Yoga Retreat India

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Anahata Healing is a donation-based yoga and
meditation retreat in southern Indian that heals
all wounds.

• By
• https//anahata-healing.com/

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• We meet the people we meet for a reason,
  welcomed Kiran, founder of Anahata Healing Arts
  Centre. There are no accidents.
• The ashram in his home village of Ravandur
  is located about 70 kilometers outside of Mysore,
  the local hustle n bustle city in the southern
  Indian state of Karnateka.

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• I too believe that the people you interact
  with are the people that youre supposed to
  interact with for better or for worse. Either
  theyll open their hearts to you, or not. Anahata
  means the heart chakra in Sanskrit, one of the
  seven chakras that are believed to have a
  psychic-energy centre that aligns our body from
  our crown to our root groin.
• I believe that everybody, all humans, have a
  right to heal, Kiran continued as we were
  offered chai or herbal tea. That is why Anahata
  is a donation-based retreat, which makes it the
  most affordable one in India. That way, you dont
  have to be stressed about the cost. Pay what you
  feel you can.

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• I arrived at Anahata for two reasons the
  first, to volunteer in helping continuing the
  building and development of the community that
  Kiran envisions. The second was something that
  had detonated in my personal life lets leave
  it at heart-break. I needed a sanctuary to deal
  with it while wrestling Ego which wanted revenge.
• We met the rest of the volunteers out in the
  backyard. On the website, there are photos of the
  farm, situated by a lake. The location on the
  online map also placed it on the shores of a
  lake. But before me lay a standard backyard,
  fenced in by the primary school next door and the
  neighbours on the other side.
• Is he planning the farm here? I was
  confused. Are we in the right place? Is the farm
  somewhere else?
• Do you want to see the farm? Kiran read
  my mind.
• Watch your head, ducking through the
  doorway.

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• Is it far? I asked.
• Just through this gate, he grinned, opening
  the wooden door and, Watch your head, ducking
  through the doorway.
• I had to stop and not because I bumped my
  head. Before me lay toiled fields lining the
  sprawling grassy area that led right up to the
  shores of Ravandur Lake. Cattle fed off the
  grassy sprawl. Egrets fed off the cattle. There
  was a mud pit, from which the mud, mixed with
  cow-dung, was used to build an eco-dwelling with
  eco-friendly rooms based on the five elements
  Earth, Wind, Fire, Water and Ether. It was as
  surprising as opening a small box and discovering
  the Universe inside it.

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• We are planning an art therapy space for
  special needs children, he explained pointing at
  a large area overrun with weeds. And over here,
  he pointed nearby the coconut plantation where
  Brahmini and Brown Kites circled the sky, we are
  starting to build the senior community centre.
  Come, Ill show you the yoga shala, he led the
  way. Its just here, in the banana grove.
• I stood in the sacred space overlooking
  Ravandur Lake as butterflies fluttered about.

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• I began with helping to set up roof tiles on
  the roof of the eco-dwellings along with the
  other volunteers, chain-passing the tiles to the
  labourers. Lunch was at around 1330 and it was
  different each day. Dinner was pongal, the same
  every sunset beaten rice with lentils in a stew.
  All the meals are vegetarian and organic from
  seasonally grown vegetables on the farm.
• At 0530, or thereabouts, the village alarm
  plays from the temple down the road, awakening
  every one to catch the sunrise. I did so every
  day for the two weeks I was there. Either guided
  by the stars or my flashlight, Id make my way to
  the east-facing yoga shala and meditate until I
  could feel the warmth of the sun.

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• The sun rose up like an orange ball, waking
  all cattle egrets, herons, cormorants, red-naped
  ibis, cranes, kites and storks. Dogs and chickens
  began their morning chatter. Macaque monkeys
  raided the outdoor common area along with a
  couple of fearless crows. Butterflies took to the
  air while caterpillars munched on leaves. Fruit
  bats returned from their nightly hunt. The mist
  lifted as the sun grew higher.
• The sun rose up like an orange ball, waking
  all cattle egrets, herons, cormorants, red-naped
  ibis, cranes, kites and storks. Dogs and chickens
  began their morning chatter. Macaque monkeys
  raided the outdoor common area along with a
  couple of fearless crows. Butterflies took to the
  air while caterpillars munched on leaves. Fruit
  bats returned from their nightly hunt. The mist
  lifted as the sun grew higher.

