7 Day Balance Rest and Movement in Paradise: Yoga Retreat in Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

Start your days watching sunrise over the ocean and notice the colours of the sky change. Join a yoga class that activates your body, integrating pranayama and meditation, and leaves you feeling alive, grounded and in flow. Nourish yourself with local tropical foods as well as some favourites from home at meals together. Enjoy quiet afternoons by the sea or pool, explore the surrounding nature or try yourself at surfing. Wind down after sunset with a relaxing yin yoga, reiki or massage session. Enjoy early nights in sync with nature and hear the waves as you fall asleep.

Stay Golden Hotel boasts a beautiful yoga shala with two walls of windows facing the sea, as well as an outdoor space towards the sea. There is a large pool, restaurant and massage/wellness facilities. The German-Sri Lankan couple running the place are very approachable with any questions, concerns or just for a friendly chat. They have a great attention to detail, making the hotel facilities high quality and the space tasteful and comfortable.

Breakfast/Brunch

After morning yoga, you can fill your energy reserves with an abundant breakfast/brunch buffet at the hotel restaurant. You will be able to taste local specialties such as sambol (grated coconut with spices), roti and dhosa, or Sri Lankan omelette; as well as a variety of Western breakfast options.

These include different egg dishes, smoothie bowls, fruits and granolas, sweet and savoury breads and toppings (think avocado, hummus, grilled vegetables, peanut butter, jams and nutella), pancakes and more.

Dinner

Dinner is not included to allow you to maintain flexibility with your daytime activity schedule, budget, and desire to explore. You will have a traditional rice and curry at the hotel restaurant on the first night ($12), where you will be served a selection of different vegetable curries, dal (lentils or other pulses,) and fresh salad.

On other nights you can eat from the varied menu at the hotel or explore restaurants in the area. Both serve local specialties like kottu or fish, and Western options from pizza and burgers to smoothie bowls and salads. Prices range from $1.50 to $15.

Dietary Requirements

if you have particular medicine or food you rely on, you may wish to bring it. If you have particular dietary requests (e.g. gluten free, vegan etc.) feel free to let them know in advance. The hotel should be able to accommodate it. There is free drinking water available at the hotel at all times.

You start the yoga programme at 7:30 with pranayama. All parts of the programme are optional and you may wish to sleep in a little longer until the Vinyasa yoga class at 8:15. This class is dynamic and will be tailored to take account of all retreat participants, giving explanations for beginners to advanced options for experienced yogis, as well as support to everyone in between.

You will head to the breakfast/brunch buffet around 10 am. After breakfast you can take time to relax by the pool, book a massage or wellness treatment, explore the area by foot, bike or scooter, or join an optional activity. They will be offering a safari at Kumana National Park (known for its leopards — that is often a highlight), a lagoon safari, and surfing lessons. All these are optional and additional to the retreat package. They can also organise a trip to an upcycling enterprise for local women, which produces bags and other items from used rice bags, saris, and fishing nets. If you are interested in a Sri Lankan cooking class, they can help you arrange that.

In the evenings you can watch sunset from the hotel roof — a spectacular sight nearly every night, join a group dinner and then wind down in a Yin yoga class, a Reiki (non-invasive energy healing) group session, or a massage and reflexology workshop.

Anyone is welcome to join the yoga sessions and Katharina will cater to each participant's yoga needs. She is used to teaching mixed level classes, and sessions are tailored to make sure beginner yogis have thorough explanations and cues as well as alternative poses to more advanced ones in the flows and that advanced practitioners have the opportunity to work up a sweat and challenge themselves with trickier poses. Anyone can always take a break during a yoga class or choose to skip yoga classes if they prefer partaking only in the breathwork and other parts of schedule.

Pranayama

In pranayama (translated as "directing life energy — prana") you modulate the breath e.g. through holds, active or passive inhales and exhales and through the depth, speed and rhythm of your breathing, to influence your energy. Depending on the type of breath, pranayama can have balancing, activating or winding-down effects. The morning exercises intend to energise and balance, while Katharina will also introduce you to strategies that can help quiet the mind and wind down for a relaxing night's sleep.

Vinyasa yoga

In the mornings you follow pranayama with Vinyasa yoga, a dynamic yoga style where you warm up, practise some sun salutations, and continue with a range of forward and back bends, inversions and balances, side bends and twists. She will give detailed alignment cues so that beginners learn to set the poses up and experienced practitioners can fine-tune their positions. She takes into account the group's wishes and levels — so if there's something specific you want to learn, a body part you'd like to work more with, or you're feeling particularly active or more like something relaxing, do let her know and she'll make sure to integrate it for you.

Yin yoga

A favourite among yogis, this style differs a lot from Vinyasa in that you hold each position for a few minutes. Instead of targeting muscles, you are targeting connective tissue like fascia here. In TCM, energy lines are said to run through the fascia, so this is also a practice that intends to facilitate energy flow in your body. It is also relaxing, "yin" being associated with the dark element, rest, night, the moon, letting go, and the feminine.

