Bleib im Flow: Four Days of Yoga, Breathwork and Ice Baths in the Austrian Alps

The retreat runs four days, from 4 to 7 December 2026, and the programme is deliberately balanced between effort and rest. Mornings tend to be the activating part — yoga and breathwork sessions designed to wake the body up. The ice bath is the centrepiece and the thing most guests remember. It takes place in the swimming pond on the property, in winter, after preparation and instruction. The point isn't endurance for its own sake: the combination of controlled breathing, cold and mental focus is what the programme is built around.

Nicola Silva Felsberger leads the yoga. She's run the Nicoya Yoga Studio in Klagenfurt since 2017 and joined the BLEIB BERG team with a weekly yoga-in-the-mountain class. Her sessions here are described as working on physical, mental, energetic and spiritual levels, with a focus on breathing and depth. Markus Pachernig leads the breathwork and cold work. He's a former competitive athlete and has worked for years as a health trainer on physiology, breathing and cold, and he also brings music into his teaching — his sounds and frequencies accompany several of the activities during the retreat.

Sound healing is a real part of the schedule, not a footnote. The sound bath sessions combine healing sound frequencies with either light movement or stillness, and no preparation is needed — you turn up and lie down or move gently. Markus sometimes accompanies other yoga teachers' sessions with live music, and that happens here too.

One session takes place in the Heilklimastollen, the property's healing-climate tunnel. The cool temperature and high humidity are the point: the idea is that breathing there activates the body's own healing capacity, clears the airways, and makes a slow inhale and exhale feel very present. It's an unusual setting for a yoga class and not something most alpine retreats have.

Food is part of the programme rather than an add-on. The kitchen follows Modern Mayr Medicine: a generous late breakfast, a midday meal of soup and a selection of bread, and a vegetarian three-course dinner in the evening. It's lighter and more structured than a typical hotel half-board, and it's designed to sit alongside the yoga and breathwork rather than fight it.

The property is BLEIB BERG, an alpine health retreat. Guests stay on site for three nights, and yoga equipment — mats, blocks, straps and blankets — is provided, so you don't need to bring your own.

What's included

- 3 nights' accommodation at BLEIB BERG - 9 guided yoga and ice bath sessions across the four days - Late, generous breakfast daily - Midday soup and bread selection - Vegetarian three-course dinner each evening - Yoga mats, blocks, straps and blankets on site - Sound healing sessions with live music - Breathwork sessions - Guided ice bath in the property's swimming pond - Yoga session in the Heilklimastollen

What's not included

- Travel to and from BLEIB BERG - Travel insurance - Drinks and personal expenses - Additional spa or medical treatments at the property - Room upgrades beyond the booked category