Yog up that weekend getaway

Fitness trends may come and go, but yoga has remained a constant in the lives of many a  healthy aficionado. Most commonly perceived  as a form of lifestyle modification, which gets embedded into your way of living, rather than a mere workout type; the 5,000 year-old-Indian body of knowledge is slowly but steadily gaining momentum — making way into weekend getaways, too! This International Yoga Day, we chat up with ardent yoga practitioners and enthusiasts about their forthcoming yogic retreats, what the day means to them and why holistic weekend getaways are the way forward ...

“I’m really excited to have met the world’s oldest Yoga teacher Tao Porchon-Lynch at an event here in Bengaluru on the eve of  International Yoga Day. She is a massive inspiration to yoga junkies like me, and her lifestyle at 97 is one most people would only dream of living, even at a third of her age,” shares Namita Kulkarni, a 32-year-old yoga practitioner, who has her plan of action set for the weekend ahead. “Fortunately for me, my birthday falls on the same month as the yoga day, so planning a weekend retreat was  on the cards. But, in order to bring about a refreshing spin, I’ll be spending this weekend at the SOS Children’s Village in Bannerghatta, teaching young students and performing asanas. I’ve been sponsoring a little boy there for a year now, and he is now performing along with the other kids there. So, I plan to just spend some time there. I’ve realised, all it takes is some conscious effort to spread and make room for holistic wellness, and this is certainly going to be a part of my (weekend) routine,” she adds.

For 26-year-old Sriya Rao, who runs a holistic initiative, Kacchua Consciousness, has rolled out  Yoga Beyond The Mat, a week-long free programme to be held at Cubbon Park adds, “We look forward to weekends to relax, rejuvenate and to drop the week’s anxiety and stress. Yoga, to me, has and will always be a daily dose of weekend relaxation! Daniel (her husband) and I be taking a break and immersing ourselves in the verdant laws of Cubbon Park, doing the activity with devout followers of the art. That according to us, is the perfect way to retreat. Ahead of that, I’ll be heading to Brazil and won’t be giving the Sunday sadhana a miss.” she quips.

For author and entrepreneur Hari Parameshwar, weekends have always been restricted to blowing off some steam the holistic way. While this week in particular isn’t any different, he concludes, “I’m currently in Philippines, and I must reiterate how yoga has taken the world by storm! It’s no longer just something you do five days a week. And, this time around, I hope to make my holiday more fruitful by spreading the essence of yoga through a series of sessions with my students. I plan on taking off to international locales and inculcate it. The concept of healthy holidaying has arrived, and this simply testifies the same.”