Awaken the Power Within: Qigong & Tai Chi for Harmony with Nature and Self

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Up to 30 in group
Date
October 1 - 4, 2026

Retreat Highlights

  • Root yourself in earth and sky with guided sunrise standing meditation
  • Cultivate strength and resilience through graceful Tai Chi and Qigong forms
  • Restore natural balance by working with the five elemental energies
  • Deepen your connection to vital Qi through breathwork and visualization
  • Discover movement as a prayer of peace by expressing strength through softness

About this Retreat

Details of this retreat

The Practice: Awaken Energy Through Movement
Move as meditation. Breathe as prayer. Return to the rhythms of the natural world.

Step into the healing embrace of the mountains, the radiant sun, and the timeless wisdom of the internal arts. Guided by Master Shahar and Michael, this unique retreat invites you to experience Qigong and Tai Chi as living meditations — pathways to harmony, vitality, and inner peace.

Rooted in the ancient traditions of Tai Chi, Qigong, and internal martial arts, each session helps you reconnect with the rhythms of nature and awaken the deep wellspring of energy within. Through mindful movement, standing meditation, breathwork, and the cultivation of inner stillness, you will learn to restore balance to body, mind, and spirit.

Mornings begin with the rising sun over the mountain's edge, where soft light and earth become your companions in practice. As you move with the breath and flow with the elements, the external world dissolves and a deeper awareness is born.
During this retreat, you will explore:

Standing Meditation at Sunrise — Root yourself in earth and sky, and align with the vastness of nature.
Tai Chi and Qigong Forms — Learn graceful, flowing sequences that cultivate strength, resilience, and inner stillness.
Elemental Harmony Practices — Work with the energies of Earth, Water, Fire, Metal, and Wood to restore natural balance.
Breathwork and Visualization — Deepen the connection to your vital energy (Qi) through conscious breathing and inner awareness.
The Martial Roots of Peace — Discover movement as a prayer of peace, where strength is expressed through softness and clarity.

About Your Teachers:
Master Shahar brings more than two decades of mastery in martial arts, healing, and spiritual leadership, offering profound depth and inspiration to every student. Michael shares a grounded, heart-centered approach, weaving wisdom, humor, and clarity into each session to create an atmosphere of ease, openness, and transformation.
You will leave with:

A deeper connection to nature and your own inner being
Practical tools for managing stress and cultivating calm
Renewed vitality, strength, and flow in body and mind
A living understanding of the internal arts as a way of life

This is more than a workshop — it is an invitation to return to your true nature, to move with grace, and to meet each day with an open heart.

All levels are welcome.



This program is an invitation to explore a different relationship with your emotions, one where you don’t have to suppress what you feel, get swept away by it, or wait until you’re overwhelmed to find your way back to balance.

Through Qigong, Taoist wisdom, therapeutic reflection, and group processing, Master Shahar Kovetz and Michael Anthony, LCSW, will guide participants through complementary ways of working with emotion through both the body and the mind.
Master Shahar’s Qigong Sessions
In Master Shahar’s Qigong sessions, you’ll explore how the elemental qualities of nature can help you understand and work with emotional energy as it arises. Instead of labeling emotions as simply positive or negative, you’ll learn how to let them move through you, giving each feeling the space to express itself without allowing it to take over. Through movement, breath, and meditation, you’ll begin developing the ability to find balance in the moment and allow even intense emotions to become part of a healthier, more flourishing inner life.
Michael Anthony
Michael Anthony will bring the psychological and reflective side of the practice into focus. Drawing from his work as a licensed clinical social worker and therapist, he’ll help participants recognize the thoughts, patterns, and reactions that often accompany emotional experiences. Through guided reflection, journaling, and group processing, participants will have space to explore what arises in the practice, develop greater self awareness, and discover more flexible and compassionate ways of responding to themselves and others.
Awaken The Power Within: Sessions Description
What Each Session Will Include
Each session will follow a similar structure, creating a familiar rhythm that allows participants to gradually go deeper as the program progresses. Rather than constantly introducing an entirely new practice, we will return to the same foundational process and explore it with increasing awareness, understanding, and depth.

Qigong Practice: Participants will begin with accessible Qigong movements, breathwork, and embodied practices designed to help move, regulate, and balance emotional energy.
Understanding Qigong: Master Shahar will explore the principles behind the movements, including Taoist philosophy, the elemental qualities of nature, and how these ideas relate to emotions, the body, and everyday life.
Emotional Processing and Group Reflection: Michael will help guide the group in processing what arose during the practice. Participants will have an opportunity to reflect, share, listen, and explore emotional patterns in a supportive and nonjudgmental environment.
Journaling and Integration: Each session will include time for journaling and personal reflection, helping participants translate the experience of the practice into greater understanding and practical insight they can carry into daily life.
Closing Relaxation and Shavasana: Each session will conclude with a short relaxation, allowing the body and mind to settle after the physical and emotional work of the practice.

