GRace of the NaRmada
-Rivers of light and sound and the ocean of Shiva consciousness
Join us in the sacred town of Maheshwar on the banks of the pristine Narmada river in India for an exquisitely designed retreat of sacred Indian music, authentic Shamanic and Yogic practices as well as tours to sacred sites. Held by Eartha Love and Jason Kalidas in collaboration with Kapil Shri…
14 -22 Feb 2024
An ancient center for yogis, Maheshwar lies on the banks of sacred Narmada river. Our retreat will be spent in the Swatantra Yoga centre and the sacred Shiva temples and ghats all along the river. We will also spend time immersed in the rivers healing energy, bathing in the pristine waters, meditating and making puja (ceremony)
A nine day all inclusive retreat - everything is taken care of, all you need to do is fly to Indore, India, where you will be collected and taken to beautiful Maheshwar!
This retreat is for those who wish to dive deep into a genuine experience of an Indian pilgrimage place. Maheshwar is no doubt a blissful and peaceful place but this is not a touristic yoga holiday. The charm of the Yoga shalla and its orientation is that it is in the midst of temples and a genuine and peaceful Indian sacred site environment, we will be doing our practices and receiving the sacred music on traditional mud floor in the Swatantra yoga center as well as the river side and local temples . The center is run by dedicated yogi Kapil shri and his lovely family who will nourish us with locally grown Ayurvedic food. We will be staying in good clean hotels just a short and lovely walk though the village like streets from the center
WHAT’S INCLUDED:
The whole schedule of daily sacred music sonic immersions , shamanic and yogic practices/ceremonies.
Airport pick up and drop off
9 nights hotel accommodation
3 nutritious Ayurvedic meals per day + afternoon chai (meals are pure vegetarian) .Vegan and gluten free options if requested in advance.
A day trip to ancient city of Mandu in the Malwa region. The transport fees are included, likewise for all other trips during the retreat.
2 group boat trips (Sahastradhara cascade waterfalls on the River Narmada and one to the water temple of Baneshwar).
A 60-90-minute Yoga class per day, for seven days. These classes are usually taken in our Yoga center, overlooking river Narmada. Occasionally we might practice near one of the temples or on the ghat (banks of the river) if the local circumstances allow this.
We are offering a sliding scale of three different all inclusive prices to make it as accessible as we can : £1180, £1380, and £1580. Please pay what you can afford out of these according to your circumstances.
Only a deposit is needed to secure your place. It is possible to pay in monthly installments which will be automatically worked our on the booking system. Email reminders will be sent to make things easier for you. You will be able to select installments when you go though the booking form at the bottom of this page.
Please note the default prices are all inclusive with a SHARED double room. Single occupancy double rooms are available if you want a double room to yourself at only £100 extra for the whole 9 days .
If you wish to stay longer in Maheshwar before or after the retreat dates please email us on gracenarmada@gmail.com to discuss that and we can arrange your accommodation etc longer for for you.
CLICK HERE For Booking form
About Maheshwar and the retreat center, and accommodations etc...
We will be held by the spiritual and tranquil atmosphere of Maheshwar and the Namarda for our daily practices. This is an ancient place of Shiva (the absolute) worship and meditation. Using live divine music, yogic and shamanic practices, we have designed a retreat program that coherently works together to open our hearts to connect to our true nature or "Shiva consciousness".
Maheshwar itself is a prime location in India, known for its sanctified atmosphere, extremely picturesque beauty, architecture and pristine water aswell as being off the tourist beaten track. The river at Maheshwar has been tested to be almost clean enough to drink! The town is small and the river banks are connected to nature at each end of the walk along its temple lined banks.
The old town around the river is very peaceful and has a typical Indian village feeling. The opposite side of the river from the town has nothing built on it and like the holy city Varanasi it is an open view of nature and sky. The river at Maheshwar has an unusual aspect of both sunrise and sunset over the water as it runs perfectly east to west.
We will be a small group of 15 people maximum with the Swatantra Yoga centre to ourselves for the retreat duration. It is a traditional style yoga ashram in an ideal location within Maheshwar. The Yoga Shalla where we will practice is open on one side to the sky and views of local temples. It is only 30 seconds walk to the river banks. The main picture at the to of this page is the art of the river infant of the center and all other pics and only a few minutes walk away. The center is built over an old mystical cave for yogis. We will do our daily practices here and sometimes sunrise practice on the river banks and temples along the Naramada.
