Suan Sati – One Week Yoga Retreat in Thailand

February 7, 2026|Rick Juliusson

At 5:30 am the soft melodic gong ripples the darkness. I’ve been half-awake for a while, listening to the remaining echoes of the nighttime frog chorus ceding to the vibrations of pre-dawn stillness. Sarah and I embrace wordlessly, quickly dressing in the dark and slipping out into the cool air. Barefoot along the long wooden walkway we cross over rice paddies to the Suan Sati yoga “shala”, where we lay down our mats at the very front under the windows and prepare for the first yoga session of our one-week yoga retreat.

As we chant, stretch and meditate over the next 2.5 hours, the world slowly awakens out those windows. Uncertain grey shapes arise out of darkness, then the rice field shimmers up in soft sepia tones as the stars fade. More muted colours reveal a farmer’s storage shed that wasn’t there in the greyness. In the grounded power of Warrior Two we turn to greet the slow sunrise through the rear windows, then finish our practice gazing over the fully alive fields and world that has blossomed fresh and new around our intimate wooden studio.

Awake and alive, bodies tiger-powerful and senses tingling, we quietly cross back over the long bridge. Mornings here at Suan Sati yoga retreat are in a sacred silence. 32 souls sprawl out with their breakfast buffet bounty along the wood walkway, in hanging chairs, even on the star-gazing netting, munching in full awareness and breathing in the beauty of the fields, the gentle morning Thai sun, the arrival of birds to start their own bug breakfast among the rice plants.

Silent breakfast at Suan Sati yoga retreat

Suan Sati Connections

In our Suan Sati paradise we turn off all our devices. After the initial "how will I cope?!" reaction, I come to embrace the freedom, even lamenting the occasional need to use my phone as a camera or time piece. All our energy is freed for connecting with our inner selves and with each other, not politics and streaks and sound bites. Eyes usually squinting at a screen are now gazing unfocused across the rice paddies, or turned inward while a pen scribbles in a journal, or smiling wordlessly at someone a little further down the wooden walkway.

Almost reluctantly we break the silence for the 10:30 “weather report.” A circle time to check-in, journal, and share the journey. Many tears are shed especially in the first few days - young people from many countries grateful to be in an oasis where they feel held, safe to be vulnerable.

That connection builds more as we hold hands to circle up for lunch. How often do we get to hold hands with anyone except our partners and children? This stranger beside me can be stranger no longer as we share the intimacy of heat, sweat, and a final pulsing pressure as we raise our joined hands to bless the food with an enthusiastic “Kin Khaw!” (literally, "Eat rice!")

Like all meals, lunch is a White Lotus-worthy vegan feast of fruit, salad, nuts, noodles and (only mid-day) desserts. Any fears about a meat-deprived famine give way to the challenge to not overindulge in delicious delicacies. This healthy nourishing of our bodies lays the foundation for the physical and spiritual journeys we have dedicated this week of our lives to.

We carry our own dishes, and usually someone else’s, to the dish washing station where there’s almost a struggle to be the person in service rather than served. Thich Nhat Han would smile at the mindful way we minister to each other in this simple act of dishwashing service.

Afternoons at Suan Sati - Relaxation or Deeper Dive?

Afternoons are free time to nap in a hammock, socialize, meditate, journal, read (though as much as I enjoy Jack Kerouac's freewheeling Open Road, it’s an escape I don’t need, don’t want to take time away from this experience.) Small groups form to create art, play ping pong, sing. Some stroll into the nearby village, though again for me that would be too bubble-popping. I need to be fully here.

For us keeners, there are optional afternoon and evening workshops. Deeper yoga instruction, authentic relations, a high intensity workout. It’s not all sweaty and serious, though - we also indulge in a sauna & ice bath, fireside singalong, partner yoga, and a final night of ecstatic dance in the moonlit shala.

The gong sounds to bring us back together for the 4:00 yoga session. All three instructors are equally and differently wonderful, rotating through several different yogic traditions to keep us, um, off-balance. Through the week I’ve managed to work through some challenges, making friends with my old hip flexors and improving my practice and conditioning. Though after a total of twelve two-hour sessions I can also admit that I’m yoga’d out - it’ll be a few weeks before I truly get back to a more sustainable level of self-care.

The gong calls us back for a dinner feast, followed by evening workshop, stargazing, and usually a contentedly early bed. The next gong will come rather early the next morn...

Is a one-week yoga retreat at Suan Sati worth it?

In our closing circle we take time to reflect on why we came to Suan Sati and did we achieve our goals. Looking over journal entries and responses to writing prompts, I see a balanced week of growth and relaxation, striving and flowing, socializing and focusing inward. I’m not a new man, but I am an aligned, limber, released, and grateful man.

Day One Journal: What is my Why for being here?

We’re here simply because our dear friends Laurie and Seanna invited us. Didn’t even look at the website, didn’t know it was vegan or wifi-free or how we’d fill long boring hours between yoga sessions. Just said Yes!

So this is a commitment and desire to live in a flow of YES! Yes to opportunity, to new experiences. Yes to time with friends, health & wellness, group experiences. Yes to gently stretching our comfort zones.

I don’t need to know the Why. I embarked on a 900km camino across Spain with no intention other than saying Yes to my wife. Curiosity then then growth flowed from that openness. When I clear my mind of questions, that’s when answers arise.

Our yogi Will shares, “The beginner mind sees many options; the expert mind sees few.” Put more simply, our new friend Luna simply wants “to have beautiful expectations.”

Day Two: How I want to feel at the end of the retreat:

Loose, strong, aligned physically
Less tied to wifi, tech, gadgets, digital distraction
Connected to the random people here
Rested, relaxed, in-flow

Day Four: I Give Myself Permission To… do nothing. Not fill in empty spaces with activity, distraction, planning, overthinking. No Netflix, sudoku, email, insta. I find I’m not wanting to check messages. Not needing to speak into a silence, brush away a tear, fill an unscheduled minute. I settle contentedly into child’s pose instead of squeezing one more stretch in to maximize the experience.

In life these days I’m relaxed and idle, yet still don’t feel like I have enough time to write, stretch, relax. But then I waste so much energy on these fillers. This is not simplicity!

Day Seven: Reflections in the Closing Circle

Highlights: (1) Connection to others, especially young people early on their journeys, feeling into my Elder role. Softening my compassionate eyes. Genuinely wanting to make them feel safe and loved and worthy. (2) Progress with my flexibility, pain and relief in hips and shoulders.

Lessons Learned: Life should continue to be simple, uncluttered, slow, and clear - even in the multi-dimensional world outside the yoga Shala. Embrace multiplicity while continuing to be clear on priorities, the central thread of love and connection and purpose.

How Do I Feel Now: Related. Connected. Healthy. Pure, simple, whole. Slow. Not rushing to fill in blank spaces. Comfortable in silence, in absence of stimuli, in Not Doing.