The Deep Exhale: Women's Yoga Retreat

The Deep Exhale is a women's yoga retreat at Soul House in Ahangama, on the south coast of Sri Lanka, led by Eliana. It runs for a week and is built around one idea: the feeling of finally exhaling. It suits women who want to step out of a busy, screen-filled routine and spend time moving, resting and sharing meals in good company.

What to Expect

The organizers describe the aim of the retreat as a particular moment: your shoulders soften, your mind quietens, and you realise you haven't checked your phone in hours. Conversation flows easily, movement feels good, food is shared slowly and time seems to expand.

Yoga is the heart of the week, alongside the unhurried pace, the conversation and the shared meals that make that feeling possible. This is a women's retreat, so you will be practising and eating with other women in a setting designed to let the nervous system settle rather than keep performing.

The retreat runs from the end of February into early March and lasts a week. A detailed day-by-day timetable has not been published, so expect the rhythm to be shaped by Eliana and the Soul House team.

About Eliana

Eliana leads this retreat and is the teacher named for The Deep Exhale. Her approach follows the retreat's own spirit: creating conditions in which women can soften, slow down and feel at ease in their bodies.

The Setting

Soul House sits in Ahangama, in the Galle district on Sri Lanka's south coast. The venue is described as having a fully equipped yoga shala and nourishing, Ayurvedic-inspired meals, with every detail designed to support the people staying there. The surroundings combine beach and tropical green, which suits a week of slowing down.

Before You Go

This retreat is for women. Sri Lanka's south coast is warm, so pack light clothing for practice and for time outdoors, and plan to leave your phone aside for much of the week. That is part of how the retreat works, and the pleasure of it is in how quickly it stops feeling like a sacrifice.