Berkshire Yoga Festival 2026

Step onto the trail in silence and let the rhythm of breath and movement guide the way. This guided experience begins with a gentle warm-up to awaken sensitivity to prana, then unfolds as a silent hike through the forested trails of lower Jiminy Peak. Along the way, settle into a breath-centered guided meditation that turns your energy inward, leaving you clear, vibrant, and ready to fully embrace the day ahead.
Guided by Ransom Hare and Aaron Luburich, leaders of Himalayan Institute Excursions.

Most yogis don't get into yoga because they want to be entrepreneurs... however, many find themselves becoming so out of necessity. For yoga teachers and studio owners there is often a sense that their work is a "hustle," the opposite quality of life most yogis are going for. Why is this? Because yogis don't have an exit strategy. The big difference between entrepreneurs and yoga teachers is that entrepreneurs building a business go through a few years of "grind" to then later have an "exit" where they sell the company for a lot of money and presumably live the good life.

So what would this look like for yoga teachers? Is retirement even possible for yoga professionals?

This workshop will be chocked full of helpful advice, principles, and practices for crafting a yoga career with a happy ending. In this workshop Andrew will share 4 different paths to sustainable careers in yoga: The Educator, The Healer, The Studio Owner and the Yoga Empire. He'll discuss the different qualities, skills, and people that work best in each path so that you can think about how to move your own yoga career forward.

Join Uri Lee, a master past-life regression therapist, for a transformative journey into healing through time travel across your past timelines. Discover why addressing past wounds, subconscious beliefs, and emotional patterns can create deeper transformation than any pill or gadget. Through her own healing journey, Uri blends ancient ritual practices with modern therapeutic techniques to guide participants toward awakening their highest potential.
Explore how past-life regression and subconscious healing can support profound personal growth, emotional freedom, and spiritual awakening.
Following the 45-minute lecture, Uri will facilitate a live group past-life regression experience, offering participants a glimpse into expanded states of awareness through a guided meditation across time and space.

Journey through the rich tapestry of yoga's ancient stories while dismantling the modern myths we tell ourselves about what our bodies can do. In this playful, accessible class, we'll explore the Hindu epics and legends behind familiar asanas, discovering how these timeless tales connect to our own practice. Then we'll put theory into action as we approach arm balances with curiosity rather than fear, using blocks and mindful progression to prove that flight is more accessible than you think. Whether you've never left the ground or you're looking to deepen your understanding of these poses, you'll leave with new stories—both ancient and personal—and perhaps a few surprises about your own strength and capability.
All levels welcome.

In this ceremony, we will work with the directions, meditation, and energy work. We will introduce you to three plant and mushroom allies that each work with a different Chakra: Kava Kava, Amanita Muscaria, and Blue Lotus.  We will spend a few minutes discussing the properties of each plant while teaching the fundamentals of self-practice Reiki exercises that focus on the Root, Heart, and Third Eye Chakras. We will then offer a sacred ceremony and samples of three different plant/mushroom extracts for the three different Chakras. We will spend time sensing and feeling the shifts in the energy body around for each chakra while being in relationship with these allies. 

Continue your journey through self-reflection with a moment to pause. Let’s take a deeper dive into journal writing. We will pursue self-reflection and self-awareness to expand positivity in our lives

In this workshop you will engage in stream-of-consciousness journaling. Explore your thoughts by continuously writing in a judgement-free space. These journal sessions will guide you to set intentions, self-reflect and move forward in your life. Discover personal clarity that will bring you balance and confidence in your life. 

NVC in Action, a workshop designed to bridge the gap between your yoga practice and your relationships.
You stretch your hamstrings. You strengthen your core. But how often do you practice the flexibility of your mind and the strength of your empathy? Why is it so easy to find balance on the mat, but so hard to keep it in our conversations?

Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is often called the "Yoga of Speech." It helps us navigate conflict without losing our center.

