How to pick a yoga ashram?
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.
