8 Day Mindful Nourishment: Yoga, Meditation, and Cooking Holiday in Phippsburg, Maine

Facilities

With multiple daily sessions in yoga and movement, breathwork, and meditation, Santosha on the Kennebec offers a mindfulness program to nourish your creativity. With respect to the cooking workshop methodology, Santosha's kitchens are a place for creative experimentation, exchange of ideas, and meditative presence.

Balanced with three local, organic meals per day, plenty of snacks in between and surrounded by some of the most gorgeous seaside landscape in the country, Santosha on the Kennebec welcomes you into the Maine woods to explore santosha, or 'settled contentment without striving'. Your daily itineraries are diverse and balanced as well as entirely optional in all respects. You should feel absolutely free to craft your own contentment. Lovers of food, whether cooks or not, know the importance of reserving space and time to enjoy the cuisine.

The objective of this retreat is to provide fodder for you to flow creatively, however, that comes to you. Maybe you wake for morning practice then get right to the morning's culinary projects. Maybe you read all day, only to surface in time for Fireside Fika at 4:00 p.m. Maybe you take a day off from cooking entirely and engage in Healing Arts sessions, yoga, meditation, and forays into the nearby villages for shopping, hiking, restaurant hopping, or more. The choice is entirely yours: Santosha provides everything you need to build your own creative space.

Every day, the Santosha staff will provide a series of culinary experiments, ranging from hands-on cooking exercises to reading essays on biodynamic farming methodologies or Ayurvedic cooking philosophy. Regardless of your choice, each day at 4:00 p.m., you may gather for Fireside Fika, paying homage to a meaningful and loving Swedish tradition, which literally translates to 'coffee and cake' but means so much more. You slow down to enjoy a warm cup of coffee, tea, or espresso with your community here at Santosha.

Asana, pranayama, and meditation

Wake with the sunrise and come together to greet the new day. Experienced practitioners and new yogis alike, Santosha welcomes you into the shala, a warm, cozy space with vaulted post-and-beam ceilings, broad board pine floors, and long views through the pines, down to the swirling Kennebec River below. Your sunrise practice is dedicated to opening each day as a unique opportunity to practice mindfulness, acceptance, and loving-kindness. Santosha will happily customize the daily practices to meet the needs of each day’s participants.

To place mindful emphasis on the spirit of contemplation, Santosha encourages you to practice silence from sunrise through the morning meal, drawing your attention inward, and basking in the peace of shared quiet. Your afternoon practice closes the daylight hours before your evening meal. Meditations in gratitude, heart-opening, and candlelight mark the close of each day. Santosha provides all your mats, blocks, props, bolsters, meditation cushions, straps, blankets, and towels. Begin your practice with tea and treat yourself to something sweet at the juice bar when you finish.

The shala is climate-controlled in all seasons. Most importantly, Santosha provides close attention to guide you through your practice safely, in comfort. Santosha's diverse programming includes various styles of practice, from vigorous Vinyasa flows to gentle Restorative yoga. Seminars take a deep dive into individual poses and meditative journeys. Weather permitting, you even venture outside Santosha for movement on the smooth sands of Popham Beach. Santosha also offers private sessions in yoga, meditation, Qigong, Taichi, and other movement-based meditation.

Mindful nourishment

Maybe you have released a warm, settled sigh while kneading a ball of sourdough. Maybe your eyes glazed over momentarily to the lull of chopping crisp carrots. Or maybe you felt inner ease, watching a gooey pie bubble in the oven. In those moments, you were fully present. If you have experienced any such moments or myriad others like them, you know intuitively that cooking is more than a chore.

The art of cooking is multi-sensory - visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and communal - triggering both memory and anticipation. Learning to be present through the full culinary process teaches you patience and 'hereness' in the remainder of life, too - to slow down, be present. Join JB every day in Santosha’s two spacious kitchens for the communal, meditative practice of preparing a meal together: bake bread, hand roll pasta, pickle late harvest vegetables, churn butter, and smoke and salt-cure fish. Rather than rushing, slow down and explore, together.

