple Valley retreat just outside of Mapusa, Goa.

Satsanga offers an array of yoga. Two very dedicated people, Olaf and Jodi Starick, run the center. The atmosphere is wonderful, with the 12 rooms surrounding the softly curved swimming pool and spa.

Everything is in very good taste and the vegetarian food made from the freshest local produce. Wi-fi is available in the central dining and meeting area, as well as Ayurvedic cooking classes by the fabulous Mani Shivadas and an array of therapies.  This is truly a place for reflection and relaxation.

We have one more stop before Reuben and I go back to Sydney, where I will plan the next few months of yoga retreats. We are heading off the Sri Lanka to practice with Kathy Cooper at her lovely retreat Ashtangalanka. So keep tuned...

The traveling Ashtangi