"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" - Mary Oliver
Do you sense that life has a wild and divine design for you, in which you can blossom and express your full potential? This transformative retreat empowers you to discover and then manifest this design using a unique combination of mindfulness practices and regenerative principles of permaculture and biomimicry. You’ll learn how to sustainably use your energy and resources to thrive, express your creativity, and contribute to your community. You’ll also learn powerful practices to connect with your intuition, overcome doubt, confusion, or fear, and take conscious and consistent action. In a safe space, deep connections form between the like-minded participants who then become your allies and accountability partners on your journey. You'll experience all of this, while you immerse in Dularia’s vibrant indigenous tribal culture and hands-on activities such as mud plastering and gardening. You’ll start the new year with a clear and coherent life design and specific action steps to make it happen.
THIS RETREAT IS MEANT FOR YOU IF…
YOU WANT TO MANIFEST A VIBRANT, NATURE-CENTRIC LIFE
You love nature and want to intentionally manifest a life where nature inspires and informs your everyday living and work. You've either heard of permaculture or learnt it, and you're interested in using the principles of permaculture and biomimicry to design your own life.
YOU LOVE TO GROW & TRANSFORM
You love to self-reflect, learn, and transform through gaining self-awareness and doing inner work. You believe that by overcoming your limiting beliefs and taking intentional action, you can dramatically shift outcomes in your life.
YOU HAVE DIVERSE INTERESTS & WANT TO LIVE YOUR FULL POTENTIAL
YOU LOVE PLAYING WITH NATURAL MATERIALS & LEARNING FROM INDIGENOUS CULTURES
You love doing many diverse things and have different priorities, such as health, finance, relationships, creativity & community. You find it hard to integrate them all and live to your fullest, and would love to explore how to make it happen.
While you enjoy meditation, journaling and contemplation, you also like to get your hands dirty gardening or mud-plastering. You also enjoy immersing in and learning from nature-connected indigenous cultures.
YOUR FACILITATOR
COMPONENTS OF OUR RETREAT
Each day of the retreat will have a combination of all the following components to give you a diverse, rich, and embodied experience. You'll receive a valuable workbook where you can write your notes and insights, and create your own unique life design as the retreat progresses. To further facilitate successful implementation of the practices after you go home from the retreat, we'll include three follow-up online sessions held over the course of the year 2026.
DESIGNING AND MANIFESTING A WHOLESOME LIFE
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Your life’s intentions- the basis of a rich and diverse life design
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Overcoming fear and doubt- practices to master the monkey-mind
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Connecting to intuition- practices for listening to the inner mentor
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Designing conscious action - taking small, consistent steps to manifest your life design
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Deep connection and accountability- finding allies on your journey
REGENERATIVE DESIGN PRINCIPLES
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Basics of permaculture- applying the principles in your life, to balance your energies, and make your legacy sustainable
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Biomimicry design principles- aligning your dream projects to nature's principles
MINDFULNESS & NATURE CONNECTION
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Solo time in nature
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Embodied practices to gain self-awareness
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Intentional relationship with food and your body
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Deep observation of nature through the study of sacred geometry
HANDS-ON FARM ACTIVITIES & CULTURAL EXPERIENCES
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Gardening
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Mud-plastering
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Village walks & interactions with surrounding village communities
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Immersion in the indigenous, nature-connected Santhal tribal culture
Vedanshi Bhartia, India
The Designing Your Life retreat is profound for inner work, and at the same time really fun in the outside world. I highly recommend it!
Felipe & Ana, Columbia
The life design exercise at Dularia was a tipping point for us, as this is when we started designing the dream project that we are implementing now!
Ajay Ravi Varma, India
Sharmishta is very inspirational in the way she has learned to unleash the creative life force that is within us all, through curiosity and honesty, and by syncing with the values and rhythms of the natural world.
Food & Accommodation
We have three options for accommodation:
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in our gorgeous Earthhome (limited to four people on a first-come, first serve basis)
- in your own tent with own bedding pitched in the middle of our food forest. Shared showers and toilets are available on the premises.
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In any of the surrounding guest-houses. Two options are Panchabati Resort ( 850 m away from Dularia) or Khoai Village Resort (2.7 km away from Dularia).
Meals consist of wholesome vegetarian food containing fresh vegetables and greens harvested from our farm, and cooked on our wood-fired stove in the Santhal tribal or local Bengali tradition. We serve two big meals plus fruit, tea and snacks to keep you well-fed and energized for the tasks of the day.
DETAILS
DATES
Jan 02 - 10, 2026
Arrival is suggested on Jan 02 by 4 pm latest, and departure is after 10 am on Jan 10
Last date for registration: Dec 15, 2025
PARTICIPANTS
Min 6 - Max 10
Book your spot soon as limited places are available! This is an intimate retreat where you'll meet like-minded people on an intentional, nature-loving journey and get plenty of personal attention from your facilitator.
FEES
Tuition fees: INR 25,000/-
Includes taxes, excludes food & accommodation, to book your spot, a non-refundable deposit of INR 5,000/- will be required. Three follow-up online group calls are included.
Food: INR 7,200/-
Includes all meals. Vegetarian meals using local tribal and Bengali recipes will be prepared using organic ingredients from the farm.
Accommodation:
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Bring your own tent (we'll provide bedding; 3 spots available): 1600/-
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Shared stay in our Earthhome (only 4 spots available, first-come, first serve basis): 8,000/-
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For homestays outside Dularia please enquire with them directly
All inclusive prices, including food and accommodation:
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In your own tent: 33,800/-
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In our Earthhome: 40,200/-
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In the homestay of your choice: 32,200/- plus accommodation expenses.
DAILY SCHEDULE
This is a rough schedule that can change based on the activities planned for the day
7:00 - 8:00: Group or self practice of mindfulness and nature connection. This time will be mostly spent in silence and will vary each day.
8:00 - 8:30: Fruit smoothie (optionally tea/coffee).
8:30 - 10:30: Morning session. These sessions will cover the core content of the course and include journaling, group-sharing, and design practice.
10:30 - 11:00: Brunch. This will be the big meal of the day.11:00 - 13:00: Personal time, to rest, bathe, wash clothes, chill out.
13:00 - 15:00: Afternoon session. These sessions will cover the core content of the course and include journaling, group-sharing, and design practice.
15:00 - 18:00: Daily fun and interactive hands-on work on the farm. This will be different every day and guided by various members of the Dularia team.
18:00 - 18: 30: Dinner
18:30 - 21:00: Bon-fire, songs, sharing, relaxation.
21:00: Suggested bed time!
WHERE WE'RE LOCATED
Dularia is located in a rural setting, just ten kilometers away from Shantiniketan, which has been recently recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site for its historical and cultural value. This makes it all the more attractive to visit Dularia and to take a few days extra to visit the surroundings.
HOW TO REACH US
The closest train stations to Dularia are Prantik and Bolpur stations, and the closest airport is Durgapur.
If you want to come by flight, you could fly into Kolkata airport, followed by either a train journey from Howrah/ Sealdah stations to Bolpur/Prantik stations, or take a 4-hour taxi ride directly to Dularia. Alternately, you could fly into Durgapur airport, followed by a 2-hour taxi ride to Dularia. Kolkata has several more flight options than Durgapur does, so both airports have their advantages/disadvantages.
If you want to arrive by train, you can come to Bolpur/Prantik stations, and then take an electric rickshaw (Toto) to Dularia. There are better and faster train connections to Durgapur train
Have questions? Contact Us
Contact Sharmishtha Dattagupta (WhatsApp): +91-9831404006, email: dulariatrust@gmail.com
