SOYA Annual Yoga Retreat
with 2026 Special Guest Swami SukhanandaJoin us for a weekend designed to
nurture your body, mind, and spirit.
Welcome to the SOYA Annual Retreat—our yearly gathering of hearts, wisdom, and practice. This is more than a weekend getaway; it’s a soulful homecoming. Each year, we return to the tranquil shores of Sorrento, BC, to reconnect with ourselves, with one another, and with the deeper teachings of yoga that continue to guide and transform us.
Here, time slows down. The mind softens. Community becomes family.
Whether you come seeking inspiration, renewal, learning, or simply a place to breathe, this retreat offers space for all of it—woven with intention, compassion, and the spirit of yoga at its most authentic.
We practice together. We laugh together. We sit in stillness, move with purpose, and invite the teachings to settle into our bones. Surrounded by nature’s quiet beauty, the retreat becomes a sanctuary—a place where your inner teacher can speak, your body can unwind, and your heart can open.
This is your invitation to step away from the noise, return to what nourishes you, and rediscover the joy of gathering in community.
A weekend of connection, depth, and transformation awaits.
Come as you are. Leave renewed.
We can’t wait to share this sacred space with you.
About Yasodhara Yoga
Yasodhara Yoga is a reflective, spiritual approach to yoga that integrates body, mind and speech. By integrating yogic practices with personal development techniques, Yasodhara Yoga encompasses the teachings of the East and translates them for our Western situation.
About Swami Sukhananda
Through Swami Sukhananda you can experience the authentic ancient teachings of Yoga first-hand. This gentle and intimate, yet profound, approach is unique in our experience. The teachings are brought to life through self-reflection (Svadhyaya) as taught by Swami Sivananda to his closest disciples in the Rishikesh Ashram. They are passed on through Swami Radha to Sukhananda who brings them to you today.
Registration Opens January 1st!
Retreat Fees $350+gst.
Accommodations and meals are extra. Stay onsite at the lovely Sorrento Centre and join in with meals. Learn more here.
Past Retreat Speakers
Over the years, SOYA’s Annual Retreat has welcomed an incredible group of teachers, thought‑leaders, and inspired practitioners. Each has offered unique teachings that enrich our collective journey and deepen our understanding of yoga’s many pathways.
Explore the remarkable teachers who have shared their wisdom with the SOYA community over the years.
2004
Friedel Khattab, Edmonton, Alberta
Friedel first became interested in yoga during World War 2 and began teaching over 50 years ago. She has learned from yoga gurus all over the world, including Satchidananda, Chayamgaswami, Mygogashakti, Dr. Buri, Dr. Gharote, and Rinpoche Trungpa. In 1967, she studied yoga in India at the Kaivalyadhama Hospital, a state-run hospital specializing in treating bronchial diseases and asthma.
2004
Prudence Kestner, IYTA, BWY, RYT500, Maryland USA
Prudence Kestner is the past president of the US Branch of the International Yoga Teachers Association (I.Y.T.A) and the founding member of the Mid-Atlantic Yoga Association. The foundation of her work is the classical yoga method of Sivananda and the Divine Life Society, with whom she is still connected through her guru, Swami Chidananda of Rishikesh. She has been influenced by the teachings of the Ramakrishna Vedanta monks, Iyengar, Desikachar, Master Oki and many others, including Terry Dukes’ Chinese Yoga.
2007
Mary-Jo Fetterly, Vancouver, BC
NEED INFOR
June 19-21, 2009, in Naramata, BC
Erich Schiffmann, Santa Monica, California
Erich Schiffmann was named by Yoga Journal as one of the innovative yoga teachers of today. He taught yoga at the Krishnamurti School in England. He is the proud author of the book Yoga, the Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness, and the award-winning video Yoga, Mind and Body with Ali McGraw.
June 11-13, 2010,
Rod Stryker, Colorado, USA
Rod Stryker is the founder of ParaYoga® and widely considered one of the country’s leading yoga and meditation teachers. Rod has taught for more than 30 years and leads retreats, workshops, and training sessions worldwide. He is one of the few American teachers today transmitting an ancient tradition, one that has been handed from teacher to student for literally thousands of years.
