“Lose yourself in dance and yoga”
15 Day Elemental Yoga Flow and Dance at Ulpotha
Ulpotha, near Dambulla and Annuradhapura, Sri Lanka
Yoga and Dance Retreat in Sri Lanka
Take pleasure in a retreat located in a place full of legends and history. Ulpotha, being in an area where intuitive, timeless knowledge seems somehow steeped in the land itself, is a place in which traditional lifestyle comes easily and naturally. Perhaps more than anything else here, it is this uncanny sense of peace and tranquility - and one's mindless awareness of it that is its most striking feature.
Meet the instructors
Malaika MaVeena
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Highlights
- Yoga sessions twice daily
- Weekly rejuvenating massages
- Occasional dance sessions
- Restorative meditation and pranayama
- Transportation for weekly excursion trips
- Explore local cultural heritage sites
- Delicious breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks and beverages
- 14 nights accommodation
Skill level
- Beginner
- Intermediate
Yoga styles
14 days with instruction
Group size: Maximum of 20 participants
Airport transfer available:
Bandaranaike International Airport (US$ 100 per person)
Bandaranaike International Airport (US$ 100 per person)
Accommodation
Check-in Time:
12:00
Check-out Time:
10:00
Facilities
- Dining area
- Environmentally friendly
- Garden
- Meditation garden
- Yoga shala
- Free bicycle
- Laundry
Guests are accommodated in one of a number of tastefully decorated traditional wattle and daub huts sprinkled through Ulpotha, where living is by design a communal and shared experience in nature's embrace. There are 11 charming guest huts in Ulpotha, 10 of which are for two guests and one for three guests. All of them are built using traditional wattle and daub with comfortable beds, excellent mosquito nets, cupboards, fresh water, towels, and offer a sarong to wear and take home.
The huts are of an open airy design that facilitates the sense of being one with nature. Twice a year, each hut is hand painted using different colored clays where no designs are ever repeated. Much use has been made of clay, stone, wood, pottery, and fabrics that reflect traditional village practices and aesthetics. With one or two exceptions, Ulpotha adheres to the Sri Lankan village tradition of keeping toilet/loo spaces separate from living spaces. The enchanting showers are open to the stars and the toilets are modern.
All of the accommodations are on a sharing basis, which means that a solo traveler will be automatically allocated in a spacious double hut (twin beds) with another like minded guest of the same gender. Guests booking and visiting together will be allocated in a double hut (double bed - if it's a couple or twin beds).
Sharing with someone is more welcome than one might usually expect, although ultimately soothing to the ears, the unusual jungle noises can take some getting used to and it's quite reassuring to have a companion sharing one's space. The guests will anyway find that they end up spending very little time in their hut, except, at night.
Program
A magical yoga experience
Ulpotha's natural charms lend themselves readily to a deeply satisfying experience of yoga. If ever there was a place made for yoga, Ulpotha is it. Though Ulpotha was not planned at the outset as a Sri Lankan yoga centre, yoga very quickly took its central place in the Ulpotha experience through a series of serendipitous events. Having done so, it is hard to imagine a place better suited to the practise of this ageless discipline.
Yoga and other activities
Ulpotha invites leading teachers from around the world to come and share their gift of yoga with its guests. A variety of yoga styles are on offer to suit a wide range of preferences.
Many of the world's most respected yoga teachers come to Ulpotha. As the teachers change every fortnight, several types of yoga - usually Hatha, Vinyasa, Yoga therapeutics, Iyengar and Ashtanga - are available at different times in the season. Every morning there's an optional yoga class in a large, open-sided building with a palm leaf roof, or in the cool dappled shade of a banyan tree. Teachers who come to Ulpotha are very experienced and are open to teaching many levels of students within a class. Some may also guide dawn walks in the beautifully wooded surrounding hills for those who wish.
As Ulpotha attracts high quality yoga instructors, some guests come mainly for the yoga classes. But since Ulpotha was never intended to be primarily a yoga centre, there's no pressure to attend classes and life doesn't hinge on classes of any kind. So you won't feel an outsider if yoga isn't for you. This is a place to unwind, be gentle with yourself, live close to nature and simply be; or if you feel energetic, a wonderful place to exercise and rejuvenate.
For your information, the holiday cost includes two daily yoga classes of 1 and half to 2 hours/per day: one class in the morning around 7:30 a.m. and the second class in the evening around 5:00 p.m. Occasionally there will be dance sessions during the afternoon classes. Please note that the Yoga starts on the 1st Sunday evening and finishes after class on the final Saturday night to allow guests to check out by 10 a.m. on the final Sunday. There is no Yoga, on the afternoons of the 1/2 day excursion trip.
