BirdsCaribbean has been collaborating with Birding the Islands Ltd for the last two years, offering outstanding birding tours to the Lesser Antilles. Now, we are thrilled to announce that from 2022 a new partner will be joining us as we expand our offerings to include a fresh, innovative selection of trips. We have teamed up with Spinning Arrow Yoga & Holistic Healing to offer you the chance to escape the everyday—through one-of-a-kind birding and yoga trips to some of the most beautiful and rejuvenating islands in the Caribbean. Read on to learn more about both aspects of the trip!

Introducing…Spinning Arrow Yoga & Holistic Healing

We specialize in providing a range of well-being offerings including in-person and online yoga classes, energetic healing practices and heart-centered yoga holidays. BirdsCaribbean’s mission is to: “raise awareness, promote sound science, and empower local partners to build a region where people appreciate, conserve and benefit from thriving bird populations and ecosystems.” Spinning Arrow Yoga & Holistic Healing aims to help you to “find your true direction” in life by raising your awareness and appreciation of your own divine nature; promoting the ancient sciences of Yoga and energetic healing practices such as Reiki, Nada Yoga and Shamanic Healing; and empowering you to bring the benefits of these profound practices into your daily life in order to conserve your physical, emotional and spiritual well-being within the ecosystem of your own body.

Our founder, Alex Chenery, who will be co-leading our trips through the islands, is an RYT®200 yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance; Usui Reiki Master; Nada Yoga & Yoga Nidra Facilitator; Restorative & Yin Yoga Teacher; Adaptive, Trauma-Informed & Chair Yoga Facilitator; Pregnancy, Post-Natal & Mother and Baby Yoga Teacher; and Shamanic Practitioner.

“I’m extremely excited about embarking on this new adventure with two partners who share my love of the natural world. Our collective intention for you during these trips, is that you truly and deeply experience that beautiful connection with nature, and take a step down the life-changing path towards finding a way back to your true authentic self.” – Alex Chenery

Experience the therapeutic benefits of practicing yoga in nature…

Our inaugural heart-centered yoga and nature tour ‘Back to Nature…Back to Yourself’ departs in March 2022. We will be inviting you to discover the natural, cultural, and historical treasures of St. Lucia, Dominica and Barbados, while taking time to re-center and absorb these experiences with a variety of daily yoga and well-being practices.

During this epic 10-day adventure, we will take inspiration from the islands to rebalance our vital energies through practices designed to free you from your inhibitions—and give you that ‘aaahhhh oooohhhh mmmm’ (OM) feeling!

We will take our yoga practice into the heart of Dominica’s lush tropical forests to connect with the primal energy of our Sacral chakra; to the lofty windswept cliff tops of St. Lucia where with Red-billed Tropicbirds whistling by, we will root down into the earth, finding that pure connection to nature through our Root chakra; and on to the tranquil azure waters of the Caribbean Sea, where aboard our privately chartered catamaran we will raise our voices by way of our Throat chakra to experience the uplifting effect of Kirtan. While our daytime yoga sessions will have the calls of nature as our backdrop, our evening sessions will be accompanied by the harmonic sounds of fellow BirdsCaribbean partner Shika Shika’s “Guide to the Birdsong” series. These tracks will create the perfect atmosphere to relax and recharge.

The Birding Experience

Your guide to all things nature—founder of Birding the Islands Ltd. Ryan Chenery (the Bajan Birder)—will introduce you to the eclectic mix of flora and fauna found in this tropical paradise (and in some cases nowhere else on Earth).

Dominica and St. Lucia are renowned for their spectacular wildlife. These two islands are home to three majestic Amazon parrots, every hummingbird in the Lesser Antillean region, an array of endemic and near endemic warblers, tremblers, thrashers, nightjars and pewees, and a wondrous variety of regional specialties from tropicbirds and frigate birds to solitaires and quail doves.

You will wind down the tour in Barbados, exploring peaceful coastal enclaves to seek out Caribbean Martin and Black Swift. Go birding along the glistening white beaches and mangroves for close encounters with terns, herons, waterfowl and migratory shorebirds. End the tour by stepping away from terra firma and submerging yourself in the most breathtakingly beautiful turquoise waters in the region—where you snorkel with turtles and find yourself surrounded by the many colorful inhabitants of the island’s coral reefs.

And yes, there’s more…

In St. Lucia, you will also have the chance to learn about traditional Rastafarian herbal remedies and discover the island’s influential connection to the sea. On Barbados, we explore the history of the sugar industry in the Caribbean, at one of the island’s oldest working rum distilleries. In Dominica, we spend time with the Kalinago people, the island’s original inhabitants. We will gain insight into their rich culture and visit the sacred site where these indigenous people first landed on the island from their original settlement in South America. Here, we also take a breathtaking cruise off the Atlantic coast in search of whales!

Take some time to reconnect…

There is no purer connection to the natural world than remembering that we are all part of the cosmic consciousness. By practicing yoga in some of the most ecologically rich and pristine habitats in the Caribbean, you have the opportunity to experience a deep connection to the powerful healing energies of the natural world. Along the way, you will experience different yoga styles, develop (or begin) your pranayama and meditation practice, immerse yourself in a Sound Healing Journey, perhaps indulge in an optional private Reiki treatment and even try your hand at SUP (Stand-up Paddle) Yoga!

But I’m a birder, not a yogi (or vice versa)!

Yoga is for everyone—and so is birding! Each part of this retreat into nature has been specifically created to meet you where you are at. Learning is an important part of the mission of our organizations, and you are invited to join us with as much or as little experience in either yoga or birding as you currently have.

We are hopeful that these tours will serve to introduce birders to the profound therapeutic benefits of yoga, and yoga practitioners to the wonderful world of birding. They will be voyages of discovery—connecting with birds and with our inner selves.

How do I find out more?

Our 2022 tour will run from 10th–19th March and above is just a snapshot of the incredibly exciting journey that lies in store for you. To find out more, and for a full itinerary please click here.

We look forward to welcoming you to the islands in 2022!

To express your interest, contact Lisa at lisa.sorenson@birdscaribbean.org, Alex at spinningarrowyoga@gmail.com, or Ryan at thebajanbirder@gmail.com.

Note: Birding the Islands and Spinning Arrow Yoga are generously donating a portion of your tour fee to support our bird conservation programs in the Caribbean. In addition, our tours support local livelihoods, including guides (our partners, some have received training through out Caribbean Birding Trail Guide Training Program) and small businesses, in the islands.

To see other tours offered by Birding the Islands, visit our Caribbean Birding Trail website and Birding the Islands website.