June 10-12, 2011, in Naramata, BC
Sri Dharma Mittra from New York City
Sri Dharma Mittra was one of the first independent yoga teachers on the East Coast and has initiated hundreds of thousands on the path of Yogic practice and teaching. Sri Dharma began disseminating this knowledge long before styles of yoga became popular, and he has always remained true to the traditional practice he received from his Guru and his Guru’s Swamis.
Sri Dharma has been teaching classes almost every day since he began in 1967. To this day, he remains available to anyone who walks through the doors of the Dharma Yoga Center in need of help or direction. He is affectionately known as a “Teachers’ Teacher”.
June 8-10, 2012
Ganga White and Tracey Rich, Santa Barbara, California
Ganga White is a critical thinker who questions authority, outdated beliefs, and dogmatic systems, enabling students to see clearly and develop their own practice. His teaching empowers individuals while preserving the essential truths of Yoga. His acclaimed book, Yoga Beyond Belief, presents a fresh, new and contemporary vision of Yoga that has inspired people around the world.
Tracey Rich is co-director of the White Lotus Yoga Foundation. She serves as a creative visionary for the center’s Santa Barbara retreat, which she helped found in 1983, and where she trains teachers and students of all levels. An architect of the internationally renowned DVD series Total Yoga, The Flow Series, Tracey focuses her Vinyasa Flow Yoga teaching on cultivating creativity in the practice, deepening connection to the breath, and the importance of refining subtle energies.
June 14-16 2013, Naramata, BC
Mark Stephens
Mark Stephens is a best-selling author, scholar, and internationally renowned yoga teacher known for weaving together ancient wisdom, modern science, and contemporary practice. His seminal works – Teaching Yoga, Yoga Sequencing, Yoga Adjustments, and Yoga Therapy – are core textbooks in teacher and therapist training programs worldwide. He is also the author of Yoga for Better Sleep, Breathing: The Art and Science of Pranayama.
His first teacher, Erich Schiffmann, taught him Joel Kramer’s method of inner guidance starting in 1991. In 1994, Mark delved deeply into Ashtanga Vinyasa, initially with Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty, and independently completed the 3rd series (“Advanced A”) in 2006. He completed teacher training at Yoga Works in 1995. As part of his advanced teacher training and thereafter, he studied with numerous senior Iyengar teachers, apprenticed in yoga therapy, and explored tantra, Kundalini, and various innovative approaches in depth.
June 5-7, 2015, Sorrento, BC
ERICH SCHIFFMANN
Author of Yoga: The Spirit and Practice of Moving into Stillness. Erich is a one-of-a-kind teacher in the American Yoga world. His unique Freedom Style Yoga offers an intuitive approach to Yoga as The Art of Living. Using this approach, you listen inwardly for guidance. From this inner connection, you act as you are prompted to—from within.
June 10-12, 2016, Sorrento BC
SARAH & TY POWERS
Sarah Powers is the co-founder of the Insight Yoga Institute and the author of Insight Yoga and Lit from Within, which interweaves Yoga, Buddhism, Taoism, and Transpersonal psychology into an integrated practice to enliven the body, heart, and mind. Sarah has been teaching for 30+ years, blending a Yin sequence with a mindfully based flow yoga practice. Sarah is trained in both Psychosynthesis and the Internal Family Systems psychological models, and has been a student of spiritual psychology for over 35 years. She draws from her education and participation in long retreats in the Vipassana, Tantric and Dzogchen practices of Buddhism.
Ty Powers (Craig Ty Powers) is the co-founder of the Insight Yoga Institute. He teaches yoga and meditation retreats worldwide with his wife, Sarah Powers. He has taught Vipassana since 2003, is a graduate of the Spirit Rock Community Dharma Leader training program, and has practiced Dzogchen Buddhism for over 20 years. Ty is also a Certified Integral Coach and has completed all levels of Internal Family Systems Therapy training. He also leads workshops on personal transformation as a graduate of the SkillfulChange Strategist Training Program, a program led by Phillip Moffitt.
