“I sold everything and moved to the tropics. Guests leave lighter, brighter, stronger, leaner, cleaner, clearer and inspired.”
Casa Verde, Mindo — est. 2005Wendy Green.
Wendy began teaching yoga in 1972 — and has spent five and a half decades developing an approach that is therapeutic, deeply personal, and genuinely transformational. She still teaches the way she did then: slowly, with complete attention to the person in front of her.
She started at the Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston in 1972, where she also ran the raw vegan cuisine kitchen under Dr Ann Wigmore. The combination of movement, organic nutrition, and time in nature that would define Casa Verde was present from the very beginning.
After years teaching and operating her own yoga studio in Avon by the Sea, New Jersey — training the majority of yoga teachers in the area — she made a decision in 2005 that most people thought was unusual: she sold everything, moved to Ecuador, and built a retreat from the ground up on a parcel of regenerating cloud forest above the Mindo river.
She has been welcoming guests ever since. The property now holds 217 native plant species, five hiking trails, four waterfalls, and a lodge and Airbnb cabin that receives no more than three guests at a time. She does not run group retreats. She does not certify. She teaches year-round, prepares the meals herself — all raw vegan cuisine grown on the property — and knows every guest’s name before they arrive.
Today Wendy lives sustainably off-grid on 32 acres within the UNESCO Chocó-Andino Biosphere Reserve — where solar power, spring water, organic gardening, forest hiking trails, and mindful living are simply daily life. Her retreat offerings reflect a philosophy she has held since 1972: that the path to genuine wellness runs through movement, raw vegan nourishment, and time in nature.
How she teaches.
Always one-on-one
Every yoga session at Casa Verde is private. The instruction is adapted entirely to the individual — their body, their history, their goals for the week. There is no programme to keep up with.
Hands-on assists
Wendy uses the traditional method of hands-on assists throughout every session — enabling students to explore postures more deeply, creating muscle memory, and helping them move through physical and mental limitations more quickly than they would alone.
Therapeutic foundation
Having rehabilitated herself from several serious injuries through her own practice, Wendy has developed a deeply practical approach to teaching. She works carefully with injuries, chronic conditions, and limitations — and has helped many guests achieve results that had eluded years of conventional treatment.
Raw vegan cuisine as medicine
Since 1972 Wendy has understood that what you eat is inseparable from how you move and heal. Every meal at Casa Verde is 100% raw vegan cuisine — prepared from the property’s own organic garden, and taught to guests so they leave knowing how to continue at home.
Welcoming all levels
Complete beginners to advanced practitioners are equally welcome. Wendy adapts for every body type, age, and ability. Guests regularly arrive unable to touch their knees — and leave with a practice they carry for the rest of their lives.
“Because of Wendy and my experience at Casa Verde, I will never be the same. Her experience of yoga, diet, and nature is vast.”Kristen — Alaska
Come and stay.
Retreats are year-round and ongoing. You choose your dates — Wendy does the rest.
View Retreats Inquire with Wendy