Cameron's Staff Pick

Introduction to Vajra Yoga: Summer Immersion

Name: Introduction to Vajra Yoga: Summer Immersion
Start: 2025-08-07
End: 2025-08-10
Location: Menla
Rating: 4.5

4.502 reviews

375 Panterkill Road PO Box 70 Phoenicia, NY 12464 United States

August 7 - 10, 2025

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Michele

Robert

Michele Loew

Michele Loew is an international yoga teacher & practitioner of Hatha & Tibetan Yogas & the founding director of the Vajra Yoga School of Comparative Buddhist & Indic Yogic Studies where sheco-teaches with Professor Robert A.F. Thurman at Menla & abroad. She has taught, practiced, & studied avidly since 1998, and continues to run her longtime yoga school and beloved studio, The Yoga Space in Portland, Oregon. She is also on the Board of Tibet House US and is devoted to supporting His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s mission, as well as preserving Tibetan Culture and Dharma. You can find her often in New York sharing yoga at Tibet House or upstate at Menla Mountain Retreat. Her love and commitment to the unexcelled yoga tantras of Vajrayana as a path we can take towards perfect enlightenment and the integration of those teachings with the Hatha yogas more broadly practiced today, seeing both as powerful and not separate extensions of one another, infuses her work with great joy & commitment to a more compassionate and awakened world. She honors the lineage of teachers she comes from and bows to her longtime Hatha & Classical Yoga teacher, Richard Freeman for elucidating the middle path of love with the utmost clarity and kindness. To Robert Thurman, her beloved principle teacher in Buddhist science and her root guru His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the deepest bow for empowering her in the anuttara yogas. Michele teaches regular classes and 200 & 500 YA trainings in Yoga & Yoga Nidra in Portland &; New York, as well as retreats and workshops internationally. Follow her on instagram @micheleloew

Robert A.F. Thurman

Robert Thurman is Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University as well as co-founder and President of Tibet House US and it's Menla Retreat & Spa. A world-wide lecturer on Tibetan Buddhism, activist for the plight of the Tibetan people, translator of Buddhist texts, and writer of popular Buddhist books. He recently has been awarded the Padma Shri Award, India’s fourth highest civilian honor for achievement in enriching Indian education and literature. His most recent book is the 300 page graphic novel, Man of Peace: the Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet. Suggested Books & Audio by Robert A.F. Thurman: Man of Peace: Illustrated Life Story of Tibet’s Dalai Lama (Book), Infinite Life: Awakening to Bliss Within (Book), Anger: The Seven Deadly Sins (Book), Inner Revolution (Book), Circling the Sacred Mountain : A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas (Book), Essential Tibetan Buddhism (Book), The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between (Book) The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism (Book), The Central Philosophy of Tibet (Book), The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture (Book), Life & Teachings of Tsong Khapa (Book), Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World (Book) & Liberation Upon Hearing in the Between: Living with the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Audio). To Learn More About Robert A.F. Thurman please visit: Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Details of this retreat

Join us for a weekend of yoga and inspiring meditations and dharma talks with Bob and Michele as we dive into the practices of Vajrayoga. Vajrayoga is Tibet House US’s school of yoga and Indian inner science, teaching the physical and meditative practices common to both Hatha and Buddhist traditions and designed to open your body to ultimate health, vitality, and inner freedom. Vajrayoga sets yogic practices within the context of deep spirituality, the principles of enlightenment, and it deepens an understanding of the scientific basis of being ethical, to be evolutionary skillful, compassionate, wise, and joyous.

In this retreat Michele will explore various practices from Hatha and Tibetan Yoga as a way to open your physical and subtle-body nervous systems in the context of our Vajrayoga school. All levels are welcome, and poses can all be modified to accommodate students with injuries or physical limitations. Bob will teach comparative Buddhist and classical Indian inner science, exploring Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Hatha Yoga scriptures, and the sutras and tantras of the Buddha.

Each morning we will enjoy meditation, pranayama, and Tibetan healing yoga, and then a dharma talk with Robert Thurman after breakfast. The afternoons will be alignment-based Hatha Yoga. We will end each day with sleep meditation/yoga nidra for deep rest and healing. This will be a great opportunity to meet Bob and Michele prior to the start of their Fall Yoga School.

