Yoga retreats are a great way to take a break from your daily hectic schedule and enjoy a few days doing what you love – yoga! Yoga is a great way to destress and leave your troubles behind to reconnect with your inner self. After days of slogging away at work and taking care of your home, everyone deserves to rest awhile to be able to get back to it with double the energy and enthusiasm. Those whose schedules and working conditions force them to live unhealthy lifestyles benefit most from yoga retreats. These yoga and meditation retreats restore their health and give them a much-needed rest. And if you are a yoga enthusiast, yoga student, or a teacher trainer, nothing can compare to the experience of a yoga retreat in India.
Being the birthplace of yoga, India automatically has some of the best yoga centers and resorts in the world. Yoga retreats in India are thus not only awesome vacations but also great opportunities to learn and practice yoga. But, due to this very abundance of options, it might be confusing to make a choice. The last thing you want is to go with a lot of expectations and return with nothing but disappointment. That is why it is important to know how to make the right choice when it comes to selecting a yoga retreat in India. If you are curious to find out, keep reading.
Best Locations for Yoga Retreat in India
Now there are quite a few great yoga retreat locations all over India. A lot of them are in the very cities or towns that are popular for yoga teacher training in India. However, because yoga retreats are fewer yoga courses and more yoga vacations, many new locations are also coming up as potentially popular yoga retreat destinations. Some of the most popular locations for getting a yoga retreat in India are:
- Rishikesh
- Dharamsala
- Goa
- Gokarna
- Mysore
- Kerala
This list is in no way exhaustive. However, they are the most popular choices for people who come for their yoga retreat in India. It is best to choose a location away from the city. Hills, islands, deserts, jungles, isolated beaches, and ashrams are the most sought-after locations for holding yoga retreats in. However, many cities on the banks of the Ganga are also popular because of the spirituality factor that people associate with them.
Usual Duration for Yoga Retreat in India
Just like any other type of vacation, yoga retreats can also range in their duration greatly from a few days to a few weeks or even a few months. The shortest yoga retreat is 2 days long while the longest varies, depending on the yoga resort, among other factors. Most yoga retreats usually fall within the range of 2 to 100 days. Whereas the optimum period for a yoga retreat is one week to one month.
Usual Pricing of Yoga Retreat in India
The cost of a yoga retreat in India depends on a large number of factors, like:
- Location of the center
- Luxury standard of the center
- Type of retreat
- Duration of retreat
- The teacher who will conduct the retreat
- Living facilities
- Peak season or dry season
On top of that, if you book your retreat through agents, the agent may charge an overhead cost for their service. On the other hand, there is a chance of negotiation too if you book directly with the center.
India has both luxury and affordable yoga retreats. Luxury yoga retreats can cost as high as USD 20,000 while a budget one can be as low as USD 250.
Type of Yoga Retreat
Another aspect to keep in mind is the type of yoga retreat in India you are booking. There are individual retreats as well as couple and family ones. There are yoga wellness retreats that have spas and additional benefits besides yoga. The yoga teacher training retreats focus only on teaching and practicing yoga. In many cases, they will concentrate on a certain aspect of yoga, like certain bends or techniques. Their aim is to refine and improve the practice of the participants, which is not possible through YTTCs.
Yoga health retreats are meticulously designed to benefit the health of the participants. The most common examples are those that improve cardiovascular function, body core strength and flexibility, posture, chronic pain, and so on. There are also combination retreats like yoga and meditation retreats, yoga silent retreats, yoga and surf retreats, etc.
The focus of the Yoga Retreat
Yoga retreats most usually do not cover a broad topic or several aspects of yoga. They concentrate on a narrow field. This gives one the scope to become a master of it rather than a jack of all trades. It’s quite common that the yoga style the retreat uses will be the one the center organizing the retreat teaches. Thus, an Ashtanga yoga center will commonly organize Ashtanga retreats while a Bikram or Yin yoga center will hold the corresponding retreat. However, often, a center may hold a yoga retreat of a different style when an internationally acclaimed teacher visits the center.
Another basis of differentiation is the topic of focus for the retreat. For example, some retreats are specifically planned for women or old people to focus on the common issues they face. Some retreats are for improving heart and lung function. Some retreats help undo the damage of bad posture. Others are for spiritual growth and others for emotional expansion. Some simply help improve holistic health. When you choose a yoga retreat in India, make sure its purpose aligns with yours.
Best Yoga Retreats in India
There are no defaults or set formula to choose the best yoga retreat in India. There are too many subjective as well as objective factors to consider here. However, choosing the yoga retreat from a reputed school automatically improves your chances of finding the right one. That is why you should definitely check out Ilina Yoga if you want to find a good yoga retreat in India.