Bhakti Summer Holiday Retreat at The Satchidananda Ashram in Yogaville, VA

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This fourth of July weekend….

Join us at Satchidananda Ashram-Yogaville to sing from the depths of your soul. Revel like a child in playful storytelling. Mend your heart through music. Deepen your sense of devotion through ritual. Feel gentle asana as a poetic dance of the heart. Float into mellifluous lullaby, all supported and nourished by the enchanting sounds of Seán Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band.

Bhakti is a Sanskrit word that points to the universal human experience of connecting to the mystery of life through the depths of the heart. Many of bhakti’s practices are devotional folk arts like singing, dancing, storytelling, poetry, and ritual that are meant to be accessible for all.

In this special weekend holiday summer retreat, guided by Seán, and accompanied by The Wild Lotus Band (Alvin Young, Gwendolyn Colman & Narada Wise), experience the depths of bhakti through enchanting storytelling, live music, heartful kirtan chanting, and an imaginative yoga practice that weaves all these elements together.

Join us for a heart-opening Bhakti retreat that includes two concerts, two Bhakti Flow Yoga sessions, and a mythical, musical storytime journey. 

Friday Night

Mantra Music Concert

We welcome you to our retreat together with a night of interactive, soul-stirring music and chant. We’ll light up the room together, like fireworks, with our voices joined together in devotional song. Experience heart-expanding ancient mantras, given new voice through dynamic songs that merge conscious lyrics and New Orleans roots, rock, gospel, and world grooves.

Saturday Morning

Live Music Bhakti Flow 

This bhakti-inspired all levels flow practice — fueled by storytelling, imaginative vinyasa yoga, chant, and the heart-opening sounds of The Wild Lotus Band– is an opportunity to celebrate the many gifts of nature this holiday weekend in full summer bloom. We’ll embody the elements into this practice through song, movement, and ritual.

Saturday Afternoon

Story Time Journey

Dive deep into the playful, mythic world of Yoga. Relax your mind, laugh, cry, and unpack some inner wisdom. Seán believes that Yoga teachers can be modern day bards who help us remember who we are through storytelling. He puts a fun, deep, contemporary spin on inspirational tales from the lore of Yoga to bring the stories to life in your own heart. Each tale will be accompanied by the enchanting sounds of The Wild Lotus Band. You’ll have the option to journal and explore what the stories mean to you through intuitive art. Bring a journal and markers or crayons.

Saturday Night Satsang Concert

An evening of Satsang and inspirational mantra music open to the wider Yogaville community! Another evening of interactive, soul-stirring music and chant. We’ll light up the room together, like fireworks, with our voices joined together in devotional song. Experience heart-expanding ancient mantras, given new voice through dynamic songs that merge conscious lyrics and New Orleans roots, rock, gospel, and world grooves.

Sunday Morning

Sanctuary: Deep Peace – Live Music Reclining Yoga Practice & Lullabies

Indulge yourself, relax, recharge, with this slow, spacious, all levels practice guided by Seán and supported by the soothing live sounds of the band. This session includes calming seated and reclining poses, peaceful chants and serene lullabies to support deep rest, sweet closure, and integration to your summer bhakti holiday retreat experience. (

If you can’t make it for the weekend program, join Seán Johnson and The Wild Lotus Band for an intimate Saturday Evening Satsang Concert. All are welcome. The concert is part of the weekend workshop.

Interested in Receiving a Continuing Education (CE) Certificate for this program?

• Yoga Alliance (YA): Approximately 8 contact hours.
• You can input your contact hours using your YA login information.
• Integral Yoga Teachers Association (IYTA) can provide you a CE certificate with your program’s total contact hours for a $10 fee (free for IYTA members.) For more information, email ce@iyta.org.

If you can’t make it for the weekend program, join Seán Johnson and The Wild Lotus Band for an intimate Saturday Satsang Concert. All are welcome. The concert is part of the weekend workshop. 

Continuing Education (CE) Opportunities

• Yoga Alliance (YA): Approximately 8 contact hours.
  You can input your contact hours using your YA login information.
• Integral Yoga Teachers Association (IYTA) can provide you a CE certificate with your program’s total contact hours for a $10 fee (free for IYTA members.) For more information, email ce@iyta.org.

Bio: 

Seán Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band 

“The much-beloved band evoke, conjure and celebrate that universally felt yet impossible-to-define essence that lies at the heart of all things, what Bob Marley once called ‘a natural mystic, flowing through the air.’ ” – Alan di Perna (Rolling Stone, Creem, Billboard)

Seán Johnson & The Wild Lotus Band merge conscious lyrics, sacred chants from the spiritual traditions of yoga and beyond, and roots, rock, gospel, and global grooves to create a universal style of cross-cultural spiritual music. 

They are known for creating interactive, soul-stirring songs to dance and sing along with as well as to grieve and heal. Their music has appeared on Putumayo World Music, they are the first mantra music band to play The New Orleans Jazz Festival. Their latest album Mystery was named one of the best albums in Louisiana music by Offbeat Magazine, and they have over 125,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

The band includes Seán on vocals and harmonium; Alvin Young on 6 string fretless bass & electric guitar; Gwendolyn Colman vocals and percussion; and Narada Wise on drums.

In addition to being a musician, Seán is also a respected yoga teacher, teacher trainer, and community leader who teaches at conferences and retreat centers internationally. He is the founder of Wild Lotus Yoga in his beloved hometown dubbed “New Orleans’ Home for Heart-Centered Yoga,” and Soul School, an interdisciplinary yoga teacher training program that focuses on teaching yoga with skill, heart, and imagination, and is also the new director of The Asheville Yoga Center in Asheville, NC. 

Seán has a Master’s degree from The Naropa Institute-Oakland with focus on teaching chant as spiritual practice, apprenticing there with south Indian musician and teacher Russill Paul, author of The Yoga Of Sound. He is the co-curator and coordinator of Putumayo World Music’s yoga music series, and a co-founder of The Auricle Collective – a global community of chant and spiritual musicians. Seán is passionate about his Irish roots and ancestry, a pillar of his spirituality. He co-leads online Celtic Spirituality gatherings and retreats in Ireland each year with his friend, Ireland native Mary Meighan, founder of Celtic Journeys. In all these roles, Seán relishes creating a playful, tender, brave space for people to open their hearts and voices, and embrace their innate creativity.

Learn more at 

www.SeanJohnsonAndTheWildLotusBand.com

Follow the band on Instagram

Follow the band on Spotify