SPRING CLEANING in the SWISS ALPS

A KATONAH YOGA IMMERSION with DAGES JUVELIER KEATES

March 31 - April 6 2025

No matter how long the winter, spring always rises. Join me for a week of techniques to cut through sluggishness, wake up the senses, and open the appetite to what is new, living, and green. We will focus on backbends, supported and otherwise, to flush winter’s excess from the organs. Rather than teaching us to force ourselves to bend over backwards, backbends can give a glimpse of the future. Extended morning practice features invigorating movement to open lungs, thighs, liver, and eyes, along with daily breath work. Afternoon sessions head out into the glorious Alpine green to explore herbal and traditional concepts of spring cleansing to support your body’s natural brilliance in filtering, flushing, and setting conditions for optimal organic function. We will also explore teachings from several wisdom traditions to nourish our vibratory, vulnerable, and visionary being.

WE WILL COVER:
🌱  Spring seasonal breath and movement practices
🌱  Herbal education related to spring and daily time in Schweibenalp’s 1000 acres of “edible landscape.”
🌱  Somatic cleansing techniques: breath work, trataka, jala neti, nauli, oil pulling
🌱  Alchemical kriyas to awaken green energies and creativity
🌱  How to make and enjoy herbal infusions for spring
🌱  Nurture your wood element to grow, flourish and replenish, setting up conditions for a season of expansion and playfulness. Come out of your shell and participate!

This training is offered to teachers and practitioners alike. Yoga is invisible, there are no levels, and you are most welcome exactly as you are. The morning session will be an immersive personal laboratory for Katonah Yoga and spring cleaning. It will provide a deep, satisfying practice that will flush your organs and bring the deep release that comes through intelligent effort. After a break, we will have daily time with plants: weed walks, wildcraft, learning about the 14.8 hectares of land and permaculture practice, and plant meditations. Our afternoon studio session will focus on applied theory and breath. 30 bankable Katonah hours for those working towards certification.

THE PLACE

Schweibenalp is a potent refuge 1100 meters above sea level amid the Alpine wilderness. This living, working community, consisting of permaculture, a temple, seminar spaces, and a guest house, will host our week of spring refresh. We will regenerate amongst a complex system of herb, perennial, and vegetable gardens on 10 hectares. On a northern slope facing Lake Brienz, its surroundings include linden trees, trumpet mushroom places, and alpine flower meadows. The bright blue skies buzz with bees and hum with aliveness. The lake below is an astounding oasis of green, a color I have never seen elsewhere in the world. 

This place stole my heart during two silent personal retreats this past fall. The extraordinary setting is conducive to personal time, inner focus, sensory attunement, and some peace and quiet. The accommodation is simple — shared bathrooms and mostly shared rooms, although there are spaces for camping at a lower rate and private rooms at a higher one. 

The food (three meals a day!) is delicious, abundant, and simple — the kind of hippy food that makes me feel nourished, safe, and clean. You can treat this week as a gentle reset for your digestion, resting from complex, processed, or decadent(!) foods and easily eat vegan and gluten-free. If you want some chocolate or a glass of wine, there is a canteen you can purchase such lil’ delectables from. It's not a fussy, judgemental place, and I like that.


BOOKING

There are two separate costs: one goes directly to the centre, Schweibenalp, and the other goes to me :)
To register, please complete the following two steps:

1. ROOM + BOARD
Select your room and register here

Single room: CHF 160
Double room: CHF 135
Shared room: CHF 121
In your own camper: CHF 102
In your own tent: CHF 87

Prices per adult participant per night, including vegetarian full-board

2. TUITION
Register for the retreat’s classes + offerings SEPARATELY by emailing here.
A sliding scale of 700 - 1000 CHF will cover the tuition for the retreat itself, we will respond to your email with online payment options

Any questions? Ask away!

KATONAH YOGA® is a syncretic Hatha yoga practice developed by Nevine Michaan over 40 years ago, incorporating classical Hatha yoga with Taoist theory, geometry, magic, mythology, metaphor, and imagination. Katonah articulates a philosophy of the body that is both formal and informative. Alignment-focused, theory-forward, this training will give students new insights from the esoteric ideas of subtle body anatomies to the pragmatic use of geometry to sustain form. Katonah Yoga’s unique practices include:

  • Asana and Adjustments

  • Breathwork

  • Restoratives

  • Meditation

  • Atlas of Internal Cartographies: Magic Square and Beyond

Learn more at https://www.katonahyoga.com/