Spark creative possibilities in a haven of spacious cocoons
built in partnership with the wonder of nature.
Jaiyen is a creative home away from home, built to refresh your mind, recharge your body, and renew your spirit.
Life can be overwhelming and hinder access to our creative human nature, personal or relationship growth, and professional development. We aim to provide a harmonious environment for people to find their inner stillness and ignite their creative powers.
Situated on the tropical island of Koh Yao Noi, Thailand, we are committed to nurturing connections to ourselves, our community, and our environment as a way to increase joy.
‘Jai yen‘—Thai for ‘calm heart’—is a heart characterized by composure and patience. With this ethos, we hope to restore your holistic sense of fulfillment by providing nourishing plant-based cuisine, healthy outlets that spark creative freedom, and resources that empower more self-awareness, compassion, and purposeful productivity in natural surroundings.
This was filmed in 2019, just a few months before we opened our home to the public. We were extremely grateful to have our friend Leanne Melody capture the first inklings of the possibilities that await those who venture to our little island and open themselves up to discovering something new. As an uber-creator herself, it was highly rewarding to see Leanne reignite her creative spark and make the most of her time here.
Thank you @leannemelody_ ❤️
Travel vlogger Chris Lau reached out to us in late 2019 and we were grateful to have him include us in his travels across Thailand, along with his friends Cam & Kelsey. Chris & co lived the island life while creating content to share to their audience. We were glad to have been able to offer them a place to rest in between their hectic schedule, while still providing the space and equipment they needed to continue producing their art.
Thank you @seelautravel and @camandkels 🙌
Super creators Azrya Cohen & Adrian Brown reached out in late 2018 while we were still constructing and came to visit us as part of the larger vision for Jaiyen, the Artisia project. Jaiyen is the first creation in the Artisia global collection, which aims to create safe spaces for visionaries and change makers to incubate the blueprints for the future of humanity. If you would like to support this movement, please visit Artisia.
Thank you @iazrya and @adrianbrownbox 🙏
Seaview Cocoons
Emerge refreshed and renewed from one of our Seaview Cocoons. With clear views of the ocean to experience the most amazing sunsets, our unique bamboo cocoons provide the ultimate creative getaway with barefoot luxury. Our signature rooms offer quiet privacy with open space planning to give you the freedom to relax and be creative.
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Our plant-based menu serves healthy, organic food guaranteed to satisfy your culinary taste and fuel your body to increase your creativity. We can also organize customized meal plans to suit your goals.
Creative Tools
Painter? Sculptor? Musician? Coder? Illustrator? Songwriter? 3D Artist? Maker? Whatever your creative outlet is, we have specialised tools and workspaces to enable you to make your ideas into reality—right in the comfort of your own room or in collaboration with others.
Island Adventures
Island Hopping, Kayaking, Stand-up Paddleboarding, Snorkelling, Open Water Cliff-Diving, Nature Walks, Games, Local Arts & Handicrafts… There’s no shortage of recreational activities for you to enjoy socially, or explore on your own to get closer to nature and the local Thai culture.
Who we are
Shela Riva
As much as the intention was to build a place that was restful and healing for our visitors, building Jaiyen has truly been the greatest healing journey for me. It’s an incredibly special place to us, and I hope you can feel it too. The goal for me was to create a familiar, homely feeling amongst the jungle, nature, and animals – like nature could be home – for those who live in cities or feel removed from natural rhythms. Because to me, nature is home, and we have really forgotten it.
I love chatting with our visitors and creating genuine connections, having heart-to-hearts, and if I meet you… I might ask you what your dreams are.
Kevin Mendoza
I juggle playing host, handyman, cook, and creator in residence, open to sharing moments that inspire joy in your story. With a lifetime spent as an entrepreneurial chameleon (drummer, web developer, graphic designer, restauranteur, creative director, carpenter, etc.) which eventually led to burn-out, I traded life in Australia to build Jaiyen; a place for other creatives to get re-inspired, cultivate ideas, and spread more goodness in life.
My part in seeding Jaiyen lead to a larger vision in the form of Artisia, a global network of future locations where residents and visitors alike learn and practice that kindness is key; as custodians to our ‘self’ and our relationship to people and our planet. I hope that my journey progresses from fixing leaks and short circuits in Koh Yao Noi, to solution-hacking systemic issues in global society, while empowering those who are ready and willing to take action in creating a better world.
What's unique about our resort / home?
At a material level, we offer most of the expected resort facilities. What’s a little bit different is that we exist with the intention to help visitors to experience what their soul most needs; whether that’s reconnecting meaningfully with loved ones, being alone, creating art, reflecting on a necessary life shift, or connecting with nature in order to keep the flame of inspiration burning onward in our heart along our journey.
To support this, we aim to offer a variety of tools including yoga mats in all rooms, tilting art desks, nourishing plant-based food, homely service, awesome sunset views, painting tools, musical instruments, a beachfront, dozens of games, relationship-strengthening prompts, a bay perfect for kayaking, a punching bag, and Muay Thai gear, an outdoor gym, kettlebells, gym rings, a yin-yang hot and cold spa, steam room, a sauna, unlimited filtered drinking water, plus free hugs, free chats, and human comradery.
Guests and friends have stayed to write books, paint, draw, build better relationships, create motivational courses and content, and create amazing memories. Many beautiful friendships have formed here. To get the most out of this place, we encourage you to bring the intention to create something uplifting – even if it’s a mindset – for yourself or others.
We’d like the Earth and its inhabitants to suffer as little as possible due to our business. This is why we used bamboo to build our domes, which are made to feel as organic as possible by emulating the curves of nature instead of the block shapes that make up most artificial structures. Our cocoon-like rooms should feel like a nice hug from Mother Nature.
We don’t serve meat but are more than happy to refer you to nearby local seafood restaurants and businesses. For us, community support is as important as supporting the ecosystem.
We have a food garden with medicinal herbs, vegetables, fruits, spices, and flowers. Our long-term goal is to implement a full permaculture system.
We honor all individuals as thinking, feeling, and evolving beings, and acknowledge that we all thrive from extra support. We hope that you find our space beneficial to experiencing more joy, more beauty, and more soulfulness. Your kindness, ideas, and attitude of openness are well-received here.
“Jaiyen” means ‘Calm Heart’ in Thai. We believe that Jaiyen, both our place and a calm heart, are ideal spaces from which we can cultivate the recharging and strengthening of the spirit.