Arriving at Villa Sumaya’s spiritual wellness and retreat center in Santa Cruz la Laguna, Guatemala, I smile and thank my boat taxi captain before stepping onto the property’s sturdy wooden dock. A new land of healing possibility climbs the thick, verdant mountainside in front of me, and a feeling of gentle welcoming and open-ended possibility settles into my buzzing, travel-weary bones.
It’s early November, and I’m here with a group of women from Colorado and beyond for a yoga retreat through the Vail Valley’s Anahata Yoga & Wellness. The retreat organizer, Chelsea Winters, has planned a week of heart-opening ceremonies and daily yoga offerings connecting us with the sacred land and tapping into the slowed down Guatemalan beauty that comprises our canvas.
Photos by Lisa Blake
My quest for transformative travel and a little breathing room to dig into trauma healing has guided me here. What will unfold over my week-long stay promises to be a soulful existence wiped clean of worry and fear and clarified by Villa Sumaya’s simplicity and grandmotherly nurturing.
The former Guatemalan family vacation home has been built out over the years and is comprised of hillside bungalows, Mayan healing huts and shalas, a glassed-in nourishment space, lakefront pool, sacred temples and an eco-fruit forest. Native spa and bodywork treatments are available by appointment and retail spaces showcase Mayan cacao, handmade woven wares and intricate jewelry.
Storied Lake Atitlán wraps its massive volcanic crater in a cerulean blanket dotted by a trio of volcanic cones and ringed by villages speckled within the skyward hills. An immediate sense of deep calm and reverent history permeate the warm summery air and I’m happy to be here as winter settles into the hills back home.
Breathing deep from my thatched villa balcony, I sip hibiscus tea poured from the help-yourself bar and stroke the resident kitten’s smooth fur. In between breathwork and yoga classes, a full afternoon of free time sprawls with beautiful opportunity. I ease into the week with reflective journaling and light reading by the pool, a dip into the cool clean lake and walks around the property taking in the dangling fruit trees, stepping around the occasional scorpion (they’re more scared of us and scatter quickly) and snapping photos of brilliant hot pink and circus yellow flowers drunk with rain and bigger than my head.
Villa Sumaya’s dedication to mindfulness, community and living in harmony with nature threads through the week. We donated to the Mayan Mothers Project, giving toothbrushes, hairbrushes and other daily goods we take for granted to the local elderly Mayan community. We were reminded at a Mayan fire ceremony to give and receive, to manifest and let go, to feel deep gratitude in our hearts. We were nourished and detoxed through lovingly prepared shared vegan meals built around freshly picked vegetables and fruits. And we were lulled to sleep by the lake’s rhythmic waves, marveling at the clearest cosmic views.
This quiet time to tap back into wonder and remember to experience the Earth’s ebbs and flows, deaths and rebirths, mysteries and answers was the exact reminder I needed.
A true believer in creating space for stillness and cultivating awe through travel, I would recommend mindful moments on Lake Atitlán and time at Villa Sumaya to anyone craving a respite wrapped in pure bliss.
