Explore every episode of the podcast Yoga Retreat Secrets

What do you do when an offer that used to work stops selling?

In this episode, Hargobind shares why he canceled Casa Om’s traditional New Year’s yoga retreat, refunded the guests who had already registered, and replaced it with a family retreat for parents and kids.

Within a day, 18 people expressed interest.

The lesson is not simply to work harder or market louder. Sometimes the real opportunity is to reposition an experience you already know how to deliver around a problem people genuinely want solved.

Hargobind explores the importance of putting skin in the game, creating offers that naturally mobilize people, and recognizing when selling feels difficult because the marketplace is asking for something different.

For retreat leaders, yoga teachers, and entrepreneurs, this episode is a reminder that a fresh position can reinspire both your customers and you.

Are your retreats struggling because of your marketing—or because your offer has become too ordinary? In this episode, Hargobind shares a powerful lesson from hosting a nearly empty July 4th retreat followed just weeks later by a sold-out family yoga camp. He explains why the market isn't always rejecting you—it may simply be asking for a more unique product. Learn how to recognize when it's time to reinvent your retreats, stand out from the competition, and create experiences people can't find anywhere else. If your retreat business has stalled, this episode will challenge you to evolve instead of giving up

Why are yoga retreats everywhere while CrossFit, Pilates, martial arts, and other fitness communities rarely offer them? In this episode, Harg challenges the common assumptions and argues that the answer has little to do with yoga itself.

Drawing on Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey, pilgrimage traditions, and years of hosting more than 400 retreats, Harg explains why leaving home, taking meaningful risks, and gathering in new environments are universal human experiences—not uniquely yogic ones. He explores how every boutique fitness business is already in the gathering business, why retreats create deeper transformation than weekly classes alone, and how they can become one of the most powerful ways to serve your community while growing a sustainable business.

Whether you teach yoga, own a gym, coach CrossFit, lead martial arts, or build any kind of community, this episode will change the way you think about retreats, personal growth, and the future of experiential fitness.

We've all done it. Tried to mix our friend group with our retreat clients. It can go so bad. You are mixing two different cultural groups. Listen in for some tips on navigating the cultural divide.

Product creation changes lives. The products that you create bundle your energy into things that other people can experience.

Once you get your business to a certain level fo activity, you will need to step back. The explosive energy required to create becomes messy. So a strategic reset where you do the opposite of the e - myth. You get back into the systems of the business and simplify is often the next move. That's where I am at right now.

Guruprem used to always tell me that that the yoga journey is 2 steps forward 1 step backward. The reset is your 1 step backward in business.

The second retreat is the hardest. Tune in to find out why.

Never make the mistake in thinking anyone knows you exist. Statistically speaking, no one knows you're there. WIth 8 billion people on earth, this is why if you have a message, you have to start over every time you make a retreat.

Here I share the different spaces, excursions, yoga teachers, cooks and support staff that can make your retreat extra special.

Here I get into the struggles with letting people go. Working more but spending less.

I also caution any entreprenuer from getting away from sales. Your voice coming from the face of the business is what the people want.

When you crossed the bridge to be an entrepreneur, you also signed up to market your business. In the podcast, I break down the underlying choices I made that got me into the reality show Hot Yoga Hotel. I try to be as open as possible here so you can learn the pitfalls and copy the success.

Getting the finance right is imperative for building your properties. This is a universal problem for anyone going from small to medium sized businesses.

This has been a painful lesson for me but I am excited to see what the next 12 months bring now that I am locked into it.

Never outshine the customer. Know your place as the retreat owner and you can serve the customer in the most nuanced and best way. I share some stories here of the mistakes I've made and how I navigate the relationships between retreat leaders and owners.

In this podcast, I get into stress and how it shows up in my body. I try to break down the idea that injuries happen through an activity. They happen long before the activity brings it to light.

12 lifetimes. Our ancestors got 1 lifetime. In the podcast here, I break down how to look at the lifetimes you've had and how you want to use the ones coming up.

Sharing your message is a practice. It's refining the ability to call the things into your life that will help you reach your goals.

I break down some major changes I am making in my business and how I am using clarity of message to do it. Have a listen!

Short form content is the most important piece of building a network.

Casa Om Kids camp was full of great lessons. Its a retreat for parents and a camp for kids with extra unique challenges on the retreat center staff. I get into a bunch of them here. It's an incredibly meaningful event.

Here's how she did it.

I listened to my last podcast and felt that it was a little negative. I try to set the record straight about how good these retreat centers have been to me.

Communication is the path to liberation. Find out whats important to you and that will be the key to attract the people most important to you.

Here I share my thoughts on the viability of developing yoga retreat centers in the USA vs Mexico.

To grow you have to take risk. To succeed you need to fail.

