5 Days Meditation and Yoga Retreat in Kalutara, Sri Lanka

Facilities

The hotel villa is a colonial home, approximately 150 years old, that used to be the house of the village chief. It has been converted to a guest house and it offers a living room, dinning hall, veranda, open living area, and eight bedrooms.

The property consists of the main villa and the lodge, which are about two minutes from each other. The lodge is the original house of the first occupier of this colonial treasure. With time, his son built a bigger home to house his expanding family; the villa.

The villa consists of eight rooms, two of them are suite rooms and six are deluxe rooms. It also offers a dining hall, a lounge, verandas, and a spa.

The lodge consists of six standard rooms and an open verandah. Both the villa and the lodge were renovated in 2015 and are decorated with a contemporary colonial style to keep with the age of the property and to make you comfortable and meet your modern needs.

Deluxe rooms

All of the deluxe rooms are in the villa and they also all open in to a beautiful open verandah. The rooms and bathrooms are completed beautifully to include modern guest requirements. Unlike the standard rooms, deluxe rooms are air conditioned.

Standard rooms

All of the standard rooms are in the lodge and they all open in to a beautiful open verandah. The rooms and bathrooms are completed beautifully to include modern guest requirements. The rooms have fans but they are not air conditioned.

Suite rooms

They have two suite rooms, which are in the villa and they open in to a beautiful front verandah within the main villa. The rooms and bathrooms are completed beautifully to include modern guest requirements. The suite room bathrooms have both a shower and a bath. Both suite rooms are air conditioned.

You will find this holiday experience very different from a normal activity packed holiday or even a normal spa holiday. Plantation Villa offers a very unique opportunity for you to be amidst nature and totally relax, while they look after you using the knowledge of century-old vedic traditions and mindfulness practices.

You will arrive to a completely natural environment with no man-made distractions. The idea is that when the physical body is not too active and there are not much distractions to stimulate the mind, it turns inwards into understanding and feeling your own emotions and cognitive behavior patterns.

Most of the modern day life is so full of distractions that you are left with little or no time to really examine your inner-self. As a result, you become so unaware of your own emotions and the impact it is having on your physical body.

Once you arrive, the friendly team will help you settle in to your room. Your first days treatment will be light as the body needs time to settle in to the environmental changes, effects of flying, and jet lag.

Daily schedule

• 06:30 - 07:30 Yoga
• 07:30 - 09:00 Breakfast
• 09:00 - 12:30 Ayurvedic treatments. Some guests would also be doing walks in the village in the morning or having a swim before the treatment
• 12:30 - 14:30 Lunch
• 14:30 - 16:00 Rest or join one of the afternoon activities, which include walks in the plantation, activities in the plantation, tree planting, cookery classes, talks with the yoga teacher or doctor, and more
• 17:30 - 19:00 Evening yoga
• 19:00 - 20:30 Dinner
• 20:30 Reading, meditation, and more.

Ayurveda

The ancient medical science of Ayurveda, which is experiencing a renaissance at present, is perhaps the most sophisticated and comprehensive approach to health care the world has known. Ayurveda places great emphasis on prevention and encourages the maintenance of health through close attention to balance in one’s life, right thinking, diet, and lifestyle. This balance is believed to lead to happiness and health, and to help prevent illness.

Yoga and meditation

The ancient practices of yoga and meditation are a key component to embracing a more mindful lifestyle. Coupled along with healing natural treatments and medicines, yoga and meditation allow the body to restore, improve, and develop in harmony of mind, body, and spirit. You can not fully benefit from the physical treatment alone, and this is where yoga and meditation practice plays such an important role in truly overcoming your own personal shortfalls, physical imperfections, disabilities, or ailments.

Nehinna is a rural village and has a traditional community feel. It still largely upholds the true rural Sri Lankan ethics of simplicity, kindness, and hospitality. The local villagers are shy of attention and compliments, as they lead very simple uncomplicated lives. Most of them survive by rubber tapping or working or finding work on plantations, where the work is long and arduous and pay is, traditionally, quite low.

