Yoga-Pilgrimage to Nepal

13th – 26th October 2019

With visiting yoga teacher Eva Michaelsen

This yoga pilgrimage to Nepal will begin at a beautifully located Tibetan Buddhist monastery in the area called Pharping, in the South Western corner of the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. In this beautiful monastery, surrounded by rice fields and pine tree forest and with big views overlooking the Kathmandu Valley, is where our sessions of mediation and yoga will take place. After having settled in for the first few days, we continue our journey to Namo Buddha, another sacred site in the Kathmandu Valley. We stay at a lovely resort in the area of Namo Buddha where we can enjoy fresh vegetables from their organic farm. After spending a few days here, the pilgrimage journey continues to Phablu in the foothills of the Himalayas. We spend the first few days in Phablu, doing a one day hike up to a stunning Tibetan Buddhist onastery, tugged into the cliffside outside of Phablu.

After this, we begin our hike through the upper valleys of Solo until we reach the Buddhist nunnery on a hill nestled into pine tree forests and prayer flags. Here we spend three days, taking part in the lives of the nuns, before making a loop back to Phablu during our 6-day hike. If weather permits, we will get a glimpse of the majestic Himalayas from Phablu. The following day, we travel back toward Kathmandu Valley by flight if the weather permits. We spend the last days of the yoga pilgrimage in Boudha where we have a free day to do the last shopping and simply observe the people around the Boudha Stupa.

The yoga and meditation theme will be weaved into our days, both in Kathmandu and in the mountains, as we embark on an inner and outer journey through Nepal.

Introducing the Facilitators

This yoga pilgrimage will be jointly facilitated by yoga instructor Eva Michaelsen and an experienced Himalayan Hermitage facilitator. The groups will hold the maximum amount of 15 people.

During the last four years, Eva has worked as a devoted yoga teacher in Denmark. She has also been a practitioner of meditation for more than 30 years. Furthermore, Eva has been strongly connected with modern pilgrimage, having walked 800 km of the famous Camino de Santiago in Spain. Eva experiences the inner journey of a pilgrimage as a way of softening ones heart and opening up of ones mind towards a new and life-changing reality. Since that first pilgrimage, Eva has walked more than 6000 km on various pilgrimages in Spain and Portugal. The idea of “pilgrimage” also led her towards the Himalayas in 2007 where she felt a strong attraction to Tibetan Buddhism. After visiting the Tibetan part of the Yunnan Province in China, her journey over the years brought her to different parts of northern India and Nepal. Eva has been teaching movement, meditation, walking meditation and inner development in the last 28 years, leading numerous pilgrimages, courses/workshops and lectures in Denmark and Spain, guiding individuals and groups on their inner journey. Eva is happy to share her experiences with you in the yoga sessions on our pilgrimage in Nepal. To learn more about Eva, see here: http://movimento.dk – We are very excited to be facilitating this yoga pilgrimage together for the first time!

We start the day by exploring the inner experience of awakening in ourselves, as well as grounding our awareness into the body through yoga, and in the afternoon sessions we enhance the experience by becoming pilgrims and yogis. We explore the outer element of sacredness and the culture of awakening by visiting, and paying homage to the many sacred temples and shrines in the Kathmandu Valley. Evening meditation after dinner.

Sample Daily Schedule (note. schedule will vary day-to-day during travel into the mountains)

8:00 – 9:00 Yoga
9:15 – 10:00 Breakfast
10:00 – 12:00 Morning philosophy session
12:00 – 1:00 Lunch
1:00 – 4:30 Visiting sacred sites & hiking in nature
7:00 – 8:00 Dinner
8:00 – 8:30 Evening meditation

Info on Meditation

There is no prerequisite for joining the yoga pilgrimage, or to have in-depth knowledge or experience with the practice of meditation. Simply, to have the wish to go deeper with one’s mind, and to have curiosity regarding its functions is enough. There is nothing religious about the practice of meditation, or to visit sacred places and shrines. In fact, there is nothing even Buddhist about it. The practice of meditation is simply a tool to bring your mind back to a place of naked awareness, to a place of basic space with yourself. In fact, it is simply put a technique with which to uncover all the layers of hope and fear, grasping and expectations that are all such strong habits of the mind. With the practice of meditation we can learn to come back to ourselves, and to become familiar with the groundless and raw quality of reality.

Info on Yoga

On this pilgrimage, the yoga will be a combination of Hatha and Yin Yoga. We will have daily yoga sessions in the morning to awaken our body and to clear the mind. The yoga will be like “tuning” our instruments before the daily program of meditation practice, introduction to Buddhism and hiking to sacred spots in the surrounding landscapes. In Hatha Yoga we will practice the classic yoga asanas and breathing exercises in a calm and mindful atmosphere. Sometimes we will move into a more dynamic speed getting energized by the intensity of the stretches, but in a smooth way so that everyone can follow. Towards the end of the yoga sessions, we will relax into the 3-5 minutes Yin Yoga poses with a mindful awareness of whatever is. With every yoga session we will end in Savasana, the deep rest and reset of body and mind. Everyone can take part, both beginners and advanced practitioners. Please note that yoga is not about performance or fighting yourself. It is an invitation to be gentle with yourself, listening to your body and learning mastering your life.