[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":922},["ShallowReactive",2],{"catalog":3,"resort-rishikesh-yogpeeth":425},{"destinations":4,"resorts":125,"concerns":234,"concernGroups":310,"landings":323,"markets":348,"modalities":388,"totals":418},[5,19,28,37,45,54,64,71,77,85,91,97,104,110,118],{"slug":6,"name":7,"country":8,"cluster":9,"modalities":10,"resortCount":13,"programmeCount":14,"fromPrice":15,"gatewayCode":18},"kerala","Kerala","India","asia",[11,12],"ayurveda","yoga",8,4,{"amount":16,"currency":17},1890,"EUR","COK",{"slug":20,"name":21,"country":8,"cluster":9,"modalities":22,"resortCount":13,"programmeCount":23,"fromPrice":24,"gatewayCode":27},"rishikesh","Rishikesh",[12,11],3,{"amount":25,"currency":26},287000,"INR","DED",{"slug":29,"name":30,"country":31,"cluster":9,"modalities":32,"resortCount":33,"programmeCount":33,"fromPrice":34,"gatewayCode":36},"sri-lanka-coast","The Ayurveda coast","Sri Lanka",[11,12],2,{"amount":35,"currency":17},3727.5,"CMB",{"slug":38,"name":39,"country":39,"cluster":9,"modalities":40,"resortCount":42,"programmeCount":43,"gatewayCode":44},"bhutan","Bhutan",[41],"sowa-rigpa",1,0,"PBH",{"slug":46,"name":47,"country":48,"cluster":9,"modalities":49,"resortCount":33,"programmeCount":33,"fromPrice":50,"gatewayCode":53},"ubud","Ubud","Indonesia",[12],{"amount":51,"currency":52},19752768,"IDR","DPS",{"slug":55,"name":56,"country":57,"cluster":9,"modalities":58,"resortCount":33,"programmeCount":33,"fromPrice":60,"gatewayCode":63},"koh-samui","Koh Samui","Thailand",[59],"thai-lanna",{"amount":61,"currency":62},100810,"THB","USM",{"slug":65,"name":66,"country":67,"cluster":9,"modalities":68,"resortCount":42,"programmeCount":43,"gatewayCode":70},"beppu","Beppu","Japan",[69],"onsen","OIT",{"slug":72,"name":73,"country":67,"cluster":9,"modalities":74,"resortCount":42,"programmeCount":43,"gatewayCode":76},"okinawa","Okinawa",[75,69],"longevity","OKA",{"slug":78,"name":79,"country":80,"cluster":81,"modalities":82,"resortCount":33,"programmeCount":43,"gatewayCode":84},"baden-baden","Baden-Baden","Germany","europe",[83],"balneotherapy","FKB",{"slug":86,"name":87,"country":88,"cluster":81,"modalities":89,"resortCount":42,"programmeCount":43,"gatewayCode":90},"karlovy-vary","Karlovy Vary","Czechia",[83],"PRG",{"slug":92,"name":93,"country":94,"cluster":81,"modalities":95,"resortCount":42,"programmeCount":43,"gatewayCode":96},"bad-gastein","Bad Gastein","Austria",[83],"SZG",{"slug":98,"name":99,"country":100,"cluster":81,"modalities":101,"resortCount":42,"programmeCount":43,"gatewayCode":103},"quiberon","Quiberon","France",[102],"thalassotherapy","LRT",{"slug":105,"name":106,"country":107,"cluster":81,"modalities":108,"resortCount":42,"programmeCount":43,"gatewayCode":109},"montreux","Montreux","Switzerland",[75],"GVA",{"slug":111,"name":112,"country":94,"cluster":81,"modalities":113,"resortCount":33,"programmeCount":33,"fromPrice":115,"gatewayCode":117},"tyrol","Tyrol",[114,83],"mayr",{"amount":116,"currency":17},4909,"INN",{"slug":119,"name":120,"country":121,"cluster":122,"modalities":123,"resortCount":42,"programmeCount":43,"gatewayCode":124},"nicoya","The Nicoya peninsula","Costa Rica","americas",[75,12],"LIR",[126,130,133,137,140,143,146,149,152,155,158,161,164,167,170,173,177,180,184,187,191,194,197,200,203,206,209,212,215,218,221,225,228,231],{"slug":127,"name":128,"destinationSlug":6,"destinationName":7,"country":8,"character":129},"somatheeram","Somatheeram Ayurveda Village","ayurveda-hospital",{"slug":131,"name":132,"destinationSlug":6,"destinationName":7,"country":8,"character":129},"kalari-kovilakom","Kalari Kovilakom",{"slug":134,"name":135,"destinationSlug":6,"destinationName":7,"country":8,"character":136},"carnoustie","Carnoustie Ayurveda & Wellness Resort","retreat",{"slug":138,"name":139,"destinationSlug":20,"destinationName":21,"country":8,"character":136},"ananda-himalayas","Ananda in the Himalayas",{"slug":141,"name":142,"destinationSlug":20,"destinationName":21,"country":8,"character":136},"six-senses-vana","Six Senses Vana",{"slug":144,"name":145,"destinationSlug":29,"destinationName":30,"country":31,"character":129},"barberyn-reef","Barberyn Reef Ayurveda Resort",{"slug":147,"name":148,"destinationSlug":29,"destinationName":30,"country":31,"character":136},"santani","Santani Wellness Kandy",{"slug":150,"name":151,"destinationSlug":38,"destinationName":39,"country":39,"character":136},"amankora","Amankora",{"slug":153,"name":154,"destinationSlug":46,"destinationName":47,"country":48,"character":136},"como-shambhala-estate","COMO Shambhala Estate",{"slug":156,"name":157,"destinationSlug":46,"destinationName":47,"country":48,"character":136},"fivelements-bali","Fivelements Retreat Bali",{"slug":159,"name":160,"destinationSlug":55,"destinationName":56,"country":57,"character":136},"kamalaya","Kamalaya",{"slug":162,"name":163,"destinationSlug":55,"destinationName":56,"country":57,"character":136},"absolute-sanctuary","Absolute Sanctuary",{"slug":165,"name":166,"destinationSlug":65,"destinationName":66,"country":67,"character":136},"suginoi","Suginoi Hotel",{"slug":168,"name":169,"destinationSlug":72,"destinationName":73,"country":67,"character":136},"hoshinoya-okinawa","HOSHINOYA Okinawa",{"slug":171,"name":172,"destinationSlug":78,"destinationName":79,"country":80,"character":136},"villa-stephanie","Brenners Park-Hotel & Spa",{"slug":174,"name":175,"destinationSlug":78,"destinationName":79,"country":80,"character":176},"friedrichsbad","Friedrichsbad","thermal-cure",{"slug":178,"name":179,"destinationSlug":86,"destinationName":87,"country":88,"character":136},"grandhotel-pupp","Grandhotel Pupp",{"slug":181,"name":182,"destinationSlug":92,"destinationName":93,"country":94,"character":183},"gasteiner-heilstollen","Gasteiner Heilstollen","medical-clinic",{"slug":185,"name":186,"destinationSlug":98,"destinationName":99,"country":100,"character":136},"thalassa-quiberon","Sofitel Quiberon Thalassa Sea & Spa",{"slug":188,"name":189,"destinationSlug":105,"destinationName":106,"country":107,"character":190},"clinique-la-prairie","Clinique La Prairie","longevity-clinic",{"slug":192,"name":193,"destinationSlug":111,"destinationName":112,"country":94,"character":183},"lanserhof-lans","Lanserhof Lans",{"slug":195,"name":196,"destinationSlug":111,"destinationName":112,"country":94,"character":183},"park-igls","Park