Arrival in the High Alps
Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. Traveling alone to another country can be a little intimidating. Will there be a language barrier? Will I be able to get around easily? Is it safe to be a woman on her own? Is there a city center that’s walkable? I have the worst sense of direction and without my phone I’d be completely lost. Give me a 50/50 shot at which direction to choose, and I’ll inevitably pick the wrong one. Sometimes getting lost though, is the only way to find exactly where you need to be.
I’ve been to a handful of retreats, never a festival. Retreats, in my experience, tend to be a small group with a shared schedule. A festival is much more expansive! And with a couple hundred people, it still feels intimate, almost surprisingly so. The wellness programming is wide-ranging and simultaneous, creating an open-flow format, which gives you space to explore, and follow what calls to you.
That was exactly the intention when the Mountain Yoga Festival was created. With the help of the St Anton Am Arlberg Tourist Board, the organizers wanted to share the region’s majestic alpine landscape through high-quality yoga and wellness experiences, creating an intimate, retreat-like international event rather than a massive commercial gathering. The inaugural festival launched in September 2016, blending yoga with outdoor wellness immersions, panoramic mountain hikes, and community experiences.
What began as a small local idea has grown into a living, breathing family of seekers from around the world.
All photos Ⓒ TVB St. Anton, Patrick Bätz
I first heard about the festival through a friend, host of the travel podcast Travel With Meaning, who had been before, loved it, and wanted to return with his wife. It sounded like a fun experience, so I jumped on board as the third wheel. They were starting their trip on a river cruise through Austria with Riverside Cruises, and I was to meet them in Vienna before we took the train to St. Anton together.
Since I was traveling all the way to Europe, I decided to fly in ahead of the four-day festival and make the most of the trip. I have a very good friend in Düsseldorf, Germany, whom I hadn’t visited since 2016, so I began my trip there, spending a handful of days with her and my goddaughter Gene. We had the best time – even visiting a coed, clothing-free spa, or Textilfrei, meaning “textile free.” When in Germany…
What felt more intimidating was leaving Germany on my own and heading to Austria. I had never been there before and didn’t know anyone. But I realized the fear really comes from not knowing. Once you arrive and get settled, things have a way of falling into place.
I had a couple of days in Vienna before meeting up with my friends and stayed at an extraordinary hotel, The Leo Grand. I could not recommend it enough. They picked me up from the airport and checked me into the most exquisite room. It was so pretty I almost didn’t want to leave – but I did, because I was in the heart of all the action. Walk out the front door and you’re steps from St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Stephansplatz, the city’s central square, surrounded by shops, restaurants, and seemingly endless streets to explore.
I was referred to Zum Weissen Rauchfangkehrer, which translates to “The White Chimney Sweep,” and stumbled upon another restaurant, Plachuttas Neuer Markt, by doing what I do best – getting lost. Both were equally delicious. I visited the Imperial Butterfly House, Schmetterlinghaus and the Albertina museum. It was quick, but I managed to do a lot in a little amount of time and, more importantly, found myself feeling relaxed and calm about being completely on my own, something I had never really done before.
I was overcoming my anxiety about being alone and actually enjoying it, doing what I wanted, when I wanted. Now I was going from the city to the mountains, trading museums and restaurants for gondolas, hiking trails, and yoga mats.
I knew nothing about St. Anton am Arlberg, (known as St. Anton). Back home in the U.S., as I was planning and packing for the four-day Mountain Yoga Festival, I remember that quiet voice whispering that perhaps my time might be better spent elsewhere. The Austrian Alps sounded beautiful, of course – crystalline air, sweeping cinematic views, but it was all unknown. Nope, not going to let that voice talk me out of a new experience. Thankfully, I didn’t listen. I chose the adventure instead, and now, after Germany, navigating Vienna on my own, and making my way toward the mountains, I was already so happy I had. The hesitation had given way to an excitement that came over me. I still had no idea what to expect from St. Anton or the festival, but that was becoming part of the fun.
Embrace the unknown…
The moment I arrived I was in awe!
From the village below, the gondola lifted me through a veil of mist until the world seemed to breathe differently. You’re 1,300 meters (4265 feet) above sea level in St. Anton am Arlberg, a mountain village in Austria’s westernmost state of Tyrol, resting at the foot of the Arlberg Pass near the Swiss border. About a six-hour train ride west of Vienna or four-hours from Munich. It’s a region defined by snow-capped peaks, wildflower valleys, and trails that weave between mountains and meadows.
Towering above it all is Valluga, the highest peak in the St. Anton am Arlberg region, rising 2,811 meters (9,222 feet). The mountain sits directly on the border between the Austrian states of Tyrol and Vorarlberg. Festivalgoers could experience it on a hike led by expert hiking guide Geli Häusl, using the Vallugabahn cable cars to bridge the massive elevation changes and make the journey possible as a day hike.
In winter, it’s one of Europe’s most iconic ski destinations; in late summer, it transforms into almost a secret sanctuary of green slopes and crisp alpine air, the perfect canvas for this celebration of yoga, nature, and spirit.
There’s something undeniably electric about a yoga festival set high in the mountains. Here, yoga wasn’t confined to four studio walls. It spills out onto mountaintops, into open meadows, across wooden decks perched above valleys, where each breath feels more alive. You know you are in a special place.
The mountain greeted me with reverence: thin air, bright light, the soft clang of cowbells drifting across the valley. Up here, the air felt ancient and kind. Every inhale reminded me how far I’d come, not just in miles, but in mindset.
