In person | Commonweal Retreat Center

Single room – $695 Early bird, use promo code RETREAT, exp. 8/1 | $735  regular
Shared room – $595 (per person) Early bird, use promo code RETREAT, exp. 8/1 | $635 regular (per person)

Thursday August 22, 5pm – Sunday August 25, 12:30pm

Our August retreat will focus on restoring the natural sense of balance and peace that dwells in the heart of our being as our truest nature. Through meditative practices, rest and reflection, we will calm the mind, come fully into the present, and strengthen our connection to the unchanging spiritual presence within.

Join Claudia Bartsch, Astrud Castillo and Swami Ramananda at this in-person 4-day retreat. It will include various Yoga classes for all levels of practice, workshops, meditations, inspirational evening programs, healthy vegetarian meals and free time for walks, resting or reading.

We will practice periods of silence including Friday morning and the whole day Saturday. In this spacious silence, we can strengthen our inner connection to peace and renew our personal commitment to live courageously in the light of awareness.

We are blessed once again to use the Commonweal Retreat Center in Bolinas, known for the natural beauty of the ocean side location which is located on sacred Native American grounds. The practices of Yoga in this beautiful natural setting offer an opportunity to cleanse the body and mind of stimulants and toxins that we ingest through the mouth, eyes, and ears and find rejuvenation.

Swami Ramananda, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500, is the Executive Director of the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco, C-IAYT, and a greatly respected senior teacher in the Integral Yoga tradition who has been practicing Yoga for over 45 years. Ramananda offers practical methods of integrating the timeless teachings and practices of Yoga into daily life and transforming the painful aspects of human experience into steps toward realizing one’s full potential.
He leads beginner, intermediate and advanced-level Yoga teacher training programs in San Francisco and offers a variety of programs in many locations in the U.S., Europe and South America. Ramananda co-developed the Stress Management Teacher Training program with Swami Vidyananda, has trained many teachers to bring Yoga into corporate, hospital and medical settings, and has taught mind/body wellness programs in many locations. He is a certified Yoga therapist and founding board member of the Yoga Alliance, a national registry that supports and promotes yoga teachers as professionals. He co-founded The Spiritual Action Initiative (SAI), which brings together individuals committed to working for social justice for all beings and for the care and healing of our natural world. His warmth, wisdom and sense of humor have endeared him to many.

Claudia Bartsch, E-500CYT, C-IAYT, has been teaching yoga for 17 years. With over 1,500 hours of training she offers an in-depth understanding of yogic practices and techniques and how to apply them for healing, integration and transformation. In 2011 she bridged her interest in Western psychology and the yogic path and became a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist. Additionally, Claudia is a certified Stress Management Educator, a trained Reiki and Shiatsu Practitioner. In her work she offers a unique blend of the various branches of yoga, hands-on body and energy work empowering her clients to move towards greater resilience, well-being and health. Please visit her website for more information: claudiabartsch.com

Astrud Castillo has been teaching yoga since 2001 and sharing Kirtan internationally for the last 10 years.She trained in NYC at Laughing Lotus, currently known as Body and soul Yoga collective and is a senior teacher and teacher trainer. She has studied the basics of yoga therapeutics and Vedic chanting with T.K.V. Desikachar in India. Her teaching has been inspired by her mentor and friend Mark Whitwell over the last 20 years. Astrud’s classes are warm, welcoming and all inclusive. Her love and relationship to Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion, is always illuminated in her teaching. There is always chanting in Astrud’s classes, awareness around the breath and mindful movement. Astrud leads annual pilgrimages to India, teaches Bhakti yoga with teachers in training and currently lives at the IYI in SF. Her slow flow class weaves together poses in a creative and mindful way using the breath as the bridge to deepen and explore the balance between effort and surrender and focus the mind.