Detailed Journey
These transformational experience will leave you with enriched souls and hearts!
An unforgettable authentic travel experience to an off-the-beaten-path destination in the Indian Himalaya Uttrakhand, closer to the Tibetan border. You are invited to indulge in a sensory banquet consisting of an authentic Himalayan culinary sojourn, cultural immersion, and adventurous treks through spectacular Himalayan trails, quaint mountain villages, majestic mountain capes, and breathtaking river valleys.
These unforgettable experiences serve to uplift the local communities, supporting social and economic development while helping to preserve the natural environment.
You will stay in an award-winning boutique eco-retreat/homestay, off-the-grid beautiful forest cabins, and boutique resort.
Day 1
Arrive at Dehradun
Welcome Dinner and Introductions
Airport - Rishikesh 20km Drive
Meals: D
Stay: Divine Resort & Spa
- Participants will be met at the airport by one of our team members and taken by private taxi to our boutique wellness hotel facing the holy river Ganga with stunning views.
- Meet at 5pm for tea and presentation of the program and introductions in detail; afterward, we go for a Ganga river walk and witness the daily evening ritual of Ganga Aarti. Aarti is a pleasant ritual of worshipping the Ganga and happens at a very picturesque place on the banks of Ganga.
Day 2
Into the deep Himalayas
Morning Yoga + Energizing and Aligning your Energy Centers
Rishikesh - Mandal 220km
Meals: B,L, D
Stay: Himalayan Citrus Garden Boutique Eco-retreat
- Early morning, seekers will take private taxis to the internal Himalayas, from the crowded settlement to the isolated villages in the deeper mountain range, an incredible drive of 6-7 hours.
- We will have sightseeing stops to see beautiful Prayags -(confluence of rivers - pilgrim spots for Hindus) on the way and stop for breakfast.
- We will reach our beautiful boutique eco-retreat in our permaculture farm for lunch. We aim to not isolate from nature rather blend with nature to rediscover ourselves. Our community will traditionally welcome us; eco-retreat is looked after by local women and youth as a part of our empowerment project.
- A walk-around of the retreat will be given to you to show different retreat spaces and how you could utilize them. Afternoon free to rest.
- Heal your Inner Child – Evening session – 3 hours. Today we start our inner journey, how our Inner child gets wounded and stuck, What happens if our inner child is not healed & Realize your Inner Child traumas. Releasing the past pains and wounds and healing your inner child. Empowering your inner child and Letting go of negative attachments
Day 3
Mountain Small Town Market Discovery And Gopinath Temple
Enhancing & Protecting Your Energy Field
Koteshwar - Gopeshwar 11km
Meals: B,L, D
Stay: Himalayan Citrus Garden Boutique Eco-retreat
- We start our day with a 30 minute morning yoga.
- After breakfast, we visit Gopeshwar to discover a stunning Gopinath temple made in 9-11 century AD and a beautiful ashram next to the temple where temple priests reside.
- Visit a typical colorful mountain town market. We buy our kurtas here- an Indian attire to wear, a little gesture of respect towards the local customs and locals when we visit the villages. Lunch at the local market, then back to our retreat.
- Evening session – 2 hours
- Aura – The Human Energy Field
- What makes Aura rip
- How to shield and Zip your Aura
- Aura Purification Meditation
We often hear that your Aura is good and bright. What is this Aura, and how can we cleanse our Aura and protect ourselves? We will experience this through a beautiful meditation where you will be able to scan your own Aura and cleanse it.
Day 4
Village Sojourn
Joy & Compassion
Koteshwar - Dungari 23km
Meals: B,L, D
Stay: Himalayan Citrus Garden Boutique Eco-retreat
- After breakfast, we visit a local village to discover beautiful old architecture and see the village life, where underprivileged women are employed. An income is generated for them via this travel program. We will speak to a few villagers and exchange stories. Visit the local school to see the simple education system.
- After Lunch at Sunita’s house, a lady widowed at 23 with 3 daughters is supported by our project; we will head to our retreat. Authentic Himalayan lunch, ingredients used from her garden & feilds.
- Meditation 30 Min - Be the Energy of Joy & Compassion & Heal the World.
