The Meditation, Yoga, and Wellness Retreat at Ananda Dhiira in Penn Valley, California, offers a comprehensive program that combines various elements to promote holistic well-being. The schedule includes:
- Meditation classes to provide an introduction to the practice
- Yoga sessions to help participants improve their physical and mental health
- Nature walks allow participants to connect with the beautiful natural environment surrounding the retreat center
- Treatments and therapies to support healing and relaxation
- Healthy meals and juices made from mostly organic, fresh fruits and vegetables
- Social activities and games to foster a sense of community
- Access to the nearby South Yuba River for swimming, providing an opportunity to immerse in nature
The retreat is hosted at the Ananda Dhiira Master Unit, a spiritual and ecological center dedicated to serving the local community with yoga, meditation, and wellness programs. Participants can expect to deepen their meditation practice, rejuvenate their body and mind, and enjoy the tranquil natural setting during this comprehensive retreat experience.
What is Special About This Retreat?
This meditation and yoga retreat, led by experienced teachers Didi Ananda Acira and Dada Diiptimanananda, offers a unique opportunity for spiritual growth and connection. With decades of experience, Didi and Dada will guide participants in meditation, yoga, and naturopathic treatments, providing personalized techniques and recommendations on yoga, diet, and lifestyle habits to support overall well-being.
At the core of the retreat is the mantra Baba Nam Kevalam, meaning “Love is all there is.” This universal mantra helps participants connect to the essence of infinite love and consciousness, fostering a sense of inner peace and unity. Kiirtana, the practice of singing this mantra aloud while ideating on the Supreme Being, engages the mind and senses, creating an uplifting and blissful experience. The chant is accompanied by the Lalita Marmika dance, a devotional movement that relaxes the body, deepens surrender, and prepares the mind for meditation. Originating from ancient Indian spiritual traditions, this combination of chanting and dancing purifies the mind, accelerates spiritual growth, and helps dissolve egotism. By focusing all sensory and motor activities on the Supreme Consciousness, participants can experience heightened mental clarity, relief from stress, and a profound connection to the infinite within.
The retreat will feature light meals on Wednesday and Thursday, a juice fast on Friday, and a return to light meals on Saturday and Sunday, supporting physical detoxification and mental focus. Participants will also spend a rejuvenating half-day by the nearby South Yuba River, engaging in Kiirtana, meditation, mud-packs, and a picnic lunch in a serene natural setting, with the option to enjoy the river’s cold, pure, mountain-fed waters.
This retreat combines yoga, meditation, and time in nature to create a holistic experience designed to deepen spiritual connection, relax the body, and inspire the soul.
Ananda Dhiira Master Unit
Ananda Dhiira
19393 Sanctuary Road
Penn Valley CA 95946, United States
Ananda Dhiira Master Unit is a beautiful retreat center in Penn Valley, California, dedicated to the welfare of women. The center has a main building with accommodation for ten women and another with a large meditation hall and accommodation for five men.
Nature at Ananda Dhiira is breathtaking, and you can see many bright stars at night. The retreat center is surrounded by oak forest and is a fifteen-minute walk to the South Yuba River. Didi Ananda Acira and her volunteers live at Ananda Dhiira, grow organic fruits and vegetables, and organize various retreats and fasting programs.
What to Expect:
- Two days of graduated fasting (light meals)
- One day of juice fasting
- Three sattvic vegetarian meals, juices, and smoothies per day prepared by our spiritual teachers
- Yoga classes in the morning and evening
- Collective meditation four times a day
- Inspirational talks on healthy living, diet, meditation, yoga, philosophy, food, and nutrition
- Fun games and workshops
- Outdoor walks and activities
- Individual meditation lessons with our teachers (optional)
- Mud Packs (optional)
- Outing to the South Yuba River
- Relax your body and calm your mind in a tranquil, beautiful environment.
- During the Friday juice fasting, we will go for an outing by the nearby South Yuba River, where we will enjoy mud packs, singing Kiirtana, meditation, and juice in the beautiful natural environment. The river has pure, cold, mountain-fed water for those who love cold plunges.
Naturopathy Modalities Used During the Retreat:
During the retreat, we will introduce food and fasting as medicine and experience graduated fasting and juice fasting throughout the retreat.
The intensity levels of the fasting may vary according to the physical condition of the participants.
Yogic fasting and detox is a safe and effective way to rid the body of harmful toxins.
The elimination of toxins is achieved through juice fasting, yoga asanas, sauna, mud treatments, massage, hot and cold packs, cold plunges, hip baths, and meditation.
The juices, smoothies, and light meals contain highly nutritious foods and superfoods. All of these tools aid in restoring the body to its optimum health and building vitality through lifestyle changes.