To succeed, you have to feel safe to fail. If you're scared to launch your retreat, perhaps there is some spiritual work around being comfortable in your skin that you need to do.

Self help falls into 3 categories - health, wealth and relationships. Don't limit your retreats to just the health category.

Here's what I learned shooting Hot Yoga Hotel our yoga retreat dating reality TV show.

I brought together some of my teachers to co host a retreat with me. Here's the lessons I learned on this concept.

Curiousity, continuous learning, and staying close to your authentic practices keep you from getting disillusioned.

We live in trends. If you can catch a trend, it will change your life forever. I've caught 3 trends in my life and they directly led to building my retreat centers. In this podcast, I share my thoughts on how to see trends and what to do when you see it.

Be uniquely you in your retreat offer. The more authentic you get in what you do, the easier it is to sell.

Picking a venue is voting with your dollars. Don't undervalue what your travel dollars mean. Before I started building venues I never really thought my travel dollars matter. Seeing the cultural changes in West Virginia and Mexico, I see firsthand that these retreat centers have positive influence on the surrounding community. In the podcast, I share some of the small but also big ways that where you go with your retreats really influences the lives of those that host you. It's been a very positive thing for me and I hope the podcast shows you the retreat leader that you are part of something big.

Here I share 5 ideas to help people reintegrate back home with the new experiences you've shared.

You have to realize you are creating a very positive bubble. I think of it like an balloon and you are filling people up with healthy food, great habits, kind people and fun life experiences. There is going to be an inevitable let down when they go home. Help your clients prepare for that moment.

Excursions provide the chance to go deep on shared experiences with your group.

Planning fun events is the most epic part of being a retreat leader.

Here are 16 experiences that I recommend in you are in the Puerto Morelos, Cancun, Playa Del Carmen, Tulum area. I always start at Casa Om obviously but this podcast will help anyone looking to have an awesome time in the Riviera Maya.

I cover

Kite Surfing

Snorkeling

Scuba Diving

Xplor Zip Lines

Coba Ruins

Tulum Ruins

My most favorite Muyil River Float

Cozumel

Golf carts at Isla Mujeres

The jungle Spa

Atv's at Cenote Zapote

And lots more!

Here I get into the silly cliche of believing in yourself. But really you should believe more in youself.

9 year old Siana goes a little deeper into how co leading her first event changed her confidence and mindset going into the next school year. It may be hard to relate to the experience of a 9 year old but I'd argue most new retreat leaders go through these same feelings of highs and lows.

Here we talk about my daughter Siana's mindset, reflections and ideas from her first summer camp. We also talk about things we want to do better for next years camp.

I was looking at my revenue for Casa Om Mexico and found a pattern that will help you think about your retreats for 2024. In short, maybe do less but focus more.

Here I get into ways to differentiate yourself on your yoga retreats. We have to start thinking of these experiences as a chance to create a world changing offer. This is your sandbox to experiment with hour teacher.

Yoga retreats, Gym, Yoga Class, Therapy, Meditation. It's all making your product better. Ultimately you want to get to a place where you feel so good about the product your offering that marketing comes so naturally to you.

And you know your product is great when the word of mouth spreads.

Winning is dangerous. Most people are manufacturing crisis in their lives to stay motivated. Whether its through drugs or affairs or irresponsibility, the chaos creates pressure. So they are, in a sense, trying to lose. Because when you win at something, whether its build your retreat or make profit in your business, it's such a mind game to stay focused and hungry and present so the good times role. Most people can't do that. Here I talk about my feelings on winning and the struggle I'm in to stay focused when things are going good.

You want to come into your retreats with so much confidence. It's way more fun. In this podcast I get into some of the ways, I've gone from a place of fear and anxiety to having so much fun and enjoying the work.

The secret to this whole game is find something that works and then get ridiculously consistent with it. Legendary people do tremendously boring shit over and over again.

Faith and skills have a unique relationship in business. Cultivate a strong faith and you can bridge the gap between what you want and what you can do.

Quite simply whoever can invest the most in themselves wins. This goes for love, wealth, sports, relationships and more. If you can find ways to fill your brain and body and soul with high quality experiences, you are going to live a high quality life. The problem is so many people are making investments when they arent ready for it. In the podcast I get into when the right time to make a bold move for yourself is.

As the leader, your retreat is not a vacation. People will say all the time "how was your vacation in Costa Rica." They just dont know how hard this work can be. With the right mindset you can have so much fun, make positive change and fulfill your purpose. But it will never be a vacation. It's legitimate work and if you approach it that way, it can be the most meaningful work of your life. But don't try to also get your vacation in with it.

Dealing with difficult customers can make or break your experience. Here I get into some strategies to preemptively gel your groups.

I didn't realize how much potential the retreat had when i first started out. In this episode i want to encourage you to go bigger in the thinking of what you're doing. Do that specifically by tuning into the why of the group.