Färjås Yogaretreats B&B — Färjåsvägen 60, Sweden

A modern monastery for silent and tea retreats between sea and mountain, Vallda

On a Friday evening at Färjås, the preliminary program turns at 21:00: guests enter silence (mauna). Talking, phones and mirrors are set aside, and pen and paper are enough for any practical question. The silence holds until 16:00 on Sunday. Each morning begins with a tea ceremony, with dark fermented Chinese teas, Pu'erh and Liu Bao, aged from the 1980s and 1990s. The house has its own history. According to founder Konrad Swenninger, the main building was put up by his great-grandmother Noemi so that she could spend her last years here. After she died, his uncle Ove stayed on. Much of the furniture and some of the portraits remain, because, as Swenninger writes, the place builds on their history. He came to yoga in 1996 and has taught it, with tantra and meditation, for more than twenty-five years. Färjås Yogaretreats was founded in 2012 and has since received many hundreds of visitors. The setting is coastal. Färjås lies along the mountain between the Vallda Sandö and Hördalen nature reserves, with forest behind and views over coastal meadows and the sea. It stands on an old monastery estate where medicinal herbs grow wild, with Bronze Age graves and "Prostens Hälsokälla", the Parish Priest's Healing Spring, nearby. Färjås Community Farm grows vegetables and herbs and keeps bees, hens and sheep. Firewood comes from the forest, and the work is done with the County Administrative Board, the West Coast Foundation and local farmers. The retreats are not the only way to stay. Guests come for a yogic bed and breakfast, for weeks of reading or writing, or as groups holding their own retreats. There are three double rooms and three cabins for up to 12, with vegetarian seasonal meals, and no coffee, alcohol or nicotine. Two to four people can live here full-time in monastery lodging, which always begins with a trial period. Classroom teaching stopped after the Covid years, but open practice and conversation continue. A guest, Elin, wrote in the guestbook of "wonderful 12 days in silence".

Traditions: Shaiva Tantra, Nordic Stav, Zhuwang Dao, Hatha Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Tea Ceremony

Programs: Silent Meditation Retreat, Tea Retreat, Daily Tea Ceremony, Yoga and Yoga Nidra, Monthly Sivaratri Celebrations, Tailored Private Retreats, Group Retreat Hosting, Yogic Bed & Breakfast