A unique facility located in the lap of nature, nestled within the campus of SWAN Yoga Retreat. It is not an Ayurveda hospital, an Ayurveda clinic, or a fancy Ayurveda resort — it is a combination of it all.
I. · The Place
About SWAN Ayurveda in Goa, India
SWAN Ayurveda in Goa, India, is a unique facility located in the lap of nature, nestled within the campus of SWAN Yoga Retreat.
We have created a space where healing is the main focus, using the age-old knowledge of Ayurveda.
It is not an Ayurveda hospital, an Ayurveda clinic, or a fancy Ayurveda resort: it is a combination of it all.
Ayurveda is not a service. Panchakarma is not a package. They are living traditions that require the right conditions to unfold. Healing is not created by a single treatment, a therapist, or a physician. It emerges from an ecosystem — from the people, the place, the rhythms of the day, the food, the practices, and the intention with which they are offered.
For over two decades, SWAN has been quietly cultivating those conditions. Founded and guided by practitioners of Ayurveda and Yoga, it was created as a place where healing and learning exist side by side. Nestled within the tropical landscape of Goa, it is a space where ancient knowledge is not merely taught, but lived.
II. · The Work
Ayurveda treatments in Goa, India
At SWAN Ayurveda we focus on the treatment part without compromising on comfort, and we cater to people from all over the world.
A community of therapists
The therapists at SWAN are not temporary staff or visiting practitioners. They are part of the living fabric of the retreat.
Trained in traditional Ayurvedic therapies and Panchakarma procedures, they work closely with guests throughout the stay, developing a deep understanding of each individual's process. Healing is built through consistency, care, and daily attention — qualities that can only arise when practitioner and guest share the journey together.
Experienced Ayurvedic physicians
We have trained and experienced Ayurvedic therapists and doctors on the campus, who make sure only the best care is provided to our guests.
Every Panchakarma and therapeutic program begins with careful assessment and continues under the guidance of experienced Ayurvedic doctors. Your constitution, imbalances, lifestyle, health history and therapeutic response are continuously observed throughout the stay. Treatments are refined as needed — ensuring that Ayurveda remains what it was always intended to be: a personalised system of medicine rather than a standardised protocol.
We use locally sourced herbs and medicines, and we make some of our own medicines, which are used in the treatments provided to our guests.
The herb garden
A small herb garden is being developed around the Ayurveda facility, where we are growing different herbs. Because they are taken fresh from the garden, the efficacy of the medicines increases many times over.
Food as medicine
In Ayurveda, the kitchen is an extension of the treatment room.
Meals are prepared according to Ayurvedic principles, taking into account constitution, digestive capacity, season, and the stage of treatment. Freshly prepared each day, the food is simple, nourishing, and designed to support the healing process. Every meal becomes part of the therapy.
IV. · The Setting
Where the healing happens
The temple & its vibration
Being located within the campus of SWAN Yoga Retreat, the effects of constant prayers and mantras chanted in the retreat temple create a very positive and effective vibration all around. This makes the healing faster and longer lasting.
The healing intelligence of nature
Surrounded by the tropical beauty of Goa, SWAN offers a setting that naturally supports restoration. Palm trees sway in the breeze. Birds announce the morning. The pace of life slows. The nervous system begins to soften.
Our eco-conscious cottages and open natural spaces allow guests to reconnect with rhythms often forgotten in modern life. In such an environment, rest ceases to be an activity and becomes a state of being.
SWAN was not built as a resort and later adapted for wellness. It was conceived from the beginning as a place dedicated to the study and practice of Ayurveda and Yoga.
V. · Alongside
Yoga & Ayurveda under one roof
Traditionally, Yoga and Ayurveda were never separate disciplines.
At SWAN, asana, pranayama, meditation, Yoga Nidra, cleansing practices and Ayurvedic therapies are woven into a single integrated experience. Each supports the other, creating a comprehensive approach to health that addresses body, breath, mind and awareness.
Healing becomes deeper when these traditions work together.
See how the day is kept. Our daily schedule holds asana, breath, treatment, food and silence in the hours the texts prescribe — the same schedule whether you stay one week or three months.
VI. · The Teachers
Meet our Yoga teachers
Yoga at SWAN is taught by the founders themselves — a small resident team whose teaching runs from asana and pranayama through to philosophy, Yoga Nidra and nutrition. Between them they carry several decades of practice in the classical tradition, and they teach here through the season.
Gyanmitra Saraswati
Co-founder · Yoga, Philosophy & Yoga Nidra
Gyanmitra Saraswati is the Co-founder of the social enterprise SWAN Foundation for Ayurveda and Yoga Research, based in Goa, India. Through this he is engaged in various activities to promote the traditional knowledge of Ayurveda and Yoga to the community, by conducting need-based programmes to help the people who need it the most in the local community.