As the sessions continue, this same structure will progressively deepen. Participants will become more familiar with the movements, more sensitive to their own emotional patterns, and increasingly capable of using the practices independently.

Together, these approaches offer a way to become more at home in your own experience, with a body that knows how to move emotion, a mind that knows how to understand it, and practical tools you can return to long after the program ends.

Participants will leave with accessible Qigong movements, meditation practices, journaling and emotional processing tools, and a personal framework they can use whenever life feels stressful, intense, joyful, uncertain, or simply very human.

Getting Here

Location icon Yogaville

Directions

Yogaville offers transportation from the airport, train and bus stations in Charlottesville, VA. If you are driving Google Maps has reliable turn-by-turn directions.

Accommodation

Availability of complimentary accommodations is determined by the order of booking. Dormitory The most popular accommodations we have are Dormitory Accommodations – shared room and shared bath. We have two dormitories, Vivekananda Vihar and Ramalinga Nilayam, which are centrally heated and air-conditioned and convenient to meals and programs. Lotus Guest House (Private Room) Each room in our six unit guest house is equipped with a small refrigerator, queen size bed and full bath. Each room in our nine unit guest house is equipped with a queen sized bed and full bath, and no refrigerator. Tenting Set off in a quiet, wooded area adjacent to the Lotus Guest Houses are twelve campsites. Campers have use of the bathroom, shower, and laundry facilities nearby Vivekananda Vihar dormitory. Camping is available from March 15th to December 1st.

Shared Dormitory: Bottom Bunk

Accommodation
Bottom bunk in a shared dorm room. Dorm rooms contain 4-8 beds. Shared bathroom Dorm rooms are not coed Availability is Gender Specific. Stairs are required.

Private Dormitory

Accommodation
This is a private room with a shared bathroom in our Ramalinga Nilayam Dorm - Females Only. Stairs are required

LGH: Full Bed

Accommodation
Private room and Private Bath. A single Full bed and a private bath designed for those seeking peace in solitude.    

LGH: 2 Twin beds

Accommodation
Private Room and Private Bath. Two twin Beds and a private bath that is ideal for friends looking to experience the bliss of Yogaville.  

LGH: Queen Bed

Accommodation
Private Room and Private Bath. A queen bed or a queen with two day beds and a private bath that is perfect for couples and families searching for a peaceful time together. Please put in the personal comments if you need a room that includes trundles.  

Tent-Site

Accommodation
Open from Mar. 16–Nov. 30. Closed from Dec. 1–Mar. 15 Set off in a quiet, wooded area adjacent to the Lotus Guest Houses are Eighteen campsites. Campers have use of the nearby bathhouse as well as laundry facilities at the LGH Building 3.   Also, all tent sites have tent platforms for a more comfortable and dry tenting experience.  Fires and Stoves are not Permitted. Price is per person per night. Please bring your own tent, tie downs, tarp (weather protection). bedding and towels.  

Venue & Amenities

A/C in Rooms icon A/C in Rooms
Free Wifi icon Free Wifi
Spa icon Spa
Sauna icon Sauna
Pool icon Pool
Towels icon Towels
Free Parking icon Free Parking
Kitchen icon Kitchen
Tour Assistance icon Tour Assistance
Hot Tub icon Hot Tub
Coffee/Tea icon Coffee/Tea
Cafe icon Cafe
Restaurant icon Restaurant
Fitness Center icon Fitness Center
Yoga Studio icon Yoga Studio
Housekeeping icon Housekeeping
Bicycles For Rent icon Bicycles For Rent
Yogaville is home to the Light of Truth Universal Shrine (LOTUS). The LOTUS is a unique temple dedicated to interfaith understanding and the Light within all faiths. Individual altars represent and honor the different world faiths and spiritual paths. The vision, design and inspiration of Sri Swami Satchidananda, LOTUS was dedicated in 1986. It demonstrates, “Truth is One, Paths are Many.” In the peaceful countryside of Virginia, the doors of LOTUS are open to welcome people of all backgrounds and beliefs.

Meals

Menu Types

Organic, vegetarian/vegan food Labeled ingredients Lacto-vegetarian Gluten-free and vegan options Salad bar Large herbal tea selection Coffee is available for purchase at Mandala Cafe

What's Included

  • Accomodations
  • Meals
  • Meditation Sessions
  • Yoga Classes

What's Not Included

  • Transportation
  • Airfare

Customer Reviews

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