3 Day Online Mindfulness, Multi-Style Yoga, and Meditation Retreat

Tools required

• A yoga mat
• Computer or smartphone
• Internet connection
• 2 yoga blocks
• 1 pillow or bolster or cushion
• 1 strap

How the retreat works

Three to four yoga and meditation live classes daily, four to five pre-recorded sessions, and three mindfulness and compassion-based meditation sessions will be held online via Zoom or Google Meet / Google Hangouts. Rishikesh Yoga Home also provides the online yoga sessions along with the pre-recorded videos for people who cannot join live sessions due to time differences.

They can watch the recordings of live sessions at their convenience. You will be given two free doubt clear live sessions after the completion of the course. There will be 12 to 13 contact hours, five to six non-contact hours, and six non-contact hours for videos, study books, self-practice, and self-study.

Timing of sessions / daily schedule (GMT+5:30)

• 15:30 - 16:45 Hatha yoga
• 17:00 - 18:00 Pranayama or asanas
• 18:00 - 19:00 Break
• 19:00 - 20:00 Yoga philosophy or breathing techniques
• 20:30 - 21:30 Ashtanga or mindfulness meditation
• 21:30 - 22:30 Meditation

Retreat information

Each of you has infinite potential, the creativity you cannot even imagine. You simply have to decide to explore and carry it out. This is exactly what is offered in this retreat through the practice of yoga, meditation, and community living. Your online mindfulness, yoga, and meditation retreat offers a rare opportunity to break from your daily routines, direct the attention inward, and create new habits for health and well-being. In this home retreat, you will use the tools of yoga and mindfulness to strengthen the body, activate the breath, and quiet the thinking mind.

Yoga is about taking control and responsibility for your own health and thoughts. It’s about calming the fluctuations of a manic mind through breath, movement, and meditation. This well-established program will teach you different subjects like yoga anatomy, alignment, and adjustment including the philosophy behind yoga (pranayama, meditation, and asanas). You will develop yourself on a spiritual, mental, and physical level in a great way, and you will be given the confidence to take your yoga practice to a deeper level and become an encouraging yoga teacher.

Why choose Rishikesh Yoga Home?

• Group activities
• Well-experienced and trained teachers
• Yoga Alliance registered school
• Small group size from 10 to 20 persons only for personalized attention
• Two free doubt clear live session after the completion of the course
• Detailed content for structured learning
• Learn Ashtanga, Hatha, and Vinyasa
• Learn yoga anatomy
• Learn yoga philosophy, Vedanta, and yogic lifestyle
• Learn relaxation and meditation techniques
• Learn Ayurvedic detox technique

Syllabus

• Techniques, training, and practice
• Teaching methodology
• Anatomy and physiology (optional)
• Yoga philosophy or lifestyle ethics

What you will learn

History and philosophy of Hatha yoga (asana)

This theoretical session will cover the history and philosophy of yoga and the development of yoga from ancient times with analysis of most important books on yoga until the present days. Such a perspective will offer you an understanding of the main goals of yoga and how the variety of practices that sprung from original discipline aims to fulfill those goals.

This will give you an understanding of the purpose of every yoga practice so that you could apply this understanding in your own personal practice and class. Connecting one’s yoga practice to roots makes it more meaningful and gives you better instruments to evaluate progress.

Ashtanga Vinyasa

The Ashtanga and Vinyasa styles of yoga have a few likenesses, however, they are, truth be told, unmistakable styles of yoga with some plausible contrasts.

Pranayama

Though you will have pranayama practices on each daily practice classes, you will specially have some classes dedicated to pranayama in which you will learn the following breathing techniques - anulom-vilom pranayama, Nadi-sodhan pranayama, shikari, ujjayi, Kapalabhati, etc. You will also have lectures on the philosophy of pranayama, philosophy of panch prana, and more.

Yogic anatomy and physiology of the human body

While gaining an understanding of the goals and philosophy of yoga and having overviewed the practices that ancient yogic used to meet these goals, you will look at the same practices from the perspective of modern science. You will see how the effectiveness of yogic practices is explained in traditional, anatomical, and physiological terms.

This topic will also give you an understanding of safety during practice. Being aware of how the body works, what are the most vulnerable points, how diseases originate, and how they affect systems of the body, you will learn how to build the practice safely for all students and adapt it for specific needs.

