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Beach in Anjuna, India By Sonja Bjelland

Yes, the beach state on the Arabian Sea known for drugs and partying Europeans is turning to yoga. But Goa the state, and the yoga landscape, are a bit difficult to navigate.

With a dose of Portuguese influence and miles of sandy beaches, it’s really a place you have to settle in to.

I’ll admit I didn’t take the time to do it up right. I wanted to move on to the spice plantations and backwaters of Kerala. A few days in Goa can leave a traveler frustrated wondering why anyone would bother. But getting on a motorbike and crossing rice paddies for a sunset dinner at the beach shows why people keep coming back.

I stayed in the city of Candolim, in what’s considered Central Goa on the recommendation of some fellow travelers. It’s pretty difficult to decide where to be based and I’m not quite the drop-me-off-and-let-me-find-a-hut traveler. That’s what Lonely Planet recommended for several of these villages. It’s also how India rolls – especially Goa.

Candolim worked for me because I could easily run to Panaji, the state capital, for some computer needs and restock on granola bars and contact solution at Newtons. But like most of India, Goa isn’t easy for tourists. No beach trolleys run between the towns that are hours apart. They don’t even have signs pointing to the beach.

Sunset at Arambol beach, India By Sonja Bjelland

I was lucky enough to meet a fellow American at an Internet café and got a bit of the lowdown as well as several motorbike rides so I could actually see more than Candolim.

But finding drop-in yoga classes before the high tourist season proved difficult in Candolim. Several people study with an Ashtanga teacher, a division that sets the poses in a particular series. But many studied that branch of yoga in Mysore, a city several hours away that has strict month-long Ashtanga programs.

The seasonal nature of Goa adds a few other complexities to finding a yoga teacher there.

a.) everyone wants in on the game, trained yoga instructors or not

b.) it’s not a stable business so the studios and locations change frequently

c.) some businesses are only open from November to February.

A better spot for yoga but less developed, Arambol sits right on the beach. It’s also touristy enough that shops hang their wears like in the West instead of expecting you to sit while they show you different options.

Fishing boats near Candolim, India By Sonja Bjelland

The Himalayan School of Yoga has a sign right on the beach making it easy to find and it offers daily classes. But staying there can be a bit tricky if you’re not a backpacker. The Lonely Planet guide says: “simply turn up early in the day to check out who’s check out of your dream hut.”

This can work if you have another place you’re already staying and you’re looking to move, you are renting a motorbike, or you can pay for a rickshaw for the hour-long drive.

More expensive yoga resort options exist in Goa, but most only offer classes during the high season so double check before you go.

The sound of the waves calmed me immediately despite my long journey.

SwaSwara yoga resort near Gokarna, India By Sonja Bjelland

You don’t meet a lot of stressed out folks who hear waves all day. Not sure if that’s nature or nurture.

After two weeks of intense yoga at the Parmarth Niketan ashram in Rishikesh, India in the foothills of the Himalayas, I headed south to hang out on the banks of the Arabian Sea. Specifically to Om Beach.

My jetpack was on the fritz so for me this required a porter carrying my bags across the Rishikesh footbridge at 4 a.m., a train to Delhi where I spent the night, a flight to Goa and a 3-hour drive down a beautiful but sometimes windy road to the SwaSwara yoga resort.

I’ll admit I got a deal on the accommodations but I wanted my readers to know the differences beyond a thicker mattress and a clean room.

At SwaSwara, the classes started with the same chants as in the ashram but the gentle yoga class truly was and the progressive brought more of a challenge. The poses and the series closely match those at the ashram, likely because teacher Juhi Prasad trained at Parmarth Niketan and the Sivananda ashram in Kerala.

While the chants are primarily the same, the dose of spirituality is less, though not removed. Resort time can give you a chance to be alone in a safe and comfortable setting and work through some things. Sometimes that’s all it takes.

For Prasad, SwaSwara should make yoga more than an exercise and help people find the balance they’re looking for.

“You can go on a beach holiday and really relax but this is going beyond that,” she said.

Finding that personal voice, the focus of the resort, went beyond yoga. An art room had twice-daily classes in sculpting or glass

A standard room at SwaSwara yoga resort in India By Sonja Bjelland

painting. And the nature just envelops you. Each room is mostly open with a fully enclosed bedroom. It’s like a luxury jungle hut even with a thatched roof.

And so much nature to see. Birds in blue and green. Monkeys playing in the trees.

Onsite Naturalist Devadatta Naik gives walks pointing out some of the 44 species of butterflies and up to 66 species of birds when they migrate from Russia.

