Ignite Yoga's Roots
UNLEASH
Your Sadhana
A Diwali Gathering for the Spiritually Unsatisfied
Practice as ritual.
Yoga that burns through illusion.
🪔 A Live, In-Person Retreat Gathering in Los Angeles, CA 🪔
Diwali · November 6–8, 2026
Friday Nov 6
4:30 PM
Optional Griffith Park Hike
Saturday Nov 7 · Diwali
9:30 AM – 6:00 PM
Pieter · Lincoln Heights, LA
Sunday Nov 8
9:30 AM – 4:00 PM
Pieter · Lincoln Heights, LA
Early Bird · Save $100 · Limited Time
There is an ache
in the modern yoga world.
A deep hunger for the practice as it actually is. A refusal to keep returning to the version that has been stripped, sold, and softened. A sense, sometimes spoken, sometimes felt, that there is more.
You came to yoga for transformation and lineage. For the philosophy and the ritual and the fire. And somewhere along the way, you remembered: your sadhana is not just for you. It is for the world.
This Diwali, we gather for soul reclamation.
Yoga's roots were never lost.
They were taken.
This Diwali, we gather to reclaim them.
Diwali is celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and others across the world as the festival of liberation, the moment Guru Hargobind was freed from unjust imprisonment, Mahavira reached enlightenment, the goddess returned home. It has never been about light defeating darkness. It has always been about integrating our shadow and returning to wholeness, in action.
​​
This is not a wellness retreat. This is sadhana, unleashed. A gathering for those who want to deepen in yoga for personal and social change and are ready to practice it.
IF YOU'RE READING THIS
This Is for the Spiritually Unsatisfied
🔥 You've felt for years that something is missing from mainstream yoga.
🔥 You came to yoga for transformation, not for a workout class with Sanskrit on the wall.
🔥 You want philosophy applied in action by real teachers, real realization.
🔥 You know your practice is meant to do something... for you, and for the world.
🔥 You're ready to practice like the seekers before you did.
Wherever you are on the path —
your sadhana is for you and for the world.
​
Your gathering is here.
THE ARC OF THE WEEKEND
​
Two Days. One Threshold.
Each day is its own movement. Together, they form the journey from remembering ourselves, integrating our shadows, retrieving our souls to carrying it all home.
DAY ONE · SATURDAY
​
Igniting the Roots
Diwali · The Festival of Return
We open with invocation. We name what was taken. We sit with lineage teachings, decolonize the practice, and study the ethics of liberation. We close in kirtan and Sacred Beats. Diwali celebrated as ritual, not performance.
DAY TWO · SUNDAY
​
Carrying the Fire
Movement · Integration · Service
​
We move with what we've remembered. Somatic practice as activism. Restorative rest. A faculty panel that burns through illusion. We close in community circle, taking the shine home as something we live, not something we keep.
THE GATHERING
Full Schedule
Every session burns through a block, every practice unleashes more insight.
Friday, November 6 - Optional
-
4:30 PM​ — Griffith Park Sunset Hike — Welcome together in a sacred pilgrimage up the mountain. ​
Saturday, November 7 - Sadhana Unleashed: Practice as Ritual 🪔
​ Each morning, enjoy traditional chai and Indian snacks & sweets from Bijal of Masalawalli Chai a cultural treat to begin our practice​
​
-
9:30-10:00 AM — Arrive, soft welcome, checkin, receive a warm welcome with traditional Indian Chai (vegan available) + Light Indian sweet and savory snacks
-
10:00 AM — Welcome, Land Acknowledgement & Igniting the Roots of Yoga: Opening to Sadhana Practice — Susanna Barkataki
-
11:15 AM — Justice Over Injustice: Decolonizing Yoga as Daily Practice — Tejal Patel
-
12:15 PM — Lunch Break — Explore Lincoln Heights — All
-
1:45 PM — Yamas & Niyamas: Ethics as Liberation and Everyday Sadhana — Susanna Barkataki
-
3:15 PM — Brahmacharya: Boundaries as a Sacred Path — Zabie Yamasaki
-
4:15 PM — Kirtan as Sadhana: A Diwali Mantra Ritual — Puja Singh
-
5:15 PM — Sacred Beats: Diwali Celebration with DJ Prannit — DJ Prannit
-
5:45 PM — Closing Circle: Shine Your Light! — Susanna Barkataki
Sunday, November 8 - Carry the Fire
​ Each morning, enjoy traditional chai and Indian snacks & sweets from Bijal of Masalawalli Chai a cultural treat to begin our practice​
​
-
9:30-10:00 AM Arrive, soft welcome, checkin, receive a warm welcome with traditional Indian Chai (vegan available) + Light Indian sweet and savory snacks
-
10:00 AM — Spark Your Sadhana in Motion: Somatic Practice & Yoga as Activism — Rima Rabbath & Harpinder Kaur Mann
-
11:00 AM — Soothe Your Sadhana in Stillness: Restorative Practice & Sound Bath — Rima & Harpinder
-
12:00 PM — Lunch Break — Explore Lincoln Heights — All
-
1:30 PM — Faculty Fireside: Unleash Your Sadhana — Susanna · Tejal · Rima · Harpinder
-
3:00 PM — Ignite the Fire: Closing Ritual & Community Circle — All Faculty
Chai and naasto lounge to begin and integration space woven throughout both days.​
WHAT AWAITS YOU
Your Registration Includes
Practice as Ritual
Asana, pranayama, mantra, yoga philosophy in life & movement. Practice as ritual, rather than performance, as we bring yoga into our life, family, community and unleash our sadhana.
