375 Panterkill Road PO Box 70 Phoenicia, NY 12464 United States
April 5 - 10, 2026
About this Retreat
John Campbell is a Dharma and yoga teacher, Mysore yoga school graduate, initiate of senior Tibetan Lamas, and graduate of Columbia University Buddhist Studies. He is a senior Certified teacher in the Ashtanga Yoga lineage of southern India, and a practitioner-teacher of Tibetan internal yogas.
A scholar of Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, he received a PhD in Religion from Columbia University, and has been the recipient of numerous scholarly awards for his research on the history of tantric Buddhist yoga systems India. After two decades teaching in academia, he now focuses on translation, regularly collaborating with his mentor Prof. Robert A. F. Thurman key tantric Buddhist works of the Nalanda University tradition from Sanskrit and Tibetan. He serves as a core faculty member with the Vajra Yoga center for the study and practice of Indo-Tibetan yogic sciences based at Tibet House US in New York City. A native New Yorker, he lives in Newburgh, NY with his wife, children, and assorted animal friends.
Paulina Daemmrich is a yoga and meditation teacher and artist based between Mexico and Catskills. Born in Poland, she has practised and studied yogic and tantric mind-body practices internationally for over 18 years and her teaching practice is influenced by hatha yoga (Ashtanga Vinyasa in Krishnamacharya lineage), tibetan yogas (Nejang and Trulkhor in Yuthok Nyingthig lineage), tantric science of Vajrayana tibetan buddhism and Ati Dzogchen tradition. Paulina is a Tibetan medicine (Sowa Rigpa) counselor, NeuroMeditation Level II instructor and Yoga Nidra teacher. Before her heart took over, she worked as an international lawyer in Scotland and Germany and experienced the consequences of living under chronic stress and a transition of unplugging from the corporate matrix.
Inspired by her passion for contemporary dance choreography, Paulina tenderly guides her students through the yogic asanas, free flow movement and breathing practices, bringing together the art of embodiment and mind/ dream architecture from across different traditions. Empowering movement with sound and mantra healing is an integral part of her practice. Her main objective as a teacher is to gently hold space with her students, meeting each practitioner where they are at. She takes a non-dual, holistic approach to yoga practice and study and loves to have a good laugh with her fellow yogis and yoginis.
Paulina has been blessed with studying the yogic and tantric mind-body practices with Professor Bob Thurman, Michele Loew, Kalu Rinpoche and Lea Garnier (Menla, New York); dr. Nida Chenagtsang, dr. Caroline van Damme and Christiana Polites (Pureland Farms, California); Cris Shanti and Jorge Espinoza (Mexico); Kat Shaw (Edinburgh, Scotland); Sharath (Mysore, India) and dr. Jeff Tarrant (Neuromeditation Institute, Oregon), among others.
Follow her on instagram @skydancer.art.studio
Robert Thurman is Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University as well as co-founder and President of
Tibet House US and it's
Menla Retreat & Spa. A world-wide lecturer on Tibetan Buddhism, activist for the plight of the Tibetan people, translator of Buddhist texts, and writer of popular Buddhist books. He recently has been awarded the Padma Shri Award, India’s fourth highest civilian honor for achievement in enriching Indian education and literature. His most recent book is the 300 page graphic novel,
Man of Peace: the Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet.
Suggested Books & Audio by Robert A.F. Thurman:
Man of Peace: Illustrated Life Story of Tibet’s Dalai Lama (Book),
Infinite Life: Awakening to Bliss Within (Book),
Anger: The Seven Deadly Sins (Book),
Inner Revolution (Book),
Circling the Sacred Mountain : A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas (Book),
Essential Tibetan Buddhism (Book),
The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Book of Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between (Book)
The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism (Book),
The Central Philosophy of Tibet (Book),
The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture (Book),
Life & Teachings of Tsong Khapa (Book),
Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet, and the World (Book) &
Liberation Upon Hearing in the Between: Living with the Tibetan Book of the Dead (Audio).
To Learn More About Robert A.F. Thurman please visit: Website |
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Details of this retreat
Join us for a joyful, week-long immersion in yoga, meditation, and dharma with master teachers of Vajrayoga™, Tibet House US’s school of yoga and Indian inner science, integrating physical, meditative, and philosophical disciplines common to Hatha Yoga and the Indo-Tibetan Hindu and Buddhist traditions.
This retreat is an opportunity to locate your yogic practice within the living context of Indo-Tibetan spirituality and the evolutionary principles of enlightenment. Teachings draw from Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras, the Haṭha Yoga Pradīpikā, and the sutras and tantras of the Buddhist masters, offering participants an experiential entry into the shared inner sciences of Indian and Tibetan wisdom traditions.
Throughout the retreat, legendary scholar-yogi Robert Thurman guides your way to grounding your yoga in wisdom teachings, so that practice becomes a vehicle for uplifting the mind—from stress to joy—while opening the body to vitality, balance, and inner freedom.
Master instructors John and Paulina provide instruction in the transformative methods of Hatha and Tibetan healing yoga, supporting the opening of both the physical body and subtle nervous system. Evenings will conclude with deeply restorative Yoga Nidra vocalization, and visualization, to support integration and rest.
All levels are welcome. Practices will be accessible and adaptable, with modifications offered to support those with injuries or physical limitations.
*The style of the upcoming teachings differs from traditional, academic presentation. What is being relayed is not simply information, but an invitation into a living wisdom tradition. At the heart of the retreat experience, is the presence of teachers, and the presence of yourself, as student. This relational emphasis, and your innate capacity to absorb, question, and clarify are your keenest assets in an unfolding, and at times, unpredictable atmosphere of learning.
Schedule:
Sunday, April 5
3 - 6 pm Arrival & Check-in
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm Welcome Program
Monday through Thursday, April 6 - 9
7 - 8 am Morning Yoga
8 - 9 am Breakfast
9:30 am - 12:30 pm Philosophy & Dharma Talk
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch
1:30 - 4 pm Free time for Dewa Spa Healing Treatments or Time in Nature
4 - 6 pm Meditation and Yoga
6 - 7 pm Dinner
7:30 - 9 pm Yoga Nidra and Chanting
Friday, April 10
7 - 11 am Check-out of Rooms
7 - 8 am Yoga
8 - 9 am Breakfast
10 am - 12 pm Fire Puja
12:30 - 1:30 pm Lunch & Departure
*Please note this schedule is subject to change.
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