Satsang at 6 a.m. Kitchari at the table. Yoga Nidra every afternoon, and the ocean in between. That is the rhythm of the January retreat Dr. Marc Halpern and Dr. Andrea Deerheart will teach together at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.
Dr. Halpern, founder of the California College of Ayurveda (CCA), and Dr. Deerheart, founder of the end-of-life care nonprofit The HeartWay, will lead Cleanse Your Body, Mind, and Consciousness: Clearing the Path to Create Your Dream Life from January 22 to 27, 2027. The six-day course combines a kitchari cleanse, daily Yoga Nidra sessions, Ayurvedic teaching on diet and lifestyle, a day of silence, and full participation in ashram life. For those with less time, the two also teach a shorter program, Yoga Nidra: Creating Your Dream Life, from January 25 to 27.
They come to the work from different directions. Dr. Halpern is an Ayurvedic doctor and a teacher in the Sivananda Yoga lineage who has been teaching with the Sivananda organization since CCA opened in 1995. Dr. Deerheart holds a doctorate in mythology with an emphasis in depth psychology and has spent decades bringing Yoga Nidra to people living through serious illness, dying, and grief. They are also married.
We asked them both the same nine questions. Their answers appear below as they wrote them.
The retreat at a glance
| Course | Cleanse Your Body, Mind, and Consciousness: Clearing the Path to Create Your Dream Life |
| Dates | January 22–27, 2027 (the ashram suggests arriving a day early and staying a day after) |
| Location | Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat, Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas |
| Teachers | Dr. Marc Halpern (Siva), AyD, DC, and Dr. Andrea Deerheart, PhD |
| Includes | Kitchari cleanse; daily Yoga Nidra sessions; Ayurvedic teaching, including nutrition; journaling and group discussion; a day of silence; morning and evening satsang; daily yoga asana classes |
| Course tuition | $650, as listed by the ashram. Accommodation is booked separately. |
| Experience needed | None |
| Shorter option | Yoga Nidra: Creating Your Dream Life, January 25–27, 2027 — two evening satsangs and two Yoga Nidra workshops |
How did the Sivananda Ashram become your spiritual home?
Dr. Marc Halpern
We connected back in 1995 when the College first started. The more I learned about Swami Sivananda, the more impressed I became. His writings and teachings resonated deeply with my heart. His more than 300 books illuminate the highest truths in an impressively well-organized and deeply inspiring manner. The more time I spent both teaching for the organization and learning from their teachers, the more at home I felt and the more it became a part of me.
Dr. Andrea Deerheart
I think, in some ways, I didn’t choose Sivananda.
It found me.
I first came to the ashram almost a decade ago, and there was something about being there that felt strangely familiar. The simplicity. The rhythm of the days. The practice. The silence. The satsang. The ocean. The community.
But more than anything, I think it was the invitation to remember that there is something larger than my little individual life.
I’ve spent so much of my life working with people at the thresholds of life and death. And Sivananda became a place where I could come back and listen again.
Listen to myself. Listen to something deeper. Over the years, it has become a place of practice, teaching, friendship, and renewal.
I don’t know if a spiritual home is something we ever fully understand. I just know that when I arrive, something in me exhales. Sivananda also showed me that anywhere I go in the world, I am home in my spiritual heart.
What keeps drawing you back?
Dr. Marc Halpern
The Sivananda Yoga organization is a place of both peace and wisdom. A visit to any of their centers is a deep exhale. A visit to the Yoga Retreat in the Bahamas is a taste of heaven. Sharing Ayurvedic and Yoga knowledge at their ashrams is an honor and a privilege.
Dr. Andrea Deerheart
Oh, so many things. But I think the biggest thing is the opportunity to stop and to return home.
The world is moving so quickly. There is always something to do, somewhere to go, someone who needs something from us. And then I arrive at the ashram and the rhythm changes.
I remember that I don’t have to fill every moment; I can practice, I can be quiet, I can listen, I can eat simply, I can walk by the ocean, I can sit in satsang and hear something that I may have heard a hundred times before—and suddenly hear it differently.
And I love that.
What does a typical day at the retreat feel like?
Dr. Marc Halpern
It’s an amazing day of meditation, yoga, and the wisdom of Ayurveda it applies to each person’s well-being. Participants on the retreat can join the entire ashram for Satsang (meditation, chanting, spiritual discourse) twice per day at 6 am and 8 pm. In between, we gather together as a group and explore the deepest knowledge of Ayurveda and Yoga as it applies to each person’s life and health, and we practice yoga nidra. We take our meals as a group and enjoy a delicious cleansing diet of khicheree (mung dal, basmati rice and vegetables) and takra (thin yogurt with spices).
