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Tuesday, November 8, 2011 at 8:37AM Yoga Instructor Sarra Morton and her student Peter demonstrate how to set up triangle pose during Pravassa's Escape to Aruba vacation.
Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 3:18PM Pravassa founder, Linden Schaffer was interviewed by EcoSalon TV at the Yoga Journal Conference in Colorado. Take a look!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011 at 2:27PM Pravassa traveled to Estes Park, Co this past week in collaboration with the Yoga Beauty Bar. This organic beauty and wellness collective is the brain child of Buddha Nose founder, Amy Galper and was created as a way for indie brands to collaborate and get noticed in the yoga and organic market. Check out the great article and video that EcoSalon published about the experience.
EXPERIENCE, EDUCATE, ADVOCATE: THE YOGA BEAUTY BAR AT ESTES PARK, COLORADO
Last weekend, EcoSalon traveled through field and mountain to co-host the Yoga Beauty Bar in Estes Park, Colorado. Part of the 16th Annual Yoga Journal Conference, a seven-day event of 35-plus master teachers sharing their practice, the YBB featured some of the best lines of clean, green beauty, including Buddha Nose Body Care, Dr. Alkaitis Skincare,Lotus Wei Flower Essences, Priti Nails, Yarok Organic Hair Care,Revolution Organics, and Trance Essence. Runa Tea and Wei of Chocolatealso made an appearance, as well as healthy travel experts Pravassa.
Amy Galper, Sarah Braat, Linden Schaffer and Kathie ButlerTogether with Amy Galper of Buddha Nose, Linden Schaffer of Pravassa, and Sarah Braat, LMT and Qigong Healer, we offered up an incredible experience of green beauty to the yogis of Colorado. And guess what? It was amazing.
“The only power we really have to make change is how we spend our money,” Buddha Nose proprietor and co-host Amy Galper told me, “But the Yoga Beauty Bar is not just about selling product. We want people to experience the brands.” Between misting clients with her famous Heart Spray, a delicate floral mist with the mind/body intention of love, Amy enthusiastically shared her vision. “Once we have information about a healthy product, we can advocate for healthier living for ourselves and for the planet.”
And the patrons of the Yoga Beauty Bar responded in droves. Patrons perused the hip shades from Priti Nails and pure cosmetics from Revolution Organics. They sampled the fragrance scents from Trance Essences Perfumes and Candles while sipping Runa Teas and nibbling on the delicious, floral-infused organic chocolates from Wei of Chocolate. (My favorite? The citrus-inspired “Joyful.”) Patrons delighted in the Lotus Wei Flower Essence’s elixirs and mists and lathered up with Dr. Alkaitis skin care moisturizers.
At the same time, Linden Schaffer shared Pravassa Travel, her New York-based wellness company that plans healthy vacations around the globe, such as Aruba, Bali, Vermont and Italy. Pravassa focuses on an aspect of health and wellness like cooking, body work, nutrition, pilates or yoga. Vacationers are able to refocus their thinking and restore their every day well being.
For the full article on EcoSalon, click here.
Friday, September 16, 2011 at 9:17AM At Pravassa we love what we learn from our instructors on retreats! The inimate settings gives everyone the opportunity to ask questions and better yet, ask for demos. On our most recent getaway, yoga instructor April Martucci demonstrates Chakrasana, an asana that stems from the Ashtanga/Vinyasa lineage and sets you up for sirshasana or headstand. Take a look or two.
Friday, May 13, 2011 at 10:38AM Wellness and Adventure travel has evolved over the last few years. Those folks that used to spend three grand on a weekend at Canyon Ranch are now looking for better value and will travel farther distances to exotic locations. These days the economic downturn has become a driving factor for travel destinations to offer not only better value but also options that include local culture, sports and best of all variety.
Pravassa, a boutique wellness travel company located in NYC offers wellness travel packages to people of all ages and incomes to exotic destinations. One of the most popular retreats is the Yoga retreat. Yoga is rooted in India where the traditions began so this has been and will always be a popular destination for teachers and students alike. For the U.S. market, Tulum, Mexico and Costa Rica have carved out a niche for yoga related travel and saturated the market. The new destination for Yoga today is off the grid in Honduras.