Meditation and Kiirtana
The practices presented in this retreat encompass various techniques for physical, mental, and spiritual development.
The central practice is meditation. Meditation means looking within your mind to feel the bliss that is the essence of your existence. That bliss is within you, just as it is within everybody and everything.
The meditation and chanting done in this retreat
Meditation is an essential tool for self-transformation and spiritual development. The meditation that will first be presented uses the mantra Baba Nam Kevalam, which is sung along with a simple dance before sitting down for meditation.
The spiritual Master Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, the founder of the Ananda Marga tradition (Path of Bliss), has adjusted the practice of Rajadhiraja yoga to suit the modern environment.
Kiirtana
Kiirtan is singing a mantra aloud while ideating on the Supreme Being. It inculcates a feeling of bliss and prepares the mind for meditation because all the motor and sensory organs are engaged and directed toward the Supreme. It can be done anywhere, but it is essential before meditation.
The mantra used for Kiirtana is:
Bábá Nám Kevalam
The easiest way to conceive of the Infinite Consciousness is to think of infinite love. This mantra is, therefore, often translated as “Love is all there is.”
A more detailed meaning of the mantra is Bábá means infinite Love /Infinite Consciousness/Supreme Consciousness, or “my most beloved One,” Nám means “name of” or “to identify with,” and Kevalam means “only.” So the meaning of the mantra is “My most Beloved is the only One.”
The inner idea we use when meditating (ideation) is: “Everywhere I look, in everything I hear, feel, see, taste and smell, I perceive that one Supreme Consciousness which pervades all things.”
Kiirtana has many benefits. It purifies the mind and prepares it for meditation, accelerating the speed of movement toward the Supreme.
Because of the mental clarity achieved, one can easily find solutions to problems while performing a task and get relief from physical and psychic ailments.
Lalita Marmika Dance
The Lalita Marmika dance helps to prepare the mind and body for meditation and is taught during the retreat.
Many people experience sore knees when sitting regularly for meditation during a meditation retreat. Therefore, we introduce the Laliita Marmika dance early in the retreat to avoid sitting both during mantra chanting and meditation.
The dance is used during the mantra chanting before sitting down for meditation. It helps limber the knees, relax the brain and body, and develop surrender and a feeling of devotion to the Supreme.
According to Indian spiritual traditions and scriptures, Parvati, the spouse of Sadashiva, invented this dance around seven thousand years ago. A great Indian saint of the 15th century, Caetanya Mahaprabhu, revived the tradition of Kiirtana with Lalita Marmika and experienced many kinds of samadhis through this dance, along with Hari Kiirtan. Shrii Shrii Anandamurti gave the Baba Nam Kevalam mantra in 1970, and it is used to sing and dance Kiirtana using the Lalita Marmika dance.
This dance arouses the deepest feelings of love and devotion, dissolves egotism, and prepares the mind for meditation.
How To Get There (Flights, Airport Transfers, Buses, Trains)
Sacramento International Airport (SFM) is the nearest airport, 45 miles from Ananda Dhiira. You can take an Uber from there to Ananda Dhiira or rent a car.
If you arrive at SJC, OAK, or SFO airports, you can get an AMTRAK train to Auburn station, and from there, there is a shuttle to Grass Valley and another shuttle to Penn Valley. We can pick you up from Penn Valley.
Please note that getting public transportation (shuttle or Uber) in the evening from Auburn station is not easy. It is better to arrive during the day.
When you enter the entrance gate at Sanctuary Road, you will need a security code in case the gate is closed. Please get in touch with Didi Ananda Acira to get guidance.
We will also try to arrange a ride-sharing with other participants when possible, so please let us know your travel plans in advance.
Arrival By Car
The address is:
Ananda Dhiira
19393 Sanctuary Road
Penn Valley CA 95946
United States
Please contact the organizers to get the code to the gate to the private road leading up to Ananda Dhiira. After you enter the gated road, continue up the gravel road and take the second right to the main building of Ananda Dhiira.
What To Bring
Please bring comfortable clothing and shoes, toiletry, towel, notebook & pen, swimming suit, medications (if you have any), sunscreen, insect repellent, hat, and other personal needs. Please don’t bring or wear sleeveless shirts or short skirts. Ananda Dhiira has yoga mats, but you are also welcome to bring your own.
Prohibited Items:
It is not allowed to bring any tamasik items, such as tobacco, alcohol, drugs, intoxicants, meat, fish, eggs, onion, garlic, mushrooms, or any food containing those items. If you have any questions, please contact us for more information.
The food during the retreat is plentiful and delicious, so you don’t need to worry about going hungry!
Out of respect to our guests with scent sensitivities, we ask that no strong perfumes or lotions be used.
Pets are not allowed at Ananda Dhiira.
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