Summer holiday for the soul

A luxury yoga retreat might just be the ideal summer getaway. Pamper your body, mind and soul with rejuvenating yoga sessions, spa therapies and gourmet vegetarian cuisine, nestled in the tranquility of nature.

An antique pillared walkway welcomes you to Shreyas

My husband and I have been married six months. The wedding was magical, the honeymoon nothing short of disaster. We arrived in Bali only to be told that my passport was 18 days short of the six-month validity required for a visa and were promptly put on the next flight back to Bangalore. Back home, after the laughter subsided, we were quickly drawn into the demanding routine of work and new families to please. Dates became a distant memory and quality time together was relegated to a cup of green tea before bed. It felt a lot like we had gotten old.

In a moment of panic I logged on to the internet in search of answers; some way to find and reclaim a piece of who we used to be together. And that’s when I found Shreyas.

The Amphitheatre

Shreyas is a yoga wellness retreat hidden away among the trees and villages outside Bangalore. Their website promised a journey of rediscovery to nourish and recharge through yoga, meditation, cooking, gardening and some very inviting spa therapies. To my husband and I, who spend every free minute with friends and family, over noisy meals, late nights and an exhausting social calendar, a little rediscovery was exactly what we needed. I couldn’t make that booking fast enough.

We left the city before sunrise, tuning in to a groovy suprabhat on the radio, setting the mood for our weekend. We got a bit lost as we turned into the narrow, canopied state highways before we found Shreyas. Warm red brick walls, bursting with bougainvillea made for a joyous welcome. We stepped out of the car and stretched; the temperature already felt a few degrees cooler than the steaming city. How was there a lush island of such calm so close to the noise and chaos of Bangalore? 

In 25 acres of natural beauty, Shreyas has designed its living areas to be open, framing the gorgeous outdoors with broad windows, high ceilings and plenty of streaming sunlight. Down the cobbled pathway and past the yoga pavilion, is our cottage for the weekend, Titiksha, meaning forbearance. It is a garden cottage with a sunny bathroom open to a pebbled backyard, where a dramatically bare frangipani tree fans her branches.

Our host for the weekend, Rani, takes us on a walk through the three-acre organic garden, gently crushing one leaf or another to release its fragrance, asking us to guess the plant: Lime, ajwain, sauf, nearly every kind of fruit, vegetable and herb that comprises a south Indian diet is grown here. At breakfast, we are served bowls of fresh fruit, frothy orange juice, muesli with an assortment of garnish, and delicious poha. The ingredients are grown in their garden; even the creamy milk supplied by cows on their property.

Shreyas invites you to participate as extensively as possible in their yoga activities.  The mornings begin early, with yoga at sunrise in the garden studio, cocooned between tall trees. Stretching through yogasanas to the sound of wind in the leaves and quiet birdsong is a great way to start the day. Breakfast is followed by a 20-minute sound meditation. Our instructor Bala guides the class through a rotation of consciousness, in his deep, soothing voice. We chant Hum-Sa So-Hum, So-Hum Hum-Sa: I am that which I seek. As we open our eyes, he observes lightly:

They say two is company and three is a crowd. But sometimes, one can also be a crowd. Inside your mind, alone, it can still be noisy and full of conflict. Yoga is a journey to suppress the ego; to quieten that voice within and let yourself connect with the life-force.”

Experience wellness at Shreyas Yoga Retreat

Shreyas is a yoga wellness retreat hidden away among the trees and villages outside Bangalore. Nestled in 25 acres of natural beauty, Shreyas promises a journey of rediscovery, to nourish and recharge your body, mind and soul through yoga, meditation, cooking, gardening and some very inviting spa therapies.
Go on a visual tour of Shreyas and read the full review here:http://bit.ly/1mflypf

By Anisha Oommen.

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On the road to Shreyas. Narrow, canopied state highways make for a scenic drive.

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Yahoo Lifestyle | Photo by Shreyas Yoga Retreats India

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For a couples’ weekend getaway, a walking meditation through the garden or a cooking lesson together can be a great way to create quality time through an activity. The resident chef, who shares simple techniques to retain the nutritional value of food while cooking, conducts the class.

Cooking lessons with the resident chef.

Dinner that evening was magical; at night, Shreyas transforms into a venue of incredible romance. Candles line the poolside, lanterns are strung on trees, and a cosy table is laid under a starry sky. A meal of hot rotis and creamy dal, fragrant pulao and raita had us indulge in more than we should have. We washed it down with a cup of rosemary tea, inhaling the calming aroma and taking in the beautiful night.

Dinner under an open sky

We rose early the next morning for an appointment at the spa. Massage therapies are the perfect way to pamper yourself after a rigorous class of yoga or a brisk swim. I blissfully dozed through a deep-moisturizing olive oil massage after an invigorating cocoa-chocolate body scrub. My husband was recommended the Balinese deep-tissue massage to work out knots from gymming; he came out feeling limber and stretched out. The spa, like the rest of Shreyas, is beautiful, minimal and envelops you in its rustic beauty.

The spa

Later that afternoon we were invited to join the staff in their daily hour of chanting meditation.  The philosophy of karma and yoga is a profound part of life at Shreyas; every member of staff is trained in yoga and certified as an instructor. They are actively involved with communities in the neighbouring villages, constructing natural rainwater tanks, sponsoring a school for the children, and conducting drives to raise money for schoolbooks and other necessities.

It unusual but fitting then, that the concept of luxury is embodied not in technology or equipment, but in the detailed personalized attention that Shreyas extends to each guest. It can be spotted in the small, thoughtful of gestures that would go unnoticed elsewhere; slippers for your walk to the yoga studio, flowers to welcome you, tea while you wait, a bag of homemade cookies for your journey home and herb saplings to take back to your garden. 

As we got back on the road, we realized we were taking home more than just a rejuvenating weekend together. Shreyas had created a yogic bubble of bliss and relaxation where we were able to reconnect with each other and discover the excitement of journeying through new experiences together.