Stress Relief and Relaxation: From Stress to Strength

This yoga retreat at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in Grass Valley, California, is a week-long study of stress and how to meet it with steadiness. Led by Radha (Debbie Desrochers), a yoga health educator, "Stress Relief and Relaxation: From Stress to Strength" combines classical Sivananda yoga with practical teaching on the nervous system, habitual reactions and positive thinking. It suits anyone who wants stress management rooted in yoga, from first-timers to long-time practitioners.

You can stay for the full seven days or choose a shorter stay, such as a weekend, that fits your calendar.

What to Expect

The central idea is awareness. You work toward understanding your personal "stress profile": your triggers, conditioned reactions and weak points. From there the retreat looks at how stress builds through repeated reactive habits when we sense a threat, and how to slow down, replace the habitual defensive response with positive self-affirmation, and face difficulty with more fortitude and self-confidence.

Each afternoon includes a workshop. Topics include:

- Recharging your prana for facing challenges
- Three stress responses and relaxation
- Understanding the nervous system
- Converting negative emotions
- Building flexibility and adaptability
- Accepting unavoidable life uncertainties
- Alleviating stress-inducing karmic circumstances

The recommended daily schedule follows the ashram rhythm:

- 6:00 to 7:30am: Satsang with meditation, chanting and a lecture
- 8:00 to 9:45am: Asana class
- 10:00am: Vegetarian brunch
- 11:00am: Karma yoga
- 12:00pm: Nature walks
- 1:00 to 2:30pm: Stress relief and relaxation workshop
- 2:30 to 4:00pm: Free time
- 4:00 to 5:45pm: Asana class
- 6:00pm: Vegetarian dinner
- 7:30 to 9:00pm: Satsang

On the first day, check-in begins at 2:00pm, and arriving by 4:00pm lets you join the asana class. Dinner is at 6:00pm, followed by a welcoming orientation at 7:00pm and satsang at 7:30pm.

About Radha (Debbie Desrochers)

Radha has been coming to the Yoga Farm since the late 90s. She left a career teaching engineering and mathematics and now works as a yoga health educator, both a yoga therapist and a teacher. Her teaching covers yoga, meditation, positive thinking, stress management and pain management.

The Setting

The retreat takes place at Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in Grass Valley, California. Accommodation ranges from bringing your own tent, with separate women's and men's tenting areas, to shared or private rooms in Om Cabin, Siva Cabin and Krishna Cabin. The Deluxe Shanti rooms offer a private queen bed with futon, as well as rooms for friends or family and shared dorms. Vegetarian meals are served in the ashram, and the Siva Wellness Center is available for those who want to add bodywork focused on balance and the body's own wisdom.

Check-out is at 12:00pm, and you are welcome to remain at the ashram for the rest of the afternoon.

Before You Go

There are no prerequisites beyond a sincere desire to learn classical yoga, and all levels are welcome. Suggested items to bring: slip-on shoes, loose comfortable clothing, writing materials, a meditation shawl or blanket, a yoga mat, a sitting cushion, a water bottle and a flashlight. The ashram boutique stocks books and other materials.

Optional course books can be ordered at check-out: Yoga Sadhana for Self-Healing by Swami Sitaramananda, the Positive Thinking Manual, and How to Cultivate Virtues and Eradicate Vices by Swami Sivananda. Reference materials include a beginner Sivananda yoga class and an essentials of classical yoga class on YouTube, plus Swami Sitaramananda's article on self development.