Stop leaving your yoga on the mat. Come learn how to:
​​​​· Untie the Knots: Identify the hidden needs behind your "negative" emotions so you can respond rather than react.
· Find Your Center in Conflict: Learn to speak your truth clearly without blaming or shaming others.
· Deepen Your Relational Flow: Transform arguments into opportunities for intimacy and connection.

This isn’t a lecture—it’s a lab. We will roll up our sleeves to practice the art of compassionate speech.
Are you ready to stretch your heart as deep as your hamstrings?

A moment when pushing harder stops working. When the body asks for something different. That moment is The Edge.
In this in-person experience, Kelli Musa introduces The Edge Method, a nervous-system-first approach designed for women navigating midlife change, emotional fatigue, and the quiet loss of trust in their bodies.
This session explores how chronic stress, hormonal shifts, and long-held survival patterns shape energy, mood, and physical resilience—often beneath conscious awareness. Rather than forcing calm, fixing symptoms, or chasing balance, participants are guided to understand what regulation actually feels like inside the body.
Through grounded education, gentle awareness, and embodied practices, women will learn how to meet their physiology with safety instead of effort. The result isn’t control—it’s responsiveness.
Attendees leave feeling clearer, steadier, and more connected to themselves, with tools they can use immediately—on the mat and in daily life.
Because the body doesn’t need to be pushed harder—it needs to be heard.
What You’ll Experience

• Why trying harder stops working in midlife
• How stress affects your body and hormones
• What your nervous system actually needs
• How to help your body shift out of survival mode
• Simple ways to feel calmer and clearer
• Signs your body feels safe again
• Tools you can use right away

This workshop introduces the earliest documented chakra system based on "Sat Chakra Niroopanaa". We will explore the Nadis, the Beej Mantras (primordial sound vibrations), and the deeper energetic significance of each center.

Participants will experience a blend of traditional tantric wisdom and modern sound healing principles, including how sound bowls and other instruments support chakra balance. This session is ideal for yoga teachers, energy healers, and anyone curious about the authentic foundations of Tantra and sound healing.

We will conclude with a sound healing immersion and selected meditation sutras from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra. No prerequisites are required, though basic familiarity with yoga, chakras, tantra, or Himalayan singing bowls will enrich the experience.

This is a unique experience developed by Mara Lee Gilbert for the purpose of learning the structure of ceremony itself as its own medicine; and how our greatest teacher in this lifetime is our own energy. The structure you will experience here is based on South American style plant medicine ceremonies, where Mara received her training. However, part of her work is bringing back the memory that every human on the planet has an ancestor that practiced ceremony in their own way, their own right, that connected our lineages to the Earth, and our spirits, no matter what culture or tribe it is related to. This is the art of learning the ceremony of being Human, and walking the on-going ceremony that is our lives. We remain sober for this ceremony - no plants are consumed. 
Mara says: Come to Ceremony to connect more completely with the medicine that is You by deepening your relationship with your prayers and intentions, and recognizing the role you are playing in how they get answered. This is a space to take greater responsibility for how we are experiencing our lives. Bring your prayers. Bring Yourself, exactly as you are in this moment.
Mara sings, chants and shares prayers, in her unique style, which she channels from our collective ancestors and the Earth, to enhance and deepen the experience for all participants in profound ways

After the physical yoga is done for the day join us for an authentic experience of Bakthi Yoga Puja.

Yagam  (yagna or homam) is an ancient sacred fire ritual where auspicious items such as ghee (clarified butter) are offered into the sacred agni (fire) and to the devas (celestial beings). Vedic chants accompany this. Various types of yagam items offered may vary with each ceremony and hold specific symbolism. The purpose of this ritual is for loka kalyan (the benefit of humankind).

Tobias Meinecke is a long-time devotee of Indian saint Sri Sakthi Amma. This will be a special experience of Bakthi Yoga Puja, or ritualized meditation.