Igls",{"slug":198,"name":199,"destinationSlug":119,"destinationName":120,"country":121,"character":136},"harmony-nosara","Harmony Hotel",{"slug":201,"name":202,"destinationSlug":6,"destinationName":7,"country":8,"character":136},"akanta","Akanta Ayurveda & Yoga Cherai",{"slug":204,"name":205,"destinationSlug":6,"destinationName":7,"country":8,"character":129},"kairali-healing-village","Kairali – The Ayurvedic Healing Village",{"slug":207,"name":208,"destinationSlug":6,"destinationName":7,"country":8,"character":129},"back-to-roots-ayurveda","Back to Roots Ayurveda",{"slug":210,"name":211,"destinationSlug":6,"destinationName":7,"country":8,"character":136},"chamundi-hill-palace","Chamundi Hill Palace Ayurveda Treatment Centre",{"slug":213,"name":214,"destinationSlug":20,"destinationName":21,"country":8,"character":136},"modi-yoga-retreat","Modi Yoga Retreat",{"slug":216,"name":217,"destinationSlug":20,"destinationName":21,"country":8,"character":136},"nirvana-yoga-school","Nirvana Yoga School",{"slug":219,"name":220,"destinationSlug":6,"destinationName":7,"country":8,"character":136},"mekosha","Mekosha Ayurveda Spasuites Retreat",{"slug":222,"name":223,"destinationSlug":20,"destinationName":21,"country":8,"character":224},"rishikesh-yogpeeth","Rishikesh Yogpeeth","ashram",{"slug":226,"name":227,"destinationSlug":20,"destinationName":21,"country":8,"character":136},"naturoville","Naturoville Wellness",{"slug":229,"name":230,"destinationSlug":20,"destinationName":21,"country":8,"character":136},"rudraksh-retreat","The Rudraksh Retreat",{"slug":232,"name":233,"destinationSlug":20,"destinationName":21,"country":8,"character":136},"veda5-rishikesh","Veda5 Ayurveda & Yoga Retreat",[235,241,246,253,259,264,269,274,279,284,289,293,298,302,306],{"slug":236,"name":237,"group":238,"said":239,"programmeCount":14,"fromPrice":240},"sleep","Sleep","mind","I fall asleep fine and then I am awake at three.",{"amount":35,"currency":17},{"slug":242,"name":243,"group":238,"said":244,"programmeCount":42,"fromPrice":245},"burnout","Burnout & exhaustion","I am not depressed. I am just completely empty.",{"amount":35,"currency":17},{"slug":247,"name":248,"group":238,"said":249,"programmeCount":250,"fromPrice":251},"stress-and-anxiety","Stress & anxiety","My shoulders are somewhere near my ears and they have been for a year.",5,{"amount":252,"currency":17},2415,{"slug":254,"name":255,"group":256,"said":257,"programmeCount":33,"fromPrice":258},"digestion","Digestion & the gut","body","Something has been wrong with my stomach for years and nobody can tell me what.",{"amount":35,"currency":17},{"slug":260,"name":261,"group":256,"said":262,"programmeCount":23,"fromPrice":263},"weight","Weight & metabolic health","I have lost the same eight kilos four times.",{"amount":61,"currency":62},{"slug":265,"name":266,"group":256,"said":267,"programmeCount":42,"fromPrice":268},"back-and-joints","Back, neck & joints","My lower back has been a background noise for a decade.",{"amount":35,"currency":17},{"slug":270,"name":271,"group":272,"said":273,"programmeCount":43},"chronic-pain","Chronic & rheumatic pain","medical","I have a diagnosis. I am looking for something that is not another drug.",{"slug":275,"name":276,"group":256,"said":277,"programmeCount":14,"fromPrice":278},"detox","Detox & the annual reset","I want to properly clean myself out once a year.",{"amount":16,"currency":17},{"slug":280,"name":281,"group":282,"said":283,"programmeCount":43},"menopause","Menopause & perimenopause","life-stage","I am not sleeping, I am not myself, and I am tired of being told it is normal.",{"slug":285,"name":286,"group":282,"said":287,"programmeCount":33,"fromPrice":288},"fertility","Fertility & preconception","We are trying, and I want to give my body the best possible chance.",{"amount":35,"currency":17},{"slug":290,"name":291,"group":272,"said":292,"programmeCount":43},"post-viral-fatigue","After illness","I was ill six months ago and I still am not right.",{"slug":75,"name":294,"group":272,"said":295,"programmeCount":33,"fromPrice":296},"Longevity & prevention","I am well. I would like to stay that way, and I would like some data.",{"amount":297,"currency":17},6193,{"slug":299,"name":300,"group":282,"said":301,"programmeCount":43},"first-retreat","A first retreat","I have never done anything like this and I do not want to get it wrong.",{"slug":303,"name":304,"group":282,"said":305,"programmeCount":43},"travelling-alone","Travelling alone","I am going by myself and I do not want to eat dinner alone for two weeks.",{"slug":307,"name":308,"group":282,"said":309,"programmeCount":43},"together","Going together","I want to do the programme. My partner wants a holiday.",[311,314,317,320],{"key":238,"title":312,"note":313},"Rest & balance","Journeys shaped around sleep, stress, burnout and time to reset.",{"key":256,"title":315,"note":316},"Body & vitality","Programmes focused on digestion, movement, weight and physical renewal.",{"key":272,"title":318,"note":319},"Additional care considerations","Travel information to discuss with your own doctor and the qualified team at the property.",{"key":282,"title":321,"note":322},"Life stages & travel style","Menopause, preconception, a first retreat, travelling alone or together.",[324,327,330,333,336,339,342,345],{"slug":325,"h1":326},"ayurveda-retreats-in-indonesia","Ayurveda retreats in Indonesia",{"slug":328,"h1":329},"ayurveda-retreats-in-thailand","Ayurveda retreats in Thailand",{"slug":331,"h1":332},"balneotherapy-retreats-in-austria","The thermal kur retreats in Austria",{"slug":334,"h1":335},"balneotherapy-retreats-in-czechia","The thermal kur retreats in Czechia",{"slug":337,"h1":338},"balneotherapy-retreats-in-germany","The thermal kur retreats in Germany",{"slug":340,"h1":341},"longevity-retreats-in-austria","Longevity retreats in Austria",{"slug":343,"h1":344},"longevity-retreats-in-germany","Longevity retreats in Germany",{"slug":346,"h1":347},"longevity-retreats-in-japan","Longevity retreats in Japan",[349,352,355,357,359,362,364,367,370,373,376,379,382,385],{"slug":350,"shortName":351},"united-kingdom","United Kingdom",{"slug":353,"shortName":354},"ireland","Ireland",{"slug":356,"shortName":80},"germany",{"slug":358,"shortName":100},"france",{"slug":360,"shortName":361},"spain","Spain",{"slug":363,"shortName":107},"switzerland",{"slug":365,"shortName":366},"netherlands","Netherlands",{"slug":368,"shortName":369},"united-states","United