Liberatory Teachings
The Yamas & Niyamas, decolonizing yoga, ethics as liberation, brahmacharya / boundaries as sadhana. The teachings that burn through illusion.
Diwali Kirtan & Celebration
Saturday closes with mantra kirtan, sacred sound, and a Diwali DJ celebration. Dance as devotion. Ritual as joy.
Chai Lounge & Community
Traditional vegan chai, Indian snacks, and sweets with Masalawalli Chai each morning a cultural welcome and a moment of gathering before we begin.
15 Yoga Alliance CEUs
Roots of Yoga: Sadhana, Lineage & Liberation
Real education that changes how you teach.
Friday Sunset Hike
Optional but beloved — Griffith Park to the iconic Hollywood sign viewpoint at 4:30 PM Friday evening.
This is a gathering and lodging, travel and meals are on your own each day so you can explore the best of what LA has to offer. We'll send a curated guide to the best spots near Pieter in Lincoln Heights.
THE TEACHERS WHO NEVER SOFTENED THE PRACTICE
​
Susanna Barkataki
Lead Faculty · Author · PhD Scholar · Founder of Ignite
Author of the #1 international bestseller Embrace Yoga's Roots and Ignite Your Yoga (Shambhala / Penguin Random House). Founder of Ignite Institute for Yogic Studies and Social Change. PhD scholar in Yoga Psychology. International yoga teacher for over two decades. Her TEDx talk on cultural appreciation in yoga has surpassed 300,000 views. She has studied with masters in the Himalayas and is ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh. She has trained 2,500+ teachers and reached over 2 million practitioners through free yoga education.
Susanna doesn't just teach yoga's roots. She lives them.
WITH SUPPORTING FACULTY
Tejal Patel
Rima Rabbath
Zabie Yamasaki
Harpinder Kaur Mann
Puja Singh
DJ Prannit
Masalawalli Chai & Treats Traditional vegan chai, Indian snacks, and sweets from Bijal of Masalawalli Chai each morning a cultural welcome and a moment of gathering before we begin.
Bijal
A space where you don't shrink. Don't perform.
Where chai warms your hands and your body begins to exhale.
Come as you are. Practice like you mean it.
THE LINEAGE THAT HOLDS US
From Ancient Sages
to Today's Fire Carriers
"I have seen that the Divine dwells in all things —
why then discriminate?"
— Janabai, 13th century poet-saint
​
Take your place among the historical and present-day yoga changemakers who carried this practice forward — through suppression, through erasure, through every attempt to dilute it. They held the fire so we could gather here, now, on Diwali, and remember what yoga has always been.
​
Mirabai. Akka Mahadevi. Brihannala. Janabai.
And now you.
VOICES FROM PAST GATHERINGS
What People Say
CERTIFICATION
Roots of Yoga
15 Yoga Alliance CEUs
Real education that changes how you practice and how you teach. Not a box to check — a path to walk.
​
🎓
​
Roots of Yoga: Sadhana, Lineage & Liberation
Certification included with all registrations​​​
​
✨ ​Live immersive teachings with Susanna and faculty
✨ Two full days of practice, honest dialogue, and embodied learning
✨ Digital manual included
✨ Certificate of completion upon short reflection project
✨ 15 CEUs with Yoga Alliance
INVESTMENT
Choose What Is Right for You
We offer a sliding scale because access matters, and because we are committed to faculty, venue, and labor being honored. The Supporter tier covers our costs. The Sustainer tier creates room for Community Access spots. We trust you to choose what is true for you.
​
This intimate gathering will sell out! Get your limited spot now.
SUSTAINER
$750
or 2 payments of $375
​​
The sustainer rate for this training.
​​
​
​
30 Spots Available
SUPPORTER
$550
or 2 payments of $275
​
The supporter rate for this gathering
​
​
Only 10 Spots!
COMMUNITY ACCESS
$450
or 2 payments of $225
​
For those for whom cost is a real barrier. You are welcome here.
​
Only 10 Spots!
MOST COMMON
🪔 EARLY BIRD SPECIAL
​
Save $100 with code ROOTS100, available for a limited time.
Plus receive a signed copy of Susanna's book Ignite Your Yoga.
🔥 All teachings, practices and workshops across both full days
🔥 Friday optional Griffith Park sunset hike with community
🔥 Roots of Yoga Certification (15 CEUs) and digital manual
🔥 Chai lounge and snacks throughout both days
🔥 Diwali kirtan and Sacred Beats celebration Saturday evening
🔥 Faculty panel and closing ritual
🔥 Intimate gathering - 40 to 60 participants, not a conference
This is a non-residential gathering.
Lodging, food and travel not included.
We'll send a curated guide to the best spots near
Pieter in Lincoln Heights.
Questions? Email us hello@ignitebewell.com