Our accommodations are in good hotels only a short and pleasant walk from the Yoga ashram. All our vegetarian meals will be lovingly made and served at the Yoga ashram where we will all eat together under the sky and stars.
We will be nourished by 3 meals a day of delicious locally grown Ayurvedic food prepared with love by the family members of Kapil Shri.
WHAT WE WILL WORK WITH :
SACRED INDIAN RAAG MUSIC
Indian music is a spiritual tradition rooted in Naad yoga (yoga of sound) and ancient ceremonial temple music . It is a system of music designed to open the heart (the seat of the soul) to our true nature. We will take daily sacred music journeys within the Yoga shall and also in temples known for their high acoustic sound vibration. The music is played live on Bansuri (large bamboo flute) and the drone instrument Tanpura. The healing direction of this music is to take us into the different qualities of our hearts.
SHAMANIC PRACTICES
Shamanism uses trance and ceremony to access the subconscious as well as higher states of consciousness for profound healing. The shaman lives with "Ayni" - reciprocity with all life through the heart. They see the world through the eyes of the Soul, perceiving the cosmos of living energy of which we are a part. They are able to find their place within the eternal dance of death and rebirth, by moving through thresholds of initiation, and transforming wounds ito higher states of consciousness.
AUTHENTIC YOGIC PRACTICES
Yoga and meditation teacher Kapil Shri (resident of Maheshwar ) will lead us in traditional daily yoga classes with deeper understanding about the energy body and how to cultivate the practice in regular life.
As we are based on Shiva‘s land, we provide various methods of meditation and Shiva worship. Which involves Tantra, Mantra and Yantra
SACRED SITES
We will visit the energy points and sacred sites of Maheshwar as well as make some day pilgrimages to the Ancient ruins of Mandu and the unique nature spot Sahastradhara river cascade. Two other boat trips on the river at Maheshwar itself will connect us more to
MORE IN DEPTH ABOUT THE PRACTICES...
ABOUT INDIAN RAAGS IN GENERAL :
Raags are ancient music formulas of true music healing that focus on the bliss/emotional body. We will be bathed in the tones of this beatific music, originally developed in temple sound rituals. Raags resonate with deep and hidden places in the heart, opening up emotional awareness and healing. Going far beyond the mind they have the magical ability to allow us to feel several emotions simultaneously, showing us the divine intelligence of our hearts, opening us to new discoveries of our inner most feelings. The therapeutic power of this music always holds us in a safe place to experience the Raasas of love, bhakti, awe, sadness, compassion, peace, joy and introspection as we are continuously held in the beauty and sonic geometry of true healing music. This often brings relief and release of emotional blockages as well as deeper connection to ourselves and our souls essence. Conscious work with the emotions are a catalyst to awakening to the self and the ‘ higher ‘ divine emotions of soul, gently and safely breaking down the limitations of the perceived ego.
During the Profoundly beautiful sacred Indian music ceremonies for the heart and soul, Eartha will be playing the trance instrument of the Tanpura, alongside Jason playing the Raags on Bansuri. With prayer and ceremony we will offer the sacred geometry of sound of each Raag played as unique medicine for the heart to open to the soul and our radiance. The drone of the Tanpura will take us into the trance state necessary for the Raags to be received into our ultrasonic core along the rivers of sound and our inner rivers of light (our deep states of consciousness). The Raags can then work deeply with our spiritual heart, our Hridaya ( the seat of our soul) to surrender, let go, and transform the Hoocha (density/wounding/grief/loss) , allow us to feel our grace, our radiance, to transform into higher states of consciousness. Our awareness begins to travel along the celestial river to the ocean of Shiva consciousness.
Rivers are thresholds of initiation. So our inner rivers of consciousness are reflected in the landscape of the holy Ma Narmada. We will blessed to have the holding of this river and her waters for our moments of rebirth after receiving the healing rivers of sound in our music ceremonies and Shamanic castices. There will be invitations to bathe in her clean water, make offerings and journey along her pathway through an incredible landscape of temples.
WHAT IS SHAMANISM ON THIS RETREAT?
Eartha will be holding the retreat with Shamanic ceremonies. She has a school of Sunheart shamanism, shamanism for the New Earth, working with the ecosystem of the earth and divine ecology . This is shamanism which recognizes that we are in a new time on earth. In India they have been aware that they have been in the kali Yuga age, and now we are moving into Satya Yuga. In Eartha's tradition, this time has been prophesized of Heaven coming to Earth, a new golden age.
