THE 2025 JIVAMUKTI YOGA SICILY END OF SUMMER EQUINOX RETREAT
Three Boons Yoga Berlin is delighted to announce The 2025 Jivamukti Yoga Sicily End Of Summer Equinox Retreat, held on ancient and sacred Sicilian grounds. The retreat takes place in a historic masseria villa nestled in the rolling, picturesque hills of southern Sicily. Immerse yourself in breathtaking landscapes, the tranquility of the sea, and the warmth of the late summer sun. The masseria comes alive during this season, with olive groves nearing harvest and the presence of wild horses and donkeys, offering a unique opportunity to connect with nature in its fullest celebration.
This retreat will be led by Anja Kühnel, director of Three Boons Yoga Berlin and facilitator of the Three Boons teacher training program. Evening classes will be guided by Annie Schwalm, with Hilli Hahn from our Three Boons Yoga Berlin teacher faculty providing hands-on assists and support in Anjas classes.
Fresh, local, and vegan dishes will be lovingly crafted by our Italian chef, Alessia Cecconi, head of our legendary Jivamukti Canteen, along with her team.
Celebrate a week of joy and abundance at the spiritually energetic apex of the summer. This transformative retreat begins with the end-of-summer equinox and the September New Moon in Virgo, which we will celebrate together on September 21, the retreat's full day. Nourish your body, mind, and spirit in this secluded, hermetic haven, nestled amidst lemon and carob trees and olive groves, hidden away from the bustle of the world.
Discover one of our favorite retreats in the rugged yet refined landscape of southernmost Italy. For the fifth year, we’re returning to this rebuilt 17th-century villa on a 40-acre Sicilian masseria, steeped in history dating back to pre-Roman times. Aligned with the solar cycle by ancient astronomers, it’s the perfect setting to celebrate the equinox and extend your summer. Fill your days with yoga, fresh local food, gelato by the sea, ancient ruins, and relaxing by the pristine pool—all under the abundant Sicilian sun.
RETREAT LANGUAGE: English (Anja teaches in English but also speaks German for individual tips/assists/questions)
THE DATES: Saturday, Sep. 20 until Saturday, Sep. 27 with optional early arrival/slow start on the 18th or 19th of September as well as the option to stay a night longer until Sunday, the 28th
THE ISLAND: “Italy without Sicily leaves no image. Sicily is the key to everything.“ - Johann Wolfgang Goethe - A Trip to Sicily “Going to Sicily is better than going to the moon.“ – Gabriel García Márquez
GENERAL INFO ON THE YOGA PROGRAM & OTHER ACTIVITIES
THE THEME: The end-of-summer equinox in 2025, coinciding with a new moon on September 21, marks the first full day of our retreat. This rare alignment of celestial events offers a powerful opportunity to rebalance, restore, and refocus our energy. With equal amounts of light and dark in a single day, the equinox invites us to reflect on balance in our own lives and embrace this transformative time of year.
End of summer equinox (like summer and winter solstice) are powerful times of the year that mark a shift in the earth’s energy because of is in special astronomical alignment with the sun. In the old days, when we were more agriculturally focused, we tended and harvested our fields based on these powerful turns of the earth. In Sicily, the sun was an object of veneration and people always felt a deep respect for the sun and all its related and inexplicable events. Therefore, they planned the axis of their houses and farms to align perfectly with the sun during special times of the year such as equinoxes and solstices. For this very reason, as an ancient Masseria, our retreat location was designed to align with the sun featuring the end of summer equinox sunrise at 90 degree azimuth and sunset at 270degree azimuth.
Yoga has always been a celebration of the sun, the supreme consciousness that illuminates all things and reveals clarity. During the equinox, we will deepen our practice by honoring the light and connecting with the powerful energy shift of this time. The same solar energy that brings seeds to life can ripen our highest intentions into manifestation. In this celebration of life-giving fire and light, our goal is to offer participants the opportunity to burn away burdens, immerse themselves in the dynamic vastness of nature, savor vibrant and nourishing food, and enjoy the uplifting company of community.
THE PROGRAM: Each morning (Fri.-Fri.) of the retreat, Three Boons director Anja Kuehnel will lead us on a 4.5 to 5-hour “all-inclusive” journey of yoga practices . We are starting at sunrise with a morning meditation, chanting, and scripture reading, that is followed by a little pranabooster (coffees, smoothies and fruits) and then a 3-3.5hour Jivamukti yoga asana practice. These will be intensive “workshop style” classes focusing and and making use of the special energy of the sacred land surrounding us. With the end of summer equinox taking place right at the start of our retreat, we will also be able to tap into the special energy of the equinox time throughout our retreat week.
Anja will infuse her many years of experience from teaching international Jivamukti Yoga retreats and Jivamukti and Three Boons Teacher Trainings to offer a distilled vision of the practice and its purpose. You will experience and explore different aspects of Jivamukti Yoga like asanas, kriyas, pranayama, meditation and yogic scriptures.