Honduras is located North of Costa Rica far closer to the US and has much to offer travelers and vacationers. The Mayan ruins in Copan, rainforest on the mainland and reefs in The Bay Islands located off its coast are natural wonders filled with culture and mystique. Yoga enthusiasts can travel to Honduras and experience an off the beaten path retreat at small casually elegant Caribbean style places. Locations near the ocean are popular for combining the relaxation and meditative qualities of Yoga with soothing waves, rustling palms and the underwater wonder of snorkeling and diving activities.
Linden Schaffer at Pravassa focuses on what her clients are asking for in their evolving Wellness travels. It was an avid request that she find a new Yoga fit for her clients. Linden commented,” I found Utopia Village in Honduras by chance during an Internet search for Central America Boutique Hotels. My clients had been requesting an option other than Costa Rica and once I read about Utopia it seemed to have exactly what we were looking for: newness in destination, remoteness of location and size of resort that could cater to our needs. I visited in early 2010 and added Utopia Village to our travel menu.”
Pravassa successfully combines elements of wellness and adventure in their trips. The trips appeal to those who are looking for new ways to have fun and to get to know a new locale. By combining wellness, fitness, culture, activities and unique locations, Pravassa invites people to shift their perspective and expand their minds. Yoga and mediation are offered in the morning, but afternoons are free to explore activities such as hiking, kayaking, rafting or in the case of Utopia, snorkeling and scuba diving. By offering this type of getaway that combines Yoga and Scuba Diving, it has opened the eyes of both Yogis and Scuba Diver groups that they can combine these activities in one retreat.
Yoga means something different to everyone so as people get to know the practice and figure out what it means for them, it can manifest in different forms. For some people yoga is just asana or the physical activity that goes along with the practice and they use this as exercise. For others it includes mediation, service (volunteering) and breathing exercises and for even more it extends into their diet and they become vegetarian or vegan. Most people who attend a Pravassa vacation have some knowledge of yoga, even if it's just the asana. Once they leave the vacation, they are filled with additional knowledge as to what yoga can be and how they can incorporate it into their lifestyle.
Originally published on the Utopia Dive Blog, to read the full article click here.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 3:46PM 
Pravassa is happy to announce a partnership with Vital Juice to bring a private wine & cooking series to NYC for May and June 2011. Join Pravassa along with Chef Melissa Petitto and Chef Annette Tomei as we bring you the best of food and wine. This event will not be offered on Pravassa.com, but will only be available via the Vital Juice website and their Weekly Deals email. This deal goes live on Wednesday, May 4th. For more information, contact us.
Monday, April 25, 2011 at 3:46PM Pravassa partners with Buddha Nose to launch a beauty and well-being pop-up shop at the 2011 Yoga Journal Conference in New York. Taking place May 13th - 16th, at the NY Hilton Hotel, the NY Conference is 5 days of yoga with over 40 Master teachers, including Elena Brower and Rodney Yee, and 100 classes.
The Buddha Nose Beauty and Well-Being Pop-Up booth, brings together some of the most sought after wellness brands including:
Buddha Nose - USDA organic mind-body beauty products
Pravassa - Healthy Travel
Wembe - Fair Trade Soap from the Amazon
ARGHAND - Sustainable Skincare from Afghanistan
RMS Beauty- Organic color cosmetic line
Tata Harper - Natural and Non-Toxic skincare line
Niseema - Integrative Bodywork Therapy
Michael McGinley - Health Coach
WellandGoodNYC- NY's most influential wellness website
The Yoga Marketplace, set up outside the conference, is open the public and will feature over 50 yoga related companies.
Download the full partnership Press Release.
Monday, April 18, 2011 at 6:58PM 
Class: Yamuna Body Rolling
Length: 1 hour
Cost: $95 private class
Location: Elite Movement Pilates| L.A.
Instructor: Izumi Takiguchi
What to expect: Yamuna Body Rolling uses PVC balls of various sizes and qualities to stimulate and stretch muscles from the origin to the insertion point. Throughout the session, balls are placed and moved strategically all over the body from the toes up the spine to help release the muscles. YBR is different than traditional massage and first timers should be aware that the process can be rather painful.
