Visiting The Ashram

We've been running retreats here at the Ashram for over 35 years, for those seeking to deepen or expand their yoga practice and their understanding in an environment of focused spiritual energy and natural beauty. We offer fully residential retreat courses of between 2 and 10 days in length, and longer sadhana courses combining multiple residential retreats with guided home-study.

Our retreat courses range between 2 and 10 days and cover subjects relating to the main branches of yoga, as well as advaita and tantra. Our emphasis is on cultivating direct insight within our supportive Ashram environment.

Our sadhana courses cover various advanced yogic subjects in greater depth than a single retreat allows. These courses range between 6 and 12 months and combine multiple retreats here at the Ashram with guided home-study.

Explore our Residential Retreats

Every year we have an open day where we invite visitors to take part in numerous workshops, tours of the Ashram, and of course lunch.

The 2024 Open day will be on Sunday 9th June from 10.30-4.30pm.

In addition to offering courses, we also welcome visitors to stay in the Ashram and participate in our daily life from a few days to a few weeks. This will give you the opportunity to step out of your normal routines and commitments into an environment of focused spiritual energy, to take space and live the teachings of yoga in daily life. For many people this helps bring greater clarity, well-being and spaciousness to their life.

Visitors are expected to follow our daily schedule, which is very simple and designed to enable us to practice the attitudes and spirit of yoga throughout the day.

A stay at the ashram is most easily arranged between courses but, subject to availability, it is possible to stay whilst there is a course on and be part of the background Ashram team. During these times, the schedule below will adapt slightly according to the course timetable.

What follows is the standard daily schedule when there is no yoga course taking place:

• Each day starts early in the morning with personal Yoga practice, or a guided class
• At 7.30am everybody comes together for Mantra Yoga (chanting) and Meditation. This is followed by 30 minutes of silent cleaning
• Breakfast is at 8.45am
• Karma Yoga is carried out through the morning from 9.30am to 1pm, pausing for a cup of tea and perhaps a chat at 11am
• Lunch is at 1pm
• After lunch until 4.30pm there is a period for resting, walking in the beautiful natural surroundings of the Ashram, study, interaction and stillness
• Karma Yoga continues from 4.30-6pm
• Supper is at 6.15pm. You may also be involved in the wash up after one of the meals during the day.

Between courses, the evening is usually spent in quiet contemplation. Silence (mouna) commences from 9pm through to breakfast the following morning. Sometimes, there will be a period of mouna during the daytime too, perhaps for half a day, a whole day or even a few days if there is a long course on. This can be challenging, but support is provided where necessary and you can talk with the team about any concerns you might have prior to your visit, or while you are here. During courses, the evening will offer collective chanting (kirtan), meditation or question and answer sessions (satsang). 

Every Tuesday at 8pm (course or not) there is group chanting of the mrityunjaya mantra (an ancient healing chant). This chant is dedicated to all those who are ill and in particular need of healing. If there is someone who is suffering or ill at this time, let us know brief details and we will chant specifically for their health and well-being. All are welcome to join. 

The cost of a short stay is £35 per night, £210 per week, or £450 per month.

During the winter, the Ashram is closed to visitors. Therefore you are welcome to stay at almost any time from mid-February to the end of November, subject to availability.

If you'd like to enquire about visiting the Ashram as a guest, please get in touch.

An invaluable part of ashram life is the practice of karma yoga, which is doing work with the attitude of service (seva) and with Awareness. It is an essential aspect of yoga but we tend to think that work has nothing to do with yoga and don't realise that it could be transformative.

On a mundane level, it is work around the ashram, such as gardening, cooking, housework, maintaining our buildings - whatever needs doing at a particular time. On a deeper level, karma yoga implies that we are fully engaged in doing the work in hand whilst simultaneously being in touch with our inner being.

Work is not regarded as a chore, but rather as a tool to increase sensitivity and Awareness. By working with Awareness we are focused on our actions in the present moment. We are able to observe, and then deal with, the inner patterns and insecurities that plague our minds. It also develops a conscious interaction with life situations, improving our concentration, steadfastness and intuition. As a result, the quality of our practice of meditation is enhanced and we are enabled to go deeper.

The ideal of karma yoga is to be totally in the here and now, to do what is appropriate under a given set of circumstances, to the best of our ability. There is no expectation of any reward, gratitude or recognition, and we are not overly concerned with the outcome.

