RETREAT THEORY & TECHNIQUE DESCRIPTIONS

CULTURAL IMMERSION

• A foreign land

  • Getting to India is itself a transformative choice that reveals how near a real adventure is. The colors, scents, buildings, and people of India are feasts for the senses. Embarking on the literal journey of this retreat, itself creates an emotional foundation of alertness and openness, which are important physiological states when it comes to learning.

• Contrasting luxury and simplicity

  • The poverty of India is very often a struggle for first-time visitors. Witnessing the huge spectrum of lifestyle is a deep learning experience that this retreat explores by shifting from luxury to simple village living, back to luxury. Realizing there is beauty and joy in both, rejecting neither, is the peace-affirming perspective we’re going for.

• Family homestay

  • Our time in Khuri village with our host family is the heart of the retreat. This is the 6th retreat that has been hosted with the Badal family. It’s an intimate window into another way of living and being. Exposure to this way of life has transformed the perspectives and priorities of many who’ve attended Inirly India.

MEDITATION TRAINING

• Morning and evening meditations

  • All meditation sessions are designed to increase both cognitive control and a capacity to enter flow states (aka presence).

• Philosophy lecture series

  • The information we have supports our perspectives and reactions to life. Philosophy, a framework of information, is a form of intelligence that when learned, enhances our ability to rationalize circumstances and move forward as gracefully as possible.

• Self-inquiry and group dialogue

  • The final piece to the self-development puzzle is how these philosophical points, personal insights, and new experiences fit into our everyday lives. Making new knowledge fit into old paradigms is a critical piece of the “moving forward” process.

PHYSICAL CONDITIONING

• Asana (yoga posture) sessions

  • The particular yoga sequence of this retreat is an endurance and strength-based practice that will encourage flexibility, vitality, and coordination of the body.

• High-intensity breathwork training

  • Breathwork is a cornerstone of the process. The breathwork taught is a high-intensity physical practice that invigorates the blood, shocks the mind and body, and trains us to remain calm and present.

• Fasting and sensory sensitivity practice

  • The more sensitive we are to a nervous system’s signals, sensory experience, and thought process the less unconscious and reactive our choices become. Sensitivity training strengthens our objective presence, a key factor in living and thinking well.