Join Satya and Meha for  a weekend of healing, community, and a celebration of Spring within the sacred grounds of Groundswell Retreat Center. Located on 200 acres of vital grasslands and redwoods, the diverse landscape provides an exquisite and magical experience of both raw and cultivated beauty.  Stewarded by a queer intentional community, this worker-owned center invites deep rest and meaningful connection to self, community, and earth. The land features redwood groves, a farm, a natural hot tub, and spectacular upland views.   

Explore the interplay of bliss and stillness as both our true nature and the Divine Play of the world around us. Dive deep into the Yoga tradition with Asana (physical Yoga postures), meditation, pranayama, mantra, and stories for connection and deep soul growth. There will be Yoga asanas offered for all levels of experience: Hatha flow, Vinyasa, Restorative, and basics. Trade the daily grind for meditation in the ancestral grove of Redwood trees. Soften the commute stress with a refreshing naked (optional!) dip in the meandering creek. Remember the sweetness inherent in all beings watching a baby Alpaca curl up to its mama. 

Offering 12 years of experience teaching yoga, Satya de la Paz August inspires students to fall in love with their bodies and their practice. Deeply inspired by her years as an educator in West Oakland, she infuses dynamic alignment, chanting, storytelling, and community-building into her classes. Satya offers Yoga as a means of collective and personal liberation and decolonization: accessing our innate healing capacity through therapeutics and compassion, meeting media-driven body shame through mindfulness and affirmation, freeing the heart of resentment and blame, and healing the mind of ableist and hierarchical ways of moving and acting. Multiple expressions of poses are offered as students are encouraged to listen to their own body wisdom and access needs.  Satya is deeply grateful for her mentor, Abby Tucker, as well as all of her dharma and movement teachers, Sally Kempton, Rob Preece, and Sianna Sherman. Honoring  the traditions of Anusara Yoga, Buddhism, and Tantra, she empowers multiracial, multi-gender, and multigenerational groups to awaken their true nature of awareness and bliss. Off the mat, Satya is active in social justice movements, dances, gardens, and cooks.

Meha Davé (pronouns: she/her) is a coach, consultant, and movement practitioner who focuses on leadership development, healing, and empowerment for people of color. After several years of practicing yoga, Meha received her 200 hour yoga teacher training certification with Rolf Gates through Communities Rizing, a Vinyasa yoga and meditation teacher training for people of color. Inspired by the deeply rooted community and spiritual practice of this eight-month training, Meha offers yoga teachings as a way for folks to build caring connection with themselves, access the wisdom of their bodies, and practice liberation here and now. She invites yoga practitioners to bring their full selves to their practice, while holding their experiences with compassionate presence and inviting them into their own abundance and power. Meha enjoys focusing on building a sense of safety and accessibility in yoga classes, which cultivates an environment for participants to make deeply nourishing choices for themselves including rest, play, challenge, exploration and joy. Meha’s journey as a queer South Asian woman and yoga teacher has been about accessing her ancestral, somatic, and creative wisdom to (re)claim space and stand in her power in service of a vision for collective healing and empowerment. She brings this vision to all that she does.

This Black and Queer positive space is open to people of all genders, 15+ in age, religions, ethnicities, races, immigration statuses, abilities, shapes, and sexual orientation.  

Arrival: 4-6 pm Friday, May 15th (late arrival possible if approved by organizer)

Departure: 1 pm Sunday May, 17th

FAQ: 

1.  Payment plans available

2. If you would like to arrange to pay by cash or check, please contact Satya directly satyabodyworks@gmail.com

*****Rates go up on March 1st and May 1st*****

3. All deposits & payments are NON-REFUNDABLE and NO EXCHANGES. This includes acts of God or Mother Nature. Please make sure you purchase travel insurance that would cover a cancelled retreat or your personal need or emergency to cancel your retreat. As times become more turbulent, it's important to be prepared. Lonely planet has good insurance. Make sure to check fine print.

4. Carpooling will be made available but is not guaranteed.

5. Work-trade and scholarship information application: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdNS3m43KQjJ6o3oh12nBgln_Uwr-wkxCfpNfCmTRiCi6Hk7A/viewform?usp=sf_link

6.  All meals are included and lovingly prepared by a local chef. Ingredients are organic and largely plant-based nutrition. Gluten-free, vegan, and other dietary needs are available upon request.

For more information about Satya come by one of her public classes listed at facebook.com/satyabodyworks 

or check out these videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xAmb2IiIk0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bylXz0zWkvk