One of the most enjoyed and sought-after programs of the Holistic Holiday at Sea cruise are the Integrative Relaxation classes. Centered on optimizing your ability to experience blissful relaxation akin to deep, rejuvenating rest, Integrative Relaxation, also known as Yoga Nidra, allows for an emotional release of pain, both internally and externally. Offering intense benefits to your entire consciousness, this simple, easily adaptable tool, once properly learned, can quickly be applied to your daily routine once you’re back at home from your gorgeously luxurious vegan, macrobiotic cruise! By consistently utilizing and applying Integrative Relaxation to your everyday life, you’re initiating a state of comprehensive mental, physical and emotional relaxation that unfetters you from the damaging patterns of anxiety, tension and stress in your life. By combining ‘breath awareness’ with physical relaxation to boost your employment of intention, you will be calmly guided through a series of modest techniques practiced by either simply lying on the floor, or by sitting in a comfortable chair. With careful instruction, you will experience direct access to sound relaxation, a slow release from anxious, stressful mental patterns, constructive pain management and an overall sense of wellbeing. We’re proud to continue to have Chandrakant Hiester on board to guide our guests along the path to a happier, healthier life!
Introducing Chandrakant Hiester
As a senior teacher, as well as a seminar leader for the last seven years at the Amrit Yoga Institution in Salt Springs, Florida, Chandrakant Hiester’s experience and expertise has made him a national and international presence. A psychology graduate of Rutgers University and a well-seasoned specialist of the martial arts, Chandrakant’s passion lays in teaching Amrit Yoga, Amrit Yoga Nidra and various other yoga and stress-reducing practices, as well as preparing and leading professional training programs for those seeking to further the instruction of their wellbeing through yoga. Having studied under our very own Yoga Amrit Desai for over thirty years, Chandrakant has accumulated vast experience, providing him with powerful implementation programs centered on fostering and encouraging beneficial progression in understanding one’s behavioral practices and tuning them towards self-nurturing awareness.
Chandrakant’s involvement with the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health for more than two decades has been occupied in various roles. Acting as executive chef while overseeing the preparation of 500 to 700 vegetarian meals served to guests daily, Chandrakant has also acted as Yogi Desai’s personal chef for over twelve years having been trained to prepare true Indian cuisine from none other than Yogi Desai’s wife, Mataji!
Quiet Your Mind, Quiet Your Pain, and Enjoy Your Cruise!
Every morning Chandrakant leads his ‘Daily Morning Amrit Yoga Asana Sequence’ class, teaching the steps on how to bond with the true source, experience and purpose of yoga to unite with a timeless state of being. As practiced through the implementation of various yoga postures, Chandrakant guides the practitioner through simple poses, instructing how the body can be used as a means of transportation to wellbeing, fully activating the body and mind into stillness. By bringing the both the active and receptive energies of your body into balance, Chandrakant’s classes are designed to specifically tune your personal energy levels into the deepest meditative state possible. The quiet calm of Integrative Relaxation softens and depletes the pain caused from emotional and physical pain, reducing your bodily and mental ‘fight or flight’ response that keeps you on edge. From fear, depression, anxiety, insomnia and even high blood pressure, Chandrakant will teach you how to calm the active energies of your mind and implement serenity, introducing his personalized blend of veteran comprehension and concrete psychology, leading you along your way to an even more enjoyable cruise experience!
Taste of Health Holistic Holiday at Sea is more than a great vegan travel experience, it’s an opportunity to travel and stay healthy while pampering AND educating yourself with current events and trends in the vegan world. On our holistic cruise you will have the opportunity to eat divine meals, make new friends engage with some of the most celebrated personalities of the Vegan Industry. 2013 will mark the 10 year Anniversary of the Holistic Holiday at Sea and there will be tons of socials, great classes, amazing Caribbean ports and even a few surprises. Learning a new way of living has never been so much fun, so easy and so tasty!
Cooking Classes
Learn to prepare best tasting vegan dishes by well-known chefs in the cooking classes. Please check back with us for a complete list of cooking classes.
