Pre-Retreat Cultural Immersion - Chiang Mai

This pre-retreat cultural immersion in Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, is a few days of exploring the city before a yoga retreat begins. It suits travelers who want to arrive early, settle in after a long journey, and meet northern Thai culture on foot rather than from a retreat center outside town. Grace Millsap, a yoga teacher from Charlotte, North Carolina, leads it.

Chiang Mai is the former capital of the Lanna Kingdom, and its character shows the influence of Buddhism, Animism and a blend of traditional cosmologies. This is a cultural retreat, not a yoga one, and it is a good fit for anyone curious about Lanna heritage and the temple life of the north.

What to Expect

The days mix planned activities with free time. You explore the city on foot or by tuk-tuk, with room to wander at your own pace between group outings. The stay runs four nights.

There is no scheduled yoga. For those who want to move their bodies after travel, recommendations are offered for yoga studios within the Old City walls, including a daily-ish class in a local park where mats can be rented.

Chiang Mai has roughly 300 Buddhist temples, known as wats, and more than thirty of them sit inside the Old City walls. That density is a large part of what makes the city rewarding to explore slowly.

About Grace Millsap

Grace Millsap is a yoga teacher based in Charlotte, North Carolina, on the land of the Catawba and Sugaree. She describes her teaching as yoga infused with passion and a quest for magic and joy. She calls herself a student first, honors asana as one tool of many, and says she is always willing to evolve and (un)learn.

Her path began in science. She holds degrees in psychology from Appalachian State University and biology from UNC-Charlotte, and she spent five years as a researcher for UNC-Chapel Hill, working in nutrition, genetics and neuroscience. She completed her first yoga teacher training in 2013 and began drawing connections between modern science and yogic philosophy. In 2016 she began teaching full time.

The Setting

The group is based inside the Old City of Chiang Mai, a quarter enclosed by a wall more than 700 years old and surrounded by a moat. Most of the area's official yoga retreat centers, though beautiful, lie outside the city lines. Staying within the walls puts you closer to the pulse of the city, where temples, streets and daily life are within easy reach on foot.

Before You Go

Because there is no yoga on this part of the trip, no practice experience is needed. Comfortable walking shoes will serve you well, since much of the exploring is done on foot. If you plan to take a class during free time, the park class offers mats for rent, so you do not need to travel with your own.

This immersion comes before the Untethered retreat in Thailand, so it works well as a gentle start for anyone joining that program and wanting to arrive rested and oriented.