Nearby places

• Colombo, 80 kilometers

Free from the artificial preservatives, colourings, and pesticides, all meals on site are homemade from healthy, fresh ingredients. Anything that is not picked straight from their own organic gardens is sourced locally and ethically, so that quality of the food is not compromised.

Their doctor has reviewed the menus and ensured they are nutritionally balanced. The meals are mainly vegetarian, as well as gluten and sugar free. Once a week, they serve fish or chicken, as many of the western guests seems to struggle to maintain a vegetarian diet long term.

Guests are invited to join in on harvesting activities during seasons or learn about their favourite dishes through Ayurvedic healthy cookery demonstrations and go picking the ingredients from the ground. The complete experience encourages a more hands-on approach to wellness and promotes changes to unhealthy lifestyle choices and habits for good.

During your free time, you can join activities organized by the resort, such as Ayurvedic barbeques, outdoor dining evenings, dance or singing performances by local talent, or celebrations of local festivities. You can also hire a bicycle for rides around the surrounding villages or hire a car for the following day trips. The excursions are available at an extra cost.

Beach

Have a picnic at some of Sri Lanka's most beautiful beaches.

Galle

Visit one of the most vibrant cities in Sri Lanka, where the influences of colonial time are prevalent with some world heritage sites.

Kalutara Bhodiya

Kalutara Bhodiya is one of the most famous temples in Sri Lanka. It has a Pagoda with architectural value and a Bo Tree, which is over 2000 years old.

Kandy Town and Temple of the Tooth

Kandy Town is the last kingdom of Sri Lanka, still rich in art and culture. Kandy also has the Temple of the Tooth, where Buddha's tooth is kept and is one of the most venerated sights in Sri Lanka. Apart from its religious significance, it is also a must see sight to understand the richness of Sri Lankan art and culture.

Local turtle hatchery

This is a turtle conservation project to help save turtles from extinction. You can see and learn about turtles and have the opportunity to release baby turtles to the sea.

Richmond Castle

Left over from the British Empire, it depicts the influences of European architecture.

Sinharajah Natural Rainforest

The last remaining rain forest in Sri Lanka, which is lush and green. Hiking through this forest will be an amazing experience.

Udawalawe National Park

Plantation Villa recommends this trip over the trip to Pinnawella Elephant Orphanage, where they have heard mixed reviews about how the animals are treated. This is an opportunity to see elephants in their own natural habitat. Holding the largest population of elephants in Sri Lanka, you are almost guaranteed to see elephants here.

WarakagodaTemple

This is an ancient cave temple with a natural forest displaying some amazing Sri Lankan art on the rock.

Whale and dolphin watching in Mirissa

Plantation Villa works with a company working with whale conservation in Sri Lanka. This tour has an early morning start but is totally worth the experience.

Available treatments range from preventative care, detox, weight loss, and general rejuvenation and wellbeing, to intensive treatments for more serious illnesses, such as high blood pressure, skin diseases, cholesterol, diabetes, joint problems, back aches, and cancer. At Plantation Villa, they believe in the connection between the mind and the body. Their treatments offer to heal the mind through loving care, a calming environment, and mindfulness techniques, such as yoga and meditation. The body is then treated using a variety of Ayurvedic treatments, personalised organic meals, and herbal medicines.

• 4 nights accommodation
• Ayurvedic meals
• Ayurveda Doctor consultation
• Daily Yoga
• Daily Meditation
• One Detox Abhyanga Ayurveda Treatment
• One Herbal/ Steam Bath
• One Face Mask
• Water and herbal tea at all times
• Daily Afternoon Activities including - Walks in the plantation and paddy-field, Walks around the village, Cookery demonstrations, Discussions about yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, meditation etc, Ability to participate in vegetable/fruit picking activities during seasons and Ability to participate in rubber tapping or paddy harvesting during seasons

• Ayurvedic treatments and medicines
• Additional day trips

Arrival by airplane

Please book your flight to arrive at Bandaranaike International Airport (CMB). Transfer from and to this airport is available upon request at the rate of 65 USD for pick up. Plantation Villa suggests you arrive between 7 p.m to 7 a.m to use the airport transfers services.

Arrival by train

As an alternative, you can travel by train to Kalutara.

• A reservation requires a deposit of 100% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.