Disconnect yourself from everyday life and immerse yourself in the wilder side of the Scottish Highlands. Our retreat takes us to an acclaimed Wilderness Reserve, where we’ve arranged to have exclusivity of this spectacular 23,000 acre property for our groups.  Housing will be at the main lodge plus 1 additional house for a maximum intimate group size of 18 per week.  Chef prepared meals using ingredients from their extensive gardens and greenhouses, daily yoga classes and several guided explorations / excursions all included.

We’ll start our week with an expertly guided 4 x 4 tour of the reserve, getting acclimated to our home for the week and venturing down the reforested glens to soak up the stunning views. We’ll learn about the restoration work underway, visiting the reforestation areas and spotting native wildlife, all in the company of  skilled and knowledgeable rangers. 

Look to the skies for golden eagles, search the stony tops for ptarmigan and hares, while keeping your eye out for our native red squirrel and black grouse. Take in the panoramic glens, the untamed rivers, the old-growth and recovering forests. You might spy red deer stags on the mountains or Atlantic salmon leaping in the waterfalls.  Away from light pollution, we’ll be at one of the best places for astrophotography in the UK.  Long haired highland cows roam the property, and we’ll receive a special tour of the Scottish Wildcat enclosures built in partnership with the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the European Nature Trust to bolster the population of this endangered species.

The rest of our week will include (optional) guided hikes and / or biking explorations, wild swimming and fly fishing, plus a mid week excursion to the East Coast of the Highlands.

There will, of course, be spaciousness during the week for solo and small group explorations of the reserve.  For hikers, the remote Highland glens offer a wild spectacle for all skill levels. You can walk through the most northerly stand of original old-growth Caledonian forest, take a stroll over to the historic Croik Church, or hike up to the middle ridge for a once-in-a-lifetime view of both the East and West coasts of Scotland. There are recommended walks for different fitness levels, and Highlands hiking trail maps are always available.

For the adventurous, take out a mountain bike or reset your mind and body with a wild swim in one of the many lochs, or dip in the river.  These waters are some of the purest you will find anywhere in the UK.​

Midweek, we’ll take a day trip to the East Coast of the Highlands.  We’ll journey back in time and experience Dunrobin to enjoy the castle, gardens and falconry display. Watch dozens of seals at Loch Fleet, before passing Embo beach on the way to Dornoch for lunch. 

Of course, we’ll gather for a daily yoga class or workshop (either morning or late afternoon depending on the days schedule), enjoying the newly built, fully stocked yoga shala near the main lodge.  This is the thread that weaves us together as a unified community for our week creating space to digest and integrate.

This retreat begins and ends on Sunday.  The easist international airport to travel to is Inverness (INV) in Northern Scotland.  From here, our retreat property is approximately 90 minutes drive.  Some may choose to share a rental car for convenience, but we will also share some private drivers information for ride share reservations.

If you are planning an extended stay in Scotland with a rental car or using other transportation, the other international airports are Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The retreat begins with dinner on the start day of the retreat and ends with breakfast on the last day of the retreat.

We will start collecting travel plans from participants several months in advance of each retreat.

Cara Chang Mutert, E-RYT-500

Cara has been a yoga practitioner for over 30 years and and has been teaching for more than 2 decades. She is owner/director of The Yoga Lounge in Woodstock, Illinois, founded in 2004.  She earned her 500hr certification from Prairie Yoga, with Lori Gaspar and Gabriel Halpern, plus holds an additional 500-hour certification as a result of her continued studies with Tias Little at Prajna Yoga. Cara created the first credited yoga courses at McHenry County College, and has served as adjunct faculty since 2007.

Cara leads Yoga Alliance approved 200 and 500 hour teacher training programs, and is a seasoned leader of domestic and international yoga retreats.  Her personal teaching style is Iyengar alignment based, gentle, meditative, flowing and therapeutic in nature. [Learn more about Cara]

We can bring 18 total participants (including staff) to each retreat.  The main house / lodge has 6 rooms upstairs each with ensuite private bathrooms.  A 7th new suite is just ourside the main house and an 8th single room can be offfered downstairs.  We have a 2nd house on property with 3 bedrooms / 3 bathrooms, full living, dining and kitchen.   A $795 deposit will secure your space, and balances can be set to run in monthly payments through June 2027.

What’s Not Included:

• Flights to Inverness Scotland
• Transfers to / from the Lodge 
• Alcohol or items of a personal nature / souvenirs
• Optional activities during free time (ex. fly fishing. skeet shooting)
• Gratuities (at your discretion, suggested $20-$30 per day in a pool for staff)
• Travel Insurance (highly recommended)​

Refunds and Cancellations: Refund less deposit ($795)  before June 1, 2027. No refunds after June 1, 2027. Participants will be required to sign the application and  liability waiver to participate on this trip.

If you place a deposit, the balance due will be set to charge in equal installments starting the month after deposit through June 2027 unless other arrangements are made.

We HIGHLY recommend that you consider purchasing Travel Insurance. Travel insurance companies like Trawick and Travel Guard offer policies that insure your investment in case you need to cancel (including “cancel for any reason” coverages), coverages for expenses incurred due to to weather & travel delays, personal property loss and emergency travel medical.  Please review policies carefully to choose the coverage you need.

We recommend that you consider purchasing trip insurance to protect your investment. Travel Guard and Trawick International are two providers that we recommend. Please review policies carefully to ensure they provide the coverage you need.

We recommend that you consider purchasing trip insurance to protect your investment. Trawick International and Travel Guard are two providers that we recommend. Please review policies carefully to ensure they provide the coverage you need.