Reiki

Reiki is a form of energy healing. Purely positive, healing life force energy is channelled by the Reiki practitioner and passed along to participants. The experience can be profoundly relaxing or one may have certain physical, emotional and mental experiences during the practice. You can set an intention for what you would like to heal or let the energy move where it sees the greatest healing potential at that moment.

Yoga Retreat Timetable

Some parts of the schedule may still be adjusted. Dinner times can be adjusted, for instance, or evening Yin and Reiki moved to the afternoon, if the group prefers. Also, all sessions and activities are optional. You can make this retreat as active or relaxing as you want and need in the moment. You will still be connected to the group and you are always welcome in group activities; at the same time there is space for solitude whenever you feel like it.

Day 1, Arrival day

14:00 Check-in
15:30 Intro round
16:00 Vinyasa yoga
18:00 Sunset
18:15 Dinner at the hotel or local restaurants
20:30 Yin yoga or Reiki

Day 2-6

6:00 Sunrise: meditate or swim
7:30 Pranayama, meditation, eye exercises
8:15 Vinyasa yoga
10:00 Breakfast/brunch
Free time
Day 4: 16:00 Massage and reflexology workshop
18:00 Sunset
18:15 Dinner at the hotel or local restaurants
20:30 Yin yoga or Reiki

Day 7, Departure Day

6:00 Sunrise: meditate or swim
7:30 Pranayama, meditation, eye exercises
8:15 Vinyasa yoga
10:00 Breakfast/brunch
11:00 Check-out by 11:00 unless your room is free that day

3 Reiki group healing sessions
Massage and reflexology workshop

Surfing

Whether you're an experienced surfer or have never surfed before, Arugam Bay is a wonderful place to ride waves or learn to do so. In October you can use two surf points within walking distance — "Main Point" and "Baby Point" — or ride to other surf spots in the area such as "Elephant Rock", "Peanut Farm," or "Pottuvil Point".
Surfboards can be rented at the hotel, at various surf shops in town, or at the surf spots themselves. Lessons can also be arranged directly at the hotel or at a surf school of your liking. The conditions are such that beginners can learn quickly, while the long waves at Main Point or Pottuvil Point are fun and challenging for experienced surfers. In March, surf spots are less busy than in peak season, the water and air are warm so you can easily surf without a wetsuit, and prices are very affordable with lessons at around 20 EUR, and board rental for just a few Euro. However, please be aware that surfing conditions vary and may not be ideal during the retreat week.

Safari in Kumana National Park

Already on the roads just outside Arugam Bay, you can often spot elephants in the rice paddies around sunrise and sunset. There are also spots nearby where you can see crocodiles from a main road bridge. One of the special animals to spot in Kumana National Park is leopards. Kumana National Park has the second highest leopard density globally, and the highest in Sri Lanka. Of course, a leopard sighting cannot be guaranteed.
A safari lasts around 6-7 hours. The price depends on the group size, varying between around 35-100 EUR per person. The activity is entirely optional. Stay Golden's safari staff work in a way that is considered "ethical" in the sense of disrupting animals as little as possible.

Lagoon safari

The lagoon safari is a relaxed 2-3 hour experience. You take a boat in the late afternoon, observing various species of birds, looking for crocodiles and keeping an eye out for elephants. At only around 10 EUR per person, it is a fun and relaxed way to connect more with the natural environment around you.

6 nights accommodation at Stay Golden Hotel
7 90-minute Vinyasa yoga classes
6 pranayama classes
3 Yin yoga classes
3 Reiki group healing sessions
1 massage and reflexology workshop
6 breakfasts/brunches
Pool access at anytime

Transfer to/from the hotel
Additional optional activities, e.g. Kumana National Park safari, lagoon safari, or surf lessons
Meals and drinks other than breakfast/brunch
Insurance of any kind

There is an early bird discount available up to January 31, 2027.

Stay Golden Hotel is a beautiful, modern, quiet and tasteful hotel located right by the beach in Arugam Bay. It is a little outside of the small town's center, making it a wonderful place to clear the mind and feel at peace.

How to get there

There are several ways to get to the retreat location from elsewhere in the country:

Public bus to Arugam Bay directly, or to Pottuvil and you take a tuktuk or another bus from there to Arugam Bay. Then walk or stay in the tuktuk to the hotel itself.
Specifically from the airport a direct bus to Arugam Bay leaves at 21:00 and costs 2750 LKR (under 8 EUR). If you take a bus connection to Pottuvil, the tuktuk to the hotel should cost you no more than 2 EUR.
Taxi (private car) to the hotel from anywhere in the country. Of course, this is pricier but can be shared with others and is a good rate compared with Western prices. From Colombo airport a taxi for up to 3 passengers costs 25000 to 30000 LKR (less than 70 to 85 EUR). A van for up to 6 passengers costs 45000 to 50000 LKR (under 125 to 140 EUR). The costs are split among the passengers. If this is interesting for you, 0neYoga can arrange the cars and try to match you with others to share the price.

If you would like assistance with arranging travel to and from the retreat location, please send an inquiry and 0neYoga can help and share the concrete details with you.

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7 Day Balance Rest and Movement in Paradise: Yoga Retreat in Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

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