States",{"slug":371,"shortName":372},"canada","Canada",{"slug":374,"shortName":375},"mexico","Mexico",{"slug":377,"shortName":378},"brazil","Brazil",{"slug":380,"shortName":381},"argentina","Argentina",{"slug":383,"shortName":384},"chile","Chile",{"slug":386,"shortName":387},"colombia","Colombia",[389,393,397,400,403,406,409,412,415],{"slug":11,"name":390,"tagline":391,"regulated":392,"count":23},"Ayurveda","India’s licensed system of medicine, practised as medicine",true,{"slug":12,"name":394,"tagline":395,"regulated":396,"count":250},"Yoga","A lineage, a teacher, and enough consecutive days to matter",false,{"slug":83,"name":398,"tagline":399,"regulated":392,"count":14},"The thermal kur","Europe’s prescribed cure, still paid for by health insurers",{"slug":69,"name":401,"tagline":402,"regulated":392,"count":33},"Onsen","Japanese hot-spring bathing, defined by law",{"slug":102,"name":404,"tagline":405,"regulated":392,"count":42},"Thalassotherapy","Heated seawater, under medical supervision, since 1899",{"slug":59,"name":407,"tagline":408,"regulated":392,"count":42},"Traditional Thai medicine","A licensed profession, not the massage on the high street",{"slug":41,"name":410,"tagline":411,"regulated":392,"count":42},"Sowa Rigpa","Himalayan medicine, delivered by the state in Bhutan",{"slug":75,"name":413,"tagline":414,"regulated":392,"count":23},"Longevity","Two very different answers to the same question",{"slug":114,"name":416,"tagline":417,"regulated":392,"count":42},"The Mayr cure","A medically supervised digestive rest, invented in Austria",{"destinations":419,"countries":420,"resorts":421,"programmes":419,"concerns":419,"modalities":422,"excursions":423,"extensions":424},15,12,34,9,76,45,{"resort":426,"destination":490,"programmes":633,"modalities":634,"photos":908,"alternatives":921},{"slug":222,"name":223,"destinationSlug":20,"area":427,"country":8,"modalities":428,"character":224,"knownFor":430,"why":431,"signature":436,"typicalNights":437,"accolades":438,"honest":441,"relationship":442,"confidence":443,"image":444,"imageAlt":445,"website":446,"greatFor":447,"whoShouldGo":451,"team":452,"roomTypes":453,"facilities":463,"dining":471,"activities":481,"arrival":487,"destinationName":21,"programmeCount":43},"Neelkanth Temple Road, above Patna Waterfall, 5 km from Laxman Jhula, Rishikesh",[12,429,11,275],"meditation","A Hatha yoga teacher-training school that says it is registered with Yoga Alliance, selling 200-, 300- and 500-hour courses and 3- to 14-day yoga, Ayurveda and detox retreats; the site says its Abhayaranya ashram has no vehicle access.",[432,433,434,435],"Its course pages publish dated batches and US-dollar fees — the 200-hour page lists seven batches from 20 Aug 2026 to 18 Feb 2027. Retreat prices carry no dates, and the yoga-retreats page says retreats are 'available throughout the year'.","The homepage says that with no vehicle access, everything — construction, groceries, books and yoga mats — was brought up by manual labour, which it gives as the reason its input costs are two to three times those of schools in Rishikesh city.","The homepage and school page say it is a Yoga Alliance RYS 200, 300 and 500 school, though other pages list fewer levels. The homepage says a university agreement lets it issue a Certificate in Yoga, offered for an unstated fee on the 300- and 500-hour pages.","The detox page includes a private consultation with 'Ayurveda doctors', daily massages or therapies on the doctor’s recommendation, and meals the doctor advises on. The 7- and 14-day yoga retreats include one Ayurvedic therapy a week.","200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training — a three-week residential Hatha course, 5.30 am wake-up to 10.00 pm lights out, at USD 2,150 twin-shared or USD 2,900 private.","22–52 nights by course; retreats 3, 7 or 14 days",[439,440],"Registered Yoga School with Yoga Alliance, according to the school","Extension centre of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, authorised to issue a Certificate in Yoga, as the homepage states","The ashram has no vehicle access: expect a hike of 20 to 40 minutes from the main road, which course arrivals must finish before dark. Course fees, deposit terms and course lengths are confirmed in writing when we quote.","bookable","medium","photo-1614605670899-47ecba60bf2a","The river under blue forested ridges above Rishikesh","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.rishikeshyogpeeth.com\u002F",[448,449,450],"200-hour teacher training","Short yoga retreats","A published daily schedule","A practitioner who wants a residential Hatha teacher-training course on a published schedule, or a 3- to 14-day retreat with vegetarian meals. It is a yoga school, not an Ayurvedic treatment centre, and the ashram has no vehicle access, so expect a hike in.","The faculty page lists eleven teachers across asana, yoga therapy, philosophy, anatomy and pranayama, two of them volunteers, with qualifications including yogic-science degrees and 300- or 500-hour trainings. It lists one resident Ayurveda doctor with Panchakarma training. Pages give '6 to 7' or three to four teachers per batch.",[454,457,460],{"name":455,"note":456},"Twin Shared Room","Two single beds with shower, air conditioning, hot water and Wi-Fi, according to the 300- and 500-hour pages. The 200-hour course costs USD 2,150 at this rate.",{"name":458,"note":459},"Private Room","One double bed with the same listed amenities; the FAQ says course rooms have an attached bathroom. The 200-hour course costs USD 2,900 at this rate.",{"name":461,"note":462},"Retreat accommodation","The yoga-retreats page describes private, cottage-style rooms with an attached bathroom and hot and cold running water at all hours.",[464,465,466,467,468,469,470],"No vehicle access, according to the homepage; the last stretch is a hike from the main road","Course rooms with shower, air conditioning, hot water and Wi-Fi (300- and 500-hour pages)","An on-site café with a 360-degree mountain view, according to the things-to-do page","A library, according to the FAQ, the training hub page and the code of conduct","Course material including a jalneti pot, yoga mat, blocks and straps (training hub page)","On retreats, one porter per person for up to 15–18 kg; extra porters cost INR 500","An on-site Ayurveda doctor; consultation extra on yoga retreats, included on detox retreats",[472,475,478],{"name":473,"note":474},"The