A Typical Day At Ulpotha
On your day of arrival, you will be collected from the airport by one of Ulpotha's excellent drivers and welcomed in Ulpotha with a coconut juice, herbal tea, fruits, and healthy snacks. The day begins with a birdsong, as well as light tea and fruit before your dynamic morning class.
Ulpotha provides yoga mats, wooden blocks, belts, small flat cushions and bolsters in the Yoga Sri Lanka Shala.
After breakfast, choose an Ayurveda detox package and enjoy the oil applications and herbal baths and steams under the supervision of our resident doctor, or simply go for a swim or relax on a swing bed. Lunch is served in the Ambalama, where you can enjoy a delicious array of veggie dishes, juices, and teas while chatting with fellow guests. In the afternoon, have a massage with one of Ulpotha's outstanding international therapists, take a bike ride and visit the local village, roam the hills, visit the neighboring Buddhist temple, boat on the lake, or simply relax. Afternoon classes held at sunset are restorative and include meditation and pranayama. Enjoy a sumptuous candlelit veggie dinner, borrow a book from our library, or chat with the owners. Head up to the lake and dance under the moonlight.
Program overview
- 07:00 - 07:30 Tea and fruit
- 07:30 - 09:00 Yoga
- 09:00 - 09:30 Breakfast
- 09:45 - 12:30 Massages/Ayurveda/ swimming/relaxing
- 12:30 - 13:30 Lunch
- 14:00 - 16:00 Massages/Ayurveda/ swimming/relaxing
- 16:00 - 17:00 Tea and snacks
- 17:00 - 18:30 Yoga/Meditation/ sunset walks
- 19:00 - 20:30 Dinner
Included excursions
- An excursion is organised once a week during the afternoon.
- Participation is optional and external costs are not included, though transportation is.
- There is no yoga on excursion afternoons.
Instructors
Malaika MaVeena Darville
1 Certificate
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Malaika completed her yoga teacher training in Australia in 2005. Since then, she has been teaching private and group classes in Australia, Costa Rica, Canada, and Hawaii. She also created The Ultimate Journey, a five-day initiation retreat for women with elemental trance dance, an ecstatic dance journey through the five elements. Malaika is also a fully qualified lomilomi therapist, a massage based on the traditional on the traditional Hawaiian art of healing. In Ulpotha, she will combine yoga and Five Elements Dance Activation.
Retreat location
Ulpotha is located in the heart of Sri Lanka by a lakeside at the foot of the Galgiriyawa mountains - off the beaten track. It has been a retreat site for thousands of years and remains a perfect place for a yoga holiday in the heart of Sri Lanka.
The first thing that was done when Ulpotha was re-inhabited was to address the aridity of the land that had resulted from the years it had been reduced to a monoculture coconut plantation prior to its abandonment. This was done through the management of planting patterns, as well as the building of ponds and bunds, all of which were designed to increase the soil's water retention capacity and protect its fertility. Ulpotha then later on transformed into the self-sustaining, bio-diverse organic farm it is today; one where the practice of farming is holistic and includes paying respect to the land and its resources as well as to the deities protecting it.
It is a beautiful and peaceful hideaway, open to guests for part of the year. You may come here to experience yoga holidays and Ayurveda retreats and the warm, generous, and gentle hospitality the people of Sri Lanka love to offer.
Ulpotha is only open for half the year, generally from June to August and November to March. The rest of the year Ulpotha reverts to its primary role as a traditional rice growing village.
Ulpotha is blessed with surroundings that are uncommonly beautiful and serene. The abundant bird and animal life reinforce its timeless beauty. If you take away the pretty stupa on the mountain, one would be looking at a scene that has remained unchanged for hundreds of thousands of years. The sense of deep calm and peace is the essence of Ulpotha and the gift it shares with those who visit.
Yoga is practiced in the yoga shala, which is essentially an open-sided hall that lets in nature's charms, from gentle breezes to bird song. On occasion classes are conducted further afield: beneath the splaying branches of a Banyan tree, or on top of Monkey Rock, or below the neighbouring temple - or wherever else takes the collective fancy of those present.
Distances
- Bandaranaike International Airport: 3 hours
- Colombo: 4 hours
- Kandy: 2 hours
- Kurunegala: 1 hour
- Sigiriya : 2 hours.
- Anuradhapura : 90 minutes
This Yoga Retreat is vegetarian-friendly
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Food
Ulpotha will be providing tasty vegetarian meals and snacks. The food at Ulpotha is simply delicious and very healthy. It is almost entirely vegan, naturally wheat free, with an abundance of fresh vegetables, organic red rice, and tropical fruit freshly picked from Ulpotha's gardens. A good opportunity to detoxify your system without fuss.
Special diets cannot be catered for but it is fairly easy to pick and choose, depending on your taste, from the many dishes served at each meal. If there is anything that you feel that you simply can't do without (coffee, a gin tonic, chocolate, and the like). Ulpotha suggests you bring it with you. As they have no electricity, all food is cooked fresh for each meal on open fires.