Each late afternoon, shorter asana sessions will be led by Annie Schwalm.
There is abundant free time in the afternoons and evenings to relax and adventure as you see fit. We also have a great local masseuse Davide who will come for onsite massages and was always fully booked every day of the week in the past.
REGISTRATION AND PRICES:
BASE PRICE: 1.296 EUR
SIGN-UP DEPOSIT: 225 EUR (holds your spot)
ADDITIONAL UPGRADES: Please check out the registration form for detailed prices, discounts and accommodation options.
THE 2-STEP REGISTRATION PROCESS:
STEP 0: Download the registration form, and make sure the offering, dates, prices, options and terms are agreeable for you.
STEP 1: Make the applicable non-refundable sign-up deposit to hold your spot in the retreat and initiate the registration process. See below for payment options and instructions for the sign-up deposit.
STEP 2: Fill in and sign the registration form you downloaded in Step 0. We kindly recommend to use the free iPhone/Android App “Adobe Fill & Sign”! Alternatively, you can also print it out and fill and sign it and then either snail mail, or fax it to +49-30-48491950 or scan and email it to info@threeboonsyoga.de. Download Adobe Fill&Sign for iPhone/ipad here and for Android hier.
PLEASE NOTE: Spaces are strictly limited due to the size of the intimate retreat location.
PLEASE ALSO NOTE: Your sign-up deposit is non-refundable, if you later change your mind and/or cannot come and/or cannot pay the full retreat price, however, you may find another person to take the retreat instead and who did not pay the sign-up deposit yet and transfer you deposit to this person.
MORE INFO ON THE LOCATION
THE LOCATION: Perched on a secluded hill in southeast Sicily, between the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ragusa Ibla and the popular beach destination of Marina di Ragusa, our historic 17th-century Sicilian masseria is an oasis of tranquility. Surrounded by lush gardens, expansive patios, beautifully restored rooms, and a grand infinity pool, the estate is enclosed by ancient stone walls, featuring a central courtyard, the historic villa, and elegant suites. Just 10 minutes from the Mediterranean Sea and near a charming town for shopping and exploration, the villa is nestled within a serene natural park of centuries-old olive, carob, and almond trees. This quintessential Sicilian countryside is rich with hand-carved stone masonry, pre-Christian caves, stunning views, and rolling hills that lead to sandy Mediterranean beaches.
Our Masseria grounds and a brief history of the ancient Sicilian knowledge of mathematics and astronomy: The 17th century villa that we will be exclusively having as our retreat headquarters was designed to align with the sun, featuring the end of summer equinox sunrise at 90 degree azimuth and sunset at 270 degree azimuth.
The front of the house features a round holed stone window paired with an identical feature in the back of the house. These were constructed in such a mathematically precise fashion as to capture the intense sun on the summer solstice. The villa was built around these markers, and means that the sun will perfectly intersect and be directly over the grounds during the solstice. We should not consider these holed stones as a precise calendars or an instruments to observe the sun’s cycle, but rather monuments that provided information on the solstices and equinoxes for practical and agricultural purposes. It is fascinating to discover how our ancestors already thousands of years ago, were able to apply precise astronomical canons to their constructions and living quarters. They would plan the axis of their living quarters at the moment of the laying of the foundation. They would divide the arch of the daily itinerary of the sun through projecting on the ground the shade of the sun itself on a fixed pole in the style of the ancient meridian clocks. In Sicily, the sun was an object of veneration and people felt always in a position of inferiority to the Sun and all its related and inexplicable events. At the center of their lives was the Sun, the Morning star that dictated the rhythm of nature and conditioned their everyday life. To understand the level of mathematical and existential knowledge in the old days we need simply to look into the life and writings of some of the Sicilian people of the time. Especially to Pythagoras who founded a school on Sicily, in which initiates were sworn to secrecy and lived a communal, ascetic lifestyle. This lifestyle entailed a number of dietary prohibitions, traditionally said to have also included vegetarianism. The teaching most securely identified with Pythagoras is metempsychosis, or the "transmigration of souls", which holds that every soul is immortal and, upon death, enters into a new body. He may have also devised the doctrine of musica universalis, which holds that the planets move according to mathematical equations and thus resonate to produce an inaudible symphony of music. In addition, to the astronomical markings, the Masseria features its own small cave cemetery or necropolis located to the west of the Villa itself in the Egyptian tradition of building cemetery and pyramids west of the village / living quarters. This cave is visible on the immediate north side of the hill halfway along the main driveway and it is aligned with the winter solstice sunrise.
HOW TO GET THERE?
Our retreat can be reached by train from all of Europe. The closest train station is Ragusa. As an incentive to avoid flying, we give you a free shuttle service from/to the train station in Ragusa if you do not take a flight to come to Sicily (or to return).
