Magical, Mystical, India

A 10 Day retreat on sacred lands

January 11th - 21st, 2024

A Journey into the Heart of Your Own Essence.

We walked towards the stone temple along a red dirt trail surrounded by scrub brush. There were hundreds of people there, but it was quiet. Love palpable in the air. Diyas (small clay vessels filled with ghee) lit like candles lined the walkways, the entrances, window sills and walls. Thousands of them gently glowing, making the whole space magical in the darkening night.

People were gathered in mediation, prayer and contemplation. Children running and playing. But all in silence. Almost like watching a movie on mute. And you would think that the silence would feel austere, serious, restrained. But that wasn’t what it felt like at all.

Eye contact, warm, soft and open, from friends and strangers alike. And waves and waves of love. So that the shared heart field was the strongest I’ve ever felt in a crowd. Silent- joyfully, worshipping together at a forest temple. One of the most delicious and simply profound experiences of humanity that I’ve had in my life.

This is the Magic of India. Full of endless spiritual, sensate surprise. The stories of mystical, magical, awakening encounters and experiences that I’ve had there are countless.

Join us for a pilgrimage to these holy lands. A journey into the heart of your own essence. Join us and create your own stories of magic, mysticism, initiation and awakening. Give yourself the experience of deep reset.

During this retreat we will be basking in stillness and steeping in silence through transmission teachings, guided visualization, meditation, and sitting in presence and practice with the mountain, in caves, in ashrams and at various sacred sites.

We will explore our embodied experience and expression through organic somatic movement, breath-work, vocalization, yoga, and play.

We will innovate new ways of being in the world through emergent, sacred performance practice, relational skills and interacting in a different cultural context and environment.

We will use this time to reset, restore, and renew. All while being being reflected and held in rich, loving community together.

Reweaving our connection to all creation from a renewed foundation in true self.

And all of this will be held by the backdrop of sacred lands and holy sites and the rich field of presence that has been cultivated by devout seekers and teachers for millennia.

This retreat is for you if you are ready for a reset

To rest and receive and recalibrate

Creating and growing a solid and secure foundation in your own true nature in service to the whole

Price and Accommodations

We will be staying at a new retreat center, the Sangam House. Our host, Anthony Andrade, has lovingly created this space to facilitate deep, comfort and peace . It has a beautiful view of Arunachala, the sacred mountain and is walking distance from Ramana Maharshi’s Ashram.

We are offering double and triple rooms (each room has an en suite bath). The house has living areas and a small kitchenette available to us (all meals at the Sangam House are included in the price). There is also a pool for our private use and a large rooftop deck where we can gather for classes with the mountain as our guide.

Triple Room - $2550 :: Double Room - $2950 :: Single room $5000

Places We Will Visit

Arunachala- The holy mountain, the ‘Hill of Wisdom’. It is said that it is OM itself. A great peace giving beacon. Sitting with its transmission is said to represent the most direct, the most formless, and the least ritualistic of paths. The path of Self-inquiry- whose gateway is silent initiation. We will circumambulate the mountain, a 8.5mi walk, sprinkled with shrines. The mountain is visible from the retreat house and outdoor teaching space where we will be practicing and staying. https://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/arunachala-hill/

Ramana Maharshi’s Ashram and Meditation Cave- Ramana’s vision was one of “brotherhood based on a sense of equality”. His teachings were steeped in stillness and the realization self. The presence that remains in the spaces in which he practiced is palpable and are within walking distance from the retreat house where we will be staying. https://www.sriramanamaharshi.org/ashram/

Various Other sacred Sites TBD

"Everyone has in them something divine, something their own, a chance of perfection and strength. The task is to find it, develop it & use it."

— Sri Aurobindo

If you feel the call to the magic & the depth of this unique offer, join us

Spots in this curated program are limited. 

Email us with your interest to see if this program is a good match for you and you for it. We’ll get back to you within 7 business days.

FAQs

“Gitanjali and Ruthie create the most intentional and nurturing space held with such care and devotion. Every retreat is emergent and unique, magically offering exactly what I didn’t even know I needed, expanding my awareness of myself and the world in the most unexpected, beautiful, meaningful and fun ways.”

-Past Retreat Participant

“When mind is still, then truth gets her chance to be heard in the purity of the silence.”

— Sri Aurobindo 

Spots in this curated program are limited.

Email us with your interest to see if this program is a good match for you and you for it. We’ll get back to you within 7 business days.

Meet Our Teachers

Gitanjali Hemp

Gitanjali is a master energy healer, mystic, writer, mother, entrepreneur and the founder of Syntara System, a deeply integrative, evolutionary energy healing and awareness modality. In her work with people, she brings together over 23 years of study and training with healers and masters from some of the world’s richest traditions and most cutting edge healing models. She has spent 21 years in active practice, both as a practitioner, and teacher: facilitating retreats, workshops, professional trainings, virtual courses, ceremonies, women’s groups and working as a consultant for system level change across industries. It is her joy to help bring forth the world we know is possible.

Ruthie Yarme

Ruthie is a Syntara System master practitioner and teacher who brings significant experience tending to individuals and families moving through life’s great transitions. She teaches in all introductory and intermediate levels of training, as well as provides mentorship for students. For the past 8 years as a practitioner, and 5 years as a teacher, she’s supported clients to experience a deeper connection to themselves, to others and to the greater world. She brings to her work a sense of awe for the different ways that people show up through these experiences; and an unshakeable knowing that each of these ways is necessary to the evolution of our world. Helping others find and know their own path is what sustains and inspires her.

“Gitanjali holds a space that I’ve never experienced before. It’s hard to put into words…Loving, Nurturing, Accepting…. Delicious. And I’m completely surprised by the caliber of the teachings.”

— E.C. Owner and Director of a Spiritual Retreat Center & past retreat participant.

Travel Requirements

“Your own Self-Realization is the greatest service you can render the world”

— Ramana Maharshi

When we shift the paradigm in our self, we shift it in our spheres of influence, and as we do this, a whole new world ripples forth.