The body responds to rhythm.
Sanctuary is an opportunity to spend a year exploring Ayurveda in the company of others.
Across eight seasonal weekends on the Sunshine Coast, we gather to learn, practice, reflect, and share conversation as we deepen our understanding of Ayurvedic living.
A community.
A place to return to.
Applications are now open.
Sanctuary
A Year of Living Ayurveda
Sanctuary is an intimate year-long journey through the seasons of Ayurveda.
Over eight immersive weekends on the Sunshine Coast, a small group of participants will gather to explore the wisdom of Ayurveda through nature, community, reflection, and embodied practice.
Each gathering includes teachings, meditation, seasonal rituals, discussion, journaling, movement, time in nature, and spaciousness for integration. Saturday evening sessions allow us to deepen into community, reflection, and shared experience.
This is not a certification program. It is not a retreat. It is not a course.
It is a sanctuary.
A place to return to throughout the year. A place to step away from the pace of everyday life and remember what supports a healthy body, a clear mind, and a meaningful life.
Who Comes to Sanctuary?
People come to Sanctuary because they are ready to learn, reflect, and live differently.
They are curious about Ayurveda and wish to bring its wisdom into everyday life.
They value health, nature, learning, and meaningful community.
They are drawn to a slower pace, a more intentional rhythm, and the opportunity to return to the same circle throughout the year.
If this speaks to you, we invite you to join us.
Over the course of a year, Ayurveda is explored not as a body of information, but as a way of living.
Together we will consider the rhythms of the day, the changing seasons, nourishment, rest, meditation, aging, nature, and the relationship between how we live and how we feel.
Each gathering offers an opportunity to step away from the pace of everyday life and return to questions that are often overlooked.
What nourishes us?
What depletes us?
How do we live in greater alignment with Nature?
How do we listen to what our body is telling us and respond with authority?
The teachings unfold within you gradually over time, allowing understanding to deepen through observation, reflection, discussion, and practice.
Over time, participants discover that the rhythms and practices of Ayurveda offer something increasingly rare in modern life: a sense of steadiness.
A steadier relationship with the body.
A steadier relationship with the mind.
And access to the deep well of wellbeing that the sages of Ayurveda have described for generations.
The Gathering
During January, February, April, May, July and August, October, November, participants gather for a weekend in Roberts Creek on British Columbia's Sunshine Coast.
Hosted in a private modern setting, a ten-minute drive from the Langdale ferry terminal, Sanctuary unfolds through the changing seasons.
As nature shifts from month to month, we explore the cycles and rhythms that shape both the natural world and our own lives.
There are optional retreats in September and March.
There is time for learning.
Time for practice.
Time for conversation.
Time for journaling.
Time for a mindful walk to the beach.
And time for silent meditation and relaxation.
In this way, the teachings of Ayurveda are not only studied, but lived.
Gathering together in this way offers something increasingly rare: the opportunity to be with others at the pace of life itself.
What Awaits You
Eight seasonal weekends on the Sunshine Coast
A welcoming community to return to throughout the year
Gentle yoga, movement, and meditation
Time to slow down, reflect, and reconnect
Building a foundation in Ayurveda and discovering a new lens through which to understand health, life, and yourself
Practical wisdom for creating nourishing self-care routines at home
Exploring Ayurvedic foods, recipes, herbs, and spices
Journaling, conversation, and shared inquiry
Time in nature, including walks, quiet moments, and connection to place
Saturday evening sound baths and tea gatherings
Space for rest, learning, laughter, and meaningful connection
About Francesca
My first yoga class took place in India in 1994.
Over the decades that followed, Ayurveda became an increasingly important lens through which to understand how the rhythms of daily life, the changing seasons, and Nature’s bounty shapes my life.
My relationship with Ayurveda is both personal and professional.
Ayurveda has offered me a way of understanding my own health as it played a significant role in my recovery from a chronic illness.
That experience changed the course of my life.
It deepened my respect for this widsom tradition and strengthened my commitment to living its principles rather than simply studying them.
Like many enduring traditions, Ayurveda reveals itself gradually. Its wisdom is not found in information alone, but through practice, lifestyle and lived experience.
Alongside more than three decades of personal practice, I have continued my formal study of Ayurveda through professional training and ongoing education.
Sanctuary was born from a desire to create the kind of space that has become increasingly rare in modern life: one that values depth over speed, healing conversation over consumption, and community over isolation.
Training & Education
Certified: Ayurvedic Wellness Advisor, Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counsellor, Ayurveda Yoga Teacher 300hr, Yoga Teacher 200hr
Saraswati Institute of Ayurveda and Yoga, American Institute of Vedic Studies, Durga Leela and Swami Hridyananda - Sivananda Vedanta
Yoga Teacher Training - Sandra Sammartino and Semperviva Yoga Teacher Training Foundational Cohort
Yoga Ashram Living 8 months