Vana Farm
Retreats

Pongal is the Tamil harvest festival – a celebration of the sun, the land, and the cycle of seasons. At Vana Farm, we mark it as it has always been marked in this part of the world: with gratitude, simplicity, and practice. A short residential retreat combining asana, pranayama, meditation, and the rhythms of farm life during one of the most significant days in the Tamil calendar.

Daily structure: Before-sunrise practice – brunch – study session – afternoon practice or farm walk – early dinner – evening meditation.

What is included: All meals, accommodation, daily guided practice, philosophy sessions, and participation in the Pongal celebration at the farm.

The monsoon months at the Western Ghats bring a particular quality to practice – the land is green, the air carries moisture, and the rhythm of rain invites a deeper turn inward. This programme runs across three months, June through August, with a 7-day residential retreat on the 1st to 7th of each month.

Structure: Each 7-day cycle is a complete retreat in itself – students may attend one, two, or all three. Returning students carry a continuity of practice from one cycle to the next.

Dates: July 1–7  ·  August 1–7  ·  September 1–7

What is included: All meals, accommodation, daily guided practice, pranayama, meditation, and philosophy sessions suited to the monsoon teaching.

A ten-day residential retreat that goes into the full scope of the teaching: asana, pranayama, meditation, and Vedanta philosophy. The longer format allows each practice to be properly introduced and settled before moving to the next. This is not a sampler – it is a structured immersion into the classical yoga system as a whole.

Daily structure: Before-sunrise meditation – morning asana – brunch – philosophy study – afternoon pranayama – evening meditation. Extended silence from 9 pm to after morning practice.

Who this is for: Students at any level who are ready to commit ten days fully to the work. No prior retreat experience is required, but a regular home practice is expected.

Deepavali is the festival of lights – a moment in the Tamil and Hindu calendar that carries particular weight. At Vana Farm, the holiday is marked simply and in the spirit of the teaching. Three days of practice, study, and presence at the farm during one of the most luminous periods of the year.

What this retreat covers: Morning and evening practice, a philosophy session on the meaning of the festival within the yogic tradition, and quiet time to reflect and settle.

What is included: All meals, accommodation, guided practice, and the festival celebration at the farm.

The end-of-year period at Vana Farm is a longer residential programme that uses the natural pause of the holiday season for sustained practice and study. The Western Ghats in December are cool and clear. The farm is quiet. The conditions for going inward are excellent.

Structure: The programme is not a celebration; it is a practice period that happens to span the holidays. Students who want to use this time for serious work – rather than festivity – will find it well-suited for that purpose. Christmas and the New Year are marked simply, in the spirit of the teaching.

What is included: All meals, accommodation, daily guided practice, philosophy sessions, and the full structure of the residential programme across the fortnight.

Vana Farm is a working permaculture farm in the Kambam Valley. This 3-day residential training introduces beginners to the foundational principles of permaculture design – observing land, understanding water, building soil, and working with the patterns that already exist in a place.

What this covers: Permaculture ethics and principles, reading a landscape, water harvesting and soil building, food forests and companion planting, practical sessions in the farm and forest at Vana Farm.

Who this is for: No prior farming or gardening experience is needed. Anyone curious about living more closely with the land – whether they have a small terrace or a few acres – is welcome.

Yoga is not only a physical practice – it is a systematic investigation of how the mind works, and why we respond to life the way we do. This retreat brings together yogic practice and an inquiry into emotional intelligence: how patterns of feeling arise, how they are held in the body, and how practice can change one’s relationship to them over time.

What this covers: Asana and pranayama as tools for nervous system regulation, the yogic model of the mind and emotions, meditation as a method of self-observation, and structured reflection sessions led by Mani Raman.

Who this is for: Students who sense that their emotional life and their practice are not separate things – and who want to work with both deliberately. No advanced asana practice is required.