IN-PERSON with Swami Ramananda, Diana Meltsner & Astrud Castillo

This retreat is FULL – WAITLIST ONLY

Retreat begins on Thursday, August 13 at 5pm – Ends on Sunday, August 16 at 12:30pm

$795 Single room | $725 Early bird, exp. 7/23
$670 Shared room (price per person) | $600 Early bird, exp. 7/23
Active teacher discount 20%

At Commonweal Retreat Center, Bolinas, CA. This in-person 4-day retreat will include a variety of Yoga classes for all levels of practice, workshops, meditations, inspirational evening programs—including kirtan with Astrud—healthy vegetarian meals, and free time for walks, resting, or reading.

Each day will also include Yoga Nidra practices to support deep rest and nervous system renewal. We will practice silent, walking and guided meditations as well as an end-of-day personal reflection practice to integrate the day’s teachings and insights and help us move more deeply into awareness.

We will observe silence from Thursday night until Sunday morning. In this spacious quiet, we can strengthen our inner connection to peace, find clarity of thought, and cultivate compassionate connection with one another.

We are blessed once again to gather at the Commonweal Retreat Center in Bolinas, known for the natural beauty of its oceanside setting and its location on sacred Native American land. Practicing Yoga in this powerful natural environment offers an opportunity to cleanse the body and mind of the stimulants and toxins we ingest through the mouth, eyes, and ears, and to renew our personal commitment to live courageously in the light of awareness.

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.

Diana Meltsner, C-IAYT, ERYT-500, YACEP, has been teaching a variety of classes and workshops since 2001 and since 2017 offers yoga therapy sessions privately and at Integral Yoga Therapy Clinic in San Francisco. She has over 15 years of experience in leading and co-teaching Yoga and Meditation teacher trainings. She has been working in the clinical setting for Kaiser Permanente since 2005 as a yoga teacher, yoga therapist, and health educator. Diana’s focus is on the healing aspects of Yoga on the mind as well as the body by applying the physical postures, practices of breath-control, mindfulness and meditation. Diana helps her clients to find the ability to move through life with increased ease, stress resilience, and intuition. Diana Meltsner works as a programs manager at Integral Yoga Institute, an urban ashram in San Francisco. www.dianameltsner.com

Astrud is a celebrated kirtan wallah and yoga teacher currently living in Los Angeles. She has been sharing the art and practice of kirtan for over two decades and has toured throughout the U.S. and Europe sharing her passion for Mantra Meditation and Bhakti Yoga. Astrud teaches teachers in training the essence of Bhakti and basic harmonium skills. She has been teaching asana infused with Bhakti since 2000. “Astrud’s kirtans immerse the mind in a sea of sacred sound and melt open the heart” -Swami Ramananda. You can find her album Hari Om and other singles on Spotify, and all other music platforms.