Santosha’s mindful nourishment program reaches beyond kitchens, too. Join foraging classes to learn about local ecosystems. Visit a local oyster farm to learn about sustainable farming practices. Meet in the library for an afternoon documentary screening on rejuvenating ancient agricultural practices. Tour a local craft microbrewery to learn about the challenges and joys of running a small Maine business.

Attend a craft cocktail-making class with one of their wonderful partners. Join nearby growers at their organic farms and markets to discuss sustainable harvest practices. Prepare for your visit to Santosha by reading for the monthly book club and participate in round-table discussions on sustainable eating, the ethics of consumption, and honoring culinary traditions. Bring intentionality to all your cooking, eating, and culinary learning.

Mama Nature

Santosha believes deeply that modern humankind’s estrangement from nature is a leading cause of societal restlessness, malaise, and disconnection from one another. By mindfully choosing to bask in the glow of Mama Nature’s beauty - whether deep in the Maine woods among sweet conifers or toeing the edge of briny, Atlantic surf - you reconnect with your essential roots. You are quick and hasty; nature is slow, deliberate. Invigorate yourself - mind and soul - with Santosha’s various programs, in all seasons, in the great outdoors.

Engage in the meditative Japanese tradition of shinrinyoku, or forest bathing, in the adjacent conservation lands. Bicycle through the rolling, seaside hills of the Midcoast. Day hike along with Maine’s segments of the Appalachian trail. Visit the local Nordic ski centers for a day of touring or snowshoeing through miles and miles of pristine groomed terrain. Spend a day paddling along the Kennebec River’s rocky coastline. Attend local lectures regarding environmental stewardship. Shred the gnar for a day of alpine skiing or snowboarding at Sunday River Resort. Mama Nature welcomes you, wholeheartedly.

Daily schedule

• 07:00 Sunrise yoga practice, pranayama, and guided meditation
• 08:30 Shared morning meal
• 09:45 Kitchen for daily mindful nourishment program such as learning to bake challah bread from scratch or studying narrative portions of canonical cookbooks
• 12:00 Shared midday meal
• 14:00 Fresh time outdoors to relax the mind and guided shinrinyoku (forest bathing) in nearby conservation lands (breathe deeply or tuck in for an afternoon of productive writing and planning)
• 16:00 Fireside Fika in the library
• 18:00 Happier hour asana, practice, and meditation
• 19:30 Shared evening meal
• 20:45 Closing candlelight meditation
• 21:00 Time to read, write a bit more, have a sweet treat from the juice bar, or rest for the day, reinvigorated, and ready for another day

Each daily itinerary offers at least one opportunity to leave the retreat space. So many of these offerings are dependent on the weather. A selection of potential activities may include:

• Rushing down to Popham Beach for a Nordic polar plunge to wake up the soul
• Snowshoeing in local conservation lands
• Touring local farmers' markets and makers' craft fairs
• Visiting a local microbrewery for an afternoon
• Visiting nearby antique shops

Set on the Kennebec River, just southeast of Bath (Maine's City of Ships), the sleepy coastal village of Phippsburg is now home to little more than 2,000 residents. Phippsburg is the site of Popham Colony, the first known English settlement in New England and a direct competitor to Jamestown, founded between 1607 and 1608. During this pre-colonial period, the colonists built the Virginia of Sagadahoc, the first ship built on American soil.

A rural fishing community, Phippsburg is also home to Popham Beach State Park, a well-kept Maine secret compared to the crowded beaches of southern Maine. Phippsburg boasts many miles of secluded hiking paths, between the salt marshes and coastal uplands of the Bates-Morse mountain conservation area and the Phippsburg land trust. By water, Phippsburg is known best for Seguin Island and her iconic lighthouse, as well as the Hermit Island campground on the western shore.

