Yoga Sadhana for Self-Healing Retreat

Yoga Sadhana for Self-Healing Retreat is a yoga retreat at Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in Grass Valley, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills. It is for people who want to spend time in an ashram setting caring for their own wellbeing through the classical Sivananda yoga tradition. Sadhana means conscious, systematic spiritual practice, and a self-healing retreat here is built around that kind of steady, personal practice rather than a fixed performance or workshop.

How the Retreat Works

Self-healing retreats at the Yoga Farm are personalized. They sit alongside the basic yoga vacation, which is the foundation of a stay at the ashram. The ashram's separate programs and retreats, such as Ayurveda courses, meditation retreats, stress relief weeks and holiday retreats, are offered as optional add-ons to either one. A guest can shape the stay around those offerings or keep it simple.

Retreats at the ashram are flexible about time. Guests can come for a weekend only or choose whichever days fit their calendar.

The Sivananda approach rests on five points of a balanced life: proper exercise, proper breathing, proper relaxation, proper diet and positive thinking. Asana, pranayama and meditation are the daily practices of the ashram, and the ashram also teaches Ayurveda, the traditional Indian science of life, as part of its approach to healthy living.

The Setting

Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm is a working ashram in Grass Valley, California. The ashram describes itself as an ideal place to relax, rejuvenate and detoxify from daily life. Meals at the ashram are organic and vegetarian. Guests who want to see the place before committing to a longer stay can take the guided Ashram Sacred Tour, offered on Sunday afternoons as an introduction to Sivananda Yoga. It includes an asana and pranayama class and a meal, and visitors are welcome to stay for satsang, which brings silent meditation, chanting and a lecture.

Before You Go

The ashram's retreats are described as open to people at any point on their path, and no prior experience is stated as a requirement. Because the self-healing retreat is personalized, it makes sense to talk with the ashram about your needs, your length of stay and any add-on programs before you arrive.