ABOUT MANA
At Mana we bring you back to the source. We remind you how good the simple things are. Warm sand. The smell of salt water. A breezy mountain top. The touch of the sun on you skin. We relax in the steam room, hike at sunrise, learn pranayama and bask in meditation. We send you home awake, refreshed, connected + whole. Mana is a place to reconnect with yourself + reignite your inner fire. Created from a passion to bring yoga and people together, Patty Perlman joins together a yoga community of like minded people in a fun and inspiring atmosphere.
These retreats are a melting pot of people, from CEO’s to busy mom’s to ER doctors. Post retreat, the Mana Community continues to flourish with its 200hr Teacher Training's and the crown favourite - our annual rooftop drinks organised specially for Mana Retreaters to reconnect and hang out.
Retreat Food. Fresh, organic and local produce are served daily in delicious and mouth-watering recipes. These recipes are created to assist the detoxifying process, cleanse the organs and digestion and revitalise the body from inside out. Every meal is prepared fresh daily by our chef, and all food requirements are catered to.
These exclusive retreats accommodate up to 12 guests maximum and take place beachfront in Byron Bay, mountain top in Queenstown + Japan, and seaside in Bali. With 13 years of yoga teaching experience and over 45 yoga retreats in Australia and abroad, Patty + the Mana team take you to well-appointed location to provide yoga, meditation, surfing, hiking, kayaking, skiing, pampering, cooking, drinking wine and more in a fun, adventurous and enriching environment.
ERYT 500, Owner
Retreat Leader + Head Trainer
Patty grew up in Acadia National Park in Maine, USA + began practicing yoga in her high school at age 15. She continued her education at university before taking a variety of teacher training’s which will be a lifelong educational journey. Patty has been tracing the globe + exploring the wellness industry to find the best locations + activities for retreat. From Miami to Macau, Mexico to Barcelona, she now spends her time between Brisbane + Byron Bay Australia, hiking and riding her bike with her Australian Shepherd Nala running my her side. In 2019 Patty started Mana Yoga School, a place for aspiring teachers to complete their 200hr yoga teacher training.
Over the past 17 years Patty has studied with:
Douglas Allen, Buddhism Professor of University of Maine 2004
Craig and Shane Perkins, founders of Yandara Yoga Institute in Todos Santos, Mexico 2008 + 2018
Gopala, founder of Rainbow Kids Yoga, Worldwide 2010
Tammy Williams, founder of Sunshine Coast’s Yoga NRG, Australia 2012
Julie Smerdon, founder Shri Yoga, Australia 2015
Lorine Roche, Meditation teacher and Author, USA 2015
Creature Yoga, 2020
Retreat Leader
An Irish native, her love of yoga began 16 years ago when she began attending weekly classes taught at her high school. Sarah moved to Brisbane in 2009 and continued to practice yoga while exploring different class formats and teaching styles. Her personal practice deepened after completing a 40-day challenge with Shri Yoga. This challenge inspired her to train as a yoga teacher, a qualification she completed under senior teacher Julie Smerdon of Shri Yoga.
Sarah leads an alignment-based class in the vinyasa style blending a fluid flow with awareness to the connection between movement and breath. She is passionate about helping people cultivate a yoga practice both on and off the mat.
Sarah is currently studying Health and Physical Education at University and also holds qualifications in Nutrition, Fitness, Holistic and Remedial Massage Therapy and utilises all of these elements to inform her teaching.
Teacher Trainer
Marty is a long term movement and yoga enthusiast. His yoga practice spans almost two decades, his diligent practice and exploration of movement and artistry around three decades. This passion led Marty to study physiotherapy full time at the University of Queensland, which he began in 2019. He is passionate about effectively using yoga in all its facets to explore what it means to be most deeply, fully and exquisitely in this project of being human. Moreover, he is deeply engaged in guiding new and established yoga teachers to find the most elegant expression of their work.
Retreat Leader
Sam grew up on the beaches of Sydney a natural ocean dweller. From a young age movement has been a great influence in her existence, at the mere age of 4 years old being introduced to dance that allowed her the opportunity to travel the globe for many years performing professionally later in life.
An established yoga and Pilates teacher she has taught across the east cost of Australia and abroad for the past 8 years. Sam’s love for yoga was found whilst she was working in Bali. Coming from a background in dance where discipline and structure was critical she loved the fluidity and grounding energy’s of the asana practise. Over the years she has explored many pathways of the yoga lineages, but has found her passion within the somatic influences of embodied flow.
When you join a practise with Sam expect to feel welcomed home into your body. Every shape and every moment is an invitation to check in and fall in love with all our senses and celebrate our bodies capabilities.
Teacher Trainer
Jana Jones is the owner of Zen Yoga + Pilates and is the warm and loving face of our favourite yin yoga classes. Her knowledge of assisting and modifying poses to suit a variety of bodies shines strong through her gentle and dedicated practice. She has been a student of yoga and Buddhism for nearly 20 years and holds a degree in psychology. This combination is a big part of her love to improve happiness + wellness of all Zen clients.
Head Chefs
Meet our culinary masterminds, Chef Evan White + Amelia Stokes. Evan's worked in some of London, Florence and Sydney’s best restaurants (including Nobu Park Lane, Harvey’s, White House, Lumiere). Evan considers the time he spent with grassroots cooks and kitchens on the beaches of the Yucatan coast to be what made him the chef he is today. And thats why we love him. His cuisine is rustic and wholesome, and his passion is for food made slowly, with love and integrity.
As they say in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" Evan may be the Lions head... but Amelia is the neck. 'Mim' as we call her is our Zen Duck. She's cool and calm on the surface, and under the water she has the entire program organised to a tee - along with her brilliant knowledge of the local produce and growers and looking after their restaurant, Chupacabra.
Our exclusive retreats accommodate up to 12 guests maximum and take place across the globe, from a beachfront in Byron Bay to a mountain top in Queenstown.
Guests welcome from age 18+
We carefully teach to welcome beginners and challenge seasoned yogis
All food is gluten and dairy free
We serve fish and vegetarian
Couples, friends and solo yogis of all ages attend our retreats
Most guests are 25 – 70 years old
70% women, 30% men on most retreats
You will learn about yoga, meditation, chakras and meridians
Of course we have wifi and chocolate
Yes you can bring wine
Parking available