BENGALURU: From vacations and staycations, the new term for travel that’s been making the rounds is healthcations. From attending nine-day courses to three-week courses, Bengalureans are now thronging health retreat centres for therapeutic benefits. Yoga, meditation, foot reflexology and reiki therapies are explored by many as health experts are addressing lifestyle and psychological-related problems since the pandemic.
Kanika Khurana, Bengaluru-based banking professional, has already made two trips to beat stress and is now planning for a third one. The 29-year-old believes that the pandemic and pressure from work is urging her to travel, not just to explore, but to travel with a purpose.
“I already visited Goa and Kodagu in the last two months. I attended yoga and meditation sessions to rejuvenate during these trips. However, after New Year, I am planning a healthcation trip for at least 12 days to a yoga centre at Himachal Pradesh. The aim is to attain peace, solitude and break away from my nine hours work life,” says Khurana.
Travel destinations that are predominantly known for exotic locations, now seem to be the place for healthcations. Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Centre in Goa has already seen over 60 per cent of bookings for Christmas and year-end season. According to Sharat Arora, a yoga teacher and founder of the center, Bengaluru was among the leading cities to have people visit the place in the recent months. Thanks to the work-from-home culture, many working professionals are now heading to the centre for five-days and nine-days healthcations.
“Working professionals between the age group of 30 and 50 come with posture imbalance, wrist pain, stress and depression due to working from home. Here, we deal with asana-based therapies over a period of nine days that can help heal back pain, spondylitis, and flat feet, among others. We’ve also seen many from Bengaluru join and some cases of post-covid recoveries,” says Arora, who also adds that there’s yoga for women to deal with issues like PCOD, painful periods, irregular periods, and so on.
Raghavendra Chandrashekar, a Thai Yoga massage expert and founder of IMOSHA Thai Yoga Massage School, Mysuru, says there has been a shift of visitors at the centre since the pandemic. “We used to see many foreigners as visitors before. Now, we get more Indians, especially from Bengaluru, attending the therapeutic sessions. Through myofascial healing techniques to energy healing modalities like singing bowl, amatarot, guasa, we are addressing many lifestyle problems that people are facing,” says Chandrashekar.
SwaSwara, a wellness retreat in Gokarna, has introduced Spirit of Life, a combination of yoga meditation and nutritious food course during the pandemic. According to the officials at SwaSwara, domestic travellers are visiting the retreat post the pandemic. The dishes prepared at the retreat are organically grown vegetables, tropical and seasonal fruits, and only fish delicacies. The Spirit of Life focuses on activities like nature trails, bird watching, cooking healthy cuisines, pottery making, guided yoga asana sessions that are aimed at achieving inner peace and positivity within onself.
According to the spokesperson of Isha Foundation, a non-profit, spiritual organisation, the inner-engineering retreats that take place every weekend are among the popular therapeutic sessions, followed by advanced yoga courses like angamardana, yogasanas and surya kriya.
Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Centre, Goa
Nine-days programme Rs 17,000 per head
Five-days programme Rs 4,500 per head
21-days programme Rs 50,000 per head
IMOSHA Thai Yoga Massage School, Mysuru
Single session Rs 1,000 per head
Three- weeks course Rs 30,000 per head
SwaSwara, Gokarna (Spirit of Life)
Per night, Mon-Thu Rs 14,600 (Single/Double)
Per night, Fri-Sun Rs 16,000 (Single/Double)
Extra person Rs 1,900 (12 years & above)
Lunch/Dinner Rs 1,300 per person