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• Once meditation was completed, I moved over to
  yoga. Hatha is practiced and lead by Kiran, but I
  was used to Ashtanga, a form of yoga I had
  recently learned. I then finished up with another
  half-hour of meditation before returning to the
  common area for breakfast and herbal tea.
• On my second day I was contemplating joining
  the detox program when Kiran asked me suddenly,
  I feel like you might benefit from the detox
  program. Would you like to join?

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• Anahata also offers therapy like the
  Ayurveda-based detox programs, Ayurveda massage
  therapy, meditation and yoga.
• I just need to ask you that you dont
  question our methods, he furthered the deal.
  Simply accept what is coming. Dont ask when or
  how long is left. Acceptance is key.
• I accepted the terms and made no enquiries
  except for the names of the food and juices
  served. The first day was eating resinga, a sweet
  concoction of banana, coconut and honey. Lunch
  was a beetroot-carrot salad with shredded coconut
  and various spices and herbs. Dinner closed out
  with pongal. Between the meals, I was served with
  moringa juice and other juiced herbal plants,
  beetroot and carrot juices, coconut water and on
  the last day, a litre of warm salt water.

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• This detox method is based on ancient
  Ayurveda medicine from centuries past, explained
  Kiran.
• All the food and juices we provide are
  seasonal, and, of course, organic.
• And what a difference in the flavours! I took
  a bite out of a tomato and thought my mouth was
  going to melt. I was pulling up my own carrot and
  beetroots from the fields to be used in the
  juices.
• I planted a tree after taking two days to
  dig through the quartz rock-based soil.
• In the early mornings, after yoga, Id walk
  through the village, Namastaying the friendly
  locals, hand to my heart as was the custom. Id
  then walk down the bank of the tributary that fed
  into Ravandur Lake, getting buzzed by small
  birds, surprising cranes and egrets to take to
  flight. And a clichéd row of ducks.

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• I turned around and noticed Bettadapura
  Hill, a mini-mountain peak rising up behind the
  village just 15 kilometres away.
• Its the Sidlu Mallikarjuna Temple,
  explained one of the volunteers. Youll have to
  climb 3,600 steps to the Shiva temple at the
  top.
• So along with another volunteer, I did just
  that. Having been rising early for meditation and
  yoga on a daily basis for these two weeks, I
  could really feel the physical and mental change
  in me. I had slowed down. I was appreciating the
  moment and being present. I was reconnecting with
  myself.

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• I usually race up mountains and speed walk
  through treks. This time I was going to practice
  walking meditation, focusing on my breath and
  each individual step.
• Ive always noticed the small things in
  nature but this time, it was as though everything
  was standing out. The colours, the sounds, the
  smells. I could feel a sudden reconnection
  happening with myself.

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• Within myself.
• Sometimes we dont realise that weve
  disconnected from ourselves. Especially, in this
  machine-driven era of humanity. People are always
  looking for a place to recharge their phones,
  tablets, laptops, power banks. Its one of the
  first questions asked in a public space, right
  after, Do you have wifi? But we forget to
  recharge ourselves.
• A lot of our health issues are caused by the
  anxiety and stress we allow our environment and
  surroundings to put ourselves through work, the
  future, money, dwelling on past hurt and pain.

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• Relationships.
• We forget to live today and each day for
  ourselves. We spend way too much time worrying
  about the one day that never comes tomorrow.
• Anahata doesnt just mean the heart chakra,
  it is the heart chakra as mine opened up and
  received love from nature, her abundant food and
  light from the Universe, under whose canopy wed
  all chill under in the evenings, star-meditating,
  watching Orions Belt drift across the sky as we
  caught shooting stars.
• We meet the people we meet for a reason,
  Kirans voice echoed in my head. There are no
  accidents.

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• Contact us
• How to contact our donation based yoga
  retreat centre
• Location 571108 Ravandur, Mysore,
  Karnataka, India
• E-Mail info_at_anahata-healing.com
• Tel. [phone]