I taught a retreat for the first time back in 2012.
It was a badly organized shit show featuring a sexual predator on the team and loads of underpaid work because it’s ‘an honor and a privilege’ to get to do something like that. I’ve previously written about it here.
If memory serves, I’ve since then hosted and/or taught at 46 retreats. And the ‘retreat business’ has exploded in the meantime.
I have decided to take a break from this for awhile. And as I’m writing this, it’s unclear whether I’ll continue or not.
Many students have expressed sadness and disappointment. So I thought that it might be helpful to write this post as an explanation, and also, as information for all the hopeful future retreat hosts out there.
I’ve mostly loved the work of organizing and hosting retreats. It’s adventurous, creative, you get to travel, and being on retreat with amazing people is a beautiful experience. In my case, a gorgeous community has formed, and many people keep on returning time and time again. I do feel incredible grateful.
Let me explain how this thing works!
A retreat starts with coming up with a concept or a teaching I’d like to share. The next step is finding a suitable location to host the retreat. This can happen via a recommendation or chance encounter with a beautiful place. Or by googling. I visited every single venue I worked with, except for two. In one case, my co-facilitator visited the place, and in the other case, the recommendation came from a trusted long time student.
Once the venue is selected you have to secure it. This usually happens by signing a contract and paying a deposit. In my experience the amount of the deposit ranges from €500 to €2000.
This means that if you don’t fill the minimum number of spots (decided by the venue) you lose the money paid.
If you are a yoga teacher, living on the margins, that can be a big blow.
Once that’s done you need to create some sort of promotional material, set a price and then get cranking on the hardest and most awful part of the job: Sell the goddamn thing!
Many yoga teachers have excellent skills in marketing. I know next to nothing about how to write sales-y copy, about SEO or how to make Facebook ads, or how social media algorithms works. I don’t want to know about funnel schemes, and I’ve never worked with a strategist or branding expert. To be honest, all of these things make me feel queasy, and that’s probably not a great starting point if you’re going to run a business.
I just did a quick search for upcoming yoga retreats in Europe, some in places where I’ve hosted many, like Mallorca, Sicily and Germany, and one in a place I’ve never even been (Lithuania).
As you’ll see, the prices vary greatly.
At the end of August you can join a retreat in the south of Germany, 4 nights for the price of €465 if you bring your own tent. Or you can head to Lithuania at the end of September, where prices for 5 nights start at €820 for a shared triple room. If that doesn’t sound like your thing maybe you’d like to join a silent retreat in Mallorca in October starting at €2290 for 5 nights in a shared double with communal bathroom. Or, how about 4 nights in Sicily in November starting at €1108?
It’s very hard to know what goes into the pricing of these offerings. Comparing the schedules, all offer 2-3 meals a day, a full schedule or yoga and meditation and maybe some other stuff. Two seem to be taught by one teacher only, one by two and one by three. I have no idea how experienced or not these teachers are, or if that even matters.
One thing I do know though, is that the competition is fierce, and that most of those fees are probably going to pay for the real estate (the location) and the food/chef, and then, depending on where the facilitator pays taxes, the VAT.
And depending on where you are, and whether you decide to use only organic products or not, naturally the cost of food could vary greatly.
Is there ‘karma yoga’ involved, meaning some people who work at the retreats are unpaid?
Is there paid advertising happening? Assistants taking care of the 'boring’ stuff?
If you are a new teacher in Germany, making under a certain amount, you might be exempt from VAT. That will remove 19% from the price. If you are a teacher paying tax in Spain, it will add 21% to the price. And, if you are doing business in Sweden, under the flag of YOGA, you only need to add 6% of VAT.
If there are two teachers teaching, well, then, there are two people who need to be paid.
I know several teachers who’ve poured their hearts out and worked their asses off and still made less than €100 from a retreat. And I do know some who’ve ended up paying to host a retreat.
I’m sure there are some who make a shit ton of money on these sort of ventures. My personal experience is that if you count all the hours of work that goes into the making of a retreat: the brainstorming, the location scouting, the selling, the admin, the tons of emails, the transportation question and then, the actual teaching and hosting, the hourly rate would probably land on less than €10 …
I don’t want to make this all about money, but for sure that is part of the decision for me. In 2025 it was hard (for me) to sell my retreats. Where previously, they were mostly sold out. This year, none did.
But also, I’m really craving being a participant, a student.
I want space to be held for ME.
I want to learn new things.
And I need time to figure out how to integrate the things that I’ve learned, and to figure out how to move forward, if I move forward with this particular thing.
My last retreat is coming up in gorgeous Skåne, in the south of Sweden, and it’s a silent meditation retreat, reflecting my current interest and belief that nothing could be more worthy than training one’s attention to stay here and now — the only place our life takes place.
Thanks for reading & I am super keen to hear your thoughts below! Have you organized retreats and had a different experience? Are you a retreat participant who finds retreats too expensive?