Beginning November 2025 we will start our comprehensive 300hr Yoga Alliance certification course (online/in-person). The 300hr course is perfect for those looking to go even deeper into the Buddha’s comprehensive inner science education, study of the Lamrim (stages of the path to enlightenment), meditation, yoga asana, and the comparative non-dual philosophies of India.

If you are looking for a Yoga Teacher Training course that brings in yoga and the meditative sciences from Buddhism and Classical Indian Yoga, this is the perfect course to take. The journey is deeply educational and spiritually transformational, while giving you the practical skills to support other students on their paths.

All levels of experience are welcome!

Schedule

Friday, August 7

3 - 6 pm Arrival & Check-in
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 Welcome Program

Saturday, August 8

7 - 8 am Meditation and Tibetan Yoga w/ Michele
8 - 9 am Breakfast
10 am - 12 pm Philosophy & Dharma Talk w/ Bob
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 - 4 pm Free time for Dewa Spa Healing Treatments or Time in Nature
4 - 6 pm Yoga Asana Practice w/ Michele
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm Yoga Nidra w/ Michele

Sunday, August 9

7 - 8 am Meditation and Tibetan Yoga w/ Michele
8 - 9 am Breakfast
10 am - 12 pm Philosophy & Dharma Talk w/ Bob
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 - 4 pm Free time for Dewa Spa Healing Treatments or Time in Nature
4 - 6 pm Yoga Asana Practice w/ Michele
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm Yoga Nidra w/ Michele

Monday, August 10

7 - 11 am Check-out of Rooms
7 - 8 am Meditation and Tibetan Yoga w/ Michele
8 - 9 am Breakfast
10 am - 12 pm Philosophy & Dharma Talk w/ Bob
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch & Departure

*Please note that the schedule is subject to change at any time.

Getting Here

Menla, 375 Panterkill Road PO Box 70 Phoenicia, NY 12464 United States

Accommodation

Deluxe King

Deluxe King Room with King Bed and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning This Space is not ADA compliant. Deluxe King Rooms are Available only in Kathmandu House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations

Deluxe Queen

Deluxe Queen Room with Queen Bed and Private Bathroom Free Phone and Hi-Speed Wifi Internet Access Available Air Conditioning All Rooms in Lhasa are Handicap-Accessible, Including Four Rooms with Wheelchair Accessible Showers. Deluxe Queen Rooms are Available in Lhasa Inn and Kathmandu House * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations

Economy Premium Single - Shared Bath

Standard Premium Single Room with a Queen or Full Bed and Shared Bathroom Up to 10 guests share two large bathrooms. Each bathroom has two shower stalls and two toilets. A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room Phone Access Available in Upper Level Of Conference Center. All calls are free of charge This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note rates include meals and accommodations.

Economy Single - Shared Bath

Standard Single Room with a Twin Bed and Shared Bathroom Bathroom is Shared with One to Six Other Guests on Your Floor. A phone is not available but high-speed WiFi is available in the room Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note rates include meals and accommodations.

Economy Double - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Standard Double with Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom The bathroom is Shared with other rooms on the same floor. High-speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a double shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others

Economy Quad - Shared Bath (Shared Room)

Standard Quad Room with Quad Twin Beds and Shared Bathroom Accommodations Fee Includes All Meals. High speed Wi-Fi is available in the room. Phone Access Available in Nearby Conference Center and also Lhasa in Business Center. All calls are free of charge. This Lodging Type is not ADA Compliant. * Please note that rates include meals and accommodations * Please note: this is an open door policy room, meaning there are no keys to lock the door (we have lockers you can use at Lhasa if needed) * This booking is for one bed in a quad shared room: We May Assign You Roommates if You Do Not Register with others.

Customer Reviews

4.50 out of 5.0 average rating

Anonymous • Oct 03, 2023

4.0

Verified

Weekend retreat stay

The property is on a beautiful, peaceful location.
Nature is all around and sometimes a little too close but you are literally surrounded by woods.

The food was really good and I liked the buffet style and fruit basket.

The gift shop although small had a nice selection of items and I purchased a few fun items.

Since the dining area was on the opposite side of the site from the convention center, a lot of students drove back and forth on the property. I chose the walking paths to get around.

Marie • Apr 18, 2022

5.0