Siddhayatan Spiritual Retreat Center

I agree with Addie who posted below, this place feels like a prison. By no means would I describe it as a «spiritual retreat center.» Website and description are very misleading.

Sometimes you just need a break from everything in life. Siddhayatan offers that. I took them up on their offer for a three-​day yoga retreat over New Year’s. It’s located about an hour north of Dallas near a town of 996 people called Windom.
It’s an old ranch that is slowly being remodeled. Yes, there is evidence of that in a lot of places, but there is also plenty of space to walk around. Hop a fence, walk a field. They own it all, so it’s nbd. If you’re like me and from the north and it is winter, take in the sunshine and the bits of green popping up.
The menu here is vegetarian and they can accommodate vegan and gluten-​free. It is also the. bomb. My gosh, the food was so good. They served up a whole variety of vegetarian takes on Mexican and Indian. I wish they’d put together a cookbook, because I would buy that in a snap.
The accommodations are nothing special. Think camp as a child or hostels in your twenties. Functional, which is really all you need. There’s no wi-​fi, but you can get a strong cell signal. I chose to turn my phone off, but if you need the connection it’s still there.
There are mantra classes before breakfast and before dinner. I checked them out a few times, but Janist/​Hindu mantras weren’t really my style. They take about half an hour.
There’s a loose schedule that mostly revolves around the meals. Personally, I had one class a day and they came to find me to let me know when my class was going to happen. Mostly, my time was my own.
The people that were juice cleansing seemed to have a rough go of it, mostly because it was only two juices a day. So, it’s not so much a cleanse as it is a fast. If you’re going to do it, be prepared for that.
The yoga space is an old garage, and I had to knock my review down a star simply for the cold concrete floor and barely heated space. Yoga does warm you up, it’s true, but for those of us with poorer circulation in our hands and feet it’s extremely difficult to keep them warm in such a situation. The space itself is very nice, but it needs a little more upgrading for the winter months.

First, I want to mention that I am the two-​week water-​faster referred to in Addie of Austin’s review, below. I hardly «traveled across the continent;» I took a two-​hour flight from LA. and then drove an hour from Dallas. And I never planned to stay additional weeks as I had other commitments starting two days after my reservation ended. Addie, whom I remember, is precisely the kind of complainer I liked to avoid! This place has a LOT to offer and is absolutely dirt-​cheap (while being incredibly clean). Before moaning about the temperature — out of the anyone’s control — how bout checking the weather to pack accordingly? And any private ranch like this will have a well or cistern possibly with limited water — thus the comments about washing dishes. Potable water is NEVE processed through septic tanks! Sheesh. They did check my pulse a few times and I checked my BP in town daily.
Siddhayatan is a lovely place with something for almost everyone located on a former horse ranch. It is NOT a resort or spa, and if that’s your desire, this isn’t the spot. For those who are not fasting, they offer mostly-​vegetarian Indian food, which others said was excellent. I successfully incorporated the wonderful yogic breathing exercises I learned here, to positive effect. I very much respected the people there and look forward to returning.
Siddhayatan is located on the highest point in the county, walking distance to the tiny enclave of Windhom, where the only businesses are a fried-​food emporium called «The Feed Sack,» a cool cemetery, and a bookstore open on Saturdays. The nearest real town is 10 miles west in Bonham. There is an excellent spa there, the Hope Stone Spa, that offers everything… but call in advance… only one esthetician. There is also a Walmart and a grocery, both of which can be used for mall-​walking on rainy days. Wifi can be had at the Healthy Deli and the public library. There is a cool county museum in the old train station and another at the Sam Rayburn house west of town, home of a former US speaker for the house of representatives. There’s a city park near the old train station with a very nice walking/​jogging path. Anytime Fitness near Walmart offers a free one week pass. There’s a blood pressure machine at the grocery store. I delighted in leaving my too-​big-​now clothes at Goodwill, which was actually pretty interesting. And that, folks, is it.
Back at the ranch, they have mantra class before breakfast and dinner. I didn’t particularly like it, but felt I did benefit from it and you’re expected to attend at least sometimes. There is a scale in the main house to the left of the front door. The rooms are very basic with a shared bath, but everything is immaculate. There is only one room with a private bath, which I had. It also has a gas fireplace and it’s cedar lined, walls and ceiling. I came in December, and the room was uncomfortably hot at night as all of them apparently were. Can’t open the windows and the A/​C units were already covered with plastic for winter, so next time I will bring a small portable fan. My exercise goal was to walk 10,000 steps a day. If you walk down both roads on the ranch to both gates, that’s 3,000 right there. Also, they will do your laundry once a week, and if you want more there’s a coin-​op on the near side of Bonham.
I met a wealth of fascinating people and only a few duds. There seems a class of brain-​dead folks who will pay to go somewhere to not eat anything and then complain about the discomfort of not eating. I left a day early as they were droning on outside my door — and visited a high school pal over in Denton instead. It’s not difficult to mesh with the good ones and avoid the dull ones! I lost 14 lbs during my fast and left feeling terrific and fresh. My favorite moments were watching the sun rise and set from this simple, beautiful setting. As a single woman, it was important to me to feel safe and comfortable. Because of the staff and the spotless condition of my surroundings, I felt that, and was able to accomplish what I set out to do there. I highly recommend Siddhayatan for a renewed perspective.
I do wish they had WiFi. I understand that some people have Internet addictions, but for someone like me – I was nominated for a major entertainment award while there and needed to do interviews — it was a problem. Maybe they could offer WiFi for a daily price or such, as they obviously have Internet access. Then people trying to digitally detox could still do that. I ended up Skyping several TV and radio interviews in a pantry in the one café in town with WiFi. Not doing them was not an option, and it definitely chewed up my serene time at the Ashram.

