Why we're doing this

Movement and stillness, held as one rhythm.

We're Lena and Tsveta — two teachers who practice very differently, and who became curious about what would happen if we stopped choosing between fast and slow, and simply did both.

So much of what's offered in Rishikesh promises transformation, a spiritual awakening, a new you by the end of the week. That's not what this is. What we wanted to build is gentler and more honest: ten days where your body learns a rhythm of effort and release, where nothing is performed and nothing is rushed toward an ending.

Mornings move with the Yang of Tsveta's faster, flowing practice — Ashtanga at its roots, opening into dynamic vinyasa that builds heat and clarity. Evenings soften into the Yin of Lena's somatic work — slow, integrative, oriented around the nervous system. The space between those two is, for us, where the real practice lives. We've felt it in our own bodies, and we want to share that.

But ten days in Rishikesh shouldn't only happen on the mat. Alongside the practice we're weaving in workshops and a real taste of the place — the river, the rituals, the food, the culture that makes this corner of India what it is. We want you to leave having felt India, not just practiced near it.

A small group — no more than ten of us — so it stays personal. Shared meals, mornings of practice and workshops, and afternoons left wide open for rest, walks, and the river. We'd rather it feel like friends gathering than a programme you sign up for.

Mornings · Yang

Dynamic flow

Ashtanga roots opening into faster, flowing vinyasa. Led by Tsveta — energising, building heat, a strong start to each day.

Evenings · Yin

Somatics

Slow and nervous-system oriented. Led by Lena — releasing the day, returning to rest.

About the dates — nothing is fixed yet. We're holding a window in late February 2027, and we're shaping the exact week, length, and rhythm around the people who actually want to come. That's where you come in: tell us what would make this work for you.

Meet your teachers

The two of us.

Tsveta in dancer's pose by the sea
Mornings · Dynamic flow

Tsveta

Tsveta's path into movement began early — figure skating and athletics taught her dedication and discipline, but also a competitiveness she struggled with. When an injury led her to yoga, it opened a doorway into a different kind of movement: one guided by breath, awareness, and purpose.

Her teaching is rooted in the tradition and discipline of Ashtanga and inspired by the intuitive flow of Hatha. She teaches without music, creating space to fully engage with the practice. Her sequences blend strength and flexibility, honouring both stability and softness — a balance she came to value through her own experience with hypermobility.

For Tsveta, yoga is more than asana; it's a path of self-realisation. Each class is a reminder that no matter what happens around us, we can always return home — to ourselves, to our breath, to our inner stillness.

"If we want to change the world, we have to start with ourselves first."
@tsveta.yoga ↗
Lena
Evenings · Somatics

Lena

Lena found yoga at twenty, but it was a teacher training in Rishikesh in 2018, on the banks of the Ganga, that changed everything. She walked out of the yoga hall one hot May evening and felt fully present for the first time. She went back for a second training in 2024 — the hills this retreat now returns to.

For a long time she felt dysregulated and disconnected from herself. Yoga gave her the first real stability, and one clear realisation: she is not her thoughts. That became the work she teaches now — somatic yoga and nervous system regulation, the slow practice of building safety in the body.

She founded SOMATARA to hold the kind of space she once needed herself. Away from the mat she paints, holds women's circles, and trained in Ayurvedic massage in Rishikesh. For Lena, regulation and creativity belong together.

"Lena has a natural ability to create a welcoming and safe space for students."— Happy Yoga Studio, Chemnitz
@soma.tara.yoga ↗
Beyond the mat

More than a yoga retreat.

The practice is the spine of our days — but the rest is what you'll remember. Workshops to deepen what you learn, and the living culture of Rishikesh woven through the ten days. Some of what we're planning:

✦

Workshops

Going deeper off the mat — breathwork and pranayama, yoga philosophy, somatic and journaling sessions. Time to understand the practice, not just move through it.

🪔

Ganga Aarti

The river-fire ceremony at dusk — bells, chanting, candles set adrift on the Ganga. One of the most moving rituals in Rishikesh, experienced together.

♪

Mantra & sound

Evenings of live kirtan and sound, letting voice and vibration do what stretching can't. A softer, communal way to close the day.

🌿

Taste of India

Fresh vegetarian food, chai by the river, a wander through temples and markets, a waterfall hike into the hills. The flavour and texture of the place itself.

We want you to leave having felt India — its rhythm, its rituals, its warmth — not just practiced near it.

A journey in two halves

Two homes, one arc.

Rather than choose, we're planning to split the retreat across two places near Rishikesh — beginning in the warmth and movement of town, then drawing deeper into the quiet of the forest. The shift from one to the other becomes the slow-and-fast rhythm written into the land itself.

First half · arrival & movement

Tapovan

We begin in the heart of Rishikesh's yoga world, just above Laxman Jhula. Cafés, shops, the buzz of teachers and travellers, the Ganga a short walk away. The mornings are dynamic and the town is alive around us — an open, energising way to land in India and settle into practice together.

Second half · stillness & nature

Near Vashistha Cave

Then we move about twenty minutes upriver, where the road quiets and the forest takes over — close to the famous cave where the sage Vashistha is said to have meditated. The Ganga runs wide and calm here. Fewer people, more silence, more sky. This is where the retreat softens and the nervous system finally lets go.

From the buzz of Tapovan to the hush of the forest — fast, then slow, the same thread we practice on the mat.

Be part of the shape of it

Share your thoughts

Before we lock anything in, we'd love to hear how you imagine it — timing, length, what you'd hope to find here. A few minutes, no commitment.

Open the questionnaire →

By opening the questionnaire and sending us your answers, you consent to us (Lena & Tsveta) storing the details you share solely to plan this retreat and to contact you about it. We never pass your data to third parties, and you can ask us to delete it at any time at hallo@somatara.de. More in our privacy notice.