ashram kitchen","Three vegetarian sattvic meals a day, with dairy but no egg or meat; vegan food on request.",{"name":476,"note":477},"Detox meals","On the Ayurvedic detox retreats, the detox page says the doctor advises the kitchen staff on meals, depending on your treatment.",{"name":479,"note":480},"The café","An on-site café with a 360-degree mountain view.",[482,483,484,485,486],"Daily asana, pranayama and meditation, with shatkarma cleansing such as jalneti on the courses","Retreat mornings begin with yogic cleansing and mantra chanting, according to the retreat pages","Day-off excursions, which the site’s pages list variously as included or at extra cost","Information and contacts for a Ganga aarti, a hilltop Devi temple visit and white-water rafting","An open schedule on Sundays and public holidays during yoga retreats",{"airport":488,"code":27,"transfer":489},"Jolly Grant, Dehradun","The FAQ says the school can arrange a taxi at extra cost, about an hour from Dehradun; course arrivals hike in before dark.",{"slug":20,"name":21,"place":491,"country":8,"countryCode":492,"cluster":9,"fame":42,"modalities":493,"hook":494,"caseFor":495,"hardFacts":500,"caveat":506,"season":507,"seasonNote":508,"practical":509,"figures":525,"faqs":538,"image":548,"imageAlt":549,"gallery":550,"coords":560,"gateway":563,"tempC":581,"climateNote":592,"leisure":593,"extensions":618,"resortCount":13,"programmeCount":23,"fromPrice":630,"minNights":631,"maxNights":632},"The Ganga valley and the hills above it","IN",[12,11],"Where modern transnational yoga was institutionalised — and then, in 1968, handed global celebrity.",[496,497,498,499],"The lineages are here and still teaching. Swami Sivananda founded the Divine Life Society at Muni Ki Reti in 1936, and his disciples seeded the Sivananda and Satyananda schools that now span dozens of countries.","Cost and immersion. A month of full-time tuition here costs less than a fortnight in southern Europe, in a town where practising at half past five is unremarkable rather than eccentric.","It combines properly with Ayurveda. Several schools have a physician on site, which turns a hard four-week training into something the body survives.","The town is legally dry and vegetarian, which removes a set of decisions you would otherwise spend the month making.",[501,502,503,504,505],"Swami Sivananda founded the Divine Life Society at Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh, in 1936.","Maharishi Mahesh Yogi established Chaurasi Kutia in 1963; the Beatles arrived in February 1968 and wrote much of the White Album during the stay.","Parmarth Niketan hosts the International Yoga Festival in the first week of March, supported by the Ministry of Tourism.","The UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 June the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69\u002F131 on 11 December 2014, with a record 175 co-sponsors.","Alcohol and non-vegetarian food are prohibited within Rishikesh municipal limits.","Yoga teaching is not a regulated profession anywhere, and Rishikesh is the sharp end of that. Yoga Alliance is a voluntary registry rather than an accreditor — an \"RYS 200\" listing certifies that a school filed a curriculum document, not that it teaches well or safely. There are several hundred schools here and we list three. The town is also crowded and noisy, and the river at Laxman Jhula is not the serene Ganga of the photographs; the good schools are up the valley for a reason.",[42,33,33,33,43,43,43,43,33,33,33,42],"February to April and late September to November: warm days, cold clear nights, and a river that is green rather than brown and in spate. July and August are landslide season in the hills. May and June are simply too hot for a full practice schedule, and December to January is cold enough that an unheated ashram room becomes a test of commitment.",[510,513,516,519,522],{"label":511,"value":512},"Airports","Dehradun (DED), forty minutes away, with frequent Delhi connections. Delhi by road is six hours and not worth it.",{"label":514,"value":515},"Visa","India e-visa. Trainings longer than 30 days need a different category — we handle the paperwork.",{"label":517,"value":518},"Rules","The town is vegetarian and alcohol-free by law. This is not negotiable and it is enforced.",{"label":520,"value":521},"Prerequisite","Two years of regular practice before a 200-hour training. We ask, and so do the schools worth attending.",{"label":523,"value":524},"What to bring","Layers. Halls are unheated, mornings are cold from November, and every school expects you at 05:30 regardless.",[526,529,532,535],{"value":527,"label":528},"1936","Divine Life Society",{"value":530,"label":531},"1968","The Beatles at Chaurasi Kutia",{"value":533,"label":534},"3","Schools we list",{"value":536,"label":537},"21 Jun","International Day of Yoga",[539,542,545],{"q":540,"a":541},"Is a 200-hour certificate from Rishikesh taken seriously?","It depends entirely on the school, which is the problem. A Yoga Alliance registration proves a syllabus was filed, not that anybody was taught. Ask who the lead teacher studied under and for how long — we publish that for the schools we list, and it is the only reason we list them.",{"q":543,"a":544},"Can I do a training and a Panchakarma back to back?","Not in that order. Purification leaves you depleted for a fortnight and a training is physically demanding. Train first and treat afterwards, ideally in Kerala in a different season.",{"q":546,"a":547},"How much does the crowding actually matter?","Less than you fear if you stay up-valley. The schools we use are far enough above the bridges that you would only go down for a reason, and most students go down twice in a month.","photo-1506905925346-21bda4d32df4","Snow-covered Himalayan peaks above a wooded valley",[551,554,557],{"src":552,"alt":553},"photo-1439853949127-fa647821eba0","A still mountain lake in the foothills",{"src":555,"alt":556},"photo-1447452001602-7090c7ab2db3","A figure holding tree pose at sunrise",{"src":558,"alt":559},"photo-1545205597-3d9d02c29597","A group practising together outdoors",{"lat":561,"lng":562},30.09,78.27,{"airport":564,"code":27,"city":565,"routings":566,"transfer":579,"flightNote":580},"Dehradun (Jolly Grant)","Dehradun — 45 minutes from Rishikesh",[567,571,575],{"from":568,"how":569,"time":570},"London & western Europe","One stop through Delhi or a Gulf hub, then