Our Take: I first tried YBR with Izumi in a class setting with 6 other clients. When I walked into the workshop, I had no idea what I was in for. Izumi gave me 3 balls to work with and explained the ball placements and their benefits. Because of her massage background, Izumi offers hands-on therapy in combination with the ball work. Starting with the hamstrings, we then moved upward to release every inch of the body finishing at the neck. The idea of creating space between the muscle and bone allows the muscles to move more effortlessly and painlessly. Surprisingly, the work on my feet was the most painful. The stretching of my feet made them feel like hands afterwards as I could feel every toe working individually. The combination of Izumi’s hands-on techniques (see photos from our previous blog) with the balls and your own weight was insanely intense but offered a wonderful release. When we finished, I felt a little disoriented from all the toxin release, but for about 3 days after, I had a marked increase in energy and really could only attribute the change to the YBR session. Now that I know where to find it on both coasts, I suggest you go try it out for yourself!
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Reviewed by Jessica Schienle
Monday, April 11, 2011 at 10:07PM 'From birth, man carries the weight of gravity on his shoulders. He is bolted to earth. But man has only to sink beneath the surface and he is free.' --Jacques Cousteau
It may seem hard to believe but it's possible to find yourself on the beach. On a chaise no less, sunning your hide and gazing through your prescription shades at an uninterrupted view of tranquil, turquoise waters. Perhaps your dear friend is by your side and you're taking it to the bridge for the first time in months. Or maybe you're alone and getting very involved in listening to the divine aquatic silence.
Whatever the case, there comes a time in every yogi(ni)'s journey where it becomes apparent that old habits aren't serving any longer and yet it seems positively herculean to take a few steps to the right or left and not do what you've always done. Only news flash: it's the inner shift that matters, not the outer, and that jam's molecular rather than seismic. It is the space between the breaths, the balm before the norm. Or rather, in the words of that immortal yogi Ralph Kramden, "You have to be nice to the people you meet on your way up the ladder, because you meet the same people on the way back down." That is to say, tread lightly, go slowly. Practice compassion. Because I don't know about you, but I'd rather meet a shark than some of the stuff that's lurking in my still waters. You know, the stuff that's invisible to the naked eye that only a Jungian analyst can interpret?
Now, I'm not suggesting we all spend our Caribbean vacations steeped in soul search. Rather, I’m suggesting that we spend a few holy moments putting our heads in the water so when we finally find Atlantis we can allow ourselves to see it’s mythic wonders and breathe it in without panicking or choking. And when our visit below the surface is complete, we come up slowly to avoid the bends.
Until quite recently I believed that in order to become stronger and wiser I would have to weather perfect storm after perfect storm. My inner sagacity tempered only by extrinsic and heinous life episodes that would make Job turn tuchous and run. “How wise does a person have to be?” I would ask. “If suffering points were frequent flier miles I’d be halfway to Bali and back… IN FIRST CLASS!” Then I came to understand that we human beings create our external environment via tending our internal. Indeed our inner life is a richly appointed terrarium in which we have to don a scuba suit EVERY DAY and feed the fish even if they bite. So take a quiet moment and allow yourself to dive deeper and deeper, only do it piecemeal. As Jacques Cousteau would say, “A lot of people attack the sea, I make love to it.” Or rather, Om namah SEA vayah.
This post written by Emily Stone, a New York City yoga instructor and Pravassa collaborator, originally appeared on MindBodyGreen. Emily will be diving deeper this summer as she co-leads Pravassa's Off the Grid yoga vacation in Honduras.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011 at 10:24AM 
Class: Vinyasa Yoga
Length: 90 minutes
Cost: 100,000 IDR/ $11.50 USD drop-in
Studio: Prana Spa | Seminyak, Bali
Instructor: Amanda Jane Williams
What to expect: This large air-conditioned yoga room offers the most comprehensive class schedule in Seminyak. With various styles of yoga throughout the week you can expect to share the room with regulars and tourists alike. Mats and props provided.
Our Take: Arriving to take class with Amanda, Prana's staff yoga instructor originally from Australia, this 9am vinyasa flow class got pretty steamy, which is what you'd expect in a tropical locale. After introducing herself and meeting the newcomers, Amanda did a great job adjusting the class to fit everyone's skill level. Having studied with Shiva Rea, you could pick up on her influence in Amanda's teaching style and while the transitions from poses didn't always flow seamlessly, the happy intention was ever present. As we brought it down to the mat for pigeon pose, the room suddenly took on a fragrant, sweet quality. A yellow frangipani flower had been placed on the floor above our heads. In Hindu culture this flower symbolizes spirituality and really made us feel like we were in Bali. The flower was then tucked behind our ear for the rest of the day serving as a great reminder of the feeling we cultivated to start our day.
difficulty: (3) atmosphere: (5) likely to return: (4)