Breakfast is served from approximately 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. and consists of herbal teas, fresh fruit, fresh coconut water, herbal rice porridge, and a Sri Lankan breakfast cake.
Lunch served around midday is the main meal of the day and consists of a wide array of Sri Lankan vegetarian dishes, salads, Ulpotha heritage rice, fruits, curd, juice, and herbal tea.
Dinner is served after dusk and consists of an array of salads, Sri Lankan vegetarian dishes, juice, fruit, and herbal tea.
Following popular demand, Ulpotha has published a cookbook of some of the most favorite recipes of dishes served at Ulpotha - "A Kitchen in Paradise".
Exclusions
Meals that will be eaten outside of the facility are to be paid for additionally.
The following meals are included:
- Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Snacks
- Drinks
The following drinks are included:
- Water
- Tea
- Detox juices
The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:
- Vegetarian
- Vegan
- Gluten Free
- Organic
- Lactose Free
- Ayurvedic
If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation
Things to do (optional)
- Treat yourself to a traditional Ayurveda detox
- Book in an extra massage with one of Ulpotha's wonderful international therapists.
- Design an outfit and have it made by the local tailor.
- Visit the local Friday market to buy spices.
Spa treatments
Additional western massage treatments:
The western massage treatments range from Thai, deep tissue massage, aromatherapy to Hawaiian massage. They are done by fully qualified massage therapists from around the world. Massage styles change from month to month, as Ulpotha uses different massage experts each month. So, if you yearn for a particular type of massage, its wise to ask when its available before booking your holiday. Guests can expect one free massage from visiting therapists per week. Any further massages can be arranged with the therapists subject to availability at a cost of 80 USD per hour. Ulpotha also has an exciting program of Ayurveda treatments and, by the very definition of "holistic", possesses the ideal climate and environment for the practice of this deeply therapeutic and traditional art.
Ayurveda:
You can book additional Ayurveda treatment, they do a very simple traditional Panchakarma, which depending on one's dosha-type (determined via consultation with our in-house doctor), involves oleation (oil application to the body), herbal baths, steam baths, saunas, inhalation, rice milk packs, facials, etc, nothing too heavy. It is a great detox and combined with the yoga and Ulpotha's delicious food, leaves one feeling super relaxed, toned and cleansed. Dr. Srilal leaves a couple of days for the guests to acclimatise, before starting a treatment.
The little Ayurvedic clinic offers a limited amount of Ayurveda packages/per day (9 for women and 3 for men). Therefore to avoid any disappointment, they recommend guests to pre-book and pay for their Ayurveda package at the time of their booking and prior to their arrival at Ulpotha as priority will be given to the guests who have pre-booked and pre-paid their packages.
What's included
- 14 night accommodation on a twin sharing basis (sharing with someone of the same gender if coming alone)
- All meals, snacks, drinks
- 2 yoga classes a day (No yoga on arrival morning, departure day and the excursion days)
- 1 one-hour massage per 7 nights' stay
- Guided forest walks
- The use of bicycles and hot water bathing area
- The organization and transport of a 1/2 excursion to an outstanding local cultural heritage site once a week
- Laundry service
- Taxes
What's not included
- Travel costs to and from Ulpotha
- Insurance
- Ayurveda treatments
- Entrance fees to cultural sites, outside meals
- Any additional massages guests may wish to book with the respective therapists
How to get there
Recommended Airports
CMB
Bandaranaike International Airport
96 km
Transfer available for additional US$ 100 per person
Arrival by airplane
Please book your flight to arrive at Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB). Transfer to and from this airport is available upon request.
If your arrival flight is prior to your starting date at Ulpotha or late at night (close to midnight or thereabout or in the very early hours of the morning) Ulpotha kindly requests you to check into a hotel close to the airport and they will have you picked up after your breakfast (9:00 - 10:00 a.m.), and bring you to Ulpotha in time for lunch. In such a case, please inform Ulpotha of your hotel details once you have made the booking.
So the best way to proceed is for you to book a flight that lands on Sunday morning in Colombo Bandaranaike International airport, (3 hours drive from the retreat). Ulpotha can arrange airport pick ups from 4:30 a.m.
Ulpotha will arrange for a driver to collect you at the airport / hotel near the airport and will return you to the airport or drop you to your next destination after your stay with them. The cost per vehicle is 100 USD for one person and 115 USD for two persons, each way. It will be a three-hour ride.
Airport: Bandaranaike International Airport
Airport transfer available:
Bandaranaike International Airport (US$ 100 per person)
Additional charges may apply. You can request this in the next step.
Cancellation Policy
- A reservation requires a deposit of 100% of the total price.
- The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
For this organizer you can guarantee your booking through BookYogaRetreats.com. All major credit cards supported.
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