Christmas Season
Christmas Season Retreats
at The Expanding Light Retreat, Ananda Village CA
Spiritualize the Holiday Season. Deepen Your Enjoyment and Satisfaction by Reconnecting with Your Spiritual Aspirations
Take time to tune into the true meanings of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year. Through weekend retreats, classes, an extraordinary Pilgrimage, and joyful celebrations you can access the heart and blessings of the Holiday Season within your own being.
Experience the feelings of peace, divine love, and joy that you can find at Ananda.
Feel renewed and strengthened, ready to enjoy your own Christmas celebrations in a deeper more joyful way.
ONGOING PROGRAMS
Two popular programs to find peace and open your heart

Personal Retreat
Re-new body, mind and soul at your own pace. Create your own schedule, choosing as much as you like from the rich menu of options offered, along with participating in Community Events that are happening during your stay.

Karma Yoga Ashram Program
This program provides a supportive environment to help you widen your horizons, find unexpected answers to life’s challenges, and discover spiritual qualities within yourself that you didn’t know existed. Stay for 2 weeks to 3 months.
HOLIDAY RETREATS
Feel renewed and strengthened, ready to enjoy your holiday celebrations in a deeper, more joyful way

Ananda Village Pilgrimage
Nov 20 - 27
Deepen your love for God in the holy Temples, Shrines, and Gardens of Ananda Village. This week-long Pilgrimage, with meditation, celebrations, music, and spiritual fellowship, in a setting that has been a focus for devotional Divine aspirations for over 5 decades, will strengthen your dedication to God.

Family Christmas Retreat
Dec 9 - 11
Give a spiritual gift this holiday season by sharing the true spirit of Christmas with your family! Through stories, music, fun activities, and sacred ceremonies we’ll awaken and connect with the inner Light that Jesus and all the great masters have come to share with us.

A Christmas of Inner Awakening
Dec 15 -18
Spiritualize your Christmas season and reconnect with your deeper Self. This retreat features special classes on the yogic teachings of Christ, Christmas festivities, an informal gathering with Ananda Spiritual Directors, a beautiful Christmas concert, and other experiences created just for you

New Year Renewal Retreat
Dec 29 - Jan 1
Relax your body, recharge your mind and refocus your life, with this perennial favorite. Go forward into the New Year rejuvenated, with purpose and solid tools to support your resolutions in all areas of your life. Give yourself a powerful boost for strength and peace of mind.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
You are welcome to join any community events that are happening during your stay

Gratitude Kirtan
Nov 22
Open your heart and let gratitude rush in. Uplift your consciousness with an evening of devotional chanting.

Thanksgiving Dinner
Nov 24
Share friendship and gratitude with Ananda Village residents over a scrumptious vegetarian Thanksgiving Dinner & entertainment.

World Brotherhood Day
Dec 11
A deeply inspirational event dedicated to the remembrance that the whole world is one family, united in Divine love.

Christmas Concert
Dec 17
Ananda Choir sings traditional Christmas songs as well as songs from Christ Lives: An Oratorio by Swami Kriyananda.

All Day Meditation
Dec 23
Annual tradition began by Paramhansa Yogananda – an 8-hour meditation to celebrate the spiritual aspect of Christmas.

Christmas Eve Program
Dec 24
A beautifully costumed live creche scene with a simple candle light ceremony to offer devotion to the Holy family.

Sunday Service
Dec 25
A special Christmas Sunday Service led by Nayaswami Jyotish and Nayaswami Devi with a Christmas story for children added.

New Year's Eve
Dec 31
Includes a fire ceremony, purification practices, world peace prayers, and an ancient vedic tradition to bring in the new year.
Can't Join Us in Person?
Here are two ways to find inspiration online

The Yoga Teachings
of Jesus
An Evergreen Course!
This online course gives you an in-depth understanding of Paramhansa Yogananda’s stirring interpretation of Jesus’s teachings.

Empower Yourself for the
New Year
Dec 31 - Jan 2
Gain from your past experiences, and empower yourself to achieve your goals in the coming year.