Nectar Yoga Retreat — Bowen Island, Canada
A forest yoga retreat centre on 20 acres of Bowen Island, BC, 20 minutes by ferry from Vancouver
Nectar began with a detour. Andrea Clark and Satjeet Pandher ended up at an ashram in India, Satjeet's ancestral land, where Raja Yoga and a deep reverence for the natural world reshaped their purpose. The steady rhythms of country community stayed with them, and with them the wish for a nature-centric healing place in Canada.
Back on the west coast in 2014, Bowen Island called them. They made a home and then a retreat centre where guests could rest and be tended. As the community grew they built what they call Nectar 2.0, moving to a larger forested site of 20 acres with the help of family, friends and their kula, the Sanskrit word for assembly or family. They describe stewardship of the land as their life's work, and say it has been consciously left mainly untouched. The centre stands on Nexwlélexwm, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Squamish Nation.
The cottages are Scandinavian-inspired and named after crystals. Practice happens in a geodesic yoga dome, where days open with guided meditation, either a silent walk through the woods or a seated sit, followed by alignment-based asana. Breakfast is vegetarian, served at a long harvest table in Onyx Lodge and sourced from Bowen Island or BC's west coast wherever possible. The two-night Nectar Experience wraps all of this around an afternoon left open to explore the island.
The calendar turns with the seasons: solstice sound baths, kirtan evenings, cacao and Himalayan breathwork ceremonies, a one-day grief retreat, a five-day craft camp. Visiting teachers host their own gatherings, and groups can rent the property from March to November, sleeping up to 15. In 2025 the founders opened Mist Thermal Sanctuary next door, with private sauna and cold plunge in the forest.
Traditions: Raja Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Bhakti Kirtan, Himalayan Breathwork, Non-dual Shaiva Tantra, Reiki
Programs: The Nectar Experience (2-night stay), Medicine Buddha Circle, Community Kirtan Chanting, Cacao and Himalayan Breathwork Ceremony, Touching The Bruise: A Grief Retreat, Many Hands Retreat: A Craft Camp, Winter Solstice Breath Work + Sound Bath, Mist Thermal Sauna and Cold Plunge Session