October 8-14, 2011 Phool Chatti Ashram, Rishikesh

Central Area

I arrived at the ashram a bit after noon to find a lovely, natural environment surrounded by a forest with its resident monkeys.  Phool Chatti Ashram is 120 years old.  The resident ashram director, Swami Dev Swaroop Nanda Ji, is an Ayurvedic Doctor & Vedic Astrologer.  The Program Director, Sadhvi Lalita Nand Ji, has been living there for over 20 years.  She is a young woman of about 35-40 yrs. and says of her stay, "I never said "I think I will spend my life here", but tomorrow came and I stayed, then another tomorrow, and another tommorrow and here I am more than 20 years later".  Lalita Ji launched the Yoga & Meditation Program in the late 1990's.  When she first came, there was no road, only a foot path that connected pilgrims to the holy places in the north.  The ashrams along the path were resting places for the pilgrims to get some food and sleep. 


The schedule kept us busy from the wake-up gong at 5:30 am through the evening meditation ending at 9 pm.  We had 2 hours of free time after lunch, which was a good time to get laundry done, read, or go down by the Ganges River right outside the gate of our grounds.  The ashram is situated next to a series of rapids that could be heard all day and gave a peaceful sound for sleeping.

Rooftop Dining Area 

The meals were all vegetarian and tasty, but I must admit, I got tired of the same taste (spices) all the time.  My favorite meal of the day was breakfast, which consisted of tropical fruit, oatmeal, bread, and chai with honey...yum!  All the meals were all you could eat and with the walks and 3 hours of yoga a day, I was ravenous and took several portions.


I had a private room with a bath that I shared with 3 other women...hard to get shower time.  The bath did offer hot water, but only to take a "bucket bath".  It was heaven after the long days of sweaty, walks, yoga, and the heat in general. The nights were refreshingly cool and you were glad to go to bed at 9 pm, tired, but feeling good. 

Fire Ceremony

On the final day we had a fire ceremony, which was a perfect end to the week.  It was carried out in a small, open room with arched windows overlooking the crystal clear Ganges.  People from Israel, Germany, Brazil, Russia, France, Sweden and the U.S. formed the group of 24 participants all chanting an ancient chant 108 times and tossing a special wood into the fire.

Bonfire Night!

The last night we had a large bonfire on the beach - our going away party!


I feel stronger, more flexible, with much more knowledge of both yoga and meditation.  I was also able to attain the breakthrough I was looking for in my meditation.  The program was well rounded and interesting.  We had people from all over the world - Germany, Russia, Brazil, Columbia, Sweden, and more!

The Group

Now for that 14 hour overnight bus ride to Dharamsala!