4th - 7th september 2026
FIND DEEP REST IN NATURE.
Your natural state is at peace, healthy, content and present.
Are you ready to remove the obstacles to your most rested self?
In order for you to be truly present with your life and loved ones, you need to acknowledge and release the tensions that hold you back from a relaxed and present life.
Our Silent Retreats are a unique environment that supports mind, body and soul with the exact ingredients to get a powerful result:
Deep rest and an open heart.
Deconditioning Retreat
3-day Deconditioning retreats are designed for beginners and advanced meditators alike. The focus is on rest and repair of the nervous system. We cover awakening topics and meditations, however the emphasis is on healing mind and body systems.
4-day Awakening retreats are designed for advanced meditators. Healing, rest and repair of the nervous system are always a part of retreats. However in the Awakening retreats, time is spent in longer meditations. You must have completed at least one retreat previously with Ava to join the Awakening retreat.
Deconditioning: More rest and guided meditations
Awakening: More stillness
Why Silence?
Our unique retreats support you to be comfortable taking silence. Silence gives us space for the nervous system to unravels without any effort; we connect to our natural state of being.
In these retreats you will receive techniques and trainings to take your meditation practice much deeper, in an incredible forest setting. This retreat brings both the gentle and strong parts of the practice together in a way that is simple yet profoundly effective.
What to Expect
After your orientation on the first evening, you will not talk for the entire retreat until the end. You can communicate via notes to the facilitators, and everything is organised for you to flow from one rest-stop to the next. The daily sessions are held in a beautiful yoga hall.
You will experience DEEP rest and transformation with a group of like-minded individuals in a nurturing environment.
Special care is taken over 10 years of retreats to ensure you are comfortable and supported. You will not need to plan or worry about anything. Read the Guidelines carefully before applying.
The retreat is fully guided with yoga and meditation sessions spaced throughout the day with time for naps and exploring.
Expect rich philosophy delivered in a digestible way, a variety of meditation techniques and a deep sense of bliss and rest in your physical body.
You will leave with a fresh perspective on your life, as well as a connection to your Heart and the infinite Reality.
Dates
Arrive: Friday, September 4th by 5:30pm latest.
Leave: Monday, September 7th after 10am.
Booking Instructions
shared room: $1099
private room: $1499
private room with ensuite: $1599
Includes: Retreat program, 3 nights accommodation & all meals
Step 1: Fill out an APPLICATION form, providing as much detail as possible.
Step 2: Secure booking with a PAYMENT through credit card or bank deposit.
═ CREDIT CARD: Use the green buttons to the right
═ BANK TRANSFER: Submit payment into account below with your name
═ REPEATERS & SPANDA MEMBERS: Receive $100 off
Refund Policy:
100% refund or credit can be granted for cancellations more than 35 days before Retreat start date.
For cancellations within 35 days of retreat start, credit or refund can be offered upon filling of the cancelled spot.
**A $50 admin fee applies for all credit or refunds.
Limited places.
Past Retreaters
"I did a 7 day Vipassana last year and honestly I feel like I got deeper with these meditations even though it was through comfort, ease
and joy."
~ Nikki Born
"I'm so incredibly grateful these retreats exist!
~ Adrian Vujcic
"For me as a business owner I never switch off fully, so the retreat is the perfect place to power down and go inward to remind yourself who and what you really are.
I think everyone should do one."
~ Dave Kane
“As a busy mum of four, life moves fast. Every time I attend this silent retreat I feel like I can return to myself. Sharing the space with likeminded people, each with different life stories, yet all moving to the same intentions. Post retreat, I can feel the echoes of that reset and the tools provided to keep exploring the universe from my mumma perspective in sweet presence and less rush. I find myself enjoying one thing at a time, discovering a quiet pleasure in the simplest moments.”
~ Alejandra Cockran
Retreat Venue
Nestled along the banks of the Donnelly River, Donnelly Lakes retreat offers us 120 acres of serene, quiet, nature filled forest, lakes and river frontage. With endless trails, nooks and private jetties, our inner work is magnified by the beauty, peace and deep presence of nature.
Who Can Attend?
This retreat is suitable for beginners and advanced meditators alike; we invite you to receive the immense benefits of trauma-informed yoga, meditation, silence and nature.
The yoga practice is all levels, to facilitate rejuvenation and wellbeing rather than achieving postures or ‘performing’ meditation. Please fill out the application form to get a better feel of the retreat and for us to gauge any unique requirements you might have and help you decide which retreat would be best.
What Is Included?
All accommodation and food are included. Delicious, healthy and hearty, home cooked vegetarian meals will be served 3 times a day. Morning Functional Flow, daily restorative and evening Yin practices, silent sitting meditations supported by discourses and training from modern and traditional yoga technologies. Space is limited.
Who Is Your Teacher?
Ava Irani is the retreat leader and is supported by a retreat coordinator and guest teacher. She has been guiding silent yoga and meditation retreats since 2013.
Ava is the director of Functional Spirituality and the popular yoga and meditation centre Spanda School. She is a philosopher with a degree from the University of Sydney, retreat leader, business owner and somatic therapist. Her deepest passions are non-dual philosophies, community healing and looking at the impacts of spirituality.
Ava’s path started with a fervour for awakening and non-duality. However over the years her path has matured with a more functional approach. Her work now considers the wide-spread complex trauma that lies at the heart of almost every obstacle to happy, healthy and connected living, and marries profound mystical approaches with nervous system regulation.
Ava is predominantly known for her thriving yoga studio, silent retreats and the phenomenal teachers that emerge from her yoga and trauma-informed certifications. She lives in Nannup, Western Australia with her family and animals.
Past experiences
“It’s hard to put into words how much the retreat changed my perspective, and how differently I feel now. You had a very profound effect on me, and for that I’m very, very grateful”
~ Matt Barbour
“I feel like a new person since the retreat. I feel so calm within myself , even more energised like I can operate off less sleep and have a level of clarity of my mind that I haven’t really experienced before . Like I mentioned before I left the retreat , I feel this was the ultimate culmination of a journey I’ve been on and I have never felt better within myself . The timing could not of been any more perfect for me.
~ Angela Papasergio
“I thoroughly enjoyed the retreat with you and the group. It was exactly what I was after except I could have gone for another few days on your longer one:) (maybe next year?). I am aware that I am very mind dominated (like most people) and believe to be an open hearted person however it is not a core truth unless I can live like this in a much more integrated and balanced way. My intention was to experience a deeper stillness and go into the heartspace as an anchor to return to as often as I can in general day to day life. Your structured retreat helped me get there on the Sunday evening and now also with some new techniques and material (Quotes and Poems book:) I feel I can recall the steps to be more open hearted more often. One nice visualisation you introduced us to was the ember in the heart space which I find really conjures up that centering feeling and openness. I also really enjoyed a little more understanding of the Yin / Yang which academically I knew, however to experience more Yin for a whole weekend I now Know and have started to integrate routines to find more of that balance through space and practice.”
~ Ben Auld
Sample Retreat Schedule