I was looking for a retreat center that was affordable and that also offered a cleansing option. I wanted it to be on the ‘spiritual’ side, and not just a random ‘fru fru’ superficial or soulless retreat center. I found Siddhayatan, and was pleased that the prices were not unreasonable.
They stated that the accommodations were not fancy, and that was fine by me. I’ve spent months at a time living in a hammock while traveling, and love being immersed in nature. A room is merely a place for me to lay my head.
But it was very cold that weekend, with temperatures reaching freezing at night. So my only option was to stay cozy indoors, except when I went for a midday jog to get my blood warm…(although there weren’t really any official trails to explore, just the main driveway that went around the property).
The rooms were in portable barn type buildings, and had tiny windows that offered only a view of the next building a few feet away. The shared community area also offered only one small window at one end. It truly felt like a prison. The yoga room was offered as a place to hang out in a big space, but again, not much of a window, it was very cold inside, and I didn’t want to turn the heater on and waste energy if I was the only person in there. So the one building that actually had large windows and a comfortable area to hang out in was the dining room, but the staff requested that you leave as soon as you finished your meal because it was their space.
I liked that Siddhayatan offered several retreat options, and that participants could customize their stay to their liking. I was a bit surprised however, when I learned that, although three vegetarian meals per day were included with my room fee, I had to pay an extra $ 15 a day for two juices if I wanted to do a juice cleanse, and that there was no flexibility on their part to allow me to partake in my included meals and simply add juices to them. What happened to customizing my retreat? My meals were already paid for and I couldn’t have them because I also wanted juice! They wouldn’t even give me an apple for breakfast, though that same apple would end up being juiced for my lunch. They claimed that it wouldn’t be cleansing if food was eaten. However, they offered me Chai tea made with non-​organic, GMO milk!!! How cleansing is that? Dairy is antithetical to cleansing! And GMOs are TOXIC! They have signs everywhere asking not to kill any insects and to treat all living things with respect. So why would they serve milk that is produced commercially in a way that horribly mistreats cows? What is worse, killing a cow and eating it, or torturing it to get its milk? At least killing it puts it out of its misery!
Then there was the fact that they served dinner on paper plates and gave out plastic cups for water. When I asked «Why the waste?,» they said that they couldn’t use too much water to wash dishes, because they were on a septic tank, and that it would fill up too quickly. However, I know that septic tanks retain only solid waste such as sewage, while the rest of the water goes to a drain field.
All of the other retreat-​goers were very nice, but all of them at some point in their stay expressed how weird they thought this place was! They talked about how white rice was served quite often as filler, and wondered how that could be congruent with health or cleansing. They wondered about the paper plate and plastic cup waste. How can a place tout cleansing and spirituality and not make every effort to save the planet, or at least not add to its landfills!?! A woman had been there for two weeks doing a water fast and said that they hadn’t taken her blood pressure or any of her vital signs during her stay. She cut short her plans to stay a few more weeks. She had travelled across the continent to be there. Another woman had travelled all the way from Sweden, and was very disappointed with the small amounts of juice she was served for her cleanse.
The only positive thing I heard about this place was that the workshop classes were enjoyable and effective. I didn’t take any of them because they were not affordable.
The photos on the website are misleading. They depict the place look beautiful and appealing. But there were piles of random things laying around, including construction materials. Nothing was feng shui or pleasing to look at, except for the earth and sky. It would be much more helpful (and accurate) if Siddhayatan would post pictures of the reality that one will experience once they have made the effort to travel to the middle of nowhere!
Therefore I am posting the pictures that I took so that people know ahead of time what to expect!

I signed up for a 7 day spiritual intensive and took 3 workshops. I enjoyed the entire experience from the nice staff, to staying in a simple and clean room, the peaceful and natural atmosphere, the really good, tasty, and healthy food, all the new friends I gained, and the teachings. I found Acharya, the teacher, to be funny, non-​judgmental and wise. His stories were really deep and made me think. The breathing techniques were intense but easy to do since I’ve been home. I met guests from Switzerland, Estonia, Canada, and locals from Texas. It was everything I needed and more. I look forward to coming back. I feel so lucky it’s a little over an hour away. If you guys read this, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your genuine love and kindness. You’ve changed another soul. Jai sidatma!

Siddhayatan is a truly awesome place. I have visited many times and I have found a profound connection with my soul here. I have attended the Yoga, Chakra, Meditation, Awakening the Self and Past Life workshops and all of them were great!
I have learned so much from taking these classes and I have gained true understanding of my path. Acharya Shree is a true inspiration. All his teachings are universal such as non-​violence, compassion, love, happiness, healthy living and much more.
I recommend that if you are looking for peace, happiness, or a place that will inspire you to grow spiritually to visit Siddhayatan!

A most peaceful and natural environment for spiritual enrichment. The grounds are expansive and conducive to meditation, relaxation and contemplation. The facilities are wonderful with a beautiful yoga room and dining hall. I have visited twice and attended different workshops here. I have known Acharya Shree for many years and his teachings are the most beautiful and truthful I’ve ever come across — a true enlightened master.