This SoCal Home Turned Hotel and Yoga Retreat Goes Au Naturel

Just minutes from renowned surf spot Swami’s Beach, Twelve Senses Retreat is a study in mindful minimalism, incorporating green building practices and reclaimed materials to highlight the best in sustainable living.

With plans for multi-day events in the works this year, including retreats for yoga and various healing arts beginning in April, Twelve Senses Retreat currently hosts a weekly (socially distant) restorative yoga class and sound bath meditation session for guests and drop-in visitors.

Rooms here are inspired by the four elements—fire, water, earth, and air—a concept Bodack says represents interconnectedness and is linked to the zodiac and the 12-month lunar calendar.

“No one should be using overharvested tropical hardwoods like ipe,” Bodack says. She champions sustainable alternatives such as the treated wood from Kebony, a Norwegian company that thermally modifies pine to improve its durability without the high environmental impact of traditional hardwoods, and eco-friendly modification treatments, including the traditional Japanese weatherproofing technique shou sugi ban, which preserves wood by charring it with fire.

Bodack incorporated recycled ribbed shoe leather from Dutch company Buxkin into accents on headboards and terrazzo-style tiles, handmade locally from ocean plastics, into the rooftop bar.

Bodack keeps sourcing simple with alpaca wool duvets, cotton bedding, and latex mattresses—all organic. She also uses zero-VOC (volatile organic compound) paint, free from unstable chemicals and the gasses they let off, to improve indoor air quality.

“There’s a misconception that repurposed materials look cheap, but they can add a very high-end feel and finish,” says Bodack.