Dr. Andrea Deerheart
There is a rhythm to ashram life that I really love. We wake up early. There is meditation, chanting, yoga, time for learning, nourishing food, time outside, and of course Yoga Nidra.
There is structure, but it doesn’t feel like the kind of structure that asks you to produce something.
It gives you a container. And within that container, there is room to breathe.
There are also beautiful moments of nothing much happening. And I’ve come to appreciate those moments more and more.
I think sometimes we need a place that gives us permission to stop doing and simply be.
What does practicing Yoga Nidra there offer that practicing at home may not?
Dr. Marc Halpern
Practicing in a group setting with other students is ideal, especially in such a beautiful tropical paradise. This helps each person deepen their practice. In addition, students learn how to deeply engage their sankalpa (intention) to support creating the life of their dreams. After every practice, there is an exploration of each student’s experience.
Dr. Andrea Deerheart
You absolutely can practice Yoga Nidra at home. And I hope people do. But there is something about practicing in an environment where the whole rhythm of the day supports turning inward.
You’re not thinking, I have 45 minutes, and then I need to answer my emails. You’re not looking at the laundry. You’re not hearing the phone. You’re not trying to take care of everyone else.
You’re being held by the practice and by the environment. And there is something very powerful about doing that in community.
Yoga Nidra has become such an important part of my own life and work because it offers a different relationship with rest: Not collapse. Not exhaustion. Not checking out.
A deep, conscious resting. And from that place, something can begin to shift.
What does “creating your dream life” mean to you?
Dr. Marc Halpern
We all have dreams. Obstacles appear to stand in the way. Most people create their lives unconsciously. Through the practice of Yoga Nidra and knowledge learned in this workshop, you will begin to take control over what you are creating and remove the obstacles. Within the laws of nature, you can create any life you want. What would your dream life look like? Consider your health, your relationships, your finances, and so on.
Dr. Andrea Deerheart
I think we often hear “dream life” and immediately think about what we want to have: The house. The career. The relationship. The travel.
And there is nothing wrong with any of those things. But for me, creating my dream life has become much simpler.
How do I want to feel while I am living this life? How do I want to show up? Who do I want to be with the people I love? What matters to me? What am I giving my energy to? Am I living in alignment with what I say I value? And perhaps most importantly…Am I actually here for my life?
Because life is happening Now. So “creating your dream life” isn’t about controlling life until it looks exactly the way you imagined.
It’s about becoming conscious enough to participate in creating it.
What will participants experience in the workshops?
Dr. Marc Halpern
This workshop is a cleansing of body, mind, and consciousness, removing the obstacles that are in the way of being a Divine conduit. Participants will go on a journey of self-discovery and be empowered to become self-creators. Students will learn their constitution and how to adopt a diet and lifestyle that supports the life they want to live.
Dr. Andrea Deerheart
I don’t want people simply to learn about Yoga Nidra. I want them to experience it.
There will be teaching and conversation around the history, philosophy, and science of Yoga Nidra, but there will also be the actual practice.
The experience of lying down. Being guided. Remaining awake and aware while the body deeply rests. We’ll explore prana, the subtle body, healing, transitions, and conscious creation.
And there will be space for questions and reflection.
I’m particularly interested in what happens when we stop trying to force ourselves to change and instead create the conditions where something new can emerge.
That can be very subtle. Sometimes the biggest shifts aren’t dramatic at all. Sometimes we simply go home and notice that we are breathing differently. Responding differently. Listening differently.
How do you approach teaching this retreat together?
Dr. Marc Halpern
We are co-teachers supporting students on every facet of their journey. At times I lead, and Deerheart provides commentary. At times Deerheart leads, and I provide commentary. I bring my knowledge and experience as a Practitioner of Ayurveda. She brings her knowledge and experience as a Depth Psychologist.
Dr. Andrea Deerheart
Marc and I have been walking together for a very long time, and we come to this work from somewhat different places.
Marc brings almost forty years of practice and teaching in Yoga Nidra, Ayurveda, and the yogic tradition.
I bring my own experience with Yoga Nidra, as well as many years of sitting with people through serious illness, dying, death, grief, and profound life transitions.
And I think those perspectives complement each other. We don’t have to be the same. In fact, I think it’s better that we’re not.
We teach, we listen, we question, and sometimes we probably see something a little differently.