Monday
COOKING CLASS: THE COLORS OF A CONTINENT
PHYTONUTRIENTS, ANTIOXIDANTS, AND ASIAN CUISINE Victoria Moran
MON / 10:15AM – 11:45AM / KD
In this class, we’ll explore the vibrance of plant-based dishes with Asian heritage. We’ll focus on fresh, flavorful ingredients and visually stunning dishes, featuring a wide array of colorful vegetables, herbs, and spices. You’ll learn to prepare delicious and health-conscious fusion dishes––”Japanese Rainbow Salad,” “Cauliflower Cream Soup,” and “Strong Bone Stir-Fry”––blending traditional Asian flavors with plant-based twists. Plan to taste and familiarize yourself with new and aromatic flavors, expanding your palate and culinary repertoire while learning the body benefits of these foods and experiencing for yourself the user-friendly reputation of pure-vegetarian cuisine.
Friday
COOKING CLASS: HEALTH-PROMOTING DISHES FROM MAIN STREET USA
FRI / 10:15AM-11:45AM / KD
Upgrade your health, shrink your carbon footprint, and honor all life by mastering meals that are both all-plants and all-American. Calling on the culinary traditions of the American South, Midwest, and New England, we’ll prepare “Butter Bean Smash Lettuce Wraps,” “Creamy Potato Corn Chowder,” and “Not-So-Crabby Cakes with Remoulaude Sauce.” You’ll learn to work with vegetables and spices for optimal flavor and texture as you master classic American cooking methods that turn the sad Standard American Diet into a life-affirming Main Street Vegan food style.
Tuesday
COOKING CLASS: MIDDLE EASTERN MAGIC
KALE, LENTILS & GOLDEN CAULIFLOWER Caryn Dugan & James Loomis, MD, The Doc and Chef
TUES / 2:30PM-4:00PM / KD
Explore bold, comforting flavors in this vibrant, oil-free Middle Eastern-inspired class. We’ll build a layered, nourishing menu featuring a Shaved Kale Salad with sweet-tart pomegranate and a bright sumac dressing, followed by WFPB Mujadara—an herbed lentil and rice pilaf crowned with deeply caramelized onions. Finish with our golden Roasted Turmeric Cauliflower, topped with a creamy lemon-tahini drizzle straight from The Doc & Chef Show. This class blends color, crunch, and comfort—no oil needed.
Saturday
COOKING CLASS: COZY MEETS ZESTY
BARLEY SOUP, CABBAGE STEAKS & CHICKPEA CAKES Caryn Dugan & James Loomis, MD, The Doc and Chef
SAT / 10:15AM-11:45AM / KD
This cozy cold-weather menu hits all the right notes—earthy, smoky, and just a little zingy. We’ll start with a soul-warming Mushroom Barley Soup brightened by black garlic and lemon. Then it’s on to roasted Cabbage Steaks brushed with a maple-mustard glaze, and Smoky Chickpea Sweet Potato Cakes paired with a tangy horseradish cashew cream. Whether you’re new to WFPB eating or looking to elevate your flavor game, this class delivers delicious, satisfying meals with zero compromise.
Cooking Boot Camp
Book your One-on-One Consultations, Treatments, and Group Workshop for the September 2025:
Email: Info@Holisticholidayatsea.com
Call 1-305-928-1098.
COOKING BOOT CAMP: Balancing Your Body with Vegan Ayurvedic Cooking and Cuisine with Victoria Moran, **EXTRA FEE, KD
SAT / 1:00PM – 2:30PM / KD
According to yoga’s sister science, ayurveda, ‘When food is wrong, medicine is of no use. When food is right, medicine is of no need.’ This introduction to vegan ayurveda as a foodstyle and healing practice, presents the ‘comfort food diet,’ wellbeing through compatible foods prepared in calming, healing ways. We’ll prep ayureda’s vitality porridge, kitchari, a soothing warm ‘salad,’ and a chocolate shake, therapeutically spiced to bring about balance and joy. You’ll also have a chance to take a dosha quiz and learn your ayurvedic body type, one way to customize your health habits to your absolutely perfect self.