Kitchen Ritual Cooking Retreats
Kitchen Ritual Retreats are your opportunity to reconnect to the magic of cooking.
Come remember what it is to feel nourished. Experience how joyful cooking can be when you can enjoy the process from start to finish, instead of treating it as a grueling chore. Through mindful group cooking sessions, guided meditation exercises, and contemplative journaling, we will examine our relationships with food, while building culinary skills to take home and share.
Each retreat will include both cooking theory and practice, while introducing different themes and cuisines, with a focus on seasonal ingredients. Kitchen Ritual retreats are open to all, regardless of your comfort level in the kitchen.
UPCOMING RETREATS:
April 3–5, 2020 // Ojai, CA
The Medicinal Kitchen: Cooking as a Path of Healing
“Every meal is an opportunity to heal.”
Each time we prepare our own food, we have the opportunity to make food choices that serve our health, and we also have the chance to approach cooking as a practice that calms the mind and body. Instead of rushing through food preparation and treating it as a depleting chore, cooking can be a source of joy and rejuvenation.
Join me for a weekend at a magical estate nestled in Ojai's secluded East End, where two kitchens await us, ready to be filled with tastes, smells and our collective mindful energy.
This retreat will specifically focus on ways we can begin to see our kitchen as a giant medicine cabinet (with a specific emphasis on the healing properties of food as seen through the lens of the ancient Indian healing system of Ayurveda), and how we can hone our attitudes around cooking to allow our time in the kitchen to be a soothing, therapeutic experience, rather than a source of stress.
This weekend will include an exploration into the wonderful world of medicinal weeds with Meaghan Snider, a local herbal educator and wisdom keeper who is stepped in the paths of Planetary herbalism, the Wise Woman Way and Ayurveda. We’ll forage amongst the springtime abundance of greenery and learn simple, everyday ways to include nature’s wild medicine in our cooking for enjoyment year-round. We will make handcrafted herbal treasures to take home, while sampling plenty during our weekend together as well.
This intimate retreat will include:
Hands-on cooking sessions, including an in-depth class on Vegetarian Indian Cooking
A foraging hike and culinary herbal medicine making workshop with Meaghan Snider, along with herbal treats to take home
A visit to the Ojai Farmers Market to source our final meal together
Guided meditation and Yoga Nidra sessions
Journaling activities
Free time for connecting, hiking, relaxing, reading
Recipe packets to take home
Two nights accommodations and all meals
Timing & Logistics: Please plan to arrive in Ojai on Friday around 2 p.m. We will begin promptly at 3 p.m. that day. The retreat concludes on Sunday around 1 p.m.
For those who will be flying in, Santa Barbara is the closest airport, although you will find more flight options and better fares if you fly into LAX. If you choose to fly in and out of LAX, I am happy to coordinate a rideshare for you with one of our local participants.
© Seth Greenberg
Pricing & Accommodations
* Prices listed are per person. Double occupancy prices are for 2 people sharing a queen bed. All rooms except the private studio have shared bathrooms, shared by maximum 2-3 people. For those with significant financial need, contact Meredith about work-trade options.
Main House – Large Queen Bed Room (SOLD OUT)
$685 single occupancy/$635 double occupancy
Main House – Small Queen Bed Room (SOLD OUT)
$635 single occupancy/$585 double occupancy
Main House - Twin Bed Room (SOLD OUT)
$565 single occupancy only
Main House - Shared "Indoor Camping" (2 twin daybeds available in private sitting room - BYO bedding; SOLD OUT)
$475 per person
Guest House - Private Studio (1 available)
$735 single occupancy/$685 double occupancy
Guest House - Queen Bed Rooms (SOLD OUT)
$585 single occupancy/$535 double occupancy
Commuter Rate - For Ojai locals, or those wishing to arrange their own accommodations offsite
$405 per person
To register, email me (mer@pranaful.com) with your desired accommodation and I will get back to you to confirm availability. Payment accepted via Venmo or Paypal, or via other arrangements. Balance due at time of booking, or a payment plan can be worked out as needed ($250 non-refundable deposit, and balance paid within 30 days of retreat start).
About the location: This retreat will be hosted at a small, private retreat center in Ojai's East End. Built in 1908, this historic property was once home to J. Krishnamurti, and features a main house and guest house, a yoga studio space, outdoor koi garden, and a bio-pool for swimming. The secluded property is a perfect location for star-gazing, enjoying sunset views over the Topa Topa mountains, and a place where your soul will feel at ease. Click the gallery images below to see this stunning property in its full splendor!
Want to host a Kitchen Ritual retreat in your part of the country? Contact Meredith using the button at the bottom of this page.