Wellness enthusiasts and truth seekers are known to travel to the ends of the earth for a blissful retreat. However, cousins Jordan Ashley, founder, Souljourn Yoga, and Allison Bagg, breathwork practitioner, are staging Souljourn’s first U.S. yoga and sound retreat in Taos, New Mexico, Dec. 5–9. While the Souljourn Foundation has offered retreats in Table Mountain in South Africa, the forests of Rwanda, Machu Picchu in Peru, and Angkor Wat in Cambodia, bringing a retreat to Taos made sense as it is regarded by wellness enthusiasts as one of America’s most soulful, artistic and beautiful locales.

Jordan Ashley © Souljourn Yoga Foundation

Over four nights and five days, mornings will culminate with an energizing yoga flow led by Ashley, while Bagg rounds out the days with evening soundscapes incorporating guided meditations, alchemy crystal singing bowls and other meditative instruments. Between these guideposts, participants will enjoy delicious and wholesome vegetarian meals provided by a private chef, a guided tour of Taos Pueblo, afternoons spent soaking at Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa, and nights spent under the stars. According to Jordan, the “retreat is curated to both replenish and awaken heart, mind, and spirit.”

The itinerary also includes a visit to Española Healing Foods Oasis (EHFO) for a private garden and plant tour. This site was brought to life and is still maintained by community members who transformed a barren slope in downtown Española into an edible food garden utilizing traditional, dry-land farming techniques and permaculture principles. The garden is accessible to Española residents, as well as the surrounding tri-cultural communities of the northern Río Grande Valley. The bounty provides seasonal food, native medicinal herbs and plants, accessible pathways, and aesthetic beauty while harvesting precious rainwater. The visit also includes a meeting with the Sayain (circle of grandmothers), made up of inter-tribal multicultural women who are either grandmothers themselves or supportive elders who regularly bless the site.

© Souljourn Yoga Foundation

The Sayain is credited for infusing and inspiring the work of Tewa Women United, a partner of Souljourn Yoga Foundation for the retreat. The registration fee for participants includes a $200 donation to this non-profit that, “envisions movement(s) rooted in P’in Haa (Breath of Heart/Life) and P’in Nall (Touching Heart and Spirit) that nurture and celebrate the collective power of beloved families, communities, and Nung Ochuu Quiyo (Earth Mother),” according to Ashley. “Through relational-tivity, TWU embodies courageous spaces that center Indigenous women and girls to connect with ancestral knowingness, healing strengths, and lifeways for the wellbeing of all.”

To register for the retreat, visit the website of Souljourn Yoga Foundation, a nonprofit that creates transformational yoga retreats and teacher training programs to raise awareness and funds for young women’s education around the world.