Vegan Spirituality Retreat
The Hawaiian Dream
Ready to reboot? Explore veganism as a spiritual practice with yoga, meditation, cooking, dancing, hiking, healing rituals, and touring sacred sites, on the gorgeous Hawaii Island and Maui. This December, spend the weekend, a week, or longer with us to release stress, restore balance, and align your body, mind, and spirit. Hawaiian sunsets, volcanic views, and clear waters await you!
Please note: Due to wildfires and extended evacuations in our area, we've had to reschedule this event until next year. We apologize for any inconvenience. Our new retreat will have expanded options for housing, public workshops, and communal ceremonies.
Hosted by In Defense of Animals, Vegan Aloha, Ellora Wellness
Workshops with Alessandra Rupar-Weber, Ayako Hashimoto, Lisa Levinson, Rae George, Vanessa Marsot
When: Rescheduled until 2019
Where: Private Veganic Farm on Maui, Private Vegan Sanctuary on Hawaii (see venues below)
Cost: Vegan breakfast, all workshops, and all overnight accommodations included (prices below for double occupancy)
Maui: $500 for 3 days, 4 nights
Hawaii (Big Island): $600 for 5 days, 6 nights
Contact Us with any questions!
There are 3 registration options to choose from.
Venues
Maui Venue
On Maui, we’re staying at a private, veganic farm (vegan + organic), where plants are grown organically without any animal products. The farm applies a permaculture design to encourage the cycle of life, including the soil, plants, and animals, on the land to repeat and regenerate undisturbed. The facilities are maintained with Japanese sensitivity, so that we can experience the real joy and beauty of living in harmony with nature.
Hawaii Venue
On the “Big Island” of Hawaii, we’re staying at a private vegan sanctuary framed by a huge banyan tree, known for its calming effect. We can swim in the saltwater chlorine-free pool, relax in the Jacuzzi and refresh in the infrared sauna. Beautiful organic gardens will supply most of our food with 38 different varieties of fruit, ranging from avocados, bananas, mangoes and papayas, to exotics like black sapote, rollinia, surinam cherry and cacao. The owners meditate regularly and follow the path of Ahimsa – do no harm. They created a holistic and sustainable model of living harmoniously with the earth and have a very light carbon footprint by composting, catchment, recycled/reused materials and solar power.
Program Highlights
- Vegan Cooking Classes
- Movement Therapy (Body Image/Awareness)
- Natural Remedies Workshop
- Excursions: Volcano, Place of Refuge, Vegan Organic Farm or Coffee Farm, and an animal sanctuary
- Hikes
- Water Play: Swimming and snorkeling
- Organic Fruit Facials
- Cultivate Self-Love Workshop
- Mindfulness & Self-Care Workshop
- Healing Ritual
- Nurture Your Spiritual Self Workshop
- Awakening the Senses Ceremony
Optional (not included in price):
Hula Dance Class, Ho'oponopono (Hawaiian practice of reconciliation and forgiveness), Royal Omani Frankincense Ritual, Ecstatic Dance, Gong Bath, Ethical Dolphin Tour, Hawaiian Lomi Lomi Massages
Sample Day from Itinerary
Complete itinerary available upon request
Morning: Awaken to the soft morning light and the sounds of the trees and birds.
8:00 am Yoga
8:30 am Meditation
9:00 am Vegan breakfast
10:00 am Morning Workshop – such as Mindfulness & Self-Care (description below)
11:45 am Tea Break - local herbal tea, fresh juices and fruit, light vegan snacks
12:30 pm Excursion - exploring and diving deeply in the mystical and powerful beauty of Hawaii
5 pm Evening Workshop Session – such as Cultivate Self-Love (description below)
7:00 pm Dinner - A sensual vegan feast with exotic flavors and savory nourishment
8:30 pm Evening Ceremony – such as Activist Healing Ritual (description below)
Sample Workshop Descriptions
Mindfulness & Self-Care
Ready to recharge your batteries? We’ll help you find healthy ways to dissolve anxiety, manage stress, and build personal resilience. Together we will practice mindfulness, deep breathing, meditation techniques, and gentle movement. Let’s make a self-care plan to initiate during the retreat and integrate into your daily life.
Cultivate Self-Love
Move self-love from an abstraction to a concrete practice that will hone in on your internal resources to strengthen resilience to illness, and equip yourself for radiant health in this workshop on holistic health and natural healing remedies. We will cover health from psychological, spiritual, and physical aspects, and incorporate health habits and healing remedies for any illnesses that do occur.
Healing Ritual
We can acknowledge the suffering of others and offer support without taking on their suffering. As we heal, we build resilience and embrace community care. Join us for a healing ritual with music and activities that unite as a community. The ritual will include music, art, movement, and expression of our compassion for all living beings.
Workshop Leaders
Alessandra Rupar-Weber grew up in Vienna, Austria, taught Pranic Healing in Miami, Florida, edited books for the Kriya Yoga Mother Center in Europe, administered a humanitarian aid organization in India, and now resides on Hawaii Island, where she opened a boutique, co-owned a 15-acre coffee and avocado farm, and co-founded the annual Avocado and Mango Festivals. Since her “vegan epiphany” in 2012, Alessandra has channeled her energy toward creating events, cooking classes, movie screenings, workshops, and retreats to cultivate spiritual veganism in her community and beyond.
Ayako Hashimoto is certified in Plant-Based Nutrition by T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. Ayako established a vegan food company called Zen Island Kitchen soon after she moved to Maui from San Francisco, California. She has hosted dinner events at restaurants on Maui and held multiple private dinners on her farm. She taught vegan cooking in Tokyo and on Maui. Through her cooking classes, Ayako wishes to teach guests in the art of Japanese delicacy, emphasizing both the taste and beauty of the ingredients.
Lisa Levinson directs In Defense of Animals’ Sustainable Activism Campaign, offering emotional and spiritual support for animal activists via a helpline, support groups, and online events. Lisa organizes Vegan Spirituality groups and retreats to explore veganism as a spiritual practice. She co-organizes the Interfaith Vegan Coalition to help places of worship go vegan. She co-founded Public Eye: Artists for Animals to teach compassion for animals through the arts and founded the Toad Detour to help migrating toads safely cross the road in Philadelphia.
Rae George is a compassionate vegan, who lives by the Sanskrit word 'Ahimsa,' which means 'to do no harm' to all sentient beings. He is a deep tissue massage therapist, musician, and director of the Uganda Dream School and Nursery in Kasenge, Uganda. Rae also runs the sanctuary where we’re staying in Hawaii and will offer a vegan cooking class. He enjoys spending time in the garden, while growing, tending and harvesting the food for his guests, such as ripe papayas, bananas, lilikoi, mangoes, avocados, and more.
Vanessa Marsot is an actress, model, yoga instructor, personal trainer, and licensed psychotherapist whose mission is to stop animal suffering. Vanessa founded Ellora Wellness, a vegan organic wellness center and one-stop-shop of creative, cruelty-free living in the Los Angeles area. Vanessa's goal is to change methods of consumption by changing methods of production, through vegan, organic, ecological, nontoxic, and sustainable foods, products, and services.
Volcanos & Weather
The destructive lava eruption at the foot of Kilauea Volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii has slowed to a virtual halt in the beginning of August. Kona and the rest of the Big Island now have incredibly beautiful crystal clear skies. The volcanic haze or vog once reported in the news is gone.