India Yoga Retreat

We will fly to Varanasi, Kashi Vishwanath in Uttar Pradesh on November 20th for 3 mystical nights.

Bharata, India is mystical and the city of Varanasi or Kashi is a spiritual amalgamation of ancient, medieval and modern India. It is a spiritual seeker’s treasure trove of experience, and every seeker here receives illumination, a dousing of mysticism, and perception of the Ultimate Reality. The city pulsates with both Life and Death; nowhere else in the world will this be experienced simultaneously.  Kashi represents timelessness, not just unfolding the cycle of birth and death. The city pulsates with the longings, prayers, breath and sweat of millions of people and visitors from all over the world.

Varanasi or Kashi Vishwanath is the city of Shiva, the Cosmic Lord, manifesting as the Destroyer, but in the role of Ishvara, he grants us Grace and protection for he is Creator and Sustainer as well. As Destroyer, he doesn’t destroy the soul, but only the world of His illusion. Everything that is bound by time must perish, and by freeing us from time, Shiva renders us timeless.

The Sadhana of Yogini Shambhavi drew her to Varanasi in her early thirties, trying to understand life, its existence and death. During the evenings she’d take a boat and move down the river watching the evening aarti, the ritual fire offering. In a row, young priests in crisp white dhotis, bare bodied would perform the Aarti or fire offerings  illuminating the night sky with flashing plumes through the air with powerful Vedic chants.

Varanasi’s narrow lanes or ‘Gullies’ are an experience, with its intricately painted walls we learn to maneuver life alongside the cows, dogs, humans, motorcyclists, chaiwallahs, drying colorful laundry and a peep into open doorways and the local’s lifestyles.

We will share a very special treat of the famous Varanasi Thali. Thali is an ancient Bharatiya or Indian tradition with several different delicacies which create a balance of all the five taste elements that build our overall perception of flavour – sweet, salty, bitter and umami (savory). Traditionally, Thalis were based on the Ayurvedic concept of ‘Desha’ which says that one must eat what grows in the region locally.

Varanasi is renowned for its historic ceremonial eighty four Ghats, and  is a walking experience of liberating the atman or soul. These riverfront steps lead to the flowing sacred Ganga River, where Seekers bathe, offer prayers, puja, sit in contemplation and meditation.

Some of the famous ghats are Assi ghat, Ahilya ghat, Tulsi ghat, Kedar ghat, Dashashwamedh ghat, Scindia ghat. Whereas Manikarnika ghat and Harishchandra ghat are cremation ghats, abodes to liberate the soul, a timeless dance of life and death alongside the flowing sacred Ganga. 

In her book, Yogini: Unfolding the Goddess Within, Shambhavi shares all her personal spiritual experiences in Varanasi for sadhakas to have a deeper sense and feeling of the Yatra (sacred pilgrimage) experience.