5-Night Special Sabbatical in Hawai’i
Reconnection, Bio-Cultural Restoration & Horticultural Healing with Indy Rishi Singh at Paliuli Farm Sanctuary
AuGUST 25-30, 2026
BIG ISLAND, HAWAI’I
Are you navigating professional burnout, personal transition, or seeking to realign your daily life with nature? True sabbatical is not passive escape; it is active re-grounding.
Join us for a 5-night immersive sabbatical on the slopes of South Kona at the sacred Paliuli Farm Sanctuary. This retreat integrates the clinical benefits of Horticultural Therapy (HT) and Biocultural Restoration with ancient wisdom practices, including Raja Yoga, Neuroplasticity experiences, and Ayurvedic nutrition.
Beyond self-nourishment, this retreat is an act of reciprocal stewardship (Aloha ʻĀina). Participants will volunteer alongside local community-based organizations to prepare and distribute organic, locally grown meals to Kupuna (elders) and Keiki (children), directly contributing to Hawaiʻi’s growing food sovereignty movement.
WHO IS THIS JOURNEY FOR?
This special sabbatical week is for:
Professionals (all at stages) who are burning out from their work
People hitting a wall in their careers or changing careers because of moral injury or misalignment with their purpose and values
Activists and caring community leaders who are experiencing frustration and anger than joy and fullfillment in their work
Core Program Pillars & Experiential Offerings
Horticultural Therapy & Organic Farming
Engage directly with the rich, volcanic soil during Paliuli's fall coffee harvest and food forest cultivation. Horticultural therapy leverages tactile interaction with soil microbes (Mycobacterium vaccae), plant stewardship, and sensory immersion in natural ecosystems to induce neuroplastic recovery and stress dissolution.
Hands-on Activities: Regenerative coffee harvesting, sheet mulching, thermal composting, and seed propagation.
Therapeutic Mechanism: Tactile plant manipulation lowers salivary cortisol, calms the sympathetic nervous system, and enhances mood stability through non-pharmacological, nature-based interventions.
Biocultural Restoration & Community Service (ʻĀina Momona)
Biocultural restoration recognizes that environmental health and human cultural vitality are deeply interconnected. Participants will work on restoring traditional agroforestry systems while partnering with local community organizations to combat food insecurity among vulnerable island populations.
Kupuna & Keiki Food Sovereignty Service: Volunteer day spent harvesting, packing, and serving fresh organic meals to local elders and youth programs on the Big Island. (Ma'ona Community Garden)
Indigenous Foodways: Learn the ecological and cultural significance of native staple crops like Kalo (taro) and ʻUlu (breadfruit) and their role in local climate resilience and community self-determination.
Neuroplastic Integration, Raja & Laughter Yoga
Daily movement, pranayama, and play-based neuroplasticity tools designed to rewire chronic stress patterns, release somatic tension, and anchor mental clarity.
WHAT WILL IT FEEL LIKE?
What does it mean to be holistically well?
How can we practice being healthier in our minds, bodies, and spirit?
Ayurveda is the key to understanding oneself in relationship with Nature and the elements.
Imagine yourself slowing down to be immersed in nature… resting, daydreaming and stargazing for a week or even longer. Give yourself permission to shift from “doing” to “being”. Bring silence to your planning mind and allow your intuitive spirit to guide you back home to yourself. Sleep in an intentionally designed space for deep, restorative rest. Play, create, and vision whenever the inspiration strikes.
Receive targeted guidance from your sabbatical guides who can help bring greater awareness to an area of your life you’d like to revitalize. Together, we will bring sacred ritual into your daily routine through our toolkit of practices, inquiry questions and unique approach to accelerated transformation.
Enjoy a total life reset with this custom curated journey just for you on our sacred land. Our spaces are intentionally attuned for your inner exploration and accelerated transformation.
“For me, it’s really about guiding people into a place where they can tap into their own body and their mindset.”
Sample Daily Sabbatical Rhythm
6:00 AM – 7:00 AM | Sunrise Raja Yoga & Pranayama
Movement, breathwork, and meditation to ground physical alignment and calm the nervous system.
8:00 AM | Organic Ayurvedic Breakfast
Nourishing farm-fresh breakfast cooked in alignment with seasonal doshic balance.
9:30 AM – 12:30 PM | Horticultural Therapy & Bio-Cultural Stewardship Lab
Hands-on organic farming at Paliuli Farm (soil revitalization, harvesting, and compost dynamics) or off-site biocultural restoration projects.
Community Service & Food Sovereignty Outreach Volunteering with local partners to process and distribute nutritious produce and meals to local Kupuna (elders) and Keiki (children).
1:00 PM | Farm-to-Table Community Lunch & Integration Rest
Optional visits to beaches, waterfalls and time learning from elders
6:00 PM | Laughter Yoga & Somatic Unwinding
Therapeutic laughter sessions designed to dissolve burn-out and release endorphins.