And that’s part of the richness.
We’re also husband and wife, so there is a lot of love—and occasionally a little bit of, “Marc, are you really going there?” But underneath all of it is a shared commitment to this work.
We both believe that these practices aren’t simply ideas. They are meant to be lived.
Who is the retreat for, and is prior experience needed?
Dr. Marc Halpern
This retreat is for anyone who wants to harness the power of the universe to create the life of their dreams.
Dr. Andrea Deerheart
You don’t need to be an experienced yogi. You don’t need to know anything about Yoga Nidra. And you certainly don’t need to have your life figured out.
Maybe you’re exhausted. Maybe you’re at a crossroads. Maybe you’ve been taking care of everyone else and you’ve forgotten what it feels like to be cared for.
Maybe you’re curious, or something in your life is changing.
And maybe you’re someone who already practices Yoga Nidra and wants to go deeper.
There is room for all of that.
Come exactly as you are.
What do you hope people carry home with them?
Dr. Marc Halpern
The knowledge of how to live harmoniously and in alignment with the infinite power of the universe.
Dr. Andrea Deerheart
I hope they carry less. That may sound strange. But I don’t necessarily want people to leave with a long list of things they have to do.
I hope they leave having put something down: an old belief, some tension, the idea that they have to do everything perfectly.
Maybe they discover a little more compassion for themselves. And I hope they take home a practice they can return to when life gets noisy.
A way to stop. A way to breathe. A way to listen. And perhaps a deeper trust in themselves.
Because eventually we all leave the ashram. We go back to our homes. Our families. Our work. Our ordinary lives.
That’s where the real practice begins.
And if someone goes home and finds themselves lying down for Yoga Nidra instead of pushing through one more thing…or pauses before reacting…or calls someone they love…or simply sits quietly for five minutes and remembers that they are alive…then something has already begun.
That’s what I hope for. Not that people become someone else. But that they come home a little more fully to themselves.
About the teachers
Dr. Marc Halpern (Siva), AyD, DC founded the California College of Ayurveda in 1995. He is an Ayurvedic doctor, a doctor of chiropractic, and a teacher in the Sivananda Yoga lineage, and co-founded the National Ayurvedic Medical Association. He is the author of Healing Your Life: Lessons on the Path of Ayurveda and the textbook Classical Yoga Therapy (2023), and created the guided recording Yoga Nidra and Self-Healing. Dr. Halpern’s Sivananda presenter page.
Dr. Andrea Deerheart, PhD, ELP, is the founder of The HeartWay, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing compassionate, holistic support, education, and end-of-life care to ensure no one faces terminal ill. She holds a doctorate in mythology with an emphasis in depth psychology, is a 500-hour registered yoga teacher, a Certified Yoga Nidra Master Instructor, and a certified End-of-Life Practitioner. She is the author of the recording Yoga Nidra: Graceful Transitions and the book Elli’s Ride: Death Beyond Imagination. Learn more about her work at theheartway.org and her Yoga Nidra trainings.
Frequently asked questions about the retreat
Cleanse Your Body, Mind, and Consciousness runs January 22–27, 2027, at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat on Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas. A shorter program with the same teachers, Yoga Nidra: Creating Your Dream Life, runs January 25–27, 2027.
Dr. Marc Halpern, founder of the California College of Ayurveda, and Dr. Andrea Deerheart, founder of The HeartWay, teach the retreat together.
The six-day course includes a kitchari cleanse, daily Yoga Nidra sessions, Ayurvedic teaching on diet and lifestyle, journaling and group discussion, a day of silence, and participation in the ashram’s daily schedule of satsang, meditation, and yoga asana.
No. The retreat is open to beginners as well as experienced practitioners who want to deepen their Yoga Nidra practice.
Yoga Nidra is a guided practice of deep, conscious rest. Participants lie down and are guided into a state in which the body relaxes deeply while the mind remains awake and aware.
Kitchari, also spelled khicheree, is a simple Ayurvedic dish of mung dal, basmati rice, and vegetables. On this retreat it forms the basis of a cleansing diet, served with takra, a thin spiced yogurt drink.
Join Dr. Halpern and Dr. Deerheart in the Bahamas
The six-day retreat runs January 22–27, 2027. See the full daily schedule, tuition, and booking details on the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Retreat website.
Short on time? Book the three-day Yoga Nidra program (January 25–27)
Want to teach Yoga Nidra yourself? Explore CCA’s Yoga Nidra Teacher Training.