Like many people of our age group in the UAE (twentysomething about covers it), we don’t treat our body with the best of care. Not badly, you understand, just… inconsiderately. After years of coffee, shisha, drinks, takeaways, late nights and all the rest of it, weneed a serious break. And what better way to fix up than with a yoga detox at a spa retreat in India?
Between the ayurvedic treatments, healthy gourmet meals, early morning yoga classes and intensive meditation sessions, it’s impossible to spend a week at Ananda in the Himalayas and not leave with all sorts of tools to help you look after your body and mind better. In fact, it’s a bit like spending a week undergoing some gentle marriage counselling – with yourself. If that’s not incentive enough to tempt you, perhaps the possibility of spotting Oprah Winfrey and Brad Pitt in a pigeon pose might be – since both are huge fans of this place. Our week at the resort went a little like this.
Day 1
The Ananda resort is set by the historic palace of the Maharaja of Teri Garwal. To get there, we drove up a winding mountain road from the Rishikesh, known as the ‘world capital of yoga’ and made famous when the Beatles made a high-profile visit in the late ’60s. The dramatic scenery alone – lush green forest, the Ganges curving at the foot of the mountain and monkeys playing by the roadside – is as spirit-soothing as any massage could be, and we already felt a world away from the concrete jungle we came from.
Day 2
An 8am group yoga session in the stone open-air amphitheatre starts each day here, and we wandered straight over to the restaurant afterwards for a super-healthy breakfast of high-protein blueberry pancakes and fresh juice. We were given a schedule of activities for the week, and realised we’d actually be pretty busy – if you can call strolling from a massage to yoga class to lunch ‘busy’. Almost half of Ananda’s guests are single women, and we can see why this is the perfect place to come alone as there’s no chance of getting bored or restless. Staff are positively reverential about our health, remembering everything from my achy shoulder to the fact I prefer orange to watermelon juice in the morning, which makes us feel extremely well looked after.
Day 3
The one-one-one yoga session was the highlight of our day. Taking place in a marble pavilion up at the palace, the instructor took us through a series of classic hatha yoga poses. It’s a pretty intense lesson and by the end of it we felt turned inside out and as stretchy as a rubber band. He followed up with half an hour of pranayama: yogic breathing exercises that include pushing out your breath forcefully from alternate nostrils. It’s hard not to be self-conscious at first – we looked like a snotty five-year-old learning to blow our nose. But afterwards we felt alert, focused and super-serene.
Day 4
The week takes a turn for the bizarre when we tried two yogic cleansing treatments. The first, done at the crack of dawn, is called Kunjal Kriya. Given three bottles of lukewarm salty water to drink on an empty stomach, we felt as though we might explode, then the therapist told us to push the back of our tongue until we threw up. It’s supposed to cleanse the digestive tract and there’s no feeling of nausea, but we found it only slightly less gross than vomiting the usual way. Apparently the more you practise this, the easier it gets, but our first time was horrible, and we felt drowsy and bloated for hours afterwards. On the other hand we absolutely loved the nasal cleansing Jal Neti practice, even though we can’t pretend it’s not a little disgusting. We were taught how to pour warm salt water from a special tea pot through one nostril and straight out the other – yes, it’s actually possible! The sensation is weirdly refreshing, and afterwards we felt as though our brain has been given a vigorous spring clean.
Day 5
A Choornaswedana treatment in the afternoon involves a full-body massage with oils chosen to match our body type, and then we were lightly pounded with hot bundles of herbs. It’s designed to help detox and improve circulation and is an incredibly soothing, warming experience. Afterwards, we just wanted to crawl straight into bed, but we had a Yoga Nidra session instead, which is almost as good. Yoga Nidra means ‘psychic sleep’ and is a guided meditation that keeps you just on the line between sleep and consciousness. The meditation guide names your body parts one by one as you concentrate on them, then asks you
to visualise a series of objects, in order to stimulate your creativity. We were very bad at this. Our thoughts wandered off by the time we got to our ankles, and we kept forgetting to breathe deeply, but we did get a sense of how valuable ‘quiet time’ for your mind is, and realised how rarely we get it.
Day 6
We had an excursion to Rishikesh to see the famous ganga aarati ceremony. This Hindu ritual takes place on the banks of the Ganges at sunset, where crowds gather round a fire and throw herbs into it to symbolise the burning of negativity in life. Upbeat, rhythmic songs are sung, and a local guru delivers a short sermon before lamps and candles are lit and passed from person to person with smiles and nods. Everyone sits close together to pass the energy from the swirling Ganges waters along to one another, and we were overwhelmed by how welcoming and inclusive the atmosphere is. As the sun sets and all the lit candles are sent floating downstream, the guru gives a final blessing and the crowds disperse. It was a genuinely moving and memorable evening.
Day 7
A new kind of meditation today, called Trataka, involved staring at a candle, unblinking, and then closing your eyes when it gets too uncomfortable. Said to improve the memory and help to develop concentration and will power, we found the experience very intense, and surprisingly emotional, in spite of the fact it takes only about a quarter of an hour. Perhaps our ability to meditate had improved! When was time to leave, we took stock of how different we feel following the week of yoga. Fresh mountain air and healthy, natural food have left our skin clearer than it’s been in years, and the daily yoga sessions have left us feeling strong and supple. Though not consciously stressed when we arrived, the meditation sessions, and the physical focus throughout the week have left us with a kind of ultra-capable, ready-to-take-on-the-world feel. And what better way to end a holiday than that?
Need to know
Getting there
Air India flies direct from Abu Dhabi to Delhi, with return tickets from Dhs1,790 including tax. From Delhi, fly to Dehradun with Kingfisher Red Airlines, from Dhs175. Airport transfers can be arranged direct with Ananda. Rooms start from Dhs1,500 per night; yoga packages and special offers are available. www.airindia.in, www.flykingfisher.com, www.anandaspa.com.
Abu Dhabi to the Himalayas
Flight time: Five hours from Abu Dhabi to Delhi, then an hour to Dehradun.
Time difference: One and a half hours ahead of the UAE.
Dhs1 = Dhs15 Indian rupees.