Mantra chanting

Chanting has been an integral part of all religions through the ages. As you sit together with other participants in one place, you will have different thoughts. But when you start chanting, there is one thought and one rhythm in all your minds. All minds become one. This oneness creates profound energy that enlivens all.

Yoga philosophy (basic)

The main philosophy of yoga is simple: mind, body, and spirit are all one and cannot be clearly separated. Yet there is a multitude of philosophical ideas developed by looking into the deeper dimensions of the body, mind, and spirit.

Bandha (yogic locks)

Bandha or a yogic lock enables a yogi to block and direct the flow of pranic energy in a certain way to change the energy pattern in the body. Bandhas not only modifies the flow of pranic energy through the nadis (energy meridians) but also modifies the flow of nerve currents in the nervous system and blood flow through the blood vessels.

Mudra (gesture or attitude)

The Sanskrit word, Mudra, is translated as gesture or attitude Mudras can be described as psychic, emotional, devotional, and aesthetic gestures or attitudes. They are a combination of subtle physical movements that alter mood, attitude, and perception which deepen awareness and concentration. In scientific terms, mudras provide a means to access and influence the unconscious reflexes and primal, instinctive habit patterns that originate in the primitive areas of the brain and around the brain stem. Mudras establish a subtle connection with these areas.

Shatkarma (cleansing techniques)

Those shatkarmas which effect purification of the body are secret. They have manifold, wondrous results and are held in high esteem by eminent yogis. (Hatha Yoga Pradipika 2:23) Yogic science gives as much importance to certain cleansing processes as it does to asana or pranayama. Without regular cleansing of the system, one cannot gain maximum benefit from yoga practices. Without purification of the body, one will not be ready for the higher practices of yoga.

Ayurveda concepts

Ayurveda means 'science of life'. It deals with each and every aspect of human life. Its first objective is to maintain health and happiness while the next is to manage and restore the status of health and productive state of mind. Ayurveda offers wonderful tools for a better lifestyle. It gives equal importance to your body, mind, and soul, therefore, it works with a holistic approach.

Lifestyle management with yoga

The most appropriate method to attain optimum health naturally is the system and science of yoga. Yoga is not only a series of physical postures or meditative practices. It is a lifestyle that can be lived by everyone, not necessarily those who are sannyasins, sadhus, or renunciates. It is a form of understanding, of realizing your interactions in life, trying to improve them, trying to understand the needs of the body, the needs of the mind, and also the needs of the spirit. This is the concept of a yogic lifestyle: living according to the laws of the body and the laws of nature.

Topics of discussion

• Foundation of yoga
• Introduction to meditation
• Introduction breathing practice
• Introduction to the concept and basic practices of relaxation
• Pranayama
• Introduction to pranayama practice
• Sitting posture for pranayama practice
• Basic pranayama practice: Nadi Shodhana
• Basic yoga philosophy

Introduction to yoga philosophy

• What is yoga?
• Why yoga?
• Basic yoga anatomy
• Health and yoga
• Relaxation and meditation
• Practice basic relaxation techniques
• Sequence of relaxation practices
• What is meditation and what is not?
• 30 to 45 minutes of meditation practice

This retreat is held online. Rishikesh Yoga Home is located in Rishikesh, India (GMT+5:30). They will conduct their live online classes via Zoom or Google Meet / Google Hangouts which you can participate from the comfort of your home by just using your phone or computer.

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• 3 to 4 hours of live classes daily (asanas, multi-style yoga teachings, pranayama, meditation, and philosophy)
• Mindfulness and compassion-based meditations
• 3 guided meditation sessions
• 2 free doubt clear live sessions after the completion of the course
• Basic Hatha and Ashtanga yoga teachings
• Guided relaxation techniques (pranayama, Yoga Nidra, and Ajapa Japa)
• 10 to 12 contact hours
• 4 to 5 non-contact hours
• 4 non-contact hours for videos, study books, self-practice, and self-study
• Course material in PDF form
• 4 to 5 pre-recorded sessions

• Accommodation
• Food
• Yoga mats and materials

• A reservation requires a deposit of 100% of the total price.
• The deposit is non-refundable, if the booking is cancelled.