One of the main points of the ashram experience is austerity and something that can give you a lot of pause in India. This area is getting closer to “Jungle Book” territory and I kept thinking about the song the “Bear Necessities.” Not often on the brain at a resort. But stepping onto the beach one realizes the only people wearing swimsuits are tourists.  The Indians don’t bother. They just swim in their clothes. Something we spend so much time fretting over.

The resort doesn’t offer much of that and isn’t supposed to. But the lack of quality Internet access did just that – made me realize how dependent I am on it to communicate.

It made it hard for me to post, but also gave me more time to think and read. And not think.

But what about the yoga?

Guests can take the different hatha yoga classes (the poses) as well as study the other branches of yoga such as meditation and breathing techniques. Prasad wants to balance a variety of classes with a schedule that would allow people to attend multiple times.

“It should not be a tasting menu but to develop the skills to go back,” Prasad said.

She has more to her vision as well. SwaSwara is constructing a meditation station and yoga hut overlooking Om Beach where she hopes to have a half hour of meditation followed by an hour-long yoga class.

The 26-acre property also has a massive banyan tree creating its own shade that Prasad would like to use for pranayama (breathing techniques) and yoga nidra (deep relaxation) because it emits so much oxygen.

Banyan Tree at SwaSwara yoga resort in India By Sonja Bjelland

Some karma yoga (serving yoga) is also on her list and she would like to offer guests a chance to do some sort of volunteer work in the nearby town of Gokarna.

That would also give guests a bit more of a taste of India.

The food also gives a tip toe into Indian food. Most of it grown on site or nearby with a menu decided only hours before each meal.

It’s also significantly healthier than ashram food. Actually, the two should not even be compared on the food front. Breakfasts included fresh cut papaya, muesli or Indian cuisine. The three-course lunches would be served on a banana leaf with such dishes as local curries or semolina encrusted whole fish and a fresh juice mixture. Dinners took four courses with a range of entrees such as fish with a cilantro pesto and Indian spiced pumpkin as the side dish.

It all tasted so good I was forgetting to eat mindfully like I had been at the ashram. But at the ashram I also didn’t want to think too much about the pile in front of me  or I wouldn’t want to eat.

Parmarth Niketan yoga class By Sonja Bjelland

It takes a bit of the knowing yourself that yoga brings to pick a yoga vacation or ashram that works for you.
After two weeks at Parmarth Niketan, I’m transitioning to yoga resort life at SwaSwara, south of Goa, India.
But before I left Rishikesh’s yoga hub, I checked out a few other ashrams in the area.
This isn’t about what’s better or what’s worse. It’s what experience you want.
It’s tough to find out what some of these places are really like, but I’ll do another post later about researching them and, quite frankly, that’s why I created this site.
For some people, Parmarth Niketan can be too loud, crowded and focused on Hinduism. Statues of gods and goddesses fill the property. Part of our classes included Hindu texts. Chants invoke Shiva and Vishnu. But that’s ony in the yoga program. Otherwise, visitors can attend 6 a.m. yoga, 5 p.m. meditation, the service on the banks of the Ganges and meeting with Swamiji afterward.
It worked for me because I wanted to be around people after traveling by myself for several weeks. I also found it interesting to learn about Hinduism from its core followers. The location allowed me to have outside food options, the Internet and contact with bits of India. But it was India-lite. I was only dodging cows and motorcycles intead of rickshaws and cars as well.
But that’s not everyone’s wish and other ashrams offer some variety.
The similarly named Yoga Niketan ashram, also in Rishikesh, rises above the busy main street with bucolic grassy lawns dotted by yoga students in white on their mats.

Housing at Parmarth Niketan in Rishikesh, India

The staff did not speak English well so I could not get some quetions answered and one woman struggled to check-in. For 600 rupees a night ($13 US) visitors receive three meals and a long daily schedule of meditation and yoga from 4:30 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. Only for the serious yogi, they require a minimum two-week stay.
It’s farther from places to go outside the ashram and the afacing street is busy and leads straight to a rickshaw depot. But that makes it easy to reach. Well, until you have to climb the hill.
In its serious nature, Yoga Niketan also has a strict code that again will make some people cringe and some smile. Going back to the translation issues, guests are called “inmates” on the list of rules and regulations that includes a ban on electronics and musical instruments and latecomers not being allowed to enter classes. The rooms however were cleaner but just as basic.

