Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health

Breathe, summer has arrived.

Love is what it’s all about. 🧡 Our Summer Employee Party was Wednesday and we’re sharing a little glimpse of the joy of this day. The feeling of kindness and compassion that one experiences on a Kripalu retreat or online program begins in the heart of each person who works here. It is our aim that everyone who comes through Kripalu’s doors— on campus or virtual, guest or paid employee— will feel welcomed and accepted to show up as their full, unique self.

If you’re interested in employment opportunities at Kripalu, check them out at the link below. Perks include opportunities to participate in Kripalu programs, a staff emergency fund, and free meals in the Kripalu Dining Hall. We’d love to have you on our team! https://bit.ly/3zgB9gc

So proud of our Kripalu School of Yoga students completing this 300-Hour Meditation Teaching module! Thank you Michelle Dalbec - Yoga Teacher and Christopher Holmes for leading this transformative training! 🧡🧡🧡🧡

The power of love is unquantifiable— but it does fill our hearts with joy to look back at how many people we were able to serve from 2021 through 2023. Each of these numbers is an individual experience, a moment of presence, a possible transformation through the wisdom of this lineage we’re so honored to hold.⁠
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We achieved:⁠
- 104.041 people served⁠
- 4056 Berkshire County residents served⁠
- 4872 people served through collective transformation programs⁠
- 1965 students trained in our schools⁠
- 11,485 scholarships for students⁠
- 2983 people served with community supported pricing⁠
- 18% people served through programming for or led by BIPOC presenters⁠
- 1442 people served through programming for or led by LGBTQIA+ presenters⁠
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See all the numbers here, we truly could not do this without you! ⁠https://kripalu.org/content/kripalu-numbers

Aren’t U glad for arugula? Recipe Tuesday: Delicious and refreshing Arugula Salad! When it’s hot out, Ayurvedic wisdom advises that we eat bitter greens like arugula to help aid digestion and clear out accumulated heat. This recipe couldn’t be a more delicious way to eat your greens, and it serves up other health benefits as well. The walnuts are a great source of alpha-linolenic acid, useful at lowering blood lipids and the pear, beyond being absolutely beautiful on the plate, is an excellent source of soluble fiber. Savor this salad along with the long days of summer: https://bit.ly/3MipBQ6

The time for feeling good is now! Recipe Tuesday: Yummy and healthy Chocolate Layered Ojas Bars. We're thrilled to share the recipe for these chocolate bars that not only taste amazing but help your body healthily replenish its energy supply. The dates, pecans, almonds and coconut in this recipe all support ojas, known as the nutrient cream of the body and a major player in building immunity, long term health, and stability of mind. This recipe is shared by Kate O’Donnell, an Ayurvedic Health Counselor, author, and frequent teacher in the Kripalu School of Ayurveda— so when she says a dessert is good for you, we take her word for it!

Check out this recipe and Kate’s upcoming programs at Kripalu, including Foundations of Ayurveda this September! https://bit.ly/3KNM09q

“As leaders, we need to take the time and be humble and vulnerable enough to engage in an inner process of reflection, curiosity, and connection.”— Kripalu CEO Robert Mulhall

Supporting each other in becoming better leaders is a core value at Kripalu. Explore Robert’s new monthly column from The Berkshire Edge that dives into the process of self-inquiry and discovery that lies at the heart of being a good leader.

And we have a very special opportunity to announce: our Transformational Leadership Retreat September 23-26 is offering full scholarships, funded by Mill Town Foundation ! This is an opportunity to learn and reflect directly with Robert in a completely PowerPoint-free zone! Applications are due by July 1st, so please spread the word.
Read Robert’s column: https://theberkshireedge.com/transformational-leadership/

And find the Transformational Leadership Retreat application here: https://bit.ly/3VoFCui

We love our Berkshire leaders! We're thrilled to announce our upcoming Transformational Leadership Retreat— funded by Mill Town Foundation. Led by Kripalu CEO Robert Mulhall, explore your leadership and build skills and connections in a completely PowerPoint-free zone. Applications are due by July 1, spread the word! https://kripalu.org/presenters-programs/transformational-leadership-retreat

Cool your body, calm your mood. Recipe Wednesday: Refreshing Raw Greek Salad! Nature has a special way of giving us what we need right when we need it. Ayurvedic science points out that in summertime, when our bodies are hot, the foods that are growing like crazy in the garden— bitter greens like spinach, lettuce— are the ones that have the properties to help cool us down. Enjoy this raw salad, rich with natural active enzymes to aid with digestion. And if you want to shake things up a bit, add some feta cheese and Kalamata olives. They may not be raw, but they sure are delicious! https://bit.ly/3VoZQns

Your relationship can be a path to emotional healing and spiritual evolution. 🧡 Join bestselling authors and couples therapists Harville Hunt, PhD and Helen LaKelly Hunt, PhD for a life-changing couples retreat, August 2-4. Harville & Helen will help find deeper connection and more joyful aliveness with their transformational approach, Imago Relationship Therap, which allows you to experience new levels of safety, empathy, and appreciation. The love you want is right within reach.

