Our story
How a yoga teacher, a cook and a plot of jungle became True Nature.
Hey, we are Ning, Adam and family.
True Nature Chiang Mai is a small, family-run yoga and meditation retreat immersed in nature in Chiang Mai, Thailand, about 45–50 minutes north of Chiang Mai city.
Before True Nature, we lived in Chiang Mai city, where we ran two yoga studios — Freedom Yoga and Hidden House Yoga — and Ning's Kitchen vegetarian cooking school. They all closed during the pandemic. We could have reopened. Instead, we decided to leave the city and build something slower.
We found a plot of jungle in the green mountains of Chiang Mai and spent the next two years turning it, mostly by hand and with a lot of help from family, into what is now True Nature. Ning and her mum developed the land together; Adam learned more about building than he ever expected to.
Family-run, not a resort
We run every part of True Nature ourselves: the check-ins, the yoga and meditation classes, the garden, the repairs and the cooking. We plan to stay small and non-commercial, because that is what makes the place work.
You are a guest, not a number. We will know your name by lunchtime on your first day — and so will the dogs.
What we are — and what we are not
True Nature is simple and down-to-earth. We are not a five-star resort, and we are not trying to be one. There is no pool and there are no villas. There are hand-built rooms, two open-air shalas, a big dining table, a vegetable garden, cats, dogs, chickens and a lot of green.
If you want to slow down, practise yoga and meditation, eat well and spend your days outdoors with a small group of good people, you will fit right in.