For further information see Swami Nishchalananda's booklet Karma yoga - the yoga of awareness in action, available from the Ashram Shop.

Mouna is periods of silence where we continue our yoga practice and daily lives without speaking. It is a key part of ashram life.

At the ashram we practice mouna every day from 9pm until breakfast the following morning, for the first half of lunch and supper and for longer periods during some of our courses and residents retreats.

Through the medium of speech, our awareness is directed outwards into the external world. This is fine when interacting with the world around us but just as important in the ashram is interacting with the world within us. The practice of mouna prompts the mind to go inward and to get in touch with our thoughts, emotions, desires and ambitions on a deeper level. Mouna also helps us conserve energy which is normally dissipated through speech. This energy can then be used for other spiritual practices. With continued practice, mouna helps us to sharpen our perceptions and awareness and bring a sence of stillness to the mind and emotions.

It can be strange at first not to speak but many people enjoy the solitude and also the companionship of others on a spiritual path without the need to talk or listen. We discover we can communicate on another level. It creates a peaceful environment from which an inner stillness can grow, allowing our yoga practice to extend into our daily lives and to touch something deeper within us.

At 7.45am each morning, following early morning practice, there is a session of group chanting/singing and meditation in the Sadhana hall. This is a lovely opportunity to come together and lift up our voices in unity, and then to be together in the stillness of inner practice.

The chants and mantras come from across the broad Indian tradition, including ancient Vedic mantras - such the 5000 year old Gayatri Mantra, in praise of the light of Awareness within all creation - as well beautiful devotional songs from the more recent bhakti tradition.

The daily meditations are guided by qualified teachers and drawn from a wide range of yogic, advaitic and tantric teachings and practices.

Bedrooms

The Ashram accommodation is simple but comfortable. Most of the Ashram rooms are shared dormitories (all-men or all-women) for up to 6 people.

Some people are initially reluctant to share a room, but we find that most people enjoy the experience of sharing space with like-minded hearts. We have silence (mouna) from 9pm until breakfast the next day, so you will not be disturbed by talking room-mates.

There are also a number of single rooms which are prioritised for people with a medical need.

Showers and toilets

There are numerous showers and toilets, some en-suite, but mostly communal.

Home-cooked vegetarian food

The Ashram food is vegetarian. It is all home-cooked and you may be involved in helping prepare meals for your Karma Yoga. Many of the vegetables, fruits and herbs are freshly picked from the Ashram organic garden.

There are 3 meals each day: breakfast (usually porridge), lunch (the main meal of the day) and supper (soup).

The food is delicious and nourishing, designed to support good health, purify the body and to encourage yoga practice and meditation. It is well understood in yoga that the food we eat has a direct influence on our minds and emotions. Processed food is minimized and meals are prepared with awareness and love.

Lunch and supper commence with a short chant and the first half of these meals is taken in silence (mouna) to give us time to fully appreciate the gift of the food that we're eating.

We can cater for diagnosed food allergies – however we are unable to cater for preferences or choices that do not have this fundamental necessity. Please tell us in advance when you make your booking.

The Ashram kitchen has been given a 5 star rating by the UK Food Standards Agency.

Meals are taken in the communal dining room and the conservatory – or, if the sun is shining, outside in the garden.

There is a small kitchen where you can help yourself to a cup of tea at any time and the conservatory is also a great place to relax, or talk with like-minded people.

If you enjoy our food you may like to try it at home, making recipes from the Mandala Yoga Ashram Cookbook, an Ashram publication available from the Ashram Shop.

Once you're here

Most of the Ashram courses start in the evening; please check the details for your specific course. Please arrive between 3pm and 6pm. If this is not possible, please phone (not email) the Ashram beforehand.

This will give you time to have a drink, settle in, take the opportunity to sit or do personal yoga practice in the Sadhana Hall, enjoy some tranquillity in the garden or go for a walk. There will be a welcome talk before supper at 6.15pm.

If you are arriving by car

Turn left immediately after you come through the gate to park in the car park. If you plan to will arrive or leave after dark, please bring a torch.

To find Reception

Walk towards the main buildings. You will find the Reception on the left hand side of the courtyard.

On arrival

You will be shown around and will need to fill in a registration form and register in the office. Kindly register in the office after your tour.