The shamanic ceremonies we will be working with will be based on what she calls Ayni, reciprocity between our hearts and all life. They are very profound ceremonies of devotion and shift things very deeply.
There will be Despacho (prayers sent) for moving into this new age of Satya Yuga and the recognition of Shiva consciousness within.
We will be working the Heart temple and the Indian instrument, the Tanpura for transcendental healing journeying to help us align with those rivers of consciousness that flow through us and our nervous system. The rivers of light take us from the consciousness of Gaia to the consciousness of heaven and we can begin to embody our soul in this lifetime, allowing us to recover our wholeness/holiness and bring heaven to earth, ushering the golden age of Satya Yuga. One-to-one sessions will be available if required.
YOGA
Our Yoga and meditation teacher Kapil Shri is also our guide and key to Maheswar. He was born here and has a wealth of knowledge of the myths and sacred places of Maheshwar and the Narmada river. Kail will lead to Maheshwars famous Shiva temples as well as some other secret meditation places and temples
Shiva is also seen as the ultimate Yogi, Mahesh is another name for Shiva and war means “place of “.
We will start each day with a thorough yoga class and Shiva ( absolute consciousness ) meditations in the Swatantra Yoga centre situated 1 minutes walk from the banks of the river.
THE SACRED PLACE OF MAHESHWAR
Maheshwar is an ancient site where yogis have come to attain realization on the banks of the Narmada river, for millenia, weaving their attained wisdom back into the place in energetic imprints as a gift to others who come to Maheshwar to awaken to Shiva consciousness. Maheshwar was significantly developed by the legendary Holkar queen Rani Ahilyabai of Indore (died 1795) she built the fort complex here on a hill beside the river, as well as several picturesque temples and the ghats (step banks to the river ) which line the Narmada.
The Narmada river is one of the main rivers in India still with a healthy intact eco system. The water is especially clean here at Maheshwar and has been scientifically proven to be being actively putrified by the fire rituals and mantras on its banks. During the retreat program we will visit several of the sacred temples and make traditional offerings at sunrise in the river. The water is very safe and clean to bathe and swim in here . As well the main temples there are also many small Shiva temples along the banks which anyone can visit at anytime to meditate and be in the sacred atmosphere .
More information on sacred rivers...
According to mythology, there are three reasons why India’s seven holy rivers are more sacred than others in a country teeming with flowing waters. First, they originate in the creation of the universe. They’re part of the limitless ocean of Being from which the world evolves and dissolves back into. They define the sacred landscape of India as a mirror of heaven. The natural world is a perfect reflection of the spiritual world.
Second, the seven celestial rivers were “brought down” for the salvation of beings and the elimination of “sin.” They are equivalent to soma, the elixir of immortality and the nectar of the gods. They are potent sites of redemption.
Third, the rivers are tīrthas (“crossings”) whereby one can cross the ocean of saṁsāra (“transmigration”) and attain freedom from rebirth. They are portals to heaven.
Together these three aspects of the seven sacred rivers form the basis for the Vedic notion of “divine ecology.”
The seven sacred rivers of India have defined her civilization for centuries. And yogis discover them within their own body-minds as the energetic rivers of consciousness that make up the subtle nervous system.
Sacred Rivers Connect Heaven & Earth. There are many myths that narrate how the seven sacred rivers of India were released to earth, creating a bridge to heaven and establishing a divine ecology here.
CLICK HERE For Booking form
You can ask any questions on the booking form or if you wish to ask any questions before going through the booking form then please contact;
Jason on whatsaap only +44 7927 948788
Eartha on whatsaap / telegram / phone +44 7774 013574
Or email gracenarmada@gmail.com
Jason Kalidas is a professional Bansuri player and educator, trained in Indian classical music in UK and Varanasi India for 25 years. See here for more info on Jason
Eartha Love is a Shamanka with 27 years training,living, healing and teaching Shamanism. Embodying the light of our soul is the path of the Shamanka, of the Shaman. Embodying our soul through the transformation of wounds and density into higher states of consciousness. She runs a school of sun heart shamanism and also facilitates rites of passage programs and trainings for women and girls
Kapil shri is a Yoga and meditation teacher and resident of the sacred town of Maheshwar