Couples of all genders and sexual orientations are welcome! https://bit.ly/3zNcy5I

Happy Pride!! Join us this month, and always, in centering and celebrating out LGBTQIA+ staff, presenters and community. Kripalu has been hosting LGBTQIA+ retreats since the 1990’s— this is a point of pride for us, as the heart of Kripalu is compassionately accepting yourself as you are and making room for others to show up as their truest, realest selves as well.

Explore our array of inspired programming led by LGBTQIA+ presenters, both online and on campus, on creativity, dharma, chakra awakening, dance, menopause, meditation and more. We’re grateful for the diversity of expression the LGBTQIA+ community embodies— this expansiveness serves us all. 🧡 https://bit.ly/3Rg9asP

Let Ayurveda soothe you through the season. We’re working our way into summer in the Northern Hemisphere, with long hot days and nights— the ancient science of Ayurveda can help us adapt our bodies to these changes and get the most out of this season of growth. We’ve linked a resource filled with Ayurvedic summertime tips to keep you feeling cool, calm and refreshed while the sun shines bright over head.

If you’d like to go deeper, you can learn more about Ayurveda:
- June 24 4-5:30pm EST - Join us for a free online info session about Kripalu School of Ayurveda
- June 24-28 - Come to Kripalu for our Summer Ayurveda Retreat, filled with practices to help you cool, soften, and refresh through the heat of summer.
See the full resource and browse all our upcoming Ayurveda offerings: https://bit.ly/2EzuG9I

Awaken your chakras! We’re offering a special, eight-week online series— available for free to all Kripalu Online Studio subscribers— to help you bring your body and soul into balance. Led by Bengali-Indian, American psychologist, Sriya Bhattacharyya, this series will guide you through yoga practices to tap into and open the seven chakra centers. Wednesday evenings from 7:30-9pm EST June 5 - July 24. KOS is now just $39 a month, so take advantage of this great deal and let the prana flow. 🧡 https://bit.ly/3X3OWpV

Living The WHY In Yoga Spotlight: When Amrit Singh, a dedicated social worker, discovered yoga therapy as a student at Kripalu, a whole new world of healing opened up for her students with developmental disabilities and neurological impairments. She returned to Kripalu to complete the Kripalu School of Mindful Outdoor Leadership Level 1, expanding the wealth of tools with which she can bring support, healing, and presence to her community.

We’ve created videos with changemakers in our community who are truly Living The WHY In Yoga and we’d love you to see them all. Each one is a little ray of light and a reminder that by coming together we really can create change, slowly and steadily, in a world that needs it more than ever. See them all: https://bit.ly/3Vlso2F..

Let your spirit guide you towards exactly what you need. A self-guided Retreat and Renewal experience has so much to offer— we’re sharing this sample schedule to offer a glimpse of the options. Picture yourself here, healthily-fed, lovingly-supported, and surrounded by the embrace of this sacred land. We offer much more than you could do in one day, but we promise, your heart will know just where to lead you! https://bit.ly/3R0PNnl

Breakfast, Kripalu style. Recipe Tuesday: Make your own Classic Kripalu Granola! By popular demand, here is one of our most-requested recipes, a longtime favorite of the Kripalu Dining Hall. With its combination of fiber, protein, and healthy fats, granola can help regulate blood sugar levels and provides a great source of energy. The beauty of granola is the options are endless, you can add or subtract ingredients exactly to your liking. All things are possible! https://bit.ly/3axX2i3

Celebrate the longest day in the embrace of the natural world. Connect more deeply with nature and with yourself in our Kripalu Outdoors Summer Solstice Retreat, June 21-23, led by Katie Hagel, Ami Jean Aubin, and Kripalu Visionary Zelda Hotaling. Learn to meditate with the elements as you:
- explore waterfalls and pools
- forest bathe in Kripalu’s grove of ancient hemlock
- connect with yourself through mindful hiking, part of the Kripalu Mindful Outdoor Experience.