June 2-4, 2017, Sorrento BC
DOUG KELLER
Doug Keller is a philosopher with a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from study at Fordham University, specializing in the ancients and Christian mystics. He spent 7 years in the Ganeshpuri ashram and 14 years in the Siddha Yoga system. Gradually, he gravitated to Iyengar yoga and, eventually, the Anusara style. He was among the first teachers certified by John Friend. Doug’s passion for anatomy and physiology led him to focus on Yoga as Therapy, an evolving field that promises to be a vital part of yoga’s future.
June 1-3, 2018, Sorrento BC
DR. ANANDA BALAYOGI BHAVANANI
Dr. Ananda is a Medical Doctor, Yogacharya and Certified Yoga Therapist with IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists). He is the Director of CYTER at the Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth University and Chairman of ICYER at Ananda Ashram. He continues to carry on the teachings in pranayama, mudras and yoga therapy as established by his father Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri. He is an internationally renowned teacher and therapist based in Pondicherry, India.
May 31 – June 2, 2019, Sorrento BC
BRENDA L. FEUERSTEIN
Brenda L. Feuerstein is the founder and director of Traditional Yoga Studies, a Canadian company whose primary focus is promoting authentic yogic teachings. Brenda’s passion for over 35 years is finding ways to bring these sacred teachings to life in today’s world, revealing their relevance in all aspects of life in the 21st century.
June 3–5, 2022, Sorrento, BC.
NAYASWAMI GYANDEV MCCORD
Nayaswami Gyandev, PhD, E-RYT 500, is a longtime disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, Kriyacharya (teacher of Kriya Yoga), Director of Ananda Yoga worldwide, and author of Spiritual Yoga: Awakening to Higher Awareness. He is co-founder of Yoga Alliance and a senior minister with Ananda Sangha, headquartered at Ananda Village in Northern California. He trains teachers online as well as in person at The Expanding Light Retreat at Ananda Village.
June 2-4, 2023,Sorrento, BC
DR. RAJ BALKARAN
Dr. Raj Balkaran is a renowned wisdom teacher, storyteller and scholar of ancient Sanskrit narrative texts. He teaches at several online platforms, including Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies and at his own School of Indian Wisdom, where he integrates scholarship, story, and spirituality to apply ancient indian wisdom teachings to modern life. He is a spiritual adept, having received multiple initiations and having been engaged in daily spiritual practice for over two decades. Dr. Balkaran serves as McMaster University’s Chaplain of Indian Spirituality and runs a thriving private life counselling practice where he helps guide people on their journeys. He also hosts the New Books of India Religions podcast, where he interviews academics on their cutting-edge research.
May 31- June 2, 2024
INDU ARORA
Indu Arora is a Yoga and Ayurveda teacher, mentor and author, based in the USA. She considers herself a student for a lifetime. Indu has been sharing about Yoga Philosophy, Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda for the last two decades. Her unique gifts are making Yoga and Ayurveda a practice, which is equally useful for beginners as for a sincere seeker who has made Yoga a lifelong journey. She is inspired by and taught under Kriya Yoga, Himalayan Yoga, Kashmiri Shiavasm nd Sivananda Yoga lines. She has studied in a traditional Guru-shishya parampara setting. Her teaching style is rooted in empowering and inspiring students to awaken the inner Huru. Her core philosophy is “Yoga is a Work-in and not a Work-out”. She is the author of Mudra: The Sacred Secret (2015), Yoga: Ancient Heritage, Tomorrow’s Vision (2005, 2019), and Soma: 100 Heritage Recipes for Self-Care (2020/2022).
May 31 – June 2, 2025 Sorrento, BC
ROLF GATES
As a graduate, lead faculty member, and Director of the Kripalu School of Yoga, Rolf has become one of the most influential voices in modern yoga, inspiring students and teachers worldwide through his teachings, books, and global trainings.
Rolf’s journey to yoga is as unique as it is inspiring. A former U.S. Army Ranger and social worker specializing in addiction, he brings an eclectic background to every aspect of his teaching. Over the past 20 years, Rolf has cultivated a practice that merges mindfulness, service, and compassion with the physical and philosophical foundations of yoga. His work has been featured in major publications like Yoga Journal and People Magazine and showcased on platforms such as The Tyra Banks Show and Fox and Friends.
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