Yoga Wellness Retreat as Lifestyle Medicine – Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm

Yoga Wellness Retreat as Lifestyle Medicine is a wellness retreat at Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in Grass Valley, California, set in the classical Sivananda yoga tradition. It suits people who want a yoga retreat in the Sierra foothills as a way to restore everyday health, whether they are new to the practice or already have one. The retreat is an optional add-on to the ashram's basic yoga vacation or a personalized self-healing stay, so guests can build their time around the days that fit their lives.

What to Expect

Life at the ashram follows the Sivananda approach, which rests on five aspects of a healthy and balanced life: proper exercise, proper breathing, proper relaxation, proper diet and positive thinking. Days combine asana and pranayama with teaching, and meals are organic and vegetarian. Guests are welcome to join satsang, which brings together silent meditation, chanting and a lecture.

The ashram's retreat calendar runs alongside the basic program, and many of its offerings can be joined for the weekend only or for whichever days suit you. Themes include Ayurveda for a Good Life, Meditation in Daily Life, Stress Relief and Relaxation, Hatha Yoga Sadhana and Explore the Foundations of Yoga Life. Ayurveda, the science of life, is taught alongside yoga as a path to healthy living and lasting wellbeing, and the stress-relief retreat asks participants to understand their personal stress profile: their triggers, conditioned reactions and weaknesses. Most of these themed retreats run for a week. The Ayurvedic Massage Rejuvenation weekends offer body treatments, consultations and daily workshops from specialists trained in Ayurveda.

For a first visit, the Sunday Ashram Sacred Tour is a gentle introduction to Sivananda yoga. It includes a guided walk of the grounds, an asana and pranayama class and an organic vegetarian meal, with satsang afterward if you wish to stay.

Evening concerts of kirtan and Indian classical music are also held at the ashram, usually from 7:30 to 9 pm.

Who Leads the Programs

Teaching is shared among ashram swamis and guest teachers. Swami Adiparashaktiananda leads the Hatha Yoga Sadhana retreats, which treat sadhana as conscious, systematic spiritual practice and explore the balance of sun and moon energy in the body and mind. Nitya (Hoa Tran) and Omkara teach many of the Ayurveda, stress and life-path retreats, and Omkara also guides Meditation in Daily Life, which focuses on observing the mind and listening to inner intuition. Atmajyoti Chaitanya and Karuna Chaitanya lead Explore the Foundations of Yoga Life, a week built on the five points of the Sivananda system.

Visiting artists include Acharya Mangalananda, a direct disciple of the saint Anandamayi Ma, who first went to India in 1973, and sitarist Habib Khan, who began training at the age of five under his father. Joss Jaffe, a tabla player, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist, has released four albums, the latest of which reached the Billboard New Age chart.

The Setting

Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm sits in Grass Valley, California, in a quiet country landscape intended for rest and renewal. The ashram describes itself as an ideal place to relax, rejuvenate and detoxify from daily life.

Before You Go

The retreats are open to everyone, wherever they are on their path, and no prior experience is required for the Ayurveda retreat, which is described as being for all. Longer stays are possible, and the ashram also runs a four-week onsite yoga teachers training course for those who want to teach. For Ayurvedic massage weekends, it is best to contact the ashram directly to arrange treatments.