7:00 PM | Farm-Fresh Evening Meal
8:30 PM | Fireside Circle & Storytelling
Evening reflections under the Kona stars, exploring community building and nature connection.
Something in you already knows it is time.
We invite you to experience a different level of joy, aliveness and vitality than ever before in this weeklong immersive journey of self, community and land care in sacred nature.
Paliuli Farm Sanctuary is an active Kona coffee farm on the Big Island of Hawai'i. With over ten acres of sacred land above sacred Honaunau Bay, enjoy a taste of heaven on earth.
Activate your childlike joy and wonder with wild spinner dolphins who return here to play and rest. Flow with the ocean tides and uncover a hidden universe underwater. Savor ripe seasonal fruits from our lush tropical garden and taste or fertile coffee and cacao trees. Experience life with all your senses.
For one week, you have the space and a dedicated team devoted entirely to your healing and transformation.
Maybe you are exhausted in a way that sleep hasn’t touched.
Maybe you are navigating a life transition and you need more than a weekend to feel your way through it. Maybe you are deep in burnout recovery and ready, finally, to invest real time in yourself.
Everything you need to
stop managing and start receiving
Five nourishing days of laughter and transformative time on the land curated just for you and your needs and desires,
YOUR SABBATICAL INCLUDES:
Private lodging in one of four distinct farm sanctuary spaces (or a shared room with one other guest if you’d like to save $500/person)
2 healthy Ayurvedic meals per day
Personalized morning group sessions with Indy Rishi, your dedicated space holder
A custom curated journey shaped around your intentions and a guide to our favorite places on the island
Sacred rituals to open and close your week
Sabbatical toolkit — journaling pages, reflection deck, and seasonal wellness gifts
Guided group rituals and curated ceremonies to sacred sites aligned to our personal and group intentions (i.e., Place of Refuge, Paleaku Peace Gardens & sacred Kealakekua Bay)
Entrance to Volcano National Park
YOUR INVESTMENT:
$1,900 shared suite with shared bath (bring a friend or share with one other guest)
$2,400 solo suite with shared bath
$2,650 solo suite with private bath
What’s NOT INCLUDED
Airfare and local transport
Lunches
Onsite astrology, massage, acupuncture or energy healing sessions
Guided tours to our favorite sacred sites around the island
Whale and manta ray boat excursions (we can help you book these!)
1:1 follow up sessions with your retreat host and the Hestia wellness team
Join us for this IMMERSIVE Week DURING PALIULI’S FALL COFFEE HARVEST 2026
$1,900 shared suite with shared bath
$2,400 private suite with shared bath
$2,650 private suite with private bath
Grounding Science: Evidence-Based Research & Citations
Our retreat curriculum is backed by peer-reviewed research linking green exercise, horticultural therapy, and biocultural stewardship to measurable physiological and psychological health improvements:
Horticultural Therapy & Mental Health Reduction:
A systematic umbrella review published in PMC demonstrated that horticultural therapy and gardening interventions significantly improve mental well-being, reduce depression, and enhance overall quality of life across diverse adult populations.
PMC Research: The Impact of Gardening on Well-being, Mental Health, and Quality of Life (2024)
PMC Research: Horticultural Therapy in Clinical & Community Settings (2025)
Biocultural Restoration & Indigenous Food Sovereignty in Hawaiʻi:
Interdisciplinary research from the University of Hawaiʻi highlights that restoring traditional agroforestry systems (loʻi kalo and ʻulu groves) yields simultaneous ecological restoration, enhanced community health outcomes, and cultural revitalization for local families.
University of Hawaiʻi: Biocultural Restoration for Community Food Security
NOAA/Sustainability Study: Biocultural Restoration of Traditional Agriculture in Hawaiʻi
Indigenous Food Systems & Psychological Well-being:
Research published by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) highlights that community participation in food sovereignty initiatives strengthens social connectedness, promotes psychological well-being, and restores ancestral relationships to land and community.
ABOUT YOUR SPACEHOLDER
Indy Rishi Singh is an experienced educator specializing in human wellbeing and neuroplasticity. He is certified in Yoga and Ayurveda. He is the Executive Director of Cultivating Self, whose mission is to expand the framework of healthcare to include ecological medicine, food and nature as medicine, cultural medicine, and community health advocacy. He is an avid regenerative farmer, an ecological steward, and advocate for farmers.
Indy also co-founded Cosmic Labyrinth to reimagine work and mitigate disasters through nature-based solutions and community action festivals. He also hosts the optimystic podcast, Political Hope, practicing civic imagination and systemic metamorphosis.
“A lot of times people get stuck in stress or repetition and trauma because they aren’t able to re-frame their mind.”