2025 Croatia
Retreat Experience
Detox Your Body, Mind & Soul, and Experience the deep Inner Joy of Reconnecting with Yourself.
In 2025 we are taking you to the enchanting Mljet island in Croatia, for a unique 8-Day Retreat Experience. Our Wellbeing Holistic Retreat will take place during September 20th – 27th, in the surroundings of truly serene captivating natural beauty.
Joy of the Mediterranean & Vida Ayurveda have joined forces again to provide You with a memorable Retreat Experience.
You are warmly invited to join us for an amazing body, mind and soul recharging and rejuvenating Yoga & Ayurveda Retreat in the lush, peaceful, unspoiled and serene environment of a National nature park. You will find yourself surrounded by abundance of green thick lush forest of pine trees, enchanting turquoise salty lakes, crystal clear blue sea, and breathtaking nature.
This nurturing holistic wellbeing yoga & ayurvedic retreat experience will help you get started on your healthy path.
It will create a platform on which you will be able to build on when you return home so that you can continue implementing positive changes and a healthy lifestyle in your daily routine.
We will accommodate only a small number of participants during this retreat, so that we are able to serve you in the best possible way with love, care and the personal attention that YOU deserve.
Food
YOUR HEALTH AND WELLBEING ARE EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO US!
You will enjoy three meals per day composed of healthy, seasonal and organic ingredients. Veggies and fruits will be locally sourced, and bread will be baked from scratch using organic flours with an option of gluten free.
Meals will be a combination of vegetarian, vegan and raw foods freshly prepared daily along with homemade snack delights, detox juices and evening herbal tea.
Our exceptional and experienced chef has a true love and deep knowledge of healthy food and nutrition, and is passionate about using fresh and locally sourced ingredients (garden to table) enriched with local wild fresh herbs.
Please note that there will be no processed sugar, meat or alcohol in this retreat.
KIND WORDS
“First of all, I would like to thank Vivian for inviting me, as she said, and because I participated, I can also say “this retreat is just like me!” And thank you for everyone who organized and prepared an AMAZING Retreat! The schedule really is very well organized with the details of each activity, schedules, tours, accommodation, food… everything done with professionalism and love! I felt very good, welcomed and personally received a renewing treatment!! I learned from everyone present and expanded my being in a pleasant and rewarding way! Slovenia is WONDERFUL! I was delighted! The connection I had with dear Master Mojca and her Traditional Yoga teachings… I let myself flow.Anyone who wants a Yoga and nature experience will definitely like it!”
– Leticia Silva
PROGRAM
check out all the details of the retreat schedule
During this 8-day retreat, you will enjoy twice a day yoga practice, breathing exercises and meditation. We will also practice every morning – from the moment that we wake up until the breakfast ends – a yogic practice of Mauna or “Silence”, which simply means that we will not talk during morning hours, so that we have a better perception of our inner world. Mauna begins with the external practice of non-speaking, and eventually evolves into a deep inner listening – after all Yoga practice is an inner journey towards ourselves.
There will be 3 healing and nourishing freshly prepared seasonal organic high quality nutritious meals per day, as well as freshly squeezed morning detox juices.
Hiking trip to Montekuc. This is the highest peak in the national park and it is a perfect serene spot for getting a breathing views of the entire national park’s unspoiled nature. Energy at this peak is divine, one feels immediately connected with oneself on a higher level, as well as with the universe, and therefore with larger picture of the life itself. After the descent, we will enjoy a delicious lunch at the fisherman’s restaurant by the lake where you may eat fresh fish if you wish, and then we will continue our hike by the lakes, which will end with the swim and yoga class in the nature.
Walk around the lakes, immerse yourself in the Eden-like serene nature, and enjoy the richness of island’s flora and fauna. Mljet is known as the greenest and the most serene island in Croatia. We will take a boat trip to St.Mary’s islet on the Big lake where Benedict monastry, built in the 12th century, is situated. Afterwords we will enjoy our lunch at fisherman’s restaurant, at the sea front.
Local “herb lady” will takes us on a fun foraging trip, and show us edible wild plans and herbs explaning their culinary and medicinal use.
