Reflections from Mount Madonna’s 47th Annual New Year’s Yoga Retreat
“I enjoyed every minute of it all. Experiencing each piece brought more to light about the depth and breadth of Babaji’s teachings. Nature hikes with asanas were invigorating, fun, and glorious. The talks on belonging and the group shares were fascinating and energizing. Having the opportunity to explore feelings and context with others brought us closer together. I am happy and heartened by the opportunities to meet and talk casually with others at meals, etc…”
— Retreat participant (onsite)
OPENING: ARRIVING TOGETHER AT THE TURNING OF THE YEAR
Each year, as winter deepens among the redwoods, visitors join residents and staff at Mount Madonna with a shared intention — to pause, reflect, and step into the New Year in community.
This year marked Mount Madonna’s 47th annual New Year’s Yoga Retreat, a long-standing tradition rooted in practice, community, and the teachings of Baba Hari Dass. For nearly five decades, this gathering has offered a nourishing container for welcoming the year ahead through yoga asana (postures), meditation, ritual, self-study, and play.
The theme guiding this year’s retreat, Heart of Belonging: From Separation to Oneness, felt especially resonant. In a time when many are experiencing fragmentation, loneliness, and disconnection, participants arrived to explore belonging — together. Not as an abstract idea, but as an embodied truth. One that can be practiced, cultivated, and lived.
“Being in satsang… I felt my heart open to all the different people at the retreat. During a break out group, the two other people and I all just sat there crying. We were so grateful and feeling held and inspired by being there.”
— Retreat participant (onsite)
The Daily Rhythm that Held Us
Over four days, offerings of asana, pranayama (breathing techniques), meditation, and self-study provided daily nourishment for body and mind, while morning and evening arati opened and closed each day with shared ritual. Returning to these practices deepened connection — not only to the teachings but also to ourselves, the space around us, and one another.
Connection could also be discovered in the spaces between scheduled sessions: unhurried walks through the forest, communal meals, spontaneous conversations, and moments of silence.
Throughout, belonging unfolded through presence, through showing up, together, again and again.
“What stood out most to me was the diversity and heartfelt ways in which the theme was woven throughout the retreat: through the opening gathering, morning sadhana, theme presentations, meditation, and our New Year’s Program.”
— Retreat participant (onsite)
Voices of Wisdom: Reflections on Belonging
Three theme presentations served as guideposts for the retreat, each opening a different doorway to belonging through teachings drawn from lived experience — meeting us where we were and speaking directly to the realities of the present moment.
On Monday, Belonging Begins Within invited participants to turn inward. Introduced by Soma Goresky and led by Tonia Mayerle, this session explored belonging through the lens of neuroscience and nervous system regulation. Tonia imparted that belonging is not only spiritual or philosophical but also physiological. When we feel we belong, the body softens, the breath slows, and the heart finds ease.
She shared words from Brené Brown that echoed throughout the retreat: “True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world… True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.”
On Tuesday, Pathways of Belonging expanded the conversation outward through a panel featuring Lizzy Gamberdella, Purna Eselius, and Savarna Wiley.
Lizzy guided participants into svadhyaya (self-study), inviting us to hear it as sva (self) and adhyaya (story), and to ask: Where do we belong within our own inner narrative?
Purna returned to the Yoga Sutras, drawing attention to the very first word: atha — now. A threshold. A moment of arrival. How, he asked, is this present moment calling us into belonging?
Savarna offered the Zulu greeting Sawubona, “I see you,” and its response, “I am here,” reminding us that belonging is shaped by being seen, received, and acknowledged.
In Wednesday’s presentation, Puzzle of Belonging, Sadanand “SN” Mailliard opened with a deceptively simple question — Why was it important for you to be here? — and from there, guided participants into an exploration of belonging as an active, living process shaped by how we show up, listen, and engage. With humor, honesty, and depth, SN framed true listening as “allowing for the arising of the legitimacy of the other,” pointing to belonging as something created through presence and genuine recognition — not a state we find, but one we continually bring into being. This came into sharpest focus through a quiet but striking reflection: “If you conserve love, you will find more around you. If you conserve anger, you will find more of that.” What we conserve, he suggested, is what we come to belong to, and how we shape the world we share. Belonging, in this light, is a practice rooted in responsibility.
“The panel and SN’s presentations were impactful and allowed me, as a participant, to continue conversations during free time with other guests.”
— Retreat participant (onsite)
New Year’s Eve & Day: Crossing the Threshold Together
As the year drew to a close, the retreat shifted toward celebration. The New Year’s Eve Program unfolded as a spirited gathering, weaving together devotion and delight for our final night together.
The program opened with a powerful performance by the Hanuman Players, Mount Madonna’s beloved community theater troupe, who presented a series of spoken-word pieces and interpretive dance, accompanied by live music — works drawn together by the retreat’s theme and expressed with authenticity and heart.
From there, the energy turned as kirtan (devotional singing) filled the room, inviting everyone into song. As the night continued, the Community Building gradually darkened, and everyone settled into a collective meditation that carried us toward the threshold of the New Year.
Just after midnight, the stage lit up, voices rose, and music began. Balloons filled with chocolate kisses dropped from above, rainbow disco lights spun across the ceiling, and we danced together through the first hour of the year, marking our crossing not just with intention, but with joyous PLAY!
Later on New Year’s Day morning, participants gathered to greet the New Year with a traditional mantra yajna (ancient Vedic ritual with chanting) for healing and peace, hosted by staff and officiants from the Sankat Mochan Hanuman Temple.
“I really appreciated the performance on New Year’s Eve. That was amazing. I cried.”
— Retreat participant (online)
The Heart of Belonging Closing Circle
The retreat closed with a final circle, led by Purnima Conway and Anand Darsie. Over the days together, belonging had been explored through many doors: through asana, pranayama, and meditation; through mantra, yajna, arati, and kirtan; through time in nature, meals, laughter, silence, and song; through satsang. The closing reflections held space for what had emerged during our days spent together.
The circle also brought a larger context into focus. Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has described loneliness as a public health epidemic, with recent studies showing that nearly half of U.S. adults report feeling lonely or lacking companionship. His call to prioritize relationships, service, and purpose echoed through the gathering, underscoring the acute relevance of the retreat’s theme.
As our time together came to a close, participants were reminded that belonging is not a destination, but a way of traveling — a way of listening, speaking, and showing up for ourselves and one another.
“The retreat was moving and informative, I felt like I belonged.”
— Retreat participant (online)
Carrying Belonging Forward
We at Mount Madonna are deeply grateful to the in-person and online retreat participants, teachers, presenters, staff, and volunteers who made this gathering possible. And with the teachings of Baba Hari Dass as a guiding light, the invitation remains open: to tend to the inner story that allows us to belong to ourselves; to choose connection over isolation; and to keep the fire of this satsang burning, wherever we go.
As Sadanand “SN” Mailliard presented to us, “this process of belonging is a choice, and we choose it by what we individually validate and conserve in our living.” What we protect and focus on shapes both our inner realities and the world we live in. The practice of belonging does not end with this retreat, but continues, if we choose, into our homes, relationships, work environments, communities, and beyond.
“I ended the retreat with a lasting glow that is still with me.”
— Retreat participant (online)
