My Yoga Retreat in Rishikesh

Previously

I just flew into Delhi and settled in a hostel before quickly checking out the Qutub Minar. I got a sim card and took a night train to Rishikesh for my yoga retreat.

Quick start in Delhi

Day 1

After taking the night train and getting picked up by a yoga instructor, I was driven by car to the yoga centre. I checked in with Lalit, my main contact when setting up this retreat. He seemed like a very nice and relaxed person. I checked into my hotel room which was luxurious for India with a queen bed and nice washroom, I really wasn’t expecting that! I had breakfast with some other people, 90% girls! Way different than Engineering and being at Toyota. The breakfast and dining area were really nice and all you can eat. I was the only one doing the three-day retreat though while majority of the other people were doing three weeks for their yoga instructor certification.

After breakfast I had my introduction ceremony on my own with the yoga instructor that drove me. It involved a fire pit, chanting, adding oil to the fire among other things. After was an intro to yoga course on my own. This explained how to breathe, positioning of sitting, etc. Lunch with the other members was after and then we had a break. It was raining unfortunately so I couldn’t explore and I went in my room and chilled with wifi and read until tea time. All the tourists love the chai tea! After tea was yoga class from 5-6 pm. I enjoyed it but I could tell most of the others were experienced in yoga. We then meditated for an hour with a different teacher and then we had dinner.

Today was a holiday to celebrate Shiva’s birthday so Lalit organized something special. Two musicians came and were singing and playing instruments and got us involved by singing and then dancing. It felt very authentic and was a really fun time getting involved with the music!

Day 2

The next morning, I woke up for 630 and at 645 we had meditation prayers and chants for 15 minutes. Then we had a 7-8 yoga class and another from 8-930. It was a long morning but we finally had breakfast. After breakfast we had something called Karma yoga which was basically doing community service like cleaning in the area or helping cook, but I didn’t bother with a few others. We chilled after breakfast and then had yoga philosophy class, it was teachings of what yoga was for and the basis. Then we had a yoga anatomy class with a really funny instructor. The purpose of the class was to ensure no injuries of the body occurred during yoga.

We then had lunch and after that was free time so I explored the city with others in the class. I could tell this would be very slow and then they went to an organic store, so I left to explore on my own. I explored a temple over a bridge called Laxman Jhula. Google maps made it seem like some special temple with tons of reviews, but I didn’t find it special. There were just some statues and a bunch of shops which I thought was strange in a place of worship. I went higher and higher to the top with an okay view, but it was nothing great.

I regret making the trip to the temple but then had a lot of street food after which was so cheap and all really good. I then walked to the Beatles ashram which has lots of street art and was the place the Beatles went to for meditation which inspired many of their songs. Unfortunately I didn’t arrive until 4 which wouldn’t be enough time until closing so I took a cab back. The cab said they would take me to my hotel but only took me to the bridge since cars can’t pass so I made sure to pay half. I quickly changed and then it was time for a yoga class and then mediation and then dinner. I also tried out my sim card which I learned didn’t work! It must have been something to do with the activation so it will be a pain to get fixed at an Airtel store at some point in my trip.

Day 3

The next morning, I woke up sore and my body was just tired, I guess the yoga was working. It was practically the same schedule as yesterday with meditation prayers at 645 and then two different yoga classes. In the first class we got these nedi pots to clean out our sinus. We went outside and put these small pots with the spout in one nostril and poured warm water into it and it came out of the other nostril! Apparently it has great health benefits, it was pretty cool to try with a weird feeling to it.

The second class was really challenging my body with flexibility. We had breakfast after and then I packed my stuff and checked out of my hotel. I stored my stuff in the office and then had classes in yoga anatomy and philosophy. I found the philosophy instructor for this class very interesting in the way he looked and spoke, he seemed very humble. The entire class was mesmerized by his teachings, it was a very cool experience to listen to him. I then had lunch and I was pretty much finished in my yoga retreat! I got a yoga certificate from Lalit and put the rest of my stuff in his office.

After storing my stuff in the yoga office, I walked to the Beatles ashram. This ashram was so cool! It was an ashram the Beatles attended to meditate and ended up inspiring many of their songs. I was able to explore the entire ashram and see some incredible street art. It wasn’t very touristy either.

I then got back to my yoga place for 5, collected my things and thanked Lalit and walked to my hostel. I checked in and chilled a bit and had dinner at a place nearby for some really good paneer masala. I still haven’t had meat while in India which was amazing for me, I don’t think I’ve ever gone two days in a row as a vegetarian before in my life! Back in the hostel, a person from my room invited me for some live music across the street. It was a cool experience of a guy playing different instruments and we even got involved too. It was really fun and awesome how spontaneous it just happened!

Yoga Retreat Thoughts

I LOVED this yoga retreat experience. I have only done three yoga classes prior and was quite inexperienced but I thought I did quite well for some intense classes. I could sense my inflexibility compared to everybody else. Someone else in the class who was experienced in yoga said she found it difficult and said I was doing great keeping up with my lack of experience. The other students were here for multiple weeks to become a yoga teacher so they were all very much into yoga which was part of the experience to interact with people so into it. It was a great taste for me, not only with the physical aspects but the meditation and mindset behind yoga. I could also see my body become more flexible over just three days which was pretty amazing. The state of my mind was also very relaxed during this time not thinking about the past or future or any of my problems but just in the experience itself which I loved. The food was also great with all meals included. It was only vegetarian but as much food as I wanted and a variety of Indian dishes! For anyone with even a passive interest in yoga the 3-day retreat was a great option and I highly recommend it! Here is a link to the retreat I did:

Yoga Vidya Mandiram

Besides the yoga retreat, the city of Rishikesh was also amazing! It had a calmness to it with barely any traffic or crowds of people (which I’ll see soon enough). There was a great yoga culture but also an adventure culture with its white water rafting, bungee jumping, hiking etc that I did not get to see unfortunately. This part of the Ganges river is also super clean and would have made for some great swimming. I will come back to Rishikesh soon enough I hope to explore the other parts of Rishikesh!

Up next is my time in Varanasi, seeing the spiritual aspect of India!

Varanasi