Building on the success of his popular yoga retreats, renowned yoga teacher Neo is pleased to announce new ‘Yoga, Chocolate, Charity’ retreats for 2009 and 2010 in the lush, tropical Caribbean island of Grenada.

Set at Grenada’s exclusive eco-chic Laluna Hotel (www.laluna.com), participants are able to experience a uniquely luxurious travel experience. Past guests include Oprah Winfrey and Morgan Freeman, who have a special interest in the development of Grenada. One past retreat participant comments on the benefits of this holiday choice:

“Yoga holidays taking place at Grenada’s most special boutique hotel, Laluna, not only promise a stylish escape but they also help fund a charity that works to improve the lives of children on this poorer of the Caribbean islands.”

More than a relaxing yoga holiday in a luxurious location, the yoga retreats offer participants a unique opportunity to embrace an important element of yoga service: volunteering time to charitable activities. Opportunities include painting colorful wall murals to enhance the environment in a local home for abused and abandoned children and traveling to rural areas to help cocoa farmers whose industry was decimated by the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes. REACH Grenada is working with them to develop organic cocoa certification and attract international buyers.

A percentage of the yoga retreat’s proceeds will go directly towards funding much-needed therapeutic counseling services for Grenada’s orphanages. “There’s a growing need to find worthwhile travel experiences that allow people to get directly involved with local communities and their culture at a grass roots level,” Neo says. “It marks a shift away from commercially organized cultural trips which can just make visitors feel like voyeurs. Traveling responsibly and participating in a voluntourism yoga retreat can benefit everyone involved; participants and the local communities they visit.”

REACH Grenada aims to enhance the well being, growth, and happiness of Grenada’s children in the wake of the devastasting hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 by providing educational, health, and recreational training and resources. REACH Grenada is currently working with the St. Andrew Parish Partnership Schools on additional projects that support the national school curriculum, including Government Schools Feeding program, National Agriculture Short Crop Competitions, and school/business enterprise initiatives such as breeding chickens. REACH Grenada is made possible by the Bartholomew J Lawson Foundation for Children.

The Bartholomew J. Lawson Foundation for Children, is a private, New York-based non-profit 501 (c) (3) established in 2003 by Dr. Karen Lawson following the untimely passing of her husband, Bart Lawson, ambassador-at-large for Grenada. In loving memory of Bart and in the spirit of continuing his good work, the foundation created and continues to support REACH Grenada.