Luisa & Oliver

About Us

We came to Gokarna in 2006 with no business plan — just a wish to live more simply, practice yoga, and be close to the sea. For the first years we taught on Om Beach, slept in basic rooms, and slowly fell in love with this stretch of coast and the people who live here.

In 2007, together with our friend and longtime partner Govinda, we started building what is now Namaste Yoga Farm. The first structure was a treehouse in a cashew tree. Oliver had carried that dream since childhood — sleeping above the ground, waking up with the birds. Everything else grew from there, one stone wall at a time, built by hand with local craftsmen from Gokarna.

Nearly two decades later, there are seven cottages, six rooms, and two treehouses — all made from laterite volcanic stone, natural wood, and a stubbornness about doing things properly rather than quickly. We've been recognised with multiple TripAdvisor Certificates of Excellence and the Travelers' Choice Award, given to only 1% of businesses worldwide. We're proud of that, but what matters more to us is that guests leave here feeling rested.

We still run the place ourselves. Luisa cooks, teaches yoga, and somehow keeps the garden looking the way it does. Oliver handles everything else — bookings, repairs, the occasional philosophical conversation at breakfast. During the yoga season, from 1 November to 31 March, we include complimentary daily yoga classes in every stay, because that is why we came here. It's not an add-on. It's the foundation.

Before India, we spent years organising yoga retreats across Europe. Since 2019, we operate officially as Zenlike Yoga Farms Private Limited under the Namaste Yoga Farm brand. But the spirit hasn't changed since that first treehouse.

Sustainability isn't a marketing word for us — it's just how we've always built. Our cottages use local stone, natural materials, and closed water cycles. We reduce plastic wherever we can, conserve energy, pay fair wages, and support community projects in Gokarna.

We believe eco-tourism means leaving a place better than you found it. And we gently ask our guests to do the same: respect local traditions, minimise waste, protect the wildlife, and support the small businesses that make this town what it is. Gokarna is still special. Keeping it that way takes all of us.