Kaivalyadhama Ashram, Lonavala, Maharashtra
Full-board is £590/£890 for one/two weeks in a shared room, or £750/£1,100 in a single room. Once the preserve of foreign students, Purple Valley now has a growing Indian following.
Consultations with Ayurvedic doctors and massage therapists are also offered. Two international and one Ayurvedic chef prepare buffet meals that include the likes of masala millet crepes and soy burgers. The retreat is spread over two Portuguese-style houses and landscaped gardens with a tropical forest feel. Despite its hardcore reputation, beginners are not only welcome but encouraged, making it a great place to kick-start your Ashtanga training, with Mysore-style self-practice in the morning and special classes in the afternoons, including philosophy, yogic living, kirtans and pranayama.
#3 week yoga retreat senior discount plus#
If you’re a modern yogi craving India plus detox juices and fast Wi-Fi, with access to the world’s best Ashtanga teachers (John Scott, Petri Raisanen, Alexander Medin), Goa’s Purple Valley is your place. Photograph: Coni Hörler/Purple Valley Yoga The four-month residential course in yogic studies starts every October, around £1,200 for international students including accommodation and all meals.
Open to all (beginner to advanced), year round (though in May-July, temperatures can reach 45C). Many yoga styles are taught, including Hatha, Raja (mental discipline), Kriya (breathing, chanting and ritual gesture) and yoga therapy, as well as Yoga Nidra, a deep meditative technique lulling the mind into a state neither awake nor asleep, developed by the ashram’s founder Swami Satyananda Saraswati. Days begin at 4am, and end with twilight satsangs (discourses) or kirtans (mantra chanting) before lights out at 8pm. It may sound daunting, but comfort’s loss is authenticity’s gain, and former students attest to the life-altering qualities a stint in this ashram can give. So alongside classes expect hours of seva (service) – including gardening, kitchen work and toilet cleaning – supplemented by cold showers and a simple diet. Bihar School of Yoga, Munger, BiharĪt the sprawling Bihar School, yoga is a lifestyle not a practice, and karma yoga is given precedence over asana. In this case one can expect a greater emphasis on meditation, breathing and cleansing techniques, along with devotional practices such as mantra chanting, tuition in philosophy, and karma yoga (community service). One last thing: while yoga in the west focuses almost exclusively on the physical postures and sequences (asana), in India, particularly in traditional ashrams, asana is only one aspect of a wider whole. But be patient, persevere, switch to “Indian-time” and, if you must, see it as the first step in letting go of your ego. Be advised that customer service in India isn’t always the best, and some of the more traditional places might prove hard to contact. Several other places were vetoed on account of various scandals and disputes, and I have also excluded luxurious and obscenely priced retreats.Īs with many things in India today, yoga doesn’t necessarily come cheap but all of these are very good value given the quality of teaching on offer. T hough this list includes some of the best ashrams, retreats and shalas India has to offer, there are three notable omissions: BKS Iyengar’s school in Pune, Pattabhi Jois’s in Mysore, and the pan-Indian Sivananda Centre, excluded on account of their existing popularity and fame.
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