Only a short walk up the same road, the Omkarananda Ganga Sadan Yoga ashram sits overlooking the Ganges River.
The security guard would not let me inside and said they were booked full so he could not show me a room.
From what I could see, the spotless lobby has seating that overlooks the river and a small store that sells various products so people do not have to venture into the hectic marketplace down the street.
They require a 3-day minimum stay and rooms are 350 rupees without air conditioning and 1,000 rupees with. They do offer Iyengar yoga classes from 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Down closer to the footbridge sits the more well-known Sivananda/Divine Life Society ashram and hospital. Its brother ashram in Kerala, India, is more famous but they offer the copycat teacher training in their ashrams from Madrid to New York.
Again, English was an issue, but they allowed me to meander around the multi-story tall concrete complex. I didn’t see any Westerners but they said some stay there. It felt like a city college campus to me without much open space but they are supposed to have excellent yoga classes, included an evening class just for women.
On the footsteps of Sivananada sits another type of yoga destination sprouting up in India, the yoga resort/spa. On Thursday, I’ll dive more into the differences and similarities.

I’m sure as I visit more yoga ashrams in India this list will grow. But already I have this list of items that are helpful to bring. Don’t think you have to pack everything unless you’re going to a more remote ashram.

The touristy areas make it easy to find refills of anything. About a 30 minute walk up the road from the ashram, is a backpacker district called Lakshman Jhula. I’ve seen more white people here than in the rest of my time in India. I even grabbed a falafel sandwich and my roommate picked up a cold Diet Coke yesterday. “Heaven,” she said.

Not where I’m going to spend my whole trip, but it’s a great place to restock on anything from travel size tissues to hats, not a commonly sold item here.

What you pack also depends on where you’re staying. As yoga students at Parmarth Niketan we have to wear all white. I just bought the pants and a shirt here and brought an extra white T-shirt with me. The pants I’ll likely leave behind. The harem pants work well because the tight cuffs keep your pants out of whatever is in the street, or the water on the floor in my bathroom. But they’re rather thin and looking a bit grungy after two solid weeks. Some people considered this when packing their undergarments, some didn’t.

Just don’t bring something you’re attached to because sending it in for washing may leave it with orange stains.

It’s also funny how even though we all have to wear white, the women have purchased scarves for the cool mornings and to show some personality.

Regardless of color, the yoga clothes should somewhat conform to local standards so tank tops are not allowed and longer tops are preferred. Indian custom is for women to cover and or disguise where the legs meet – baggy is better.

I also brought a travel mat. It’s already looking grungy, but I doubt the mats here are ever cleaned. Not sure they’ve had any issues like they have at gyms in the states, but that’s not something I’ll risk. My mat is rather thin so I put it on top of a regular mat. On the concrete tile floors however, it’s still hard.

The shopping area next to the ashram and the little store within the ashram sell yoga mats. I’m just not sure where I would pack it.

Some items you’ll need and can get either here or before you visit:

Mosquito wipes: Sometimes needed for class. Always needed for treks into the surrounding jungle or to visit the ruins of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Ashram famous for its Beatles ties.

Tennis shoes: A trip to one of the waterfalls can be treacherous without proper footwear.

Flip-flops or similar easy on and off sandals: Shoes are not allowed in many parts of the ashram and even in some stores. After seeing the streets you’ll take them off at your door as well. That constant changing requires easy footwear.

Notebook and pen: Good for taking notes in yoga history or just your thoughts.

Travel tissues: Pranayama yoga practice requires tissues. So does the spicy food.

Earplugs: People equal noise and both are everywhere in India. Bells and chanting start at 4:45 a.m. If you plan to sleep later, you’ll need earplugs. Other times they’re needed to sleep through the party raging across the street until 2 a.m. when you have 6 a.m. yoga class.

New sports bras: Twice-daily and sweaty yoga classes do a number on undergarments.

Refillable water bottle: The two ashrams I’ve been to both provide purified water. I also have a SteriPen so I can purify tap water easily in my room when needed. Having the water bottle means I’m not contributing as much to the massive garbage problem they have here and I don’t have to think about buying water when I’m out.

Knife: For cutting up fruit and peeling apples.

Nail brush: I have no idea how my nails get dirty but they do. Some days it’s like I’ve been in the garden. And it can do double duty scrubbing clothes.

Laundry soap: Easy to buy here, but possible to bring your own.

Sinus medications: Most everyone in my class is stuffed up. It’s one medicine I didn’t bring.

Yoga strap: They’re not provided and I always like my own stuff touching my feet. I’ve also used my water bottle to double as a yoga block.

Braces: Any type of knee, elbow or back brace you occasionally have to use. You always sit cross-legged and two workouts a day is more than most are used to. That does a number on your joints.

