Spring Trips: Get Your Om On

Spring is here, or just about to be! Time to start planning your out-of-town escapes. And, boy, do we have some ideas for you. Check out our list of Best Spring Trips for 2012. As an added bonus, we’ll be featuring a few extra ideas on the Intelligent Travel blog this week.

For those of you who could use a spring cleaning for mind and body, the transitional months before summer are a great time to schedule a personal getaway. Here are three places where you can get your “om” on.

Nestled in in the verdant Berkshires of western Massachusetts, Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health is open year round, offering programs that cater to a broad spectrum of interests, from meditation and yoga to nutrition and cooking. It also has an R&R retreat program where you can hand pick your classes and activities for the day. In your down time, visit a nearby lake to kayak or swim, steep in the sauna, hike the grounds, or go off-property to catch a concert at Tanglewood or visit the Norman Rockwell Museum. For information on Kripalu, email registration@kripalu.org or call 866-200-5203.

So you like your yoga, but you like your food and wine, too? Sign up for a “Vino and Vinyasa” retreat in the vine-covered hills of Sonoma, California at the end of April (4/26-29). Practice yoga during the day and dine on organic, locally-sourced gourmet meals paired with sustainable wines from OM Winery at night. In your free time, explore the countryside or check out one of the fabulous wineries nearby such as B.R. Cohn or Kenwood. You’ll come away a verified oenophil-ogi. Contact Sarah Marshall at sarah@omwinery.com or 707-259-1252 for more information.

Or head south of the border to Mexico’s Riviera Maya to perfect your downward-facing dog while filling your lungs with fresh ocean air.  Sign up for a yoga retreat hosted at the tranquil eco-resort Amansala in Tulum. Contemplate the waves with a margarita in hand or purify your skin with clay mixed with honey from Mayan stingless bees (read more about the clay here). To continue expanding your mind and body, take a refreshing dip in a freshwater cenote or explore the Mayan ruins of Tulum or Coba. After all, it’s best to see these ruins now in case the world really does end in 2012! For information on this May 2-6 retreat, email retreats@yeahdave.com. If these dates don’t work for you, or you’re craving something a tad more intense, check out Amansala’s Bikini Bootcamp.

Come on back to the Intelligent Travel blog tomorrow. We’ll leave the yoga mat and get a bit more rustic on the range with another bonus trip from the travel gurus at National Geographic Traveler.