Within an hour, you will have access to Bowdoin College, Colby College, and Bates College. Santosha is also within driving distance for a day of skiing at Sunday River or Sugarloaf. For locavores, Maine boasts some of the best eating and drinking in the nation: just ask Bon Appétit magazine, which recently named Portland America’s restaurant city of the year.

North of Portland’s bustling culinary scene, guests will find plenty of gems on the Midcoast, including James Beard semifinalist Cara Stadler’s Tao Yuan (Brunswick); the iconic local lobster haunt, Five Islands Lobster Company (Georgetown); Nikaline Iacono’s edgy and inventive craft cocktail bar, Vessel and Vine (Brunswick); favorite Maine craft breweries, Maine Beer Company (Freeport) and Flight Deck Brewing (Brunswick); and many, many more.

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Food and joy are intimately connected. Santosha strives to craft a culinary experience in mindfulness for you: slow down to savor every last bite. Santosha designs its food program to emphasize seasonal, local ingredients obtained from small Maine growers. Meals are meant to be shared, served family-style, around a single, solid, hardwood table. As an exercise in mindfulness and inspired by the practices of ashrams around the world, each morning meal is silent. Your cuisine fills you and energizes you. Santosha leans heavily toward plant-based cooking to respect its environmental stewardship obligations and remains mindful of the ethics of eating meat, fowl, and fish. That said, Santosha offers meals that both include and exclude animal products to respect your right to choose for yourself. Santosha's menus reflect the staff's extensive travels across the globe and varied ethnic backgrounds, ranging from Swedish treats to Nepalese home cooking to Israeli comfort food. The menus change daily. Pull up a chair and join the table; Santosha is deeply, deeply glad to share a meal with you.

Healing arts

Your stay at Santosha should be wholly rejuvenating for body, mind, and spirit. They invite you to explore a wide variety of holistic healing arts, at your request, through their collaboration with skilled healers in the local community. Slow down, practice self-care, and breathe deeply with your friends here in Maine. They gladly collaborate with their skilled providers to offer the following healing arts services during your stay at Santosha:

• Swedish massage
• Deep tissue massage
• Hot stone massage
• Aromatherapy massage
• Acupuncture
• Ayurvedic consultation and bodywork
• Chakra balancing and clearing
• Qigong
• Taichi
• Psychic readings and mediumship
• Tarot and palm readings
• Reiki
• Hair and makeup consultations
• Consultation in using cultivated and wild medicinal herbs

Upon confirmation of your stay here, Santosha will curate your individual itinerary and provide pricing details as necessary. All such sessions are not included in your fees and can be booked separately upon coordination with Santosha on the Kennebec.

• 2 daily practices in yoga, pranayama, and meditation
• Daily Fireside Fika
• Closing candlelight meditation circle nightly
• Mindful nourishment programming daily
• Diverse outdoor activities daily (weather permitted), including snowshoeing, hiking, beach walking, and shinrinyoku (forest bathing)
• Boat rides on Broward Facing Dog (in season)
• 7 nights accommodation
• 3 delicious, organic, locally-sourced meals daily
• Luxury linens, towels, and toiletries
• Pool (in season) and jacuzzi
• Ample parking
• Strong Wi-Fi and telephone service as needed

• Healing arts sessions (fees payable to service provider)
• Private yoga and meditation coaching sessions
• Transportation from Brunswick Amtrak station (small fee applies) or from Portland International Jetport (PWM) (150 USD per person, round trip)
• Off-site offerings, including but not limited to craft food and beverage tours, guided foraging expeditions, meals, and related transportation as necessary
• Snacks, beverages, and merchandise for sale on site
• Well-behaved dogs are more than welcome for an additional fee
• Equipment rental, including but not limited to kayaks, snowshoes, skis, paddleboards, etc.

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• A reservation requires a deposit of 14% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.
• The rest of the payment should be paid 30 days before arrival.