Headlamp: The power goes out at least once a day.

Any other must have items?

The jungle practically envelops the Parmarth Niketan ashram.

Monkeys toddle around and butterflies of black, yellow, orange and blue dance in the gardens.

But this is India after all.

They burn the garbage next to the yoga hall during class and you have to lower your standards of clean or you’ll just be frustrated the entire time.

Ashrams are basic. My needs are met and I’m supposed to spend some time thinking about what more I really need in life. I have a bed and three meals a day. I even have hot water. Not all of the students do.

The bathroom has at least four leaks. But it does have a flush toilet and you can even put toilet paper down it. (Not common in the developing world.)

This place is a huge campus with multi-story high concrete buildings on the end of a shopping district catering to the yoga students. The shops supply us with fruits and juice that we cannot get at the ashram and the white clothes we’re required to wear for yoga class. A few Internet café/travel agents, bookstores and restaurants round out how the community has learned to fill the needs and wants of the yoga students.

I have more ashrams to visit and I’ve learned that if I ever were to do a yoga teacher course I’d want to know a lot about the location and the teacher. I don’t know that I could live here for five weeks but it’s been a pleasure meeting my fellow yoga students and being involved in this community.

The teaching students I have met said this was more about learning the spiritual side of yoga and its history. The physical aspects of poses they can learn anywhere.

So here’s an accounting of a day at the ashram.

I’m lucky when I get to sleep all the way until 5:30 a.m.

My 10 a.m. alarm in California seems so far away. So does my bed. This mattress is smaller than the second digit on my pointer finger.

A mechanized gong and bell system rings at 4:45 a.m. for the Indians who stay here to attend the morning service.

With my earplugs, I can sometimes sleep through the chanting of the service but the gong usually has already woken me up.

I throw on my white harem pants and white tunic, brush my teeth with purified water and head to class to the 6 a.m. yoga-prep class. Some days this feels more like calisthenics than yoga but it’s supposed to prep us to do the asanas, or poses, at 4 p.m.

Lots of leg raises, sit-ups and twisted arm bends venturing on a Jane Fonda video.

We blow our noses and then squeeze our faces to forcefully breathe out of our noses in pace with the teacher for a minute to start our pranayama practice. Holding one nostril closed, we do the same until we alternate. This is supposed to help use build concentration. It does clear out my sinuses in a way only the curry can.

Sometimes I’m exhausted enough to take a short nap before the 8:30 a.m. breakfast, usually a rice and lentils mix with peppers and tons of salt. Sometimes it’s even worse. But a hot cup of chai makes up for it. And if I can’t take it, I head down the street for yogurt, muesli, fruit and honey all for less than $2.

The next round of classes focuses on the chants and lessons. The first week we studied the Bhagavad Gita, the sacred scripture of India, and learned some of the mantras we would use in class and ceremonies. Now, we’re discussing yoga and still trying to learn how to sing in Sanskrit. While I don’t understand it all, I am respectful and find it fascinating how India has managed to keep such an ancient religion alive.

Afterward, we clean the yoga hall with brooms that don’t get the job done and dirty rags wrapped around squeegees. The floor is never particularly clean but it’s better than it was.

From the 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. asana practice the afternoon is ours. Lunch varies but usually involves a lentil soup or curry and some sort of potatoes mixed with anything from pickles to peppers. All heavy on salt and Indian spices. I eat it all with a lot of rice and chipatti (an unleavened, whole wheat pita type bread). On occasion, we’ll get rice pudding.

I read, write, run errands, buy jewelry, go to the Internet café.

The asana practice has improved but can still be frustrating. I know it’s about your practice and not the teacher. She is sweet but has difficulty keeping track of right and left and has us do more repetitions of a pose instead of holding it.

My frustration with her lack of instructions for the true beginners in the class makes it difficult but I try to attend with an open mind. She does lead an excellent meditation if I can stay awake through it.

Then again, everyone “working” here does so as “seva.” They’re giving to the cause, not for money. I think you get what you pay for. The 10-day course cost me $250, including lodging and meals.

By the time we’re out of class, people are already crowding on the banks of the Ganges for Aarti. With great commotion, the Swamiji descends the stairs and begins singing with others from the ashram.

After a few songs, candles are lit and people push and shove to reach one. Grabbing the candleholder, multiple people hold it and move it clockwise in a circle. Others will wave their hand over it and then over their heads to symbolize spreading the divine’s knowledge over you.

With more singing, the service ends and the Guru is escorted back to the ashram across the street where he sits in his garden and takes questions or blesses people. The advice from him and his second-in-command, resembles that of any good therapist.

