Join us in Mexico on the Caribbean edge of the Yucatán Peninsula, where jungle meets turquoise sea. Tulum is part of the living Maya world: ancestral clifftop temples overlooking the water, freshwater cenotes beneath the limestone, and traditions of craft, color, and ceremony that Maya communities carry forward today, as they have for centuries.
Souljourn Yoga founder Jordan Ashley, PhD, and botanical textile dyer, Erica Kowalsky will guide a 5-day/4-night transformative journey at Najil Chak, a design-forward private art residence reserved exclusively for our group. This retreat blends yoga, botanical dye artistry, and cultural exchange - inviting us to slow down, engage with the land, and practice being present.
Days are shaped by sun and color: morning vinyasa on the mat with Jordan, afternoons drawing pigment from plants with Erica, jungle landscapes and fresh, healthy food. The retreat will include a day as guests of a Maya family on their homestead, a swim in a cenote, an afternoon at the beach, and a visit to engage with the kids of Los Amigos De La Esquina, connecting through yoga and art. It's an invitation to step back from the fast-paced world and reconnect with your creative source. We will work with raw botanical materials and organic extracts, learn from the plants that grow in this landscape and the people who know them best, and transform textiles into living color stories, a keepsake that carries the memory of the retreat long after you return home.
Our home for the week is Najil Chak (Na-heel Chak), a private art residence where contemporary architecture merges seamlessly with lush natural surroundings. A well-designed home is a work of art: six en-suite bedrooms across 29,000 square feet of curated indoor-outdoor living, a private wellness and art studio, tropical gardens, a pool, and a fire pit beneath the palms. Founded by Frank Wall and Karen Gutiérrez, Najil Chak is an artistic haven where nature inspires creativity, a sanctuary for embodied learning and intentional gathering, with a wellness studio inviting us to leave renewed and inspired. The residence's private chef prepares three healthy, freshly cooked meals a day, served across indoor and outdoor dining spaces. Long, unhurried meals in the garden are as much a part of the retreat as the practice itself.
In partnership with Los Amigos De La Esquina (LADLE), each participant’s $200 donation directly supports this Tulum nonprofit community center. LADLE has empowered Native Mayan and Mexican kids through art, wellbeing, environmental consciousness, and life skills since 2017. Most of the girls LADLE serves are between 12 and 18 years old and have few other safe spaces to express themselves in a free, nurturing environment fostering creativity, confidence, and emotional resilience. LADLE offers about 20 free workshops every week, year-round, and your donation will help sustain this consistent presence for the community. During our visit, we'll move through a yoga class with the group and create an art project together, side by side, making and moving together in Tulum.
This is a retreat of making and moving, slowly. Time to create with your hands, breathe with intention, and meet a community as guests, with openness and care. Like the dyes we'll draw from plants, the experience settles in gradually and leaves an imprint that lasts.