Still, most people will have to take a flight. Both EasyJet and RyanAir offer direct flight from Berlin to Catania on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. You can also book an early arrival on Thursday and Friday (where the group will still be more intimate but we do offer the full retreat program already) as well as a late departure on Sunday. This way you can catch the best and most direct flight. There also is now the option to book a Friday to Friday retreat in case your days off are limited.
Our Masseria is only approx. 2hours away from Sicily’s Catania Airport, but 4 hours from Palermo airport. Therefore, it is better to try to book a flight that arrives at Catania Airport. Car rentals are normally cheap in Sicily, and, therefore, recommended.
But we can also help you to get to your retreat easily and efficiently if you book one of our shuttle services.
There is a very easy direct public bus from Catania Airport to Ragusa for less than 10 EUR which is leaving Catania Airport almost every hour from early morning until late at night and takes less than two hours. For 27 EUR we can then organize to pick you up from the Ragusa Bus Terminal.
If you prefer not to take the bus to Ragusa (which we strongly recommend as it is really cheap and easy and has always been on time) we can also organize direct shuttles to the retreat venue from/to Catania airport that are timed for the Berlin EasyJet flight (please inquire for pricing for other times):
Details can be found on the booking form.
CARBON (CO2) OFFSET – WE WILL HAVE 3 TREES PLANTED FOR YOU
As of 2021, your Sicily retreat tuition already includes a carbon offset for the estimated CO2 produced by the retreat participants travelling to Sicily and back. For each 2025 Sicily Sicily Retreat participant, 3YB will have 3 trees planted. A tree absorbs approx. 11.7lbs of CO2 every year, or approx. 468lbs. of CO2 over 40 years, so 3 trees for each participant will absorb roughly 1,404lbs. of CO2 over this time, which is about the same amount of CO2 from a round- trip flight from Berlin to Sicily. We know this is a lot of CO2 and we commit to CO2 reduction whenever possible. As of 2021, we will try at the very least to offset the CO2-related travel costs of our non-local retreats through having trees planted. In no way do we want to white-wash the impact on the climate that our yoga retreats have, and we are committed to offering more local yoga retreats going forward. It is not an exaggeration to say that Jivamukti Yoga has made countless yoga students worldwide aware of the benefits of a vegetarian and better vegan diet for the planet as a whole as well as for their individual yoga practice and their general well-being. Converting to a vegan diet has prominently been named by The University of Oxford, among others, “as the single biggest way to reduce your environmental impact on earth”, “reducing an individual’s carbon footprint from food by up to 73%”.
Anja Kühnel
Anja discovered yoga in 2000 while temporarily living in New York for her law studies. Her first experience with Jivamukti Yoga ignited a deep and lifelong dedication to the practice, shaping her path as both a student and teacher. In 2008, she founded Yogaloft Berlin, which in 2009 became Jivamukti Yoga Berlin and what is now Three Boons Yoga Berlin, creating a space where the richness of yogic tradition merges with a modern, vibrant community.
For many years, Anja, who is advanced certified in the Jivamukti Yoga method (besides also being trained in the Khalsa Way and Ashtanga yoga methods) has been a mentor and facilitator of teacher trainings, guiding students through the Jivamukti method with a profound emphasis on both its philosophical roots and practical application. Her teaching is deeply informed by the ancient wisdom of the Upanishads and the Advaita Vedānta tradition, offering a clear, direct approach to Non-Duality (Oneness). She views teaching as an extension of her own practice—an act of sharing that allows both teacher and student to continuously learn, refine, and grow.
Through her classes, Anja inspires students to cultivate clarity, truthfulness, and the inner peace that arises from dedicated practice. She encourages an experiential understanding of the teachings, where glimpses of deep insight emerge through consistent effort and devotion.
At Three Boons Yoga, Anja remains committed to honoring the transformative power of yoga while fostering an inclusive and engaged community in Berlin and beyond.
Annie Schwalm
„the best way to uplift our own lives is to do all we can to uplift the lives of others“ (Sharon Gannon)
Yoga and the question of happiness have fascinated Annie since she first traveled to India and realized that there is so much more to discover than just a physical practice. From her first Jivamukti Yoga class on she was deeply moved by practicing yoga - as a way of connection - where she immediately felt at home.
Annie is deeply grateful for all of her teachers, who share their passion, inspiration & knowledge, especially Anja Kühnel, her mentor David Essing, ALL teachers near and far, as well as Sharon Gannon and David Life for creating this magical practice.
Annie is a 800h+ certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher, and studied psychology & dance studies. She is currently assisting the “Three Boons 180 Hour Yoga Teacher Training” facilitated by Anja Kuehnel.
Om Tat Sat.
Mach es besonders
Hildegard Hahn
When Hilli discovered the Jivamukti Method in 2016 something clicked for her: the love and respect for all beings, the beautiful sangha and the practice on & off the mat.
During her Psychology studies she finished the 75H Jivamukti Spiritual Warrior - and later the 300H Jivamukti Teacher Training. She completed her 630 hours Three Boons Mentoring Program with her Teacher Filiz.