Discover Manduka Europe's top hotel, resort, and retreat partners, all equipped with Manduka premium equipment for their studio and wellness spaces. These special locations range from small, intimate inns to expansive resorts, all focused on providing best-in-class wellbeing programs. Today, we are sharing the special history and family behind the gorgeous Kea Retreat in Greece.
Please tell us about the history of Kea Retreat? Your family ownership and management?
The retreat is the passion project of restaurateur Zviki Eshet and his wife Anat who decided to combine their search for meaning and healing with their life-long passion for Greek culture. From conception to the day-to-day operations, Kea Retreat is truly a family affair—the couple’s son Yoni is the hotel’s general manager and in-house meditative facilitator, while Yoni’s brother Uriel, an experienced Chef with Michelin star experience, is in charge of the kitchen as well as the estate’s farm, with Anat, a therapist specializing in body-centered psychotherapy, lending her expertise in support of the healing and therapy work.
As with most of Greece, the location is stunning! Talk a bit about the island and setting.
Located in Psathi Bay on the Greek island of Kea, just 40 minutes from the mainland, Kea Retreat is tucked within a stony mountain range and in front of a remote and pristine crystal blue water bay. The island is full of traditional farmhouses, ancient temples, and unspoiled, sandy beaches, all connected by an extensive network of footpaths. Kea Retreat’s virgin landscape, bountiful farm, and traditional, stylish design allows visitors to enjoy the silence and peace of nature and the passionate authenticity of the vibrant Greek culture. It was inspired by our love for Greece, which celebrates nature, food, and life, and meditative practices such as yoga and silence. Melding these worlds, Kea Retreat offers its guests a sanctuary to rest, relax and reconnect with nature and their natural selves.
What else is special and unique about your property?
Other than being a retreat center and hotel, Kea Retreat has its own farm and in-house restaurant, called Lygaria. Offering an ever-changing menu that utilizes local ingredients from our farm, the local farmers, and the local fishermen and shepherds, Lygaria produces a 10-12 course abundant meal that nourishes both the body and spirit. Upon arrival, guests are guided through the farm and vegetable garden to learn, smell, and taste some of the produce before sitting a few meters from the shore for a long, intimate dining experience.
Uriel Eshet, the owner and Head Chef, helms the kitchen and brings his years of experience and knowledge working in numerous Michelin-star restaurants in Europe and the US (including Noma, Blue Hill Stone Barns, Ikoyi, Estela, Amass, etc). Uriel combines innovative techniques with a farm-to-table philosophy, offering guests dishes exclusively based on seasonal and local ingredients.
Our beautiful farm consists of a vineyard, olive grove and a large vegetable garden that changes according to the season.
What type of yoga retreats are you hosting?
Varying on a weekly basis, the 5-6 night long retreats are designed to enable guests to re-discover their inner voice and reconnect with nature, as well as to bring them together in a sense of celebration for life. A typical week is filled with a mix of yoga, meditation and dance along with alternative activities to connect with nature, such as hiking ancient trails across the island's virgin farmlands and archeological temples, visiting Kea’s ancient village, and kayaking to more isolated sandy beaches and caves.
A roster of world-class Greek and international facilitators, each one with her own approach and offerings, gives guests the opportunity to select the retreat that best fits their needs, interests and personality. From Vinyasa, Hatha, Kundalini and Yin Yoga, to sound baths, meditations, therapeutic breath-work, to Ayurveda workshops, fire ceremonies and sharing circles beneath the stars, the diverse range of offerings constitute a tailor-made program of unique retreats.
Why did you select Manduka as your equipment supplier?
My family and I have been practicing yoga for almost 3 decades and upon searching for mats for the retreat space what mattered to us was both the durability and aesthetic. The Manduka PRO yoga mat was the only option that resonated with the aesthetic of the natural environment (the dark blue colored option aligns beautifully with the adjacent sea) and has amazing durability allowing for endless yoga practitioners to enjoy them for a number of years.
More about Kea Retreat
Discover the wonders of Kea Retreat at kearetreat.com and follow them here.
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