Feel Younger. Move Better. Live Longer.
Deep Practice. Mediterranean Living. Your Own Rhythm.
Cultivating Life is now offered privately, creating a more personal experience shaped around you, your interests and what you would most like to explore.
Before you arrive, we talk about your experience, your aims and the areas you would particularly like to focus on. Your programme is then prepared around those priorities rather than asking you to fit into a fixed course.
Cultivating Life can bring together yoga and natural movement, Tai Chi and Qi Gong, functional movement and strength, breathing practices, meditation, philosophy, anatomy and the science of healthy ageing.
You might want to spend more time on movement and alignment, explore meditation and philosophy in greater depth, develop your pranayama practice, work with functional movement patterns, or simply create a balanced week combining several of these areas.
The aim is not simply to give you more information. It is to help you understand your body and mind more clearly, move with greater freedom, develop practical skills you can continue at home, and explore ways of living that may help you stay healthier, stronger and more capable as you age.
Your sessions take place in a dedicated yoga shala in the historic Valencian town of Pego, in a calm and supportive environment where the pace, intensity and content can be adapted to you.
Alongside Private Cultivating Life, we also offer personalised Private Yoga Teacher Training for aspiring teachers and Private Yoga Teaching Intensives for already-qualified teachers who would like individual mentoring, observed teaching practice, feedback and time to develop particular aspects of their teaching.
Your course. Your priorities. Your pace.
One of the advantages of a private course is that the week does not need to follow a rigid formula.
There is time for practice and learning, but also time to enjoy Pego and the surrounding area in your own way.
You can stay in Pego itself — within easy walking distance of the yoga shala, cafés, tapas bars and town squares — or choose accommodation in the countryside and surrounding valleys.
Options range from places such as La Marsellesa and other accommodation in and around Pego to quieter stays in the nearby valleys. If you choose to stay outside the town, a car is recommended and also gives you much more freedom to explore the area.
Between sessions you might wander through Pego's old streets, stop for coffee in one of its squares, enjoy a siesta or discover some of the simple local tapas.
Plant-based options can include verduras a la plancha — grilled seasonal vegetables — and espencat, a traditional Valencian dish of roasted peppers and aubergines with olive oil. There are also cafés, bars and restaurants around the town where you can enjoy everyday Spanish life rather than feeling enclosed within a retreat venue.
If you enjoy swimming, Pego's covered municipal 25-metre pool is around a 15-minute walk from the yoga shala area. From the pool there are views across the orange groves towards the mountains and, on a clear day, the Mediterranean in the distance. Entry is inexpensive, making it an easy option between sessions.
A little farther afield, the Marjal de Pego-Oliva Natural Park, with its wetlands and rice fields, is around a 10-minute drive away.
The Mediterranean beaches around Les Deveses, Oliva and Oliva Nova are also within easy reach.
And if you have a car, you can explore some of the beautiful villages and mountain landscapes surrounding Pego, including L'Atzúbia, Forna, La Vall de Laguar, La Vall d'Ebo and La Vall de Gallinera.
A slow drive through the valleys, a walk, a village lunch or simply some time by the sea can become part of the week without turning the course into a fixed sightseeing itinerary.
Cultivating Life — personalised practice, meaningful learning and time to enjoy Spain.
Discover Cultivating Life
Cultivating Life
A private, personalised course in Valencia,
where ancient wisdom and modern understanding come together.
Meditation • Yoga • Internal Arts • Philosophy • Longevity
A calm and supportive learning environment
For over a decade, students from around the world have come to Yoga Sutra Shala to deepen their understanding of yoga, movement, and meditation in a calm and supportive learning environment.
Set in the historic town of Pego, in the beautiful Valencia region of Spain, Cultivating Life is a private course devoted to living well — blending yoga-inspired practice, natural movement, breathwork, meditation, philosophy and the Chinese internal arts in a programme shaped around the individual.
Most people are not lacking information.
They are lacking clarity
Modern life constantly pulls attention outward —
towards noise, stimulation, and endless activity.
Over time, this creates a subtle sense of disconnection.
Cultivating Life emerged as a response to this.
Not as an escape from life,
but as a way to understand it more deeply.
A unique, transformative experience
During the course, a combination of practices that have supported human wellbeing for thousands of years is explored — brought together in a simple, practical way:
• meditation
• yoga
• Chinese internal arts (Tai Chi & Qi Gong)
• philosophy
• longevity practices
The course is guided by a clinical pharmacist and meditation teacher, bringing together scientific understanding and traditional practice.
A clinical pharmacist is a healthcare professional trained in how the body functions, how lifestyle influences health, and how different approaches — including movement and mindset — affect long-term wellbeing.
This allows the practices to be explored not only experientially,
but also with clarity and understanding — helping to see why they work, not just how.
What are Chinese internal arts?
Chinese internal arts include practices such as Tai Chi and Qi Gong.
They are slow, mindful movement systems designed to:
• improve balance and coordination
• develop internal strength and stability
• calm the nervous system
• restore natural, efficient movement patterns
Over time, these practices help movement become more natural and effortless —
not just in practice, but in everyday life.
Returning to natural movement
Yoga and internal arts are not simply exercises.
They are ways of rediscovering how the body is designed to move.
Through consistent practice, there is a gradual shift towards:
• less tension
• more functional strength
• improved posture and coordination
• greater ease in the body
This naturally carries into everyday life —
walking, lifting, sitting, and simply being.
Looking inward
Meditation and philosophy form the heart of the experience.
Rather than adding more ideas,
they guide attention inward.
Over time, this can lead to a simple but profound recognition:
that clarity, calm, and meaning are not something to chase —
but something already present.
These teachings are explored in a grounded, practical way
that can be integrated into everyday life.
