MEET OUR TEAM

  • Saraswatī

    Hayley Saraswatī embodies the essence of the creative Mother, balancing loving softness with a graceful strength. Her powerful presence inspires and empowers others to step into their full potential, through vibrant authenticity and awakening to the expansive joy of the heart. Her work brings together the teachings of yoga, non-dualism and earth wisdom, infused with a deep reverence for life.

    Inspiring people from all over the world to devote time to personal transformation at The Yoga Forest, the Conscious Living Retreat she founded in 2009, Saraswatī has wholeheartedly offered herself through the path of devotion; offering kirtan, cacao & sound ceremonies, voice medicine workshops and singing circles, medicine retreats and sound trainings for the past decade. Her dedication to creating and holding a safe space allows the veils to fall away, inspiring spontaneous expression and the authentic embodiment of the Truth - all is Love.

    Weaving together her passion for ceremony, nature and the elements; her view of conscious living and mindfulness practice fuse into a work of deep green yoga.

    Hayley Saraswatī is one of seven co-founding members of the Kula Collective, an organization weaving together diverse holistic experiences and educational yoga offerings through combined passions and a collective intention of global awakening.

  • Jayaji

    Jayaji is the pen name for Australian born James Roland Hillcoat. He a modern day contemplative and is renowned for his oration and words of wisdom as well as being the author of several publications of sacred song and verse.

    A musician, sound healer and chant leader, the founder of the Sound Ceremony Academy and Floresta Atitlán . His main focus is as Founder and Director of the Forest Path where he acts as ritual leader and multidisciplinary spiritual guide in his home of Guatemala where he lives with his wife and two children, Elijah Rumi and Rafael James.

    Jaya started on the contemplative path at a young age with some of his earliest memories significantly impacting the way he views and understands the world. His teaching is direct and clear stemming from the world’s wisdom traditions and spoken from a place of felt presence. At the age of 14 he discovered psychedelics and by 22 he was guiding people on intimate initiations into that world. He started serving Ayahuasca in 2015 which has led him around the world and to a living ritual where his teachings come alive.

    Learn more about his mystical verse and poetry books here.

  • Stacy Lewis

    Stacy Lewis, is a chef and cake decorator from Los Angeles, California who has been living at the beautiful lake for 6 years. She graduated from Le Cordon Bleu culinary school and has loved experimenting in the kitchen and creating edible art for people ever since she was a little girl. She finds such joy creating nourishing meals for people and her food is made with the deepest love.

  • Maria Blasoni

    Born in New Zealand, Maria settled here at Lake Atitlan 5 years ago after a decade of traveling around the world working in high end hospitality.  Redirecting from the traditional sectors of restaurants, wineries, and hotels to super yachts, chalets and private villa staff.  During her travels she followed callings to explore permaculture, community living, herbalism, natural building and ceremony.

    Finding deeper purpose in being in service in holistic wellness areas she now pulls from all aspects of past experiences to support people in their journeys of expansion, self inquiry and healing through assisting in Forest Path Ceremonies, offering Somatic Trauma Transformation bodywork and supporting and co creating experiences and retreats here at Casa Floresta.

 JAYĀ SARASWATĪ — FOR THE LOVE OF WISDOM AND THE WISDOM OF LOVE

Jaya and Saraswatī met on Lake Atitlán, Guatemala during a yoga teacher training they found themselves teaching together… discovering a shared passion of yoga philosophy, sound, music, mantra and bhakti yoga, they began co-facilitating Kula Collective yoga teacher trainings and transformational retreats at their Guatemalan retreat center of The Yoga Forest on Lake Atitlán and around the world.

Co-creating the Sound Ceremony trainings they now specialise in teaching, offered 3 times a year in Guatemala and the Advanced medicine Illumination Retreat offered in Peru.

Starting a family in 2017, they have two sons; Elijah Rumi, and Rafael James. Transitioning on from The Yoga Forest in late 2022, they are now hosting at Casa Floresta, a new family home and intimate ceremonial space on the lake front of the magnificent Lake Atitlan. They offer sacred sound and medicine retreats from their family home setting.