Retreat
1-Week Retreat, Conscious Dying
Yoga Nidra as a gentle way to raise consciousness and to meet death, dying and fear with peace.
Dates
No dates are scheduled right now. Ask us and we will tell you when it runs next.
Starting dates
Dates & arrival
Each batch has its own arrival and departure day. The retreat includes accommodation for every night of your batch.
Introduction
Being at peace with our own mortality
Caring for a dying family member or friend is one of the hardest things we do. Before we can give to others, we first have to be at peace with our own mortality and fears. From that inner steadiness, support and compassion for others can flow with ease.
Yoga Nidra offers a gentle way to raise consciousness, and gives tools that help release tension, pain and fear in difficult situations.
In this light, yoga can be translated as the union of life and death, and Yoga Nidra as the science of raising and changing states of consciousness.
The Yoga Nidra classes focus on particular aversions and obstacles, and on practices of connection and support.
Special emphasis is given to the dream and sleep states. They can be seen as small daily deaths: nightly chances to train, to prepare, and to know a different consciousness by day and by night. In the Tibetan Bön tradition, these states are regarded as training for the process of dying.
From the same tradition comes a way of being with pain: connect first with stillness, silence and spaciousness, then care for the pain and the difficult situation from that steadier ground. Obstacles loosen their grip, and have space to dissolve.
Yoga Nidra allows a deep state of relaxation and raised consciousness. Practised over the week, it can change the way you see death and dying.
Itinerary
Class themes
Yoga Nidra – From egoism and attachments towards gratitude and joy
The most beautiful moments in our lives are usually those when we feel connected, with no ego involved. Letting go of the ego, though, is one of the most difficult tasks.
It may be easy enough to let go of material possessions. Letting go of unresolved conflicts is harder; letting go of the role, the “I”-identity, is among the biggest challenges we face.
The experience that happiness can be present even in the most difficult circumstances will offer a new perspective for handling difficult situations.
Yoga Nidra – From Ignorance and fear towards hope and connection
Fearing a situation, a person, a decision or pain can put you under great stress, often without your knowing it. Triggers from past experience are pressed, and suddenly the body is tense: sweating, headaches, unrest.
Fear can be seen as a lack of connection with yourself – as not knowing who you really are. So we look outside, and identify with a job, a partner, a social status. But the outside changes, and with change comes fear.
The way to deal with fear is not to avoid it but to meet it from within. The key word is connection: a new way to connect with yourself, and a new way to connect with your fears.
Yoga Nidra – Raising Consciousness of clear light during dream and sleep
Dream and sleep yoga has a long tradition in Tibetan Buddhism, and is one of the best preparations for conscious dying. We spend about a third of our lives asleep, most of it in deep unawareness.
By staying conscious during dreams, and during the phases of dreamless sleep, the illusions and fears of the dying process can be seen for what they are: projections of the mind. Every night becomes a chance to rest in the clear light, and to prepare to meet it during the process of dying.
Yoga Nidra – Overcoming difficult situations and resting in peace
How often do we wish to rest in peace, and cannot? The mind keeps spinning, jumping from one thought to another.
Deep peace becomes possible when we find connection within, and when we understand impermanence and death. Death is neither an ending nor a failure; it is a natural and important part of life.
With a true understanding of your own mortality, fear dissolves. The same holds in reverse: connect within, look within, experience impermanence, and the fear of death loses its hold. That inner refuge helps maintain peace during dying, and in the letting go of the outer world.
Yoga Nidra – supporting others during their process of dying
The best preparation for supporting others through dying is to prepare for your own death. Face your own fears first – your attachments, your ignorance, your egoism.
Once you can stay connected with your inner stillness, silence and spaciousness, it becomes possible to perceive the other person’s needs, because your own self is out of the way. Most carers were never taught this, and many dying people’s needs go unseen and unmet.
Fully present with a dying person, the ego steps back and there is simply this moment of being. It can become a moment of deep love, because you know there is nothing to fear.
A day here
Sample daily schedule
In the ashram we maintain silence from 9:00 pm to the next morning 9:00 am to help us be more aware of our inner consciousness. Please cooperate.
Through the week
Weekly schedule
Saturdays
- Havan preparation - 3pm
- Havan (Sacred Fire Ceremony) - 5:30pm, followed by Prasad (holy food)
- Optional Talent show (share your talent with us) – 7:45pm
Sundays
- Sunrise meditation by the Ocean 5.30am.
- Visit of Gokarna, beaches, optional swimming etc.
Mondays
- Courses start.
Tuesdays
- Ganesh puja & chanting at 8pm
- Optional movie night - 9pm
Thursdays
- Market day: 4.00pm - shopping/swimming
- Dinner in town is optional. Please inform us in the morning if you are not eating at the ashram.