Everyone was so welcoming. It rekindled how much I love traveling abroad, meeting new people from other countries and being part of a community.
The charming town itself was completely walkable and sprinkled with boutique hotels filled with festival attendees. I stayed at the Anton Hotel, which was literally a stone’s throw from the gondola, (a 30-second walk) and incredibly cozy. My friends stayed right next door at Ullrhaus, a little more modern and with an impressive spa. Everything felt close, easy, and connected, which made settling into festival life almost effortless.
The Summit of Stillness
The Mountain Yoga Festival feels less like a schedule and for four days life took on a gentler rhythm. Mornings begin with yoga mats unfurled, grounding flows as the sun rises and shines over jagged peaks.
At the opening ceremony and check-in, everyone is given a schedule, but how you use it is entirely up to you. The festival is designed to be completely free-flowing and self-directed. There’s a robust lineup of classes and workshops, many happening simultaneously, yet nothing is mandatory. You have total freedom to choose exactly what you want to attend and when. And because the festival draws an international community, the schedule identifies whether each class is taught in English, German, or a combination of both.
The teachers moved among us softly, voices low and anchoring.The meditation sessions? Spiritually profound. Want an energizing indoor vinyasa? It’s there. Prefer a guided hike to a waterfall and then start your practice? Also, there. Curious about Ayurveda? How about an informative workshop with Rashmi Zimburg. Or a sound bath with Anna Welinder, the deep hum of gongs echoing against the wooden beams of the yoga hall. It’s all part of the magic.
There are seventeen instructors, experts and musicians dividing the classes, workshops, hikes, meditation, music, and other experiences throughout the festival. Sigrid Pichler, an Austrian native who now lives and teaches in New York City, is both a yoga instructor and the festival’s new lead organizer and director. Live melodic music from Wolfgang Wehner becomes part of the practice itself, adding yet another layer to the experience.
A hike through the mountains with Geli Häusl leads into a practice with yoga instructor Manel Rodrigues, who reminds us that “yoga is so much more than what happens on the mat.” There’s being in paradise, swimming in the river, and guided meditation with Andrea Boni. The setting and the practice continually spill into one another.
Karl Straub, a festival veteran and one of the many sought-out yoga instructors, had that rare quality of presence: no performance, no preach, just calm integrity.“Breathe into the mountain,” Karl would say. “Let it breathe back into you.”Under his guidance, the usual self-consciousness that shadows group practice fell away. We weren’t striving to be better versions of ourselves, we were just being.
After class, we’d gather for tea, or small hikes. Some took the gondola higher still, following trails lined with wildflowers and waterfalls; others lingered near the base, soaking in the sun, or taking a sauna. There was plenty to do or nothing to do, you choose.
If I’d expected solitude, what I found instead was belonging.There were people from Austria, Germany, Switzerland, and far beyond; faces and accents from every corner of the world. By the second day, it no longer mattered who came from where. You start to recognize people not by name, but by energy.
Many of the people I met return year after year. The festival has become their getaway, their connection back to nature and to a like-minded community centered around wellness. There’s a feeling of gratefulness here that is difficult to put into words and unlike anything I’ve experienced. You arrive among strangers, but somehow the shared experience of being outdoors, moving, breathing, and simply being together begins to dissolve those boundaries; laughter in gondolas, quiet conversations on the trails, spontaneous smiles after meditation, each moment is a reminder that peace is something that we build together. Evenings often ended with communal dinners, walking through the quaint town. You weren’t sure if you didn’t want the night to end or you couldn’t wait for the next morning to begin.
The Language of Nature
There’s a German word, Lebensgefühl, that translates loosely as “the feeling of life itself.” It’s the sense of being fully, luminously alive, body and spirit awake to the moment. I had never heard this term before, but I was starting to uncover its mystery.
Each hike was a meditation in motion. As we climbed, valleys expanded beneath us, rivers nestled among spires of pine, distant glaciers catching the light. Sometimes we walked in companionable silence, other times in meaningful talks about home, purpose, love, loss.
The festival’s tenth-anniversary celebration brought hundreds together under open sky: laughter, music, dance, cocktails, and the unmistakable joy of community, with just one request for the evening’s dress code: a touch of themed gold.
Why This Festival Stands Apart
It wasn’t happiness exactly, well it was, but also something deeper: the quiet realization that sometimes peace finds you when you give yourself the space to simply be.
My own journey getting here had started with a little anxiety. But I also know this about myself: I live for new experiences and assimilate pretty quickly. Somewhere between navigating Vienna alone, arriving in the mountains, meeting people from around the world, and surrendering to the rhythm of these four days, that anxiety had disappeared. I could let go and just be, with no resistance, open to whatever came next. There’s a freedom in realizing you’re comfortable in your own company, and an even greater one in discovering how easily that independence can coexist with connection.
I’ve often left retreats feeling inspired but untethered, the calm fading as soon as the plane lands. This experience was so unique. St. Anton stayed with me, not as an escape, but as an imprint.
The teachings, rooted in humility, created something rare: transformation without pretense. This wasn’t a yoga festival that asked you to become someone new; it invited you to return home to yourself. The mountain didn’t demand enlightenment, it simply offered space to breathe. The people didn’t promise healing, they embodied it, in the way they listened, laughed, and lifted one another.
When I think back now, I feel like no definition does the word Lebensgefühl justice. You have to experience it to understand!!
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