May 7-20, 2023
Our May, 2023, 14-day experience is ideal for all ages interested in going on retreat with Ananda College at the Expanding Light Retreat at Ananda Village. Includes optional classes and intensives listed in the page below, three healthy, vegetarian meals a day, and accommodations, twice daily yoga and meditation, all classes or experiences, plus evening discussions about The Yuga Cycles of Time and more. Check-in to Expanding Light Retreat at Ananda Village on May 7, 2023, by 3:00 pm, PDT.
Costs per person
Shared Room: $3,025
Private Room: $3,755
Includes all classes and intensives, three healthy, vegetarian meals a day, and accommodations*, twice daily yoga and meditation, all classes or experiences, plus evening programs. Check-in to Expanding Light Retreat at Ananda Village on May 7, 2023, by 3:00 pm, PDT.
Note, if you have already paid for the Gap Year Program All-inclusive, this intensive, plus lodging, meals, and all classes and programs, plus the graduation and graduation lunch are all included)
Accommodations
Intensive Courses
Guided Seclusion at Ananda Village
This is the ideal activity after a very outward time in our international travel. We’ll be traveling within, in a specially-guided 3-day seclusion that will help you relax deeply and rejuvenate. During this time, participants are asked not to talk, use computers or phones for three days. All meals are in silence, and the retreat facility tries also to be in total silence as a way of supporting our efforts. There will be twice daily guided yoga postures and meditation to help you relax deeper. There will be time alone with God, or to take walks by yourself. And you’ll also have the opportunity to spend time in some of Ananda Village’s special seclusion temples. After your three-day seclusion, life will seem much different. A guided spiritual seclusion can be a rewarding and transforming experience you’ll always remember.
The Arts & Consciousness
How does music affect your soul? Is there really such a thing as Art that uplifts and inspires? Can drama and dance be vehicles for deeper spiritual awareness and world peace? In these unique classes taught by members of the Ananda Community who have been involved with Art & Consciousness for many years, you’ll get an introduction to “Music for Emotional Healing”; “Spiritual Chanting & Harmonium Workshop”, “The Artist as a Channel for Higher Awareness”, and “Dance & Drama that Delivers a Powerful Message for Peace”.
Spiritual Community Living
In this experience you’ll learn how the Ananda Village Community, a successful spiritual community for over 50 years, continues to grow and prosper, using the motto of its founder, Swami Kriyananda, “people are more important than things”. You’ll get a chance to visit some of the community-run businesses, have tea with residents in their homes, serve in the Ananda Farm CSA, Masters Market or The Yogoata Goat Dairy. We’ll have presentations by the Village Council, long-time members, and teachers who have served in the Ananda “Education for Life” Schools (pre-school through college gap year) for several decades. You’ll also get to meet some of the builders and designers who have been part of creating the Ananda Spiritual Community.
Sharing Nature Worldwide
This special program is presented by Sundara Traymar, of Sharing Nature Worldwide, an organization that is headquartered at Ananda Village. You’ll have classes on leadership for today’s world, plus learn special nature awareness games that promote leadership and cooperative learning that leaders and teachers throughout the world utilize. The best-selling book “Sharing Nature with Children” was written by Joseph Cornell, founder of Sharing Nature Worldwide, a longtime resident of Ananda Village.
Strengthening Your Meditation Practice
How do you keep your daily meditation practice inspiring while still learning new tips for meditation? This 2-day course will help get you back on track with your meditation practice, and help you plan a course of action once you leave this intensive. Topics include, improving your Energization Exercises, Hong-Sau technique, AUM technique, and Questions and Answers about your meditation practice, or How to Prepare for Kriya Initiation. If you have already had Kriya Initiation through Ananda, there will be time for private consultation with one of our qualified instructors.
Leadership Initiative Training
Some of the most helpful things you’ll learn if you plan to someday have your own business, lead others in an organization, or even interact with others, is to understand the keys to successful leadership. This two-day course explores “The Art of Supportive Leadership” and modalities that will help you become an effective leaders in the world today.
Join Us in Celebrating our Gap Year Graduates (optional)
Those who have participated in the full-year New Horizons Gap Year Program, and will be receiving a Certificate of Completion, on Saturday morning at 10:00 a.m., May 20, 2023. New Horizons Gap Year will be hosting a morning graduation ceremony held at a special place at the Ananda Village spiritual community that will allow the community’s residents and your friends and family to attend. This isn’t a typical graduation. Ananda College of Living Wisdom follows in the tradition of all Ananda “Education for Life” schools by having a ceremony that honors the highest qualities in each graduating individual. Each participant is invited to make a short 3-5-minute speech, and college faculty and staff will offer each student their certificate, plus a unique award for each participant. Please plan for your departures to happen after 2:00 pm, to allow for lunch and goodbyes.
Cost for Special Goodbye Luncheon at The Expanding Light Retreat dining room (you must have reservations) $25.00