the domestic hop to Dehradun.","14–16 hours door to door",{"from":572,"how":573,"time":574},"Delhi","Fifteen flights a day, 55 minutes. The road is six hours and not worth it.","55 minutes",{"from":576,"how":577,"time":578},"The Gulf","Through Delhi. There is no international service into Dehradun.","7–8 hours","45 minutes by road from Dehradun to Muni Ki Reti, or an hour to the houses up the valley. Included.","Dehradun is a daylight-only airport in practice — hill weather closes it, and the winter fog window from late December through January cancels flights with little notice. Build a night in Delhi into any itinerary with a tight onward connection, and never plan to fly out on the morning of an international departure.",[582,583,584,421,585,586,587,588,588,589,590,591],20,23,28,37,36,31,30,29,26,21,"A Himalayan foothill climate — genuinely cold mornings from November to February, genuinely too hot for a full practice schedule in May and June. Halls are unheated.",[594,600,605,610,614],{"name":595,"kind":596,"duration":597,"note":598,"when":599},"Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Niketan","culture","90 minutes, at dusk","The riverbank fire ceremony, every evening, free and unticketed. Go on your first night rather than your last — it sets the register for everything after it.","any",{"name":601,"kind":596,"duration":602,"note":603,"when":604},"The Beatles Ashram","Half day","Chaurasi Kutia, where the White Album was largely written in 1968 — now a ruin inside Rajaji reserve with a small entrance fee and a great deal of graffiti art. Melancholy and worth it.","rest-day",{"name":606,"kind":607,"duration":608,"note":609,"when":604},"Kunjapuri at sunrise","active","Half day, early","A short steep temple climb for the Himalayan range at first light — Bandarpunch, Gangotri, Chaukhamba. Leave at 04:30. Not compatible with a 05:30 practice start, so take it on a rest day.",{"name":611,"kind":607,"duration":602,"note":612,"when":613},"White water on the Ganga","September to November and March to May, when the river is running. Excellent, cold, and firmly incompatible with any oil-therapy week — book it either side.","after",{"name":615,"kind":596,"duration":602,"note":616,"when":617},"Haridwar and Har Ki Pauri","An hour downstream and several centuries older in feel — a pilgrimage town with none of Rishikesh’s yoga-school economy.","before",[619,623,627],{"name":620,"nights":621,"note":622,"side":617},"Delhi, at the start","2 nights","Old Delhi, the Lodi tombs and a night’s sleep before the domestic hop. Fights jetlag and the Dehradun weather risk at once.",{"name":624,"nights":625,"note":626,"side":613},"Corbett & the Kumaon hills","4 nights","India’s oldest national park and then the quiet ridge villages above it. The correct decompression after a month of teacher training.",{"name":628,"nights":621,"note":629,"side":613},"Amritsar & the Golden Temple","An overnight train or a short flight west. The langar kitchen feeds 50,000 people a day and it is the most moving hour in north India.",{"amount":25,"currency":26},7,14,[],[635,765],{"slug":12,"name":394,"tagline":395,"origin":636,"regulated":396,"regulationNote":637,"indications":638,"cautions":644,"whatHappens":649,"minimumNights":631,"recommendedNights":632,"image":650,"imageAlt":651,"originPlace":8,"body":652,"hardFacts":656,"evidence":661,"treatments":683,"glossary":708,"confusedWith":736,"figures":739,"faqs":751,"destinationCount":250,"resortCount":764,"programmeCount":33},"The Indian subcontinent; the modern schools trace to named twentieth-century teachers.","Not regulated anywhere. Anybody may call themselves a yoga teacher, and a two-hundred-hour certificate can be bought in a fortnight. We list schools by lineage — Krishnamacharya, Sivananda, Bihar, Iyengar, Ashtanga — and name the teacher and their years on every page, because that is the only signal that carries any weight.",[639,640,641,642,643],"Persistent low-grade stress and a nervous system stuck in the on position","Back and neck pain of postural origin","Building a practice that survives contact with an ordinary week","Breath and sleep, through pranayama rather than asana","Learning to teach, properly, over four weeks rather than two",[645,646,647,648],"Uncontrolled high blood pressure and glaucoma rule out inversions","Recent surgery, disc herniation or joint replacement — bring imaging and tell the teacher","Pregnancy needs a teacher trained specifically for it, not a modified general class","Hot rooms and vigorous flow are poor choices during illness or exhaustion","Twice-daily practice in a small group — a longer, slower morning session before food and something quieter at dusk — with pranayama, meditation and, on the immersions worth attending, philosophy taught rather than sprinkled. Expect to be corrected in your first week and to feel worse before you move better.","photo-1544367567-0f2fcb009e0b","A single held posture in silhouette at sunset",[653,654,655],"Yoga as it travels is a practice rather than a profession: there is no country on earth where \"yoga teacher\" is a licensed title, and that fact should shape how you choose. Yoga Alliance, whose RYS-200 and RYT-500 designations appear on most school websites, is a voluntary registry — it confirms that a school filed a curriculum document, not that anyone inspected the teaching or that it is safe.","What that means practically is that the school matters far more than the certificate. The lineages with real institutional history — Sivananda, Satyananda, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Krishnamacharya’s line at Chennai — have syllabi, senior teachers and a body of correction that a four-week training in a rented hall does not. Rishikesh has several hundred schools; this site lists three.","The other thing worth knowing is that the physical practice is the smallest part of the classical system and the largest part of the market. A serious residential stay will spend as much time on breathing, on the philosophy, and on what you do at six in the morning for the rest of your life, as it does on postures.",[501,657,658,659,505,660],"The UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 June the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69\u002F131 on 11 December 2014, with a record 175 co-sponsoring states.","Maharishi Mahesh Yogi established Chaurasi Kutia at Rishikesh in 1963; the Beatles