Back in 99’, while I was following Ricky Martin’s advice by ‘Livin La Vida Loca’ and boozing my way through my University degree in an ill fitting pair of cargo pants, some other bright sparks at an Ashram in a hot and sticky land far away were sowing the seeds of something pretty special.
The International Yoga Festival, now in its 29th year has grown from its humble beginnings and handful of attendees, to a renowned spiritual yoga event that this year hosted almost 2000 people from all over the world.
Parmarth Niketan Ashram
Held at Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, famous for its Beatles legacy and their crumbling shrine, the many yoga Ashrams and of course the gracious and powerful ‘Mama Ganga’, it is the perfect location for such a spiritual soiree.
Parmarth Niketan, one of the largest interfaith institutions in India, offers a welcome home to those seeking peace, tranquility, yoga and all round zen. You’ll find this zenny vibe throughout the year, but you’ll see it ramp it up on the spiritual high scale as the festival week gets underway.
Headed by His Holiness Pujya Swami Chidanand Saraswatiji or Swamiji for short (thank goodness) who is not only President and Spiritual Head of Parmarth Niketan, but also of their many charitable endeavors and efforts across India.
Considered somewhat of a saint, his rather grand title and incredible work at the Ashram comes after spending his childhood deep in the forest and even deeper in Sadhana. Emerging at 17, full of wisdom and probably desperate for good natter he headed off to gain an academic education and Masters Degree in Sanskrit and Philosophy. He’s a clever bean all round and one elevated being for sure, which I discovered in my Darshan with him (read more about that here). I’m pretty sure he has a direct line to the Divine.
Along with Swamiji is Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswatiji (Sadhviji) who, both dressed in the traditional orange robes and long curly locks (Swamiji’s the one with the glorious facial hair) lead the festival and the nightly Aarti on the river banks.
The International Yoga Festival schedule
The festival, a week-long event held in the first week of March offers a packed timetable and attracts people from all over the world, along with some yoga royalty (such as Sharon Gannon and Gurumukh) to guide you through the busy schedule. This year you could awaken your day with a 4am Kundalini Sadhana with Gurushabd Singh and dance the day out with ecstatic Kirtan with the Kirtaniyas, and in between? Well the choice was endless and at times a little overwhelming. I had circles and stars scribbled across my timetable to try and make sure I fitted everyone in, but often found myself swayed by a conversation and review I had been ear wigging into at lunch.
The day was built mostly into five main blocks and in each block there were roughly five class options. For those brave enough you could start your day before the sunshine with a 4am Sadhana, followed by an early morning class at 6.30am; maybe an energising Kundalini with Kia Miller or you could romance your spirit with Ana Forrest and Jose Calarco.
Then after breakfast you might choose for Jules Febre to lead you through a powerful Jivamukti class or deepen your knowledge of Sanskrit Mantra with Joanna Faso. Before a much needed lunch there’s time for your body to relax while your mind takes its turn, with a spiritual lecture series delivered by some of the greats such as Bruce Lipton and Sri Prem Baba.
After lunch around 2pm you’ll find time for your food to go down while you align your Chakras with a lecture led by Satya Kalra or let Dr Andrea Paige guide you in the benefits of fasting. And we aren’t done yet! A final stretch and Vinyasa flow with Bharath Shetty or maybe Anand Mehrotra could blow the doors of with full force Sattva yoga class.
The night is welcomed in with a beautiful Aarti at the Ghat, led by Swamiji and Sadhviji, along with whichever guest have joined for the day. For those still with some energy after all that and the evening feast, you could rave it out or be sung to sleep with an evening show under the stars.
As you can guess the schedule is pretty full on, but you can of course take in however much you wish to and remember you have seven full days to enjoy. In fact I would say that is one of the biggest learning curves, when to rest and when to push forward. With so much on you can often be left suffering from FOMO. It can be tricky to know when it is your ego working to hinder the next personal shift that’s just on the horizon, or when you just need to stay in bed and read that trashy magazine.
And when rest is needed you can always find a spot on the grass, relax in your dorm or head down to the Ganges for a dip.
Depending on the package and tier (there are three levels for accommodation) will depend on the quality of accommodation and number of people you share with. I purchased a tier three room which, while basic and meaning I shared with five others, covered all my needs. It also meant I met some great women (its single sex dorms) to share classes and evening catch-ups with.
The Festival vibe
I also took a few trips out of the Ashram to keep myself refreshed. A little further down the river Lakshman Juhla had a vibe I fell in love with, cool cafes for juices, vegan brownies and mooching round the silver shops re-energised me, as did the cow spotting on the walk there. You can find out more in my Rishikesh guide here.
That’s not to say I didn’t love the food (it was a pretty great meal, you can read more in my post here) or my experience with the festival, because I absolutely did. It really blew me away the level of work, much of it by volunteers, that had gone into creating such a wonderful event and space to practice, heal, transform and meet other like minded people. Going to these kind of events means that half the work is done in finding people you are going to gel with. Stereotypical or not, at least you don’t need to search for the mala beads across a crowded room to know you can have your kind of conversation, you know everyone here is on the same page.
My favourite experiences
The friendships I made were a wonderful addition to a wonderful event. I expanded my mind with jaw dropping talks from the delightful Bruce Lipton, leaving me buzzing from his passionate and clarifying explanations of the tricky science stuff behind spirituality. I also discovered some amazing teachers, expanding my body (the physical and spiritual) through Jivamukti yoga, which Jules Febre led with heart and humour and Sattva Yoga with Anand Mehorta which took me to another level, so much so that I’m considering training in it myself.
I left feeling refreshed, relaxed and wanting more. It put me back on a path that four weeks later I am still embracing, I feel like it set me straight again.
Oh, did I mention you get all this; yoga, food and accommodation for just over $500…
So go, soak up the rays, let Shiva reign down those high vibes on you, stretch your body and mind and allow Rishikesh and the International Yoga Festival to do its work.
For more information about the in’s and out’s of the festival and a big old list of Q&A’s, see my guide here.