Aarti at Parmarth Niketan By Sonja Bjelland

Usually invoking parables, they help people confront questions of forgiveness and mixing spirituality with intellect and emotion.

Dinner ends the day and may well resemble what was served at lunch.

I aim to be in bed by 10 p.m. but I’m not always tired. How that’s possible I’m not sure.

The fire rose and spit as rice and seeds dropped into the flames.

The annual tradition marked today’s vedic holiday – when India’s 1.2 billon residents honor their ancestors and elders.

If you spend a few weeks in India, you’ll likely come upon some holiday or ceremony. Considered an extension of the ashram family, the yoga students were invited to participate in this cultural tradition. But it’s not just about honoring. It’s also about cleaning out familial emotional baggage and letting go.

Another traditional ceremony to be held on Saturday is to burn whatever is keeping us from moving on with our lives: jealousy, anger, weakness. The list can be as long as you need it to be.

Today, we gathered in a yoga practice room as one of our teachers began chanting. Everyone placed rice and flowers on the edges of the small, square fire pit.

“Om bhurbhuvah suvah,” began the chant we recited 108 times while offerings were placed in the fire. The full mantra translated means that “Om is the basis of everything. That Lord is the one who is the most worshipful. We meditate upon that all-knowing Lord. May He set our intellects in the right direction.”

Sitting next to the fire, the sweat dripped on my belly. The chanting continued. We offered our rice and seeds.

The ashram leader, always known as Swamiji, told us the ceremony is about respecting the knowledge of our elders instead of setting them aside as we tend to do in the West.

I thought of my grandparents and all they have given me: the strength, tenacity and wisdom to do what I am doing now. And of my great-grandparents, whom I only know from stories and recipes but I try to honor by carry on some of their traditions.

But that’s the easy part. Swamiji said this is a time to release bitterness. To put it all in the rice and seeds and let it go up in flames.

It’s a day to realize whatever  it is that is going on between you and your parents. To understand that you have a choice in how you feel about it and react to it.

Considering all the Indian soap operas revolve around angst between mothers and the daughters-in-law who live with them, I’m guessing this ceremony is a must.

But it was not an easy one for me.

Both of my parents have been concerned about my travels and have had trouble accepting my choices. But they have also helped make this opportunity happen and I honored that.

I don’t want this experience marred by being ashamed of doing this or thinking I am somehow doing something wrong.

Today, that was left burning in the fire.

Rishikesh, India – Along the Ganges River, this hamlet by Indian standards (80,000 residents)  bills itself as the yoga capital of the world. Highway signs point to different ashrams. Yoga seems to be on every corner.

The streets are filled with “om” symbol necklaces and touristy gifts.

But life here is calm compared to Delhi and Jaipur. I can go out after dark and am writing this post from a Internet cafe. More cows crowd the small streets by the ashram, but there are fewer cars to dodge.

I am staying at the Parmarth Niketan ashram, famous for hosting the International Yoga Festival and the giant Shiva statue it had on the Ganges until floods took it downstream a few weeks back. But as with so much in India, things are not what they seem.

I am settling into the ashram, but the rooms are not as clean as advertised on the website and they do not have wifi. The record monsoon that ended just weeks ago has left a major mold problem. I had to inspect room after room until I found one that I don’t think will aggravate my asthma. But that’s advice for all ashrams and hotels in India, inspect the rooms before signing.

For me, India just requires yoga. Nothing is planned but things work out. You have no choice but enjoy the slow place and the chaos that ensues when you try to plan. You have to give up judgment and just accept this is how it is. No the standards for cleanliness are not the same. And it may take a half hour to get sheets and towels after you’re asked if you need them tonight. (Um, yes.) But those are the lessons yoga teaches as well. Here, you’re just confronted with them at every moment.

That’s even why I’m here now. Another train issue led to me coming to Rishikesh for yoga two days earlier than I had planned. But that allowed me to start the 10-day beginner yoga program. Classes start at 6 a.m. and about six hours of the day are spent learning mantras for chanting, guided meditation and doing sun salutations and the yoga poses we know best. Most of the 15 of us are from England, Australia or the U.S. To my surprise, there are 7 men and 8 women.

Today when our afternoon class finished, I walked out epitomizing “blissed out.” Even the mosquito that buzzed in my ear during shivasana, “corpse pose” time, was less of a bother.

I’ll be posting here as I see fit. But I may not be as frequent as I have been so I can take in the full experience. Separate myself a bit from Facebook, Twitter and the news of the world. To sink and say “om.”