stayed in February 1968.","\"Yoga teacher\" is not a regulated or licensed profession in any jurisdiction. Yoga Alliance is a voluntary registry, not an accreditor.","Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras define asana in one line — *sthira sukham asanam*, steady and at ease — and devote the rest of the text to everything else.",[662,666,669,673,676,680],{"claim":663,"status":664,"note":665},"Yoga reduces chronic low-back pain and improves function","good","One of the better-supported claims in this whole atlas. Multiple randomised trials and systematic reviews find yoga about as effective as other active exercise therapies, and several national guidelines list it as an option for persistent low-back pain.",{"claim":667,"status":664,"note":668},"Slow breathing lowers physiological arousal","Extending the exhale relative to the inhale raises vagal tone and lowers heart rate within minutes, in almost anyone, for free. The mechanism is uncontroversial; what a retreat adds is doing it thirty times instead of twice.",{"claim":670,"status":671,"note":672},"Yoga helps anxiety and depressive symptoms","mixed","Reviews are generally positive with real caveats — small samples, weak blinding, active-control problems. It is a reasonable adjunct and it is not a treatment for a diagnosed disorder.",{"claim":674,"status":671,"note":675},"Yoga improves sleep quality","Consistent modest benefit across several reviews, particularly in older adults and in menopause. Yoga nidra specifically is the single most useful thing most anxious people take home.",{"claim":677,"status":678,"note":679},"Yoga is inherently safe and injury-free","none","It is not. Shoulder, wrist, knee, neck and lower-back injuries are all well documented, and headstand and shoulderstand carry specific risks. Injury rates rise with unqualified teaching, which brings you back to the school.",{"claim":681,"status":678,"note":682},"Particular postures detoxify organs or \"wring out\" the liver","A common teaching-room metaphor with no physiological basis. Twisting feels good and does not clean anything.",[684,688,692,696,700,704],{"name":685,"duration":686,"body":687},"Asana","60–120 minutes","The physical practice. In a serious school it is taught with correction, and a good teacher will spend the fortnight removing postures from your practice rather than adding them.",{"name":689,"duration":690,"body":691},"Pranayama","30–45 minutes","Breath regulation — ratio breathing, alternate nostril, and in some schools retention. The part with the best evidence and the least glamour. Retention practices are not appropriate with a panic disorder, uncontrolled hypertension or in pregnancy.",{"name":693,"duration":694,"body":695},"Yoga nidra","30–40 minutes","Guided rotation of attention through the body, lying down, awake. The most useful thing most guests take home and the easiest to keep doing.",{"name":697,"duration":698,"body":699},"Meditation","20–60 minutes","Usually concentration on breath or mantra rather than anything mystical. Expect it to be uncomfortable for the first week; that is the practice, not a sign of failure.",{"name":701,"duration":702,"body":703},"Kriya","20–30 minutes","Cleansing practices — neti for the nasal passages, kapalabhati breathing. Some, notably the swallowed-cloth and saltwater-flush practices, we would not take without a teacher who knows you.",{"name":705,"duration":706,"body":707},"Philosophy and chanting","45–60 minutes","Sutra study, Vedanta talks, Sanskrit chanting. Optional at most houses and the part returning guests say they came back for.",[709,711,713,715,718,721,724,727,730,733],{"term":685,"meaning":710},"Posture. One of eight limbs, and the one the West took.",{"term":689,"meaning":712},"Regulation of the breath.",{"term":693,"meaning":714},"\"Yogic sleep\" — a guided lying-down practice, awake throughout.",{"term":716,"meaning":717},"Vinyasa","Movement linked to breath; a flowing style rather than held postures.",{"term":719,"meaning":720},"Hatha","Broadly, the physical branch — used loosely to mean a slower, held practice.",{"term":722,"meaning":723},"Ashtanga","A fixed vigorous sequence in set series. Demanding, and the injury profile is real.",{"term":725,"meaning":726},"Iyengar","Precision alignment with props and long holds. The best entry point if you have an injury.",{"term":728,"meaning":729},"RYS \u002F RYT","Yoga Alliance registry designations. A filing, not an inspection.",{"term":731,"meaning":732},"Shala","The hall you practise in.",{"term":734,"meaning":735},"Sthira sukham asanam","Yoga Sutra II.46 — \"steady and at ease\" — the whole definition of a posture.",{"name":737,"difference":738},"A yoga holiday","A yoga holiday is a good hotel with two classes a day and a teacher flown in. A yoga stay is a school: the same teachers all year, a syllabus, one-to-one correction, and a timetable that starts before six. Both are worth doing and they cost about the same, so it is worth knowing which you have booked.",[740,743,745,748],{"value":741,"label":742},"0","Countries licensing yoga teachers",{"value":527,"label":744},"Divine Life Society founded",{"value":746,"label":747},"8","Limbs; asana is one",{"value":749,"label":750},"2 yrs","Practice before a 200-hour training",[752,755,758,761],{"q":753,"a":754},"Do I need to be flexible or experienced?","For a retreat, no. For a teacher training, yes — two years of regular practice, and the schools worth attending ask. Arriving at a 200-hour training as a beginner is the commonest way to get injured and the commonest reason people do not finish.",{"q":756,"a":757},"How do I tell a good school from a bad one?","Ask who teaches — by lineage and years, not by name — and whether the same people teach all year or rotate. Ask the maximum class size. Ask what happens if you cannot do a posture. A school that answers all three concretely is a different proposition from one that sends a brochure.",{"q":759,"a":760},"Is a 200-hour training worth it if I never intend to teach?","Often, yes, and many people do exactly that. It is the only format that gives you a month of daily correction. Just be honest with yourself that it is a month of hard physical work and philosophy exams, not a holiday.",{"q":762,"a":763},"What about the more intense breathing practices?","Strong pranayama and breath retention are not appropriate with a panic disorder, uncontrolled