Every time I go to India, I think of these yoga ashram places where people go for a month and learn how to meditate and relax, barely eat, and see peacocks. My next work trip was coming up, so I was determined to extend it and do something like that. My first attempts to go to Rishikesh failed due to logistics, so I was on a hunt for a southern, easily accessible retreat for a few days.

The search itself was eye-opening. Apparently, going to India for anything sort of medical or relaxing – that does not involve a hotel chain – is an industry itself. My first attempts to get a quote routed me to German agencies as middle people, which turned me off – this felt very commercialized and packaged. It was basically, did you want to lose weight or get plastic surgery? I was stunned, as neither was my intent, and I wanted something as local as possible (in a context of a bit of a luxury, I admit). After some ChatGPT discussions and research, I settled on Shreya’s Retreat, a small place about an hour from Bangalore that basically operates on word-of-mouth promotion. It was reaffirming that Condé Nast had it as one of the top 10 retreats, so I was sold.

The place

I first thought Uber would be fine, then changed my mind and had them pick me up. Good call, as there is no way a random driver would convince me we are going the right way. The hour drive outside of Bangalore was a bit like driving through a rough construction site with dirt and rubble instead of tar – then we entered a fortified oasis, which, in my book, is what Eden looks like.

After a refreshment, flowers around your neck and powder bindi, I was ushered to a beautiful modern room for a doctor assessment – this meant some basic questions but some odd ones too. I learned that

• I eat too fast, given my digestion
• there is no coffee here, so hello, caffeine detox, bye. Celsius and filtered coffee – warm cumin water is going to be my new friend
• my schedule for the 3 days, down to a minute
• you take off your shoes everywhere
• you are very quiet throughout

Tour of the place with Guri, an employee of 24 years. It was my mistake to have long pants and flip-flops coming in because this was a long walk. The place is 24 acres, has its own garden and creek, amazing flowers, and 84 birds. Yes, 84 – I was also surprised as Guri was able to point out every single one, name it, and describe it. My ornithology skills got a boost. I also learned about every flower and tree and the tradition behind it.

I realized that the service will be beyond this world because the hotel capacity is 30 people, there are only 10 of us here now, and there are 80 staff members! Safe to say, 2 hours in, I was tired and ready for my cottage to rest – because there was yoga on the schedule at 4 pm!

My cottage

Titiksha is the name of my garden cottage – beautiful, fitting into the nature with a modern bathroom that opens up to an enclosed mini-yard. The roof is tented but has air conditioning and a porch. While I love the eco-spirit, my mind raced to what bugs are able to get in through the tent roof; I mean, I am in the tropics. I have my own yoga mat, repellent, sunscreen, and thermos.

The activities

Activity #1 – yoga

I was nervous about this. I am not a huge yoga person from a skill perspective. I enjoy it but am not a regular or very good at it – so being in the land of yoga’s birth, in a retreat, was a little intimidating. Will I be the only person not able to stand on my head or hold a balance pose for a minute?

The one thing I learned very quickly is that no one cares about what and how well you do things. You are there for yourself only; it is almost like you are in a bubble that surrounds you in the midst of this gorgeous place, and the teachers are there to guide you to where you want to be taken. There were 3 of us in a yoga pavilion, which was outside but with a roof. A gentleman was walking around us to spread the super nice smelly (like sandalwood and potpourri) thing. I did fine, broke a sweat, and was pretty achy, so maybe even better than fine. There was another yoga daily at 630 am (90 mins), which was actually a really nice start of the day, and it followed with cleansing of your nose, nostrils, and sinuses. Yes, at first it’s a little odd to do this with a group, but you get your little plastic pouring cup with the liquid (salty water) and instructions on how to do it in the garden – head to one side, pour in, and it comes out the other way; refill, swap nostrils and sides – you are done. Blow your nose, and you do feel significantly lighter.

Activity #2 – breathing session (prayanama)

Again, clueless as to what this will be. I sure tried lots of breathing within all the Atlanta yoga classes but never understood the importance of it. No way of escaping this with a personal 1-1 session. This was excellent by the way, practicing it with a teacher who demonstrated and explained when and why you’d do certain breaths -and checking on the difference in how you felt after was the way to go. The cooling breath, the energy breath, and 4 others were a really good baseline for me. It was the awareness and being present that is what I think is key for me – in Atlanta, you run into a class, sit, try to follow the teacher, get out, and back in the craziness. Isolating yourself with your mind and being aware of it is what was so much easier here -the trick is how to do this at home, which I haven’t yet figured out. Well, I have the cheat sheet, and it’s only up to me to continue with it. I did almost fall asleep, which is good and bad – maybe too much focus?

Activity #3 – meditation

OK – another mysterious habit that I was never able to tackle on my own. Bala, my personal meditation coach, sat opposite me on the floor in a super dark room. The only direction I got was to try to stay awake and aware – easy to say. I will cut it short – I don’t know if I was in a trance state or half asleep or that state when you are about to fall asleep but wake and scare yourself, but I don’t remember the second half – it felt like hypnosis a bit. The first part was a lot of focus on not thinking at all, which, news, is impossible. Bala’s direction was, Thoughts come in; you can’t prevent it. Just let them go in and out; let your mind do the work. So, definitely interesting and doable. There was a guided group meditation every day, so I participated in that as well.

Activity #4 – massages

No shocker here that this was the most anticipated one. I am a massage aficionado but never had a real Indian massage in India. Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Morocco, Peru—yes – so this is going to be a new one. The salon is a new, modern building with water, flora, and an amazing zen feel. Quiet building, brand new, embedded into the gardens. The massage room was actually two rooms interconnected – one had a shower and a strange-looking old cabinet. My type of massage was Abhayanga, the most traditional Ayurvedic massage. This is done with a special heated oil that has tons of spices and flowers -it smells good. It started with me sitting down and getting a pretty thorough head and neck massage with the oil. Move to the regular massage table, and it continues. So far, not that different but certainly amazing – then came the interesting kicker. Steam bath, which I misunderstood for like a steam room. Ha – remember the wooden cabinet – it was its time! It opened up, and I sat in it with my head sticking out and close to no air coming out – so you look like a weird boxy robot? Then the steam starts going in, and it is damn hot. So I was listening to the French Revolution podcast on the way there, and this was suspiciously close to a guillotine-like feeling but 90 degrees off? Ten minutes later, I was dripping oily sweat and walked to the shower and off to my cabin – with my head still on.

This happened every day, so 3x heaven on Earth, and I could barely make it to dinner after. There was also a fruity facial one day, but that wasn’t as unique, nice though, and real raw fruit-based, which I could smell.

Food

There is a reason this has its own section. I was excited about this as I heard great things. And it didn’t disappoint. The setting itself was an experience. Tables were set up far enough from each other so we couldn’t talk, and everyone had their own, unless you were there with someone else. The menu is printed for you, and the waiters start coming with bowls and serving from the bowl with a ladle. Honestly, half of the stuff I didn’t know what it was or what was in it, but it was amazing – the variety, quality, and flavor. Most had some Indian spin to it, but there were Italian or French too.

There is so much more to this place, but one thing stands out – the people and service. If you ever dreamt of a place where you can just be, uninterrupted – this is it. By the way, they do not take your phones away but discourage you from using them. And I did – besides pictures, I never carried it around and used it – busy with all the Misha care and amazing surroundings. I will be back, Shreya’s.