This past weekend we held the inaugural Yogic Studies Summer Camp in the beautiful hills of northern California. Over the course of four days, we learned about Vedāntic philosophy and yoga history, practiced āsana, prāṇāyāma, and meditation, worked on our Sanskrit, and most importantly, had the chance to build community and get to know fellow Yogic Studies students, faculty, and staff.
The camp was hosted at the beautiful Mandala Springs Retreat Center. We had delicious vegetarian meals prepared for us each day, and much of the food we ate was grown in their garden. Mandala Springs has beautiful hills for us to walk in, a creek to swim in, a pool, hot tubs, scenic meditation places, and even a mini golf course!
We had educational and rejuvenating daily āsana, meditation, and prāṇāyāma classes with Nikki Costello.
On Friday night we had a beautiful evening of kīrtan led by Shemaia Skywater.
Seth Powell gave a welcome talk about the idea of "retreat" throughout Indian history and then led two classes on a close reading of the Yogatārāvalī, a short Sanskrit text on haṭha and rāja yoga. Varun Khanna, who has taught spoken Sanskrit, Pāṇinian grammar, Advaita Vedānta, and Upaniṣad courses for Yogic Studies, led two classes on the four mahāvākyas or "great sayings" of the Upaniṣads.
On our final night of the camp, we had a bonfire with s'mores and a talent show. The talents included an introduction to "laughter yoga," a reading from a fictional book about Patañjali, Vedic chanting, jokes, and music. One of the highlights of the camp was the chance to get to know the broader Yogic Studies community, and the talent show demonstrated the hard work and unique passions of our participants.
Our first camp was a fantastic success, and we are very much looking forward to the next Yogic Studies Summer Camp in 2025, likely to be held in Europe!