Day 5
Handcrafters Village
Embracing You
Koteshwar - Naini 27km
Meals: B, L, D
Stay: Himalayan Citrus Garden Boutique Eco-retreat
- Trek to untouchable tribal villages. We meet the artisans and will be able to make the handicraft, learn the handicraft heritage, and have an opportunity to buy the products directly from the artisans.
- We lunch at a local village home supported by the empowerment project. Our hostess will be Lalxmi, who lives alone. Most of the family, including her husband, has left for cities to earn their living, a significant migration problem Uttrakhand is facing.
- Embracing you meditation 30 min - We often hear people talk about loving yourself first, but how do we do that? This is a beautiful exercise followed by a meditation where you will learn to send unconditional love to yourself when you were a baby in your mother’s womb. This helps, especially in cases where people face difficulties accepting and receiving love and nurturing. We forget that self-love and self-acceptance are our birthrights.
Day 6
Ancient Goddess Temple
Waterfall Purification Meditation (Takigyo)
Koteshwar - Mandal 2.5km (drive) - Atrimuni 7km (trek 1 way)
Meals: B,L, D
Stay: Himalayan Citrus Garden Boutique Eco-retreat
- We drive to Mandal, a charming starting point of our trek to the Ansuiya temple. We will trek 5km through the forest to reach this centuries-old goddess temple. Ansuiya is a beautiful old village surrounded by forest.
- We will have lunch in a traditional home in the village.
- After lunch, we will head to Atri muni cave and a stunning waterfall 2km from the temple via a beautiful route through the dense forest. This holy cave temple is behind the waterfall with beautiful energy; this site was used by Atri muni for meditation. We will do a waterfall purification Takigyo objective of Takigyo is to cleanse the mind, body, and soul through a Buddhism purification ritual.
- After our tea at the monk/rishi's cave hut next to the waterfall, we head back to our retreat.
Day 7
Wild food gathering and Cooking course at the hidden ancient cobra temple,
Emotional wellness
Kotehswar - wild life sanctuary temple point 7km (drive) 4km (hike 1way)
Meals: B,L,D
Stay: Himalayan Citrus Garden Boutique Eco-retreat
- After breakfast, we will head to the middle of a forest, starting our 4 km hike to this ancient cobra temple. This temple is a peaceful place oozing with energy, and only locals know about this hidden temple. We will gather wild food/herbs, which we will use in cooking our food in the open. You will be given a cooking course today in the middle of the wildlife sanctuary.
- Emotional Wellness – The 3 R’s of our Lives – Evening session – 2 hours Emotional wellness is all about being emotionally stable, strong, and balanced. For this, it is essential to be free from all the past emotional clutter that we store in our mind and body in the form of the "3 R's" – Resentments, Rejections, and Regrets. This particular session will help you identify and clear these from your space and make you feel lighter in life.
Usually, when one thinks of a lotus, what comes to mind? A fully blossomed flower, where each petal opens up to the sky. Now observe where does the lotus originates from?
Mud. Yet, the lotus remains unstained and untouched by the pond. Imagine if we could also be like the lotus flower - unaffected by day-to-day events and blossom with love and joy. Padma Sadhana is a practice that could make such blossoming possible. Designed by Sri SriRavi Shankar, this beautiful yoga practice comprises simple yoga postures, Nadi Shodhan breathing techniques, and meditation.
Day 8
Trek To the highest Shiva temple & Clean drive
Moon meditation
Koteshwar - Chopta 34km (drive) 7.4 km (trek)
Meals- B,L, D
Stay - Ringal forest huts
- After Breakfast, we drive through the wildlife sanctuary till chopta. Here we climb up to Tungnath temple- the highest Shiva temple of the world with spectacular views of the snow peaks. The steep trek to Tungnath at an altitude of 3650 meters is a mere 3.5 km. Tungnath means 'lord of the peaks,' is more than 1000 years old, and is an example of magnificent architecture and artistic structure. Once here, we'll have the feeling of being in a different era.
- After lunch, we continue to the Chandershila- moonstone. The Chandrashila peak at 4000 meters beckons 1.5 km further, where the majestic 360-degree view of the Himalayas awaits. In Hinduism, it is believed to be the gateway to heaven. We'll have magnificent views of Himalayan snow peaks, including Trishula 7120m, Nanda Devi 7816m (highest peak of India), and Chaukhamba 7138m.
