The Essence of Presence
January 23 - January 30, 2027
Marti Yura and Karen Dorfman
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About the Retreat
Marti & Karen invite you for a week of soul nourishing practices at their favorite tropical retreat center on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, Mar de Jade. For the past 5 years, it has become their home away from home, where the jungle meets the sea, birds and flowers are abundant and the heart centered people are so welcoming!
Immerse yourself in mindful yoga practices as we dive into what awakens our inner wisdom, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Explore what your practice could be with intimate instruction, deep focus, and space to breathe. Rejuvenate and treat yourself to a week dedicated totally to you!
Each day will begin with a guided meditation followed by an active yoga practice to move our bodies and awaken the senses. You will then have plenty of free time to enjoy the beach, get a spa treatment, take an excursion or simply relax in a hammock. In the afternoons we’ll drop into a gentle, restorative/yin practice where we will enjoy gorgeous sunset views over the water from our yoga shala.
Three delicious, health-minded meals prepared from their own organic gardens will be provided daily in the open air dining room. Fresh fruit, coffee & tea awaits you at sunrise each morning. Catch up on deep peaceful sleep to the sound of the ocean waves and experience the healing and rejuvenating benefits that Mar de Jade has become famous for.
Marti and Karen are dedicated and supportive yoga instructors with decades of experience teaching classes, workshops and leading retreats.
Their approach is mindful, playful, and grounding. They believe in the power of touch, and take a loving hands-on approach to classes.
The class styles will vary, including somatic practice, alignment-based flow, gentle and yin yoga, meditation, pranayama, and chanting throughout the week.
All levels are welcome, beginners to advanced!
About the Teachers
Marti Yura and Karen Dorfman
Karen Dorfman
Karen has always had a love for soulful expression through movement. Her creative style of teaching comes from her background in dance, using breath and music to stir the soul. Her passion is to connect people to their own joyful potential. She believes in stretching the boundaries, moving beyond the mind and feeling what is true from the heart. Karen began practicing yoga 26 years ago and in 2006 she completed the yoga teacher training program at Peachtree Yoga Center.
Since then, she continues to study with teachers that inspire her so that she can bring a richer and deeper experience to her students each time they meet on the mat. Her classes are dynamic, intuitive and grounding. Each session is unique and always offers attention to alignment and breath, supportive hands-on assistance and encouragement to have fun! In addition to teaching locally, Karen has led numerous yoga retreats in exotic locations, offers workshops with live music in the Atlanta area, and facilitates classes at festivals around the southeast. Her other passion is bodywork, she is a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist and has been practicing at her Buckhead studio since 1995.
Marti Yura
Her journey has come full circle, from her first studio in Charleston, SC in 1982, to the 2009 “birth” of Vista Yoga in Atlanta. Since 1979 her passion for physical and spiritual well-being has led her from teaching various forms of fitness, including group classes and personal training, to her discovery of Yoga in 1998. Since then, Yoga has become a fundamental practice from which she lives her life from.
She is grounded in the tenets and distinctions of Yoga, and utilizes her classes, workshops, and in-depth teacher trainings as a powerful medium to share and support students on their journey.
Both dynamic and therapeutic, Marti’s classes are infused with a thorough understanding of the body, ancient wisdom, her nurturing spirit with a touch of humor.
Marti is a Senior Prajna Yoga Teacher and holds a 500hr E-RYT with Yoga Alliance and is a YACEP Educator. She continues to integrate what she has studied and learned for over forty-seven years as a health and well-being professional.
She has studied with a wide variety of Yoga teachers, including Tias and Surya Little, of Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe, NM since 2008, where she completed her 500-hour certification, along with SATYA, Somatic Awareness Training Certified.
Marti is a certified Anatomy Trains Movement Practitioner with Tom Myers and a Certified Yoga Tune Up Roll Model® Method Trainer. She also completed a Yoga Strap Wall Training with Alison West Of Yoga Union in New York, NY.
Marti co-leads 200 and 300 teacher trainings, along with a variety of workshops and yoga retreats, cooking classes and specialty classes like “Yoga on the Rope Wall.” She also offers private yoga sessions and is a Thai Yoga Massage therapist.