hypertension, epilepsy, glaucoma or in pregnancy, and a good teacher will ask before they teach it. Declare these; a school that does not adapt is the wrong school.",24,{"slug":11,"name":390,"tagline":391,"origin":766,"regulated":392,"regulationNote":767,"indications":768,"cautions":775,"whatHappens":780,"minimumNights":631,"recommendedNights":591,"image":781,"imageAlt":782,"originPlace":8,"body":783,"hardFacts":787,"evidence":794,"treatments":814,"glossary":843,"confusedWith":877,"figures":880,"faqs":892,"destinationCount":23,"resortCount":582,"programmeCount":631},"North and South India, continuously for well over two thousand years.","A licensed medical system in India. Physicians hold a BAMS — five and a half years including a clinical internship — and are registered with a state medical council. In most other countries it is a complementary therapy with no equivalent protection, which is precisely why where you go matters.",[769,770,771,772,773,774],"Digestive complaints that have been investigated and found structurally normal","Sleep that is broken rather than absent","Recovery after illness, treatment or a long stretch of overwork","Chronic pain and stiffness, particularly inflammatory","Skin conditions with a clear seasonal pattern","Menstrual and perimenopausal disruption",[776,777,778,779],"Pregnancy and breastfeeding — purification is contraindicated outright","Anticoagulants, thyroid, diabetes and immunosuppressant medication all change the plan","Any history of an eating disorder — the dietary restriction is not appropriate","Acute illness. Come when it has settled, not during","A physician examines you on arrival — pulse, tongue, digestion, sleep, history — and writes a prescription that is revised every morning for the length of your stay. Days are built around your digestion and the sun: a long therapy block before noon, the largest meal at midday, a deliberately empty afternoon, dinner finished before seven.","photo-1544161515-4ab6ce6db874","Warm medicated oil poured for an abhyanga treatment",[784,785,786],"Ayurveda is a licensed system of medicine in India, which is the single fact that separates it from almost everything sold under its name elsewhere. A physician holds a BAMS — a five-and-a-half-year degree including a year of clinical internship — is registered with a statutory council, and practises in hospitals the state inspects. The person offering you an \"Ayurvedic massage\" in a beach hut has none of that, and the word does not distinguish between them.","The system is constitutional rather than symptomatic. It begins from the idea that people differ in a patterned way — the three doshas are the shorthand — and that the same complaint in two bodies wants two different treatments. In practice this means an examination before anything is prescribed, a prescription that changes daily, and a diet that is part of the medicine rather than a lifestyle suggestion.","What travellers meet is usually one of two lines. *Shamana* is the gentler, palliative one: oil therapy, diet, herbs, rest. *Shodhana* is purification, of which Panchakarma is the classical form, and it is a genuine medical procedure with a preparation phase, a removal phase and a rebuilding phase — three weeks properly, fourteen nights at an absolute minimum. Almost everything sold internationally as \"Panchakarma\" is the massage that precedes it.",[788,789,790,791,792,793],"Government Ayurveda College, Thiruvananthapuram — commonly dated to 1889 under Travancore royal patronage; today affiliated to Kerala University of Health Sciences.","Arya Vaidya Sala, Kottakkal — founded 1902, still compounding classical formulations and running an affiliated college.","The Department of Indian Systems of Medicine became AYUSH in November 2003 and a full Ministry of the Government of India on 9 November 2014.","A BAMS is 5½ years including a compulsory rotating clinical internship; graduates register with a state or central council.","NABH — India’s national hospital accreditation board — accredits a small number of Ayurvedic hospitals against clinical rather than tourism criteria.","Kerala Tourism classifies Ayurveda centres under a three-tier Ayur Silver \u002F Gold \u002F Diamond scheme, which replaced the older Olive Leaf and Green Leaf grades.",[795,798,801,804,808,811],{"claim":796,"status":671,"note":797},"Warm-oil therapy relieves musculoskeletal pain and stiffness","Small trials and a very long clinical tradition. Sustained local heat and manual work on a guarded muscle has an unmysterious mechanism; the trials are mostly small, unblinded and conducted in India.",{"claim":799,"status":671,"note":800},"Ayurvedic treatment helps rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis symptoms","The best-known trial compared a classical Ayurvedic regimen with methotrexate in RA and found broadly comparable symptom outcomes in a small sample. One promising small trial is not a basis for changing your treatment.",{"claim":802,"status":678,"note":803},"Panchakarma \"removes toxins\" from the body","Ama is a coherent concept inside the system and it is not a measurable substance that purification has been shown to clear. What a properly run Panchakarma demonstrably does is change diet, sleep, activity and digestion for three weeks under supervision — which is quite enough to explain how people feel afterwards.",{"claim":805,"status":806,"note":807},"Constitutional assessment predicts which treatment will suit you","traditional","Central to the system, and attempts to validate dosha typing against biological markers have been inconclusive. Treat it as the framework a skilled physician uses rather than as a diagnostic test.",{"claim":809,"status":671,"note":810},"Shirodhara improves sleep and reduces anxiety","Several small studies show reductions in anxiety measures. Forty minutes of warm oil on the forehead in a dark room is also a near-perfect relaxation protocol, which is not a criticism.",{"claim":812,"status":678,"note":813},"Ayurvedic preparations are inherently safe because they are natural","Flatly untrue and the most important line on this page. Some classical rasa shastra preparations contain heavy metals by design, and independent testing of imported products has repeatedly found lead, mercury and arsenic. Buy from the treating hospital, never from a market, and tell the physician every drug you