- Moon meditation 1 hour - In this beautiful meditation, we will learn to invite and invoke the Moon energies to help us let go of the patterns and habits blocking from manifesting a new future. We will learn to manifest our dreams into reality and to flush out negative energies, and send blessings to friends, family, and to the Planet Earth.
- A clean drive while descending to our exquisite forest cabins
Day 9
Hike through the wildlife sanctuary
Enhancing & Protecting your Energy Field
Bhulkana - Koteshwar 14 km trek
Meals: B,L, D
Stay: Himalayan Citrus Garden Boutique Eco-retreat
- Morning Surya Kavach Yoga Followed by Gratitude session – 1 hour
Sun is a source of energy that balances our body chakras and heals our mind and soul. Sun meditation has enumerable benefits that include balancing of emotions and recovering from physical and mental ailments such as eyesight problems, headaches, migraine, back pain, asthma, diabetes, hypertension, thyroid, and many other chronic conditions. In addition, unhealthy eating habits, over-indulgence of senses, anger, fear, and depression can also be cured by practicing sun meditation. We start our day by counting our blessings - gratitude meditation. Because Gratitude is Plentitude. It magnifies more and more. We will also mindfully spend our entire day in the energy of Gratitude and reflect in the evening. - After breakfast we will start our 14 km hike down through the Kedarnath wildlife sanctuary. We'll be witnessing loads of wildlife, orchids, waterfalls, fantastic flora, and stunning views.
- We will have a picnic lunch in the sanctuary and continue the hike to our retreat for a tea gathering.
- Evening sitting around the fire and reflecting on our day's journey.
Day 10
Ancient Himalayan practice & permaculture
Heal inner child
Meals: B,L, D
Stay: Himalayan Citrus Garden Boutique Eco-retreat
- Today you will take part in an ancient Himalayan ritual of cleansing your hair using the bark of a native tree Bhimal(Grewia optiva) & later you will be introduced to the practices of regenerative agriculture/natural farming by our in-house expert of permaculture Sumanto. Knowledge that you can take back to your home countries and observe & interact with the essence of permaculture in your everyday lifestyle.
- Afternoon will be free to wander, rest, chat, read, or do whatever you wish for.
- Evening session – 2 hours - Today, we will learn to Energize and Align our Energy Centres. In yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda, this term refers to wheels of energy throughout the body. Even though there are 100s of Chakras, there are seven main ones typically dealt with when it comes to healing. Since everything is moving, it’s essential that our seven main chakras stay open, aligned, and fluid. If there is a blockage, energy cannot flow. This meditation will teach us to open and balance our 7 chakras combining music, sound, color, and affirmations. We will be aware of how our chakras are connected with the 7 planes of existence and what imbalance manifests in our bodies and untangle them.
Day 11
Back to the foothills
Balance your elements
Mandal - Rishikesh 220km
Meals: B,L, D
Stay: Yog Niketan By Sanskriti
- After breakfast we say good bye to our host and drive back to Rishikesh.
- Sightseeing and lunch stop along the way.
- Arrival at our boutique hotel, rest.
- Evening river walk and Ganga river meditation20 min - We are made up of all the 5 elements – fire, water, air, earth & space. When we are amidst the woods, green nature, majestic mountains, and riverside, we can become one with the 5 elements more efficiently and balance them in ourselves. Experience this magical meditation where you are not just the body or mind but also the Element. And know your Element.
- After Arti we will have our dinner.
Day 12
Discovering Rishikesh - Beatles footsteps
Empowered you
Meals: B,L, D
Stay: Yog Niketan By Sanskriti
- Morning Yoga session.
- Visiting Rishikesh- Beatles Ashram and hidden shopping streets through a local’s eyes.
- Evening we will do our final meditation. Empowered you 45 min - In the evening we will focus on reclaiming our power back from everyone where we lost it. When we get emotionally entangled or allow others to control us, we give away our power to them. Hence we become incomplete. This wonderful exercise & meditation will help you to become fully empowered and feel whole and complete in self.
- We'll have a question-answer session before our farewell feast.
Day 13
Morning Yoga & Good bye
Rishikesh -Airport 20km Drive
- Morning Yoga session before breakfast.
- Drop off to the airport in private taxies.