Notes from the winter reset
By Charlotte Schoeters · · 5 min read
March in Essaouira: warm enough by day to practise on the roof in a t-shirt, cool enough at night to sleep under a blanket, and windy enough all week to clear out whatever you brought in. Below are the notes I wrote on the last morning.
March is the reason we chose March. By midday the sun is warm enough to sit on the roof in a t-shirt and mean it. The tourist season hasn't started yet, so the medina is quiet, the streets belonging to the people who live there, which is the version of Essaouira worth knowing. And the wind is still very much doing its thing.
I have been coming back at this time of year for three years running. Not for a retreat, just to be in the place. Below are the notes I wrote on the last morning before flying home to Antwerp.
Arrival
I flew into Marrakech and took a taxi straight to Essaouira, about two and a half hours through the plain, the light changing as you get closer to the coast. I arrived late. There was a pot of harira on the stove. I ate alone in the kitchen at midnight, the riad completely silent around me. Sleep came fast and without effort, which is what this place does.
On the wind
The alizé blows north off the Atlantic pretty much year-round, but in March it has a particular quality: strong and consistent, carrying just enough salt and cold air to keep things honest. By day the sun more than compensates. You practise on the roof in the warmth, the wind pulling at your clothes, the Atlantic visible between the rooftops. By evening, when the sun drops, you add a layer and you're glad you brought one.
Nights are cool, genuinely cool, not just slightly less hot. You sleep under a proper blanket. This turns out to be exactly the right condition for sleeping well, which is not always something you can arrange at home.
The practice
We practised on the roof with a windbreak rigged from old Berber blankets. The carpet collected sand by the end of the week. Three of us: two teachers, a small group. No fixed timetable except morning practice and meals. We improvised the rest.
Off-season practice has a different quality to retreat yoga. There are no guests to hold space for, no sequence planned in advance. The practice follows the day rather than leading it. We started later when the sun reached the terrace. We stayed in forward folds longer than a class schedule would allow. One morning we practised for two hours without planning to.
What changed
Less than I expected. More than I can name. The body remembers the mat differently after a week of daily unstructured practice: it arrives faster, settles deeper. The mind does something similar. The noise of ordinary life takes longer to return, and when it does it sounds slightly different, less urgent, more optional.
On returning
I landed in Brussels to find my inbox full, a broken pipe in the kitchen, and four voicemails from my mother. The pipe was fixed within an hour. The inbox took four days. My mother and I talked on the phone for a long time, which we had not done properly in months.
This is also what a week away is for.
March is one of the best months to visit Essaouira: warm days, quiet streets, lower flights. If you're considering a custom or private retreat outside peak season, get in touch: charlotte@yogavibe.eu.