He is also the Co-founder of SWAN Yoga Retreat, where he is responsible for managing and teaching the courses conducted during the season, from October to May. For the rest of the year, Gyanmitra is living on the island of Mallorca, where he is sharing his knowledge and experiences with people by conducting various seminars and courses of Yoga, Yoga Philosophy and Yoga Nidra.
Gyanmitra is a trained Yoga teacher with many years of experience. He was primarily trained at the Bihar School of Yoga, where he was also initiated into Dashnami Sannyasa by his Guru Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati, and into the ancient yogic practices.
Teaches
Yoga & Yoga philosophy
Yoga Nidra
At SWAN through the season, October to May
Dayamurti
Co-founder · Hatha Yoga, Food & Nutrition
Dayamurti, with dual but equal passion for both Yoga and nutrition, is one of the founding members of SWAN and is the guiding force behind the asana and pranayama of the classical Hatha Yoga tradition being taught here at SWAN. Besides that, she gives lectures on food and nutrition and offers Ayurvedic, vegetarian and vegan cooking lessons at SWAN. She has an experience of over 18 years, and her asana classes bring the best out of you, while her lecture on nutrition and her cooking classes are cherished by one and all.
A disciple of Swami Niranjanananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga, in Munger, India, Daya holds a Master's Degree in Yoga from SVYASA University, in Bangalore, India. In addition, she has completed various other Yoga courses from reputable organisations and Yoga ashrams.
She is passionately dedicated to her teachings while leading a spiritual and simple life. Daya represents the feminine energy of SWAN, and her presence at the retreat is immeasurably enjoyed and appreciated by everyone.
Shivendra Ojha, with over twenty years of yogic experience, is the Co-founder of the SWAN Foundation for Ayurveda and Yoga Research — the non-profit foundation working towards creating yogic lifestyle awareness among the citizens of the world, and also assisting under-privileged and destitute women and children.
Born in a family of priests, astrologers and Ayurvedic practitioners, his humble journey begins from a passionate cricketer to an athlete to a brief stint in the tourism sector; he eventually found solace in Yoga, spirituality and social service.
At the SWAN campus he believes in studying, practising and sharing the wisdom of Vedic knowledge, which includes the Yoga and Tantra philosophies. He also has a keen interest in Sanatan Dharma, the laws of Karma, and Ayurveda.
Teaching topics
Yoga — history, tradition and philosophy
Sad Darshana — the six schools of philosophy
Bhagavad Gita — the four paths of Yoga
Upanishadic philosophies
“Happiness Analysis”
For the SWAN Foundation, he takes care of meeting with various government and non-government offices, planning exclusive programmes and executing them. Two of his most successful and ongoing campaigns are “Swastha Goa — Sakaratmak Goa” (Healthy Goa — Positive Goa) and girl-child education for the under-privileged. Shivendra Ojha holds MSc and BSc degrees in Yoga.
He may be available to teach personal or group online philosophical sessions — Yoga, Tantra and Happiness Analysis — upon prior request. Please write to us to ask.
As a step in the direction of preserving and spreading the knowledge of Ayurveda and Yoga, we have created a facility in which people can enrol and be part of basic, beginner-level courses — especially designed with the needs of ordinary people in mind.
These courses enable the participant to take away the knowledge and the know-how to be used in day-to-day life, and to benefit from it: to have a disease-free, healthy and balanced life themselves, as well as to help the people around them, their friends and their family.
Guests often arrive seeking healing and leave with something more — an understanding of themselves, their habits, their bodies, and the principles that support long-term wellbeing. Learning becomes a natural part of the healing process.
Study with us. The Ayurveda Basic Course is a thirteen-day residential introduction, taken by ten participants at a time.
VIII. · Continuity
A tradition that is lived
What makes SWAN unique is not a building, a treatment, or a program. It is the continuity of practice.
The physicians practice Ayurveda. The teachers practice Yoga. The therapists live the work they offer. The retreat itself has been shaped around these principles for many years.
Guests often tell us that what they remember most is not any single therapy, but the feeling of being in a place where the teachings are alive.
That is why people return. Not for a holiday. Not for an escape. But for the rare opportunity to immerse themselves in a way of living that restores balance, cultivates awareness, and reminds them of what health truly feels like.
Welcome to an experience of Authentic Ayurveda — Welcome to SWAN Ayurveda. Hari Om Tat Sat
IX. · Visit
Visit us
SWAN Ayurveda is at Assagao, Bardez, in North Goa — a quiet village inland from the coast, within the campus of SWAN Yoga Retreat.
