Sherry Minnard | Director and teacher of yoga programmes
‘I’m a yoga warrior’
Sherry Minnard left the chaos of New York behind her to teach yoga in Rajasthan, in the ‘ashram’ headed by Surajnath Siddh. They both teach how to attain mental and physical calm.
Text: Guadalupe Rodríguez and Patricia Gardeu | Photos: Kreativa Visual | Video: Kreativa Visual
Minnard continues, ‘It is a natural way of being in contact with the land, which keeps us healthy whilst we appreciate a simple way of life without owning many material possessions’. You also learn that people ‘can give up a bad habit in just three days’, whereas you need ‘about 21 days’ to adopt new ones. These periods can be adapted to the length of time travellers usually spend in India when they are interested in finding out about spiritual tourism –usually trips of between 14 and 21 days– which includes retreats that are focused on learning yoga, meditation and caring for the mind and body.
Surajnath Siddh | Monk and director of the Shri Jasnath Asan yoga retreat
‘Yoga is the science of life’
To achieve peace, Surajnath Siddh, director of the Shri Jasnath Asan retreat, recommends yoga, a discipline he defines as ‘scientific’.
Text: Guadalupe Rodríguez and Patricia Gardeu | Photos: Kreativa Visual | Video: Kreativa Visual
urajnath Siddh, a monk and director of this retreat located in the village of Panchla Siddha, in Rajasthan, explains that services offered at Shri Jasnath Asan, one of the oldest ‘ashram’ in the region of Marwar, include ‘spiritual knowledge and the knowledge of life, healing, counselling, and spiritual and psychological support’.
A retreat and meditation centre with over 500 years of history, it offers yoga and meditation classes and also provides a service to the community, by way of free food programmes and grants for children.
‘Ashrams’ are spiritual centres and to continue with this energy we need to keep calm and avoid too much noise’, explains Surajnath Siddh when he is asked about combining spiritual peace with tourism. ‘When visitors arrive we ask them why they have come, what they want to achieve, what they want to learn, and we find a balance. If they are willing to help themselves, we welcome them’.
The retreat mainly focuses on yoga, a discipline that the director defines as ‘scientific, systematic, with its techniques and methods’, and where practitioners’ lifestyles are also important. ‘What they eat, what they drink, how they behave’. ‘It is the science of life, a good tool for ensuring a person is physically and mentally healthy and in peace’.
