Mount Madonna Center

Our Winter Home! Truly a last minute decision … and we’re elated to be accepted to attend this glorious mountain retreat: Mount Madonna Center. http://www.mountmadonna.org

Program Dates

January 3rd – April 1st, 2012

All the information below comes directly from the Mount Madonna website @ http://www.mountmadonna.org/programs/ysc.html.

If you are interested in an amazing opportunity for spiritual growth, yoga, community and service, MMC might just be exactly what you desire in this adventure of life.

A Conference, Retreat and Yoga Center in the Heart of California

• Mount Madonna Center is a conference and retreat center located on 355 acres of mountain-top redwood forest and grassland overlooking Monterey Bay, between Santa Cruz and Monterey, in Northern California.
• We are a community designed to nurture the creative arts and the health sciences within a context of personal and spiritual growth, inspired by Baba Hari Dass and sponsored by the Hanuman Fellowship, a group whose talents and interests are unified by the common practice of Yoga.
• We offer a supportive community atmosphere for relaxation, reflection, and a wide variety of learning experiences. Program participants are invited to join in all ongoing Center activities – celebration, work, and play. Amenities include hiking trails, volleyball, tennis, and basketball courts, a pond (we call it “The Lake”) for swimming, a hot tub, a gymnasium for volleyball and basketball, and bodywork at the Kaya Kalpa Wellness Center.
• A 12 WEEK RESIDENTIAL SERVICE LEARNING PROGRAM called Yoga, Service and Community is available at Mount Madonna Center for those interested in living and working within an intentional community with service as a primary value. Depending on the Center’s needs, work is assigned in housekeeping, event set-up, kitchen, recycling, general maintenance, gardening and landscaping. Participants receive single accommodation, meals, daily yoga classes, regularly scheduled group meetings, and participation in community activities. Please contact ysc@mountmadonna.org

Who We Are

The Mount Madonna Center (MMC) community, founded in 1978, is home to children and adults of all ages. Inspired by the teachings and example of Baba Hari Dass, a silent yogi and a master of classical Ashtanga Yoga, our aim is to create an environment where residents and guests are supported in the pursuit and fulfillment of their personal growth and spiritual goals. We eat communally, work together, share in study and meditation, and join in responsibility for our retreat and conference facility and our children’s school. The spiritual disciplines of yoga and selfless service are the foundations of our community life.

MMC serves the larger society through the retreats and seminars which it hosts; through Mount Madonna School, an independent kindergarten, primary and high school; and through the Mount Madonna Institute, which offers Diploma, Certificate, and Master of the Arts programs in several areas of professional and personal development. Most of the work of running Mount Madonna Center is done on a volunteer basis. We aim to work in the spirit of selfless service or karma yoga, one of our main practical methods of self-development.

What We Offer

Each Yoga, Service, and Community program includes daily offerings of many types of yoga classes, community service (kitchen, housekeeping, garden, maintenance, etc.), as well as evening classes and discussion groups in yoga philosophy and community themes. There will be free time for rest, study and recreation, and an invaluable opportunity to draw upon the 30 years of dedicated practice that many in our community have experienced. You are also invited to participate in MMC community retreats and special events occurring during your session.

Your Commitment

For the new three-month sessions beginning January, 2012, the fee is $975 with a weekly commitment of 24 hours work/service, 4 hours of weekly meetings, and 2 hours of instruction in yoga philosophy, pranayama and meditation; for a total of 30 hours per week. YSC fees include meals and indoor single accommodation.