Learn more and sign up for this exploration of the sacred lands Kripalu is blessed to inhabit: https://bit.ly/4bHBHPB

The beauty of eating plants! Kripalu Recipe: Yummy Thai Scrambled Tofu. While the reasons for opting for vegetarian meals are many, some of us may need a little guidance in creating veggie dishes that are delicious, easy to make, and nutritionally balanced. This recipe comes from Kripalu faculty Jeremy Rock Smith, and can be served for any meal of the day. Coconut milk adds moisture so the tofu doesn’t dry out as well as a bit of sweetness to balance the spices. https://bit.ly/3ykJPqY

For more vegetarian nspiration, join Jeremy Rock Smith for a vegetarian cooking retreat here at Kripalu June 14-16, where he’ll share invaluable insights, skills, and foundational tips. Whether you are new to the kitchen or looking to advance your existing skills, this weekend is for you. Learn more at kripalu.org!

This May, and all year long, Kripalu honors the contributions of Asian American Pacific Islanders and the powerful, ancient wisdom traditions of Asia. Yoga, Ayurveda, Reiki, Qi Gong and Buddhism are just a few of the traditions being shared at Kripalu. We are incredibly grateful to our namesake Swami Kripalu for sharing the gift of yoga and laying the foundation for the Kripalu we know and love today. Check out our array of upcoming programs led by AAPI presenters: https://bit.ly/3wuKW6L

What truths does silence reveal? In a world of ceaseless distraction, the Kripalu Silent Retreat is an opportunity to slow down, let go of what doesn’t serve us, and rediscover what is true in the here and now. Led by Lead Kripalu faculty members Jess Frey and Eli Pasalis, you’ll be gently guided to cultivate more present moment awareness so you can listen and connect to the wisdom and truth within you.

Learn more about the Kripalu Silent Retreat, where you can read a recent participant’s in depth reflections on the experience. And thank you to Jess Frey for offering this journal prompt, another doorway to help us reconnect with the beautiful essence within. https://bit.ly/3DNjn6d

Give your tummy a reset. 🧡 Recipe Tuesday: Delicious and cleansing Kitchari! In Ayurveda, sound digestion is considered paramount to health and wellness. If we aren’t digesting, assimilating, and eliminating our food properly, disease can set in. A daily staple of the Buddha Bar in the Kripalu Dining Hall, Kitchari— made of yellow mung dal beans and basmati rice, along with digestive spices and ghee— is easily assimilated by the tissues. A spring cleaning for the digestive system!

Kripalu Recipe: Nourishing Kitchari Kitchari, traditionally made of yellow mung dal and basmati rice, along with digestive spices and ghee, is used as a cleansing and detoxifying food in Ayurveda.

Today is Beltane, spring at its peak! Beltane aka May Day falls between Spring Equinox and Summer Solstice, a time for planting seeds and honoring the endless cycle of birth, growth, death and rebirth. In celebration of the reawakening of the world, enjoy this meditation on awakening the senses from Jennifer Reis, longtime Kripalu community member and presenter. We’ve included the start of it here, click the link in our bio to see the whole meditation. Happy Spring and here’s to all the transformation to come in this season of growth. 🧡

Receive sound.
Go outside. Stand or sit, and close your eyes. Touch your ears: feel the wrinkles and folds of the ears, lobes. Become aware of the ear canals, inner ears. Let sounds come to you. Allow your hearing to be soft, spacious, and open… Welcome everything in.

Receive sight.
Touch your eyes: feel your eyelids, eyelashes, surface of the eyes, centers of the eyes, eye sockets… Like a deer or a butterfly, remain sensitive and open to the world around you, taking in all the colors, light, and shadow, form and texture. Not focusing on any particular thing, allow the world to seep into your eyes.

Check out Jennifer's full meditation: https://bit.ly/3CWUsOX

The Mother’s Day gift of exactly what you need. Whether you’d like to celebrate motherhood, get a little quiet time and self care, or could use some nurturing to manage the ways this time of year can be emotionally challenging, our retreats on the weekend of May 10-12 are here for you:

Ayurveda Self Care retreat - Erin Casperson
Mothers, Daughters, and the Heroic Journey - Meg Agnew, Lindsay Davison & Annika Tara Hansche
Mother’s Legacy, A Healing And Self-Discovery Retreat - Lauren Walker, Hilary Crowley & Dr. Heather Tallman Ruhm
Mother-Daughter Yoga Weekend - Laura Ahrens
Kripalu Retreat & Renewal - our classic self-guided retreat

Explore all our Mother’s Day retreats: https://bit.ly/43TdDXu