Brazil Bhakti Yoga Retreat
May 5-10, 2025
Brazil Bhakti Yoga Retreat
Join Radha & Benjamin for an unforgettable life experience in a nurturing, supportive environment at Radha’s hometown, Rio de Janeiro-Brazil. Have fun, and feel rejuvenated, rested, and energized!
Rio De Janeiro is one of our favorite cities on earth, known as the "Wonderful City", Rio de Janeiro offers attractions that have rendered the city international fame. Who has never heard about Sugar Loaf Mountain and the statue of Christ Redeemer? Or about the beautiful beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana, that have inspired musicians from all over the world?
Christ the Redeemer is one of the Seven Wonders of the World, it stands proud overhead high on a mountain overlooking the city and can be seen from all vantage points.
Paraty/RJ, is a lovely historical colonial town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A popular tourist spot for those looking for something more than the usual beaches found along the Costa Verde or Emerald Coast. Backed by verdant jungle-clad mountains and facing a bay with 365 islands the setting couldn’t be more idyllic. It is one of Brazil’s oldest towns and was once one of the most important ports in the Portuguese empire.
Are you ready for inspiring life experience?
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What’s Included in Copacabana:
1 night in a beautiful Hotel at Copacabana
Tour to Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ Redeemer
Sunrise Beach Yoga Class
Sunset Beach walk at Copacabana and Ipanema
Free time for souvenir shopping and relax
Experience live Brazilian music
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What's Included at Paraty:
4 nights at Dharma Shala Ecovilla
3 vegan gourmet meals a day
2 yoga classes a day (morning and evening)
Daily Workshops, lectures and group activities
Meditations, Breathing and Kirtan
One forest/jungle walk (4 hours)
Visit Historical Town of Paraty
Boat Tour & Snorkeling
Ecological walks to the waterfalls
Bhakti Yoga Temple with daily ceremonies
Free time to explore and relax
Transportation GIG Airport to Copacabana
Transportation Copacabana to Dharma Shala Ecovilla
Transportation Dharma Shala Ecovilla to GIG Airport
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What's not included:
Airfare
Airport charges/taxes in Brazil or departing country
Travel insurance (we highly recommend getting travel insurance before departure).
Extra tours around the city
Visa
Where We Stay:
The Dharma Shala Inn is right in the center of Ecovilla Goura Vrindávana, which in turn sits within the idyllic the National Park Chain of Bocaina, the mountains of the Costa Verde, and tourist and historic city of Paraty, in the southern state of Rio de Janeiro.
The Ecovilla has a territory with a total of 850 hectares, being largely comprised of virgin Atlantic forest, in a valley with many water springs, waterfalls and beautiful waterfalls tracks AFS (Agroforestry), where visitors can experience depth with the natural life of the mountains and the mystical contact with the energy of the forest.
All rooms with panoramic view of the forest, or ocean, or mountains, or orchard and gardens, plus veranda with hammock, private bathroom, water heater and ceiling fan.
The kitchen of the Dharma Shala is an attraction part, and it works this way. Cooking is a sacred act, an act of celebration of life and love of mother nature that gives both us and always keeps us. Famous for rich cuisine that comes out of it, is one of the main attractions of the Inn.
Where We Stay:
Rio de Janeiro landscape merges so perfectly with the surrounding nature that it’s impossible not to agree when we say Rio de Janeiro is the Marvelous City.
We will stay in a beautiful hotel facing Copacabana beach. Copacabana is a beautiful beach with a charming and famous wavy mosaic pavement in black and white marble.
Day Schedule
*All activities and classes are optional,
everybody is welcome to skip any of them any time they feel like it.