take.",[815,819,823,827,831,835,839],{"name":816,"duration":817,"body":818},"Abhyanga","60–90 minutes, daily","Full-body massage with warm medicated oil, usually by two therapists working in synchrony. Firm, long, repetitive strokes rather than deep-tissue work. You will be oiled from scalp to feet and you will not fully wash it out for a fortnight — bring old clothes.",{"name":820,"duration":821,"body":822},"Shirodhara","40–60 minutes","A continuous stream of warm oil poured onto the forehead from a suspended vessel, in a dark quiet room. Almost everyone finds it strange for four minutes and then loses track of time. Prescribed for sleep, anxiety and headache.",{"name":824,"duration":825,"body":826},"Swedana","15–20 minutes, after abhyanga","Herbal steam, usually in a wooden box with your head outside it. It follows oil for a reason: the heat drives the oil inward and opens the channels the massage has loosened.",{"name":828,"duration":829,"body":830},"Virechana","One supervised day","A measured therapeutic purgation, given after a week of preparation, on the physician’s judgement rather than to a schedule. You spend the day in your room within reach of a bathroom and are checked hourly. Unpleasant, brief, and the point of the whole three weeks.",{"name":832,"duration":833,"body":834},"Basti","30 minutes, on alternating days","Medicated enema — oil-based or decoction-based — and considered the single most important procedure in the system for vata disorders. Far less dramatic in practice than it sounds on paper.",{"name":836,"duration":837,"body":838},"Nasya","20 minutes","Medicated oil administered through the nostrils after facial steam and massage, for complaints above the collarbone: sinuses, headache, some sleep problems.",{"name":840,"duration":841,"body":842},"Njavarakizhi","60 minutes","Boluses of medicated rice cooked in milk, applied hot in rhythm by two therapists. Deeply nourishing rather than mobilising, and usually part of the rebuilding phase rather than the purification one.",[844,847,850,853,856,859,862,865,868,871,874],{"term":845,"meaning":846},"Dosha","The three functional principles — vata, pitta, kapha — used to describe constitution and imbalance.",{"term":848,"meaning":849},"Prakriti","Your constitution at birth: the baseline a physician compares today’s state against.",{"term":851,"meaning":852},"Agni","Digestive fire. Most treatment begins by restoring it, and most diets exist to protect it.",{"term":854,"meaning":855},"Ama","Undigested residue; the system’s explanation for a coated tongue, heaviness and dullness.",{"term":857,"meaning":858},"Panchakarma","Literally \"five actions\" — the classical purification sequence, of which you will typically receive one or two.",{"term":860,"meaning":861},"Shamana","The palliative line: treatment that settles without removing. Most short stays are this.",{"term":863,"meaning":864},"Shodhana","The purification line. Panchakarma is its main expression.",{"term":866,"meaning":867},"Rasayana","Rejuvenation — the rebuilding line, and the correct programme for anyone depleted rather than congested.",{"term":869,"meaning":870},"Samsarjana krama","The staged re-feeding after purification. Six days, in a fixed order, and where the result is kept or lost.",{"term":872,"meaning":873},"Vaidya","An Ayurvedic physician.",{"term":875,"meaning":876},"BAMS","Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery — the 5½-year Indian degree. Ask for the registration number.",{"name":878,"difference":879},"Spa massage using Ayurvedic vocabulary","The test is whether a physician examined you before anything was decided, and whether the prescription changed during the stay. A menu you choose from is a spa, however good the oils and however Sanskrit the names. Both can be enjoyable; only one is medicine, and only one carries contraindications worth declaring.",[881,884,887,890],{"value":882,"label":883},"5½ yrs","Physician training (BAMS)",{"value":885,"label":886},"1889","First state Ayurveda college",{"value":888,"label":889},"14","Nights minimum for Panchakarma",{"value":533,"label":891},"Phases: prepare, remove, rebuild",[893,896,899,902,905],{"q":894,"a":895},"Is a week enough?","For a shamana programme — real treatment on the gentler line — yes, and it can do a great deal for sleep and stress. For Panchakarma, no. Preparation alone runs three to seven days before the main procedure and the rebuilding phase afterwards is where the benefit is consolidated. Fourteen nights is our floor and twenty-one is the honest answer.",{"q":897,"a":898},"Can I keep taking my medication?","Usually, with adjustment, and it must be declared before you arrive. Anticoagulants, thyroid medication, diabetes drugs, lithium and immunosuppressants all change what can be prescribed. No physician at any house on this site should ever suggest stopping something your own doctor prescribed — if one does, tell us.",{"q":900,"a":901},"How do I know the physician is real?","Ask for the BAMS registration number and the council. A serious property gives it without hesitation. Then ask whether the preparations are compounded on site or bought in, and ask to see the room — the good houses are proud of it and almost no guest thinks to ask.",{"q":903,"a":904},"Is the food really that strict?","Yes, and it is the part guests underestimate. On a purification programme there is no menu, no alcohol, no coffee and often no solid food for a stretch. The kitchen is following a prescription. If that sounds intolerable, the honest answer is a rejuvenation programme rather than a purification one.",{"q":906,"a":907},"Will I be cold, bored, or both?","Possibly bored, and that is deliberate — the empty afternoon is part of the schedule. Many of the strongest programmes are at quiet rural properties with little to do after dark. That suits travellers who want to focus on the programme, but not those looking for a conventional resort holiday.",[909,912,914,916,919],{"src":552,"alt":553,"caption":910,"kind":911},"A still mountain lake in the foothills — Rishikesh","setting",{"src":555,"alt":556,"caption":913,"kind":911},"A figure holding tree pose at sunrise — Rishikesh",{"src":558,"alt":559,"caption":915,"kind":911},"A group practising together outdoors — Rishikesh",{"src":650,"alt":651,"caption":917,"kind":918},"Yoga, practised at this house","practice",{"src":781,"alt":782,"caption":920,"kind":918},"Ayurveda, practised at this house",[],1789312814206]