Fridays
- Free Introductory Class to Satyananda Bihar School of Yoga (Oct-April) - 11:30am
- Sunset Meditation by the Ocean – 5.30pm
Fees cover
What is included
What is included
- Accommodation for every night of your batch
- 10 Conscious Dying classes
- 5 Asanas and Pranayama classes
- Daily Chanting and meditation
- 3 daily vegetarian meals and tea and coffee
- Filtered water 24 hours
- Every Saturday Havan (sacred fire ceremony)
- Weekly Sunrise meditation by the Ocean
- Weekly Sunset meditation by the Ocean
- Swimming at one of the popular beaches
What is not included
- Airfare
- Transport to and from the airport
- Personal expenses
- Internet (WIFI), washing machine, bicycles, and hot water for showering are available at an extra cost
- Optional classes: Chakra Sadhana, Meditation medley, Yoga therapy, Kriya Yoga, Bhakti Yoga. Please inquire.
Your teachers
Who leads this retreat
Sandra Euringer
Sandra is a yoga teacher (RYT 500, Yoga Alliance USA) and a certified Yoga Nidra teacher (Yoga Alliance Professionals, UK). She has practised yoga and meditation since 1989.
She holds an MA in Sociology (University of Marburg, Germany), trained in arts therapy as a drama therapist (DGfT, Germany), and is a Conscious Aging Facilitator with IONS (USA). After training with spcare (Australia) in “Understanding Death, Caring for the Dying”, she developed a conscious dying approach based on the original teachings of Patanjali – one that turns the focus from “the other” back to oneself.
Before returning to Germany in 2017, she lived in Australia for 12 years.
Swami Yogaratna Saraswati
Swami Yogaratna Saraswati was trained as a sannyasin disciple of the Bihar School of Yoga (BSY), which was founded by Swami Satyananda Saraswati, direct disciple of Swami Sivananda of Rishikesh.
With over 40 years’ experience in yoga and meditation, Swami Yogaratna has given yoga programs all over South India and overseas.
She is particularly appreciated for her talent in leading Yoga Nidra (psychic sleep) and other Meditations from the Tantras, Yoga Therapy, Yoga for children, the higher techniques of Chakra Sadhana, Kundalini Yoga and many others including Satsangs (talks) and Kirtan (group singing).
Things to do (optional)
Around the ashram
- Visit the holy town of Gokarna (Maha Ganapti Temple, Mahabaleshwara Temple, Koti Thirta holy pond)
- Discover amazing beaches, accessible by trek or by Tuk Tuk
- Waterfalls visit
- Sea kayak
Location, stay & food
Where you are, and how you live
Location
The ashram is in the village of Bankikodla, Karnataka. Gokarna, an ancient temple town, is 5 km away: temples, beaches and a weekly market.
Accommodation
Twin shared room with attached bathroom. Rooms are in heritage buildings surrounded by gardens and the ashram’s organic farm, with twin beds and an attached bathroom with toilet and shower. Bed sheets and pillows are provided.
Dormitory with shared bathroom. The dormitories are in the century-old heritage house. They sleep between 2 and 5 people on sleeping pads. Clean toilets and bathrooms are shared. Bed sheets and pillows are provided.
Food
Three vegetarian meals are served daily, with tea or coffee. Meals are cooked here: traditional, local vegetarian food. Shankar Prasad grows its own rice and many of its vegetables on the fully organic farm; what is not grown on the land is bought from organic farmers in the village and neighbouring town.
How to get there
By air: Goa, Mumbai, Mangalore or Bengaluru
Dabolim (Goa) is about 3 hours by taxi, Manohar (Mopa, Goa) about 5. We can arrange a trusted village taxi: send us your flight details and it will be waiting.
By train: Gokarna Road, Kumta or Ankola
Any train on the Konkan line. Gokarna Road is 20 minutes away by auto-rickshaw; from Kumta or Ankola take a bus or taxi. Overnight buses also run often from Mumbai and Bengaluru to Gokarna Cross. Full routes on the How to reach page.
Fees
Fee
Please inquire. We will share the current fee and how to hold your place.
Booking
How to book
Tell us your dates and we’ll confirm the next retreat, fees and how to hold your place.
Staying with us for it? See the rooms. You book the room on the same form.
Enquire
Ask about 1-Week Retreat, Conscious Dying
Tell us when you would like to come and what you have practised before.
No dates are scheduled for this course right now. Write to us and we will tell you when it runs next.
Please note. Yoga, Yoga Nidra, pranayama and the Ayurvedic guidance described here are practices for wellbeing. They are not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and they do not replace your doctor or therapist. Please do not stop or change any medicine or treatment because of a course. If you have a medical or mental health condition, are pregnant, or are unsure whether a practice is right for you, speak to your doctor first and tell the teacher before you join.