Afterwords, we will visit a small ethnographic museum, and will have the lunch at the organic olive grove farm. After the lunch we hike to the stunning Odysseus cave overlooking the open sea. You will have opportunity to swim in the cave, and to enjoy Meditation on the rocks above the cave overlooking the sea, which will be used to release unhappy memories, fears, negative emotions, and anything that you are holding onto that doesn’t serve your True Self. By releasing these unwanted energies and old patterns into the sea, you will be healing at the soul level.
Cooking class; you will enjoy a healthy cooking class, and will receive a booklet with Chef recipes of the dishes that you will make. You will learn how to make few nutritious whole food vegan/ vegetarian dishes, as well as about the nutrition value of ingredients, so that you can continue on the path of the healthy eating after you return home.
Ayurveda Masterclass for you to learn the core principles of this ancient holistic science of life. We will cover all 4 pillars of good health, the importance of good digestion and how you can easily implement a few changes in your daily habits and eating pattern for a more conscious living aligned with the flow of nature.
There will be 2 free days – days without planned activities – during which you might decide to book wonderful Ayurvedic massage, kayaking, or biking around national park.Free days activities are not included in the retreat price.
All activities included in the price are optional; you can participate in as many of above described activities as you like, but you can also choose instead to sit in the nature and read a book, swim in the lakes or just relax and contemplate.
Gift yourself with the gift of wellbeing by allowing you to be your top priority.
MEET THE TEAM
FIND MORE ABOUT THE TEAM
Mojca – Yoga Therapist
Mojca is an experienced and passionate traditional yoga teacher. She has been teaching for 15 years, and has a unique ability to naturally inspire a deeper understanding of the flow of breath, movement and mindful connections in Yoga. In her classes, she teaches her students to be in the present moment, to explore themselves, and to empower themselves. She challenges you to increase your physical flexibility and strength, in order that you can transform it into inner strength, balance, harmony and joy with emphasis on breathing techniques such as pranayama. Each session has time devoted to meditation, self awareness and consciousness. While strengthening your body, you will be balancing your mind simultaneously.
She is dedicated yoga practitioner for over 30 years. Previous to becoming a full time Yoga teacher, Mojca has been working for years in business corporate management, but her quest to find an inner balance and her interest in mind, body & soul healing and healthy life style had lead her to path of seeking teachings of Yoga and Ayurveda and over the years she has spend a lot of time in Ashrams in India, where she was thought by acclaimed and knowledgable Indian Yoga teacher; not only on Asana’s, but as well the Vedic philosophy, meditation and Ayurveda. The desire of changing professional life style got stronger and ripened and resulted in pursuit of becoming Yoga teacher, and what it was ones hobby it became 15 years ago, not only a profession, but the life style.
Over the last years Mojca resides and teaches not only in Amsterdam, Holland, but as well as on Korcula Island, Croatia.
Latterly she teaches online as well as in person, and runs many Yoga workshops around Europe.
She is also a founder and owner of the Joy of the Mediterranean, which facilitates Holistic Yoga Well-being Retreat Experiences. Her retreats concentrate on detoxing and balancing body and mind, reconnecting with oneself on a deeper level, and with huge emphasis on healthy nutrition and healthy life style.
Vivian – Ayurvedic Practitioner; Ayurvedic Massage Therapist
Vivian is a certified Ayurvedic Practitioner and Ayurvedic Massage Therapist; member of the Complementary Medical Association and Ayurvedic Professional Association in the UK.
She is also an Access Consciousness Bars Practitioner incorporating physical and emotional wellness in everything she does.
Having transitioned from a corporate career as a lawyer to work with holistic therapies, Vivian brings a wealth of experience in working with clients to promote their physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.
Her approach is kind, thorough and practical. She is easy to relate to as she brings her tools’ kit box out and draws from her experience as a woman, mother, housewife, business woman and therapist to help her clients find balance and wellness in their lives in a practical and stress free way.
Vivian is the founder of Vida Ayurveda and she conducts online and in person Ayurvedic consultations from her clinic in London, UK.
She also runs Workshops and Seasonal Ayurvedic Cleanse with a focus on improving digestion and the elimination of toxins.
She often reminds us that Ayurveda can treat anything and everyone, as its fundamental core is to promote and restore balance so the body is able to do what it designed to do – to restore wellness, health and happiness.
She has worked with hundreds of clients putting together meals planners, daily lifestyle habits, exercise routine, as well as counselling and empowering many.