Day 1
9am Transportation from GIG airport to Copacabana
11am Check in at hotel
2pm Visit Christ Redeem
4:30pm Visit Sugar Loaf
6:30pm Free Time
8pm Dinner
10pm Peace time
Day 2
8am Morning yoga at Copacabana Beach
9:30am Breakfast at the Hotel
10am Free time
1pm Transportation to Dharma Shala
7pm Dinner
8pm Welcome Circle/ Introductions
10pm Peace time
Day 3
7:15-9:00am/ Morning yoga practice
9am/ Vegan Breakfast
11am-12:00pm/ Guided walk at the farm, waterfalls
1:00pm/ Lunch, Organic Vegan/ Vegetarian Meal
2:00-5:00pm/ Free Time
5:30-6:30/Evening Yoga Practice and Deeper Relaxation
7pm/ Dinner, Light Evening Organic Meal
8pm/ Circle Gathering
10pm/ Peace Time
Day 6
7:15-9:00am/ Morning yoga practice
9am/ Vegan Breakfast
10:30am / Hiking, waterfall
2:00pm/ Lunch
3:00-5:00pm/ Free time
5:30-6:30/Evening Yoga Practice and Deeper Relaxation
7pm/ Dinner, Light Evening Organic Meal
8pm/ Circle Gathering
10pm/ Peace Time
Day 4
7:15-9:00am/ Morning yoga practice
9am/ Vegan Breakfast
11am-5:00pm/ Boat Tour
7pm/ Dinner, Light Evening Organic Meal
8pm/ Circle Gathering
10pm/ Peace Time
Day 5
7:15-9:00am/ Morning yoga practice
9am/ Vegan Breakfast
11am-12:00pm/ Hiking, waterfall
1:00pm/ Lunch, Organic Vegan/ Vegetarian Meal
2:00-5:00pm/ Free time
5:30-6:30/Evening Yoga Practice and Deeper Relaxation
7pm/ Dinner, Light Evening Organic Meal
8pm/ Circle Gathering
10pm/ Peace Time
Day 7
7:15-9:00am/ Morning yoga practice
9am/ Vegan Breakfast
9:30am/ Free time
3:00pm Departure to the airport/ GIG
Retreat Price
Double Occupancy
Price per person, double occupancy
Email us to request a single room
STANDER ROOM: $1900 /3 rooms available
LOFT DUPLEX: $2110/ 4 rooms available
SUITE DELUXE: $2250 / 1 room available
VILLA BUNGALOW: $2350/ 2 rooms available
$499 Deposit
Get in touch
For further questions email Radha
lightrailyoga@gmail.com
What to Bring
Required
Flashlight or Headlamp
River-walking shoes with good drainage
Flip flops, sandals, or crocs for garden walking
Compact umbrella
Earth-friendly personal care products: soap, shampoo, conditioner
Refillable Eco-Water bottle
Yoga Mat
Recommended
Journal
Swimsuit
Beach Towel
Reading material
Yoga clothes
Camera
Binoculars
Earth-friendly sunscreen and bug repellent
Sarong
Sun hat
Sunglasses
Radha-Krishna Lila
Radha-Krishna Lila (Cristiane Silva) is a native Brazilian who after receiving her law degree at UFRJ, decided to forego practicing law to pursue her passions through a career as a professional dancer and dance teacher. She first encountered yogic practices through the teachings of Bhakti Yoga when she was 26 years old, where she fell in love with philosophy, mantra and song. At the time, Radha was a professional dance teacher and dancer who toured internationally to Japan, Korea and the USA. It wasn’t until her career brought her to the US that Radha began to deepen her yogic practices by studying Hatha Yoga. In 2009, she encountered the renowned master yogi, Sri Dharma Mittra, whom she began to study closely with. Under his guidance, she received her E-RYT 500 certification from The Dharma Yoga Center in NYC.
Radha is co founder of Lightrail Yoga where she offer teacher trainings in person and online programs. She strives to bring yoga into everyday life by doing, evolving and truly living it, allowing peace and joy to flourish within and spread to others! She has been studying and teaching dance, yoga, meditation and healing modalities for over 25 years. Also offering yoga teacher training and yoga retreats around the globe.
In her free time you will find her cooking delicious vegan meals and preparing healthy juices and smoothies and traveling with her partner, connecting to nature and different cultures, enjoying the beauty and experiences this world has to offer!
IG: @radha_krishnalila
Benjamin Smielowitz
Benjamin Smielowitz’s upbringing in a tight-knit Jewish community in New York instilled him with a curiosity about spirituality which eventually led him to begin searching for more purpose and meaning early on in his life. In his 20s, he began studying meditational practices in Brooklyn, and it was through these experiences that he serendipitously found himself in the studio of Sri Dharma Mittra at The Dharma Yoga Center in NYC. There, he was an assistant and an apprentice of Sri Dharma Mittra and came to understand much about the scientific and spiritual resonance of yogic practices. He received his E-RYT 200 and 500 certification from The Dharma Yoga Center in NYC.
IG: bens_smiles
