Chiang Mai Sacred Journey
Ten days in Chiang Mai, seven of them residential at Amrita Integral Yoga Centre, working through the chakras one a day with the Tantra teachers of Mahasiddha Yoga. Then a cacao ceremony and live kirtan at an organic farm, elephants and Lanna temples and the sticky waterfalls at Buatong, and Yi Peng, the night the sky over Chiang Mai fills with lanterns. Organised out of Manila by the Philippine Academy of Intuitives and framed around Kapwa, the Filipino word for the self you share with everyone else. Au Mayari facilitates the cacao ceremony. Numbers are held small, and Yi Peng is the most oversubscribed night in the city's year.
The ten days
Seven days on the chakras
The spine of the trip and the part that is actually a retreat. Residential at Amrita Integral Yoga Centre in San Kamphaeng, half an hour east of the old city, on a purpose-built ashram site with a garden, a pool and a wooden practice hall. One chakra a day in sequence, from Muladhara at the base to Sahasrara at the crown, taught through Hatha practice, lectures and guided subtle energy work. Three vegetarian meals a day. Rooms have private bathrooms, air conditioning and hot water.
Cacao and kirtan at the farm
The immersion closes at an organic cacao farm outside the city. Au Mayari facilitates the ceremony, using ceremonial-grade Davao cacao blended with Peruvian, and Hao Bhakti leads live kirtan after it. Included in every retreat package. It is also sold on its own, so this is the one day of the ten that people not on the retreat can join.
Temples, elephants and the sticky waterfalls
A day and a half away from the centre. An ethical elephant sanctuary, bamboo rafting on a forest river, and Buatong in Chet Si Fountain National Park, where the limestone is porous enough to walk straight up the falling water. Then Lanna temple grounds, a Thai lunch and the Chiang Mai night bazaar. Sold separately from the retreat and priced without accommodation.
Yi Peng, the sky lantern festival
The reason the dates are what they are. Yi Peng falls on the full moon of the second Lanna month, temple grounds fill with candles and chanting, and thousands of khom loi go up at once. The group writes intentions and releases lanterns together. Also sold separately, and the single most oversubscribed night in Chiang Mai's year, which is what the limited numbers are really about.
Rates
| Seven-day retreat, shared room16 to 22 Nov, per person, cacao ceremony included | PHP 24,500 |
| Seven-day retreat, standard single16 to 22 Nov, per person, cacao ceremony included | PHP 31,600 |
| Seven-day retreat, deluxe single16 to 22 Nov, per person, cacao ceremony included | PHP 36,600 |
| Seven-day retreat, standard double16 to 22 Nov, for two people, PHP 28,800 each | PHP 57,600 |
| Seven-day retreat, deluxe double16 to 22 Nov, for two people, PHP 31,600 each | PHP 63,200 |
| Cacao ceremony and kirtan22 Nov, sold on its own | PHP 1,700 |
| Sacred and culture tours23 to 24 Nov, no accommodation | PHP 3,500 |
| Yi Peng sky lantern festival24 Nov, no accommodation | PHP 4,000 |
- A reservation fee holds a place and is not refundable.
- Pay half to book: refundable in full until 15 October, then half until 1 November.
- The balance is due 1 November.
- International flights and airport transfers are not included. Transfers can be arranged separately.
The teachers
Uriel Yariv
Co-founder, Mahasiddha Yoga and AmritaIsraeli, twenty years on the Tantra yoga path and more than two of them inside silent retreats. He co-founded both the school and the centre this retreat is held at. He also holds a master's degree in clinical psychology and writes on where psychology and spirituality meet, which is why his teaching has lectures in it and not only practice.
Iris Smeets
Tantra and yoga teacher, women's circlesShe read philosophy, then peace and conflict studies, and worked in conflict resolution and peacebuilding at trauma centres around the world before any of this. She trained as a tantric massage therapist, then taught seven years at a yoga centre in Denmark before Chiang Mai. The women's work at the school is hers.
Deshna Di
Tantra and yoga teacher, sound healingThey came through Tibetan Buddhism and kinesiology, have taught yoga since 2015 and guided sound healing journeys since 2017, and in 2018 Tantra became the centre of it. They hold the sound work at the school, and they teach in English and in Chinese.
Who runs it
The ten days are organised and sold by the Philippine Academy of Intuitives in Manila, through their Shop Soulfully storefront, under the programme name INSPIRE. The seven days of chakra work are taught by Mahasiddha Yoga at their own centre, Amrita. Au Mayari, who is the Henosis contact on this listing and who is why it is here, facilitates the cacao ceremony on 22 November and is the Academy's Trainer and Speaker Manager. Booking, payment and every question about rooms and transfers go to the Academy, not to any of the three.