She gently taps into her clients’ inner wisdom facilitating their self-healing from the inside out. The core of her work is finding the root of the health disturbance to balance the Doshas and empower her clients to take charge of their health.
Dejan – Chef
Dejan is a truly passionate and experienced holistic chef, who has a true love and deep knowledge of healthy nutritious plant-based food.
He believes that everything on the planet is composed of the same elements. Nurturing one’s body means replacing worn out and used elements with new fresh ones in order to allow the body to function steadily and effortlessly so it can demonstrate resilience towards pathogens, and achieve strong immune system and qualitative longevity.
His cooking journey began in 1998 after he has encountered several auto-immune issues that were not recognised by the conventional medicine as a serious health threat. Therefore he has decided to take his well-being into his own hands, and had deepened himself into extensive research of the whole foods and began with diet experimentation on himself, and the awareness of healthy benefits of whole nutrition plant-based foods and their profound benefits on the well being state of body and mind has arisen, which resulted that his auto-immune issues have disappeared after the thorough and consistent self-implementation of the knowledge gained.
Since then he is committed to the Holistic approach of living and his goal is to communicate and transfer his excessive knowledge of it to the people who are in need of these valuable informations and to everyone who want to achieve balance and well being in a Holistic way.
He believes in clean organic seasonal local fresh whole foods, slow cooking, and making all the food from the scratch. He also believes in potent power of wild herbs, and he forages them as well as edible wild plants, which have high nutrition value, whenever he can.
He is a certified Holistic Nutrition Coach and Holistic Chef.
He teaches online private and group healthy whole nutrition cooking classes, online programs such as “Basic Detox” and “How to be healthy Vegetarian”, he has been consulting several restaurants on vegan and vegetarian menus, and he works also as a private Chef when individuals or families want to embark on a journey of healthy eating.
He has been Joy of the Mediterranean’s Chef during the retreats for 10 years now, and hundreds of participants have benefited from his nutritious body and mind nurturing and balancing meals.
On the days when you can’t find him in the kitchen, he practices Pranayama and Yoga, and walks through the nature doing photography which is his parallel love to cooking.
His life-motto is a quote often ascribed to Hippocrates (400BC); “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” , and he believes that it has never been more relevant, seen an increasing processed food intake around the globe, as well as reliance on prescription drugs to treat any illness both physical and mental.
Gift yourself with the gift of wellbeing by allowing you to be your top priority.
KIND WORDS
“I joined this year’s retreat in Most na Soči, in Slovenia. There aren’t sufficient adjectives to describe how wonderful this retreat was; firstly, Slovenia has to be one of the most beautiful places I’ve every been to. This was truly much more than a yoga retreat; Mojca has curated such an exquisite experience through the selection of the incomparable location, having Dejan as our private chef, and the excursions which were never ‘just’ about the hike or the destination – rather, they provided an immersion in nature, in the awe-inspiring, sparkling landscape of Slovenia, its history, its ethos and ethics, and its remarkable environmental credentials. The yoga teachings by Mojca provided a balance between physically challenging and restorative and helped to inspire and motivate me to reconnect with my personal practice. She shares her deep yogic knowledge and philosophy in a way that’s accessible to all and with a generosity of spirit that builds deep connections with her students. Both Mojca and Vivian held space throughout the retreat for all of us participants, making us feel at home, comfortable and connected. This made for a really cohesive warm group of participants that really connected with each other and created a harmonious and fulfilling experience. The macrobiotic and Ayurvedic food so lovingly and carefully prepared by Dejan, assisted by Daniela, was outstanding – nourishing, delicious, satiating and a beautiful feast for the eyes too. A cooking session under Dejan’s watchful eye was a highlight of the trip; not only because of the opportunity to prepare his recipes and eat them, but also for the remarkable harmony and connection we all felt whilst working together in the kitchen. It was inspiring to learn from him and soak in the knowledge he so generously shared about healthful eating. All in all, a wonderful retreat that provided exactly the re-set I needed. I very much hope to do another Joy of the Mediterranean retreat in the near future!”
– Zsa Zsa Soffe
2024 Slovenia Retreat Participant
Accommodation
The retreat will take place in an old typical stone village right above the lakes and the national park. Each participant will have its own beautiful studio apartment or its own cottage house. They all have heating, air-conditioning, as well as free Wi-fi.
All accommodations are placed 10 to 50 meters away from the main house where yoga, meals, masterclass and cooking workshops will take the place.
You can choose to stay either in a single accommodation – a studio apartment in a stone house – or in a stone cottage, shared accommodation in which you will have your own bedroom (double occupancy cottage with 2 bedrooms, terrace, living room and a shared bathroom).
KIND WORDS
“Being in The Julian Alps on a yoga retreat with Vivian and Mojca was a refreshing experience of being emersed in beautiful nature. The scenery, the excursions, the food, the accommodation were all wonderful. Daily we were skilfully guided in our Yoga Practice in an atmospheric wooden cabin, perched on the hillside and overlooking the most majestic valley of trees, rich green meadows and high mountains. Each day brought a new venture, walking in captivating gorges with blue rivers and waterfalls, wild swimming, cable car trip, mountain train trips and always exceptional meals. I would not hesitate to recommend the Yoga Retreat to Slovenia as a must do activity.”
– Chay Smith
2024 Slovenian Retreat Participant
2025 Croatia Retreat Experience
September 20th – 27th
What is included
• 7 nights accommodation
• 8 day guidance of the retreat leaders
• 14 Yoga and Pranayama sessions – Daily morning and evening yoga classes
• Ayurveda Masterclass
• Healthy vegetarian and vegan breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Detox juices and herbal teas
• Practice of Mauna – silence – in the morning hours
• Walking excursions around Natural Park Mljet
• Daily entrance tickets to the national park
• “Forest bathing” session – forest bathing improves immune system, sleep quality, mood, ability to focus, and reduces stress levels, anxiety, depression. Spending time in nature, in silence, away from modern technology and big cities can improve your physical and mental health by reducing the effects of stress on your body
• There will be an easy, slow hike to beautiful mountain Montokuc with breathtaking panoramic views – hike towards the top will be done in silence, with mobile phones turned off, so that we can enjoy “forest bathing” and connect with ourselves on a deeper level. This hike will be followed by delicious picnic lunch in the amazing surrounding next to the lake.
• Hiking tour through hills of Mljet with a local forager who will shows as how to recognise wild edible local plants and herbs, and how to preserve them and store them, so that we can use them in the kitchen throughout the winter. We will also learn how to use the wild herbs as simple but effective home remedies
• Alfresco Lunch in a stunning surrounding of olive grove, on a small organic farm.
• Adventures trip to Odysseus Sea Cave, with swimming in the cave, and meditation on the cliffs surrounding the cave.
• Boat visit to exceptional beautiful St.Mary’s islet in the middle of one of the faulty lakes, with Benedictine monastery dating to 12th century, with picnic organic lunch
• Swimming in the beautiful turquoise salty lake, as well as in the Odysseus cave.
• 1 Cooking Class, including Booklet with Chef’s recipes
• Transfer from and to the port of Mljet to and from the accommodation.
What is not included
• Accident and travel insurance
• Airfare to Dubrovnik airpor t(DBU)
• Ferry tickets from and to Dubrovnik sea port to and from Mljet sea port
• Ayurvedic massage
• Any extra activities which are not describe above, such as Ayurvedic messages, hiring kayak or bike- in a case that you wish to enjoy these extra activities, we will gladly help you to book them once when you arrive to Mljet.
Price
Private Single Room with en- suite bathroom -Single Occupancy £2,997
Shared cottage (Double Occupancy) – with 2 bedrooms, living room, terrace and shared bathroom £2,097 *price per person
Special Price Offer: Private Double Occupancy Cottage with a bathroom – For couples or a couple of friends or 2 family members booking together £3,897 *price for 2 people booking together and staying in the same cottage.
KIND WORDS
“This retreat was very special in a wonderful place, a place close to enchanted and healing nature at the foot of the Alps in Slovenia. There I could feel a deep connection with nature and also with myself. The tours were incredible, stunning places, the turquoise blue of the rivers and lakes in the region. We enjoyed organic meals worthy of Michelin stars, all made with great care and dedication from chef Djean, who to top it off gave us an exceptional cooking class with his most elaborate recipes.
It was truly an opportunity for great relaxation and internal reconnection, under the organization and care of Vivian with her knowledge and Ayurvedic massages and Modja who welcomed us so much and provided us with wonderful yoga classes. I will certainly return! Gratitude.”
– Maria Silvia
2024 Slovenian retreat participant