Food as medicine, food as practice. Every meal at Vana Farm is prepared to support the clarity and calm that yoga requires.
Yoga philosophy describes three fundamental qualities – or gunas – that run through all of nature, including the food we eat. Tamas is heaviness, inertia, dullness. Rajas is agitation, stimulation, restlessness. Sattva is clarity, lightness, balance.
The kitchen at Vana Farm is oriented entirely toward sattvic food – fresh, vegetarian, gently spiced, and prepared with care. This is not a dietary preference. It is a considered position: that the quality of the mind in practice depends, in part, on the quality of what was put into the body.
All meals are included in retreat programmes. There is no separate menu, no choice between options. What is served is what is good for the work being done that day.
What we grow at Vana Farm goes directly to the kitchen. What we cannot grow is sourced from farmers in Kambam Valley who work without chemical inputs – people Savitri knows by name, whose practices she has seen firsthand.
The kitchen serves no meat, no seafood, no alcohol. Meals are timed in accordance with the body’s natural rhythms – brunch as the first meal of the day, an early and light dinner. This rhythm supports digestion, sleep, and the quality of morning practice.
Savitri manages the kitchen. She has shaped its character over many years of cooking for retreats, and her food is one of the things participants most frequently speak of when they leave.
The kitchen is not separate from the programme. Participants who wish to can help in the preparation of meals – chopping, grinding, tending a fire. This is karma yoga in its most literal form.
Working in the kitchen alongside Savitri is an education in itself. The spices used – cumin, turmeric, ginger, coriander, black pepper – are not flavourings. They are medicine, chosen for their effects on digestion, circulation, and the nervous system.
In a week at Vana Farm, most participants sleep better and feel lighter. This is not coincidence. It is the result of eating in a way the body recognises.
Used in nearly every dish, cumin supports digestion, reduces bloating, and warms the system without agitating it.
One of Ayurveda’s most studied spices. Anti-inflammatory, liver-supportive, and deeply grounding when used in food rather than supplement form.
Fresh ginger in cooking and as tea. Supports circulation, reduces nausea, and prepares the digestive system for the meal ahead.
All meals included in retreat programmes. No separate meal plans or dietary packages.
Fresh, vegetarian food. No meat, seafood, or alcohol. Dairy is included.
Farm-grown or sourced from local chemical-free farmers in Kambam Valley.
Meal timing follows body rhythms: brunch as first meal, early light dinner.
Participants with dietary requirements should write to us in advance.
Kitchen participation optional but warmly welcomed in longer retreats.
Vana